Kagami Biraki: “Opening the Mirror”

The Bucharest-based Center of Martial Arts and Associated Studies on Wednesday evening hosted the Kagami Biraki ceremony of commemorating the martial arts school founders and the beginning of a new year of training.

România Internațional, 16.01.2014, 12:05

“Kagami Biraki” is a traditional ceremony in Japan, whose approximate translation would be “Opening the Mirror”, marking the end of a period of abstinence. The ceremony is usually held on January 11th and it refers to the opening of Kagami Mochi, or the opening of a cask of Sake at a party or ceremony. The ceremony was first observed 300 years ago by order of the fourth Tokugawa Shogun, who, before going to war, gathered his daimyo (or territorial lords) in his castle, to break open a sake cask. Nowadays Kagami Biraki is performed at weddings, sporting events, opening days at new companies and other significant events worthy of being celebrated. During this ceremony, the Kagami Mochi, a traditional rice cake is used as a traditional Japanese New Year decoration.

Many martial arts “dojos” in Japan use the Kagami Biraki ceremony to mark their first practice in the New Year and “dojos” in Romania are no exception to the rule.

So, the Bucharest-based Center of Martial Arts and Associated Studies on Wednesday evening hosted the Kagami Biraki ceremony of commemorating the martial arts school founders and the beginning of a new year of training.

The event hosted by the Romanian Law School Academy in Bucharest, which also included a demonstration of martial arts, brought together martial arts masters and grandmasters, officials of the Romanian martial arts federation, members of the diplomatic corps and journalists.

The Japanese ambassador to Bucharest, His Excellency Keiji Yamamoto, who attended the Kagami Biraki ceremony in Bucharest, wished the participants to renew their feelings and commitments in order to get better performances in the new year.

HE Keiji Yamamoto: “I wish you all that at the beginning of a new year to renew your feelings and efforts in order to obtain better performances. We are in January now, the coldest period of the year and in Japan, the morning or night training during this season bears a special name, ‘Kang ghe ko’ and its main purpose is to strengthen your spirit through training in harsh winter conditions. As you may know in Japanese martial arts, it is not only the physical training that makes the difference, but also the mental strength, which is essential. I believe the spirit of the martial arts will benefit you for the entire life.”