nntsuzu/KFTT huggingface dataset:
English: Zoni unique to the Nagoya area in Aichi Prefecture contains mochi, a type of brassica rapa called 'mochina' (also called 'shogatsuna') with a soy-sauce soup sprinkled with shaved bonito, and in Toyama Prefecture fish or boiled fish paste is also added.
Japanese: また愛知県名古屋周辺の特徴的なお雑煮では、餅とコマツナの一種である「もち菜」（正月菜とも呼ばれる）を入れて醤油の澄まし汁仕立てで鰹節をかけたものがあり、富山県ではそれに加えて魚や蒲鉾などを入れて食べるものがある。
English: In some areas of Shimane Prefecture and Tottori Prefecture, zoni is a soup with mochi and azuki beans which are usually used for making shiruko (sweet red-bean soup with pieces of mochi) or zenzai (baked mochi with red bean sauce).
Japanese: 島根県や鳥取県の一部では、一般に「汁粉」や「ぜんざい」と使われることが多いアズキに餅を入れたものを雑煮と呼ぶ場合もある。
English: In Shimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture, there is a dish called guzoni which is enjoyed throughout the year regardless of the seasons or practices.
Japanese: なお長崎県島原市の具雑煮のように、季節や風習にとらわれずに通年食べられる物もある。
English: In Okinawa Prefecture, where the practice of eating rice had not begun until modern times as rice was not produced there due to the climate, there is still no custom of eating zoni today; while zoni is relatively popular in the Amami region of Kagoshima Prefecture, which used to belong to the same Ryukyu Kingdom as Okinawa.
Japanese: 気候的に米作に適さず、近代まで米食の習慣がなかった沖縄県には現在も雑煮を食べる風習はないが、同じ琉球王国に属する鹿児島県奄美地方においては比較的普及している。
English: For example, kelp, shaved bonito, or boiled-dried anchovy is used in the Inland Sea coastal regions, and dried squid in the north area of Okayama Prefecture.
Japanese: 例えばコンブ、鰹節、カタクチイワシの煮干し（瀬戸内海沿岸など）、スルメ（岡山県県北地域など）などである。
English: Typically, squarely cut mochi (kakumochi) are used in Eastern Japan except for Hokkaido; round mochi are used in West Japan.
Japanese: 主として北海道を除く東日本では四角形の切り餅（角餅）、西日本では丸餅に大別される。
English: Roughly speaking, usually square mochi are used in the prefectures of Niigata, Nagano, Gifu, Mie, and areas to the east while either square or round mochi are used in the prefectures of Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui; and in the regions to the west round ones are used.
Japanese: おおむね新潟・長野・岐阜・三重県以東は角餅で富山・石川・福井は混在、それより西は丸餅である。
English: In Hokkaido, some people eat round mochi and others eat square ones, because people migrated to Hokkaido from all over the country and brought various types of zoni there since the Meiji period.
Japanese: 北海道では丸餅と角餅が混在しているが、これは明治以降に移り住んだ人たちによって全国各地の雑煮が持ち込まれたためである。
English: There is a slight regional tendency that mochi are baked before being used in zoni in the areas to the east of the geotectonic line of Shizuoka-Itoigawa. the fact that they are not baked in the areas to the west of the line is often mentioned to point out a difference in eating habits between the east and the west in Japan, however, the difference is not so distinctive, because regional variations also exist within each area.
Japanese: また糸魚川静岡構造線以東は焼き餅で、西は焼かずに入れるという傾向があるものの、個別の地域差が大きく、これだけで割り切れるものではないが、日本の東西の食習慣の違いを表わす例としてよく持ち出されるものでもある。
English: In addition, mochi with sweet red-bean paste are used in some areas such as Kagawa Prefecture or Manabe-shima island in Okayama Prefecture.
Japanese: このほか、香川県や岡山県真鍋島のように、小豆の餡（あん、餡子）を入れた餡餅（あんもち）を入れる地域もある。
English: Mochi for zoni is prepared in two ways: In the Kanto region they are baked to enjoy the smoky aroma before being placed in soup; in the Kansai region and to the west of Kansai they are put into a soup to simmer.
Japanese: 雑煮に入れる餅は関東のように汁に入れる前に焼いて香ばしさを意図したものと、関西以西の生のまま汁に入れて煮るものとに細分される。
English: This is probably because mass-produced squared mochi have come to be sold at retailers all over the country thanks to the development of food distribution.
Japanese: これは食品流通の進歩で、大量生産の角餅が全国の小売店で扱われるようになった影響と考えられる。
English: In some areas, 'zoni without mochi' contains taro or tofu (bean curd) instead.
Japanese: また「餅を使わない雑煮」を作る地方もあり、里芋や豆腐が餅の代替となる。
English: Toso is the name for medicinal alcoholic beverages that people drink on New Year's Day in the hope of being free from noxious bad spirits that cause illness and other misfortunes during the coming year, as well as for their longevity.
Japanese: 屠蘇（とそ）とは、一年間の邪気を払い長寿を願って正月に呑む薬酒である。
English: As shown by the old saying, 'A family will be free from illness if a person drinks it, and people residing within four kilometers will be free from illness if all people in a family drink it,' it is indispensable for celebrating the New Year.
Japanese: 昔から、「一人これを呑めば一家病無く、一家これを呑めば一里病無し」と言われ、正月の祝いの膳には欠かせないものとなっている。
English: It is prepared by soaking tososan (a mixture of several medicinal herbs) in sake with mirin (sweet sake) and sugar added, and people drink it using three types of cups: a small one, a medium-size one and a large one.
Japanese: 数種の薬草を組み合わせた屠蘇散（とそさん）を日本酒にみりんや砂糖を加えたものに浸して作り、小・中・大の三種の盃を用いて飲む。
English: Although the order of drinking varies from region to region, officially it should be had in the order of age, from youngest to oldest.
Japanese: 飲む人の順には地域間で差があるが、年齢の若い者から順に飲むのが正式である。
English: The above-mentioned order, which derives from the Chinese practice, originally implied the tasting for poison by young persons.
Japanese: これは中国の習慣からきたもので、若い者が毒味をするという意味があった。
English: In Japan, however, the practice of drinking with the head of the family first has been common since the Meiji period or the beginning of the Showa.
Japanese: しかし日本では、明治もしくは昭和初期に家長から飲むことも行われるようになったようである。
English: Tosoki consists of a decanter into which tososan, sake and mirin are put, the cups into which toso is poured, a stand on which the cups are arranged in layers, and a tray on which the above items are set.
Japanese: 屠蘇器は、屠蘇散と日本酒・味醂を入れる銚子（ちょうし）、屠蘇を注ぐ盃、重ねた盃をのせる盃台、これらを載せる盆からなる。
English: One theory asserts that tososan was prescribed by Hua Tuo, a great doctor in the Three Kingdoms period (China).
Japanese: 屠蘇散は、一説には三国時代(中国)の名医・華佗の処方によるものと言われている。
English: Although there are varieties of prescriptions, "Compendium of Materia Medica" listed Atractylodes lancia, shaved cinnamon bark, Ledebouriella seseloides, Smilax china, Rhubarb, Chinese aconite and small red bean.
Japanese: その処方は色々あるが、『本草綱目』では赤朮・桂心・防風・抜契・大黄・鳥頭・赤小豆を挙げている。
English: In the current day, highly poisonous substances like Chinese aconite aren't used but instead Japanese pepper, Asiasarum root, Ledebouriella seseloides, cinnamon, dried ginger, Atractylodes rhizome and Platycodon root, etc., are generally used.
Japanese: 現在では猛毒の鳥頭などは使わず、山椒・細辛・防風・肉桂・乾薑・白朮・桔梗などを用いるのが一般的である。
English: Specifically, it contains crude drugs that are effective for warming the body, strengthening gastrointestinal function or preventing the onset of a cold, such as root of Atractylodes rhizome (okera), nut of the Japanese pepper (sansho), root of Ledebouriella seseloides (bofu), root of Platycodon (kikyo), bark (nikkei) of cinnamon (keihi), skin (chinpi) of Japanese orange (mikan), root (uzu) of aconite (torikabuto) and rhubarb, etc.
Japanese: 正確には、白朮（オケラ）の根、蜀椒（サンショウ）の実、防風（ボウフウ）の根、桔梗（キキョウ）の根、桂皮（ケイヒ）の樹皮（肉桂：ニッケイ）、蜜柑（ミカン）の皮（陳皮：チンピ）、鳥兜（トリカブト）の根（烏頭：うず）、大黄（ダイオウ）など、身体を温めたり、胃腸の働きを助けたり、あるいは風邪の予防に効くと言われる生薬を含む。
English: The foregoing is provided, however, that aconite (also a toxic substance) and rhubarb (also used as a cathartic), which have strong effects, aren't used.
Japanese: ただし、作用が激しいトリカブト（毒物にもなる）やダイオウ（下剤としても使われる）は使われないとされる。
English: It is believed that the practice of drinking toso on New Year's Day began in the era of China's Tang dynasty and in the Heian period of Japan.
Japanese: 正月に屠蘇を呑む習慣は、中国では唐の時代に始まり、日本では平安時代からと言われている。
English: At the Imperial Court, it was customary to drink toso as the first cup, byakusan as the second cup and doshosan as the third cup.
Japanese: 皇室では、一献目に屠蘇、二献目に白散、三献目は度嶂散を一献ずつ呑むのが決まりであった。
English: This practice eventually spread among ordinary people, and doctors would distribute tososan in return for their medicine fee.
Japanese: この儀礼はやがて庶民の間にも伝わるようになり、医者が薬代の返礼にと屠蘇散を配るようになった。
English: The practice of drinking toso is basically endemic to western Japan, namely the Kinki region westward, while in other regions people often refer to the celebratory drink of the New Year (needless to say, it is normal sake that don't contain tososan) as 'otoso.'
Japanese: 基本的には近畿地方以西の西日本に限られた風習であり、他の地方では、単に正月に飲む祝い酒（もちろん屠蘇散は入っていないただの日本酒）のことを「御屠蘇」と称している場合もかなり多い。
English: Sarugaku is a Japanese art form that was popular during the Heian and Muromachi periods.
Japanese: 猿楽（さるがく、猿樂）は、平安時代から室町時代にかけて流行した日本の芸能。
English: Until 1880, the term also referred to the art form that was established, based on the above, by Kanami and Zeami during the Muromachi period.
Japanese: および、それをもとに室町期に観阿弥・世阿弥らによって確立された芸能の、1880年までの名称。
English: Leading players (including those of Kyogen (a farce played during a Noh play cycle)) were called gakuto (masters of performance) or tayu (leading players), and other players were called sarugakushi or sarugaku.
Japanese: 演者(狂言含む)は座頭級のものを楽頭、太夫、一般の座員を猿楽師、または単に猿楽とよんだ。
English: In this book, the author explained that 申楽 should be used for Sarugaku because it was basically Kagura (神楽, or sacred music), and therefore the right portion of the Chinese character 神 should be used.
Japanese: 猿楽は本来神楽だから、神の字の旁を用いて申楽と書くのが正しいと解説している。
English: It is thought that Sarugaku was created when the art called Sangaku was introduced from China.
Japanese: 中国大陸から、散楽と呼ばれる芸能が移入されたのが、猿楽のはじまりと考えられている。
English: What we can guess from 'Dankyu Sangaku zu,' one of the Shoso-in gyobutsu (Shoso-in Treasures), is that various arts such as acrobatics, the conjuring of tricks, mimicry, stunts, dance and music, etc., were included in Sangaku.
Japanese: 正倉院御物の「弾弓散楽図」などから推測される限りでは、軽業や手品、物真似、曲芸、歌舞音曲など様々な芸能が含まれていたものとされる。
English: The Imperial Court protected this art by establishing 'Sangakuko,' a training school for Sangakushi (Sangaku players).
Japanese: 朝廷は散楽師の養成機関「散樂戸」を設けるなどし、この芸能の保護を図った。
English: After losing the protection of the Imperial Court, Sangakushi started giving performances in temples/shrines or on the streets.
Japanese: 朝廷の保護から外れたことにより、散楽師たちは、寺社や街角などでその芸を披露するようになった。
English: Subsequently, various arts of Sangaku merged with other arts and began to evolve on their own.
Japanese: そして散楽の芸は、他の芸能と融合していき、それぞれ独自の発展を遂げていった。
English: It is said that the comical arts of Sangaku, especially mimicry, evolved into Sarugaku.
Japanese: この散楽が含む雑芸のうち、物真似などの滑稽芸を中心に発展していったのが猿楽と言われる。
English: Originally, Sarugaku players displayed various arts inherited from Sangaku, such as acrobatics, the conjuring of tricks, stunts, and something similar to magic.
Japanese: 当初は物真似だけでなく、散楽の流れをくむ軽業や手品、曲芸、呪術まがいの芸など、多岐に渡る芸能を行った。
English: One aspect of the reality of the above activities is described in "Shin Sarugakuki" (a kind of textbook about the manners and cultures of Kyoto) as 'Azumabito (people of eastern Japan) visit Kyoto for the first time' or 'a nun who has come from Myoko is asking for clothing for a newborn baby.'
Japanese: これらの実態の一部は『新猿楽記』「東人之初京上（あずまびとのういきょうのぼり）」「妙高尼之襁褓乞（みょうこうあまのむつきごい）」のように記録されている。
English: Based on the above, some people have asserted that something that combined the rituals Jugondo (way of vanquishing monsters, spirits, etc., through the use of charms) and art existed at that time and eventually evolved into Okina Sarugaku.
Japanese: このことから、咒禁道の影響を受けた儀式を芸能と融合させたものがこの時期に存在しており、それらが翁猿楽へと発展したのではないかとの説もある。
English: As their performances became more popular among ordinary people, groups of Sarugaku players were organized in many locations.
Japanese: やがて庶民の人気を得ていくうちに、座を組織して公演を催す集団も各地に現れ始めた。
English: It is believed that the original model of the current Nogaku (Noh music) was created during the Kamakura period after Sarugaku, which was created in the Heian period and was in its early stage at the time, was combined with music and dance.
Japanese: 平安時代に成立した初期の猿楽に歌舞音曲が組み合わされ、現在で言うところの能楽の原型が出現したのが鎌倉時代であると考えられている。
English: During these periods, the Sarugaku of the Kamakura period further evolved thanks to Kanami and Zeami, as well as the establishment of Sarugaku, which was nearly equivalent to the present-day Nogaku.
Japanese: 鎌倉時代の猿楽が発展し、観阿弥や世阿弥らの登場によって現在の能楽とほぼ同等の芸能としての猿楽が形作られる。
English: The art form that is currently called Nogaku was commercially performed by 'Sarugakushi' under the name 'Sarugaku.'
Japanese: 現在は能楽と呼ばれている芸能が「猿楽師」による「猿楽」と呼ばれて興行された。
English: Sarugaku was also performed by Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, Ieyasu TOKUGAWA and Tsunayoshi TOKUGAWA (who later became shogun), as well as other feudal lords.
Japanese: また豊臣秀吉や徳川家康や後の征夷大将軍である徳川綱吉や各大名などにより演じられていた。
English: Along with wandering shirabyoshi (a woman who performs traditional Japanese dance), miko (a medium), Hachi-tataki (a begging priest) and Saruhiki (a monkey showman), they belonged to the lowest social class and were under the control of the shomonji.
Japanese: 漂泊の白拍子、神子、鉢叩、猿引きらとともに下層の賎民であり同じ賎民階級の声聞師の配下にあった。
English: Some Sarugaku groups were protected by shrines and temples and therefore gave performances at rituals.
Japanese: 一部の猿楽の座は、社寺の庇護を得て、その祭礼の際などに芸を披露した。
English: Though such performances were at first seen merely as entertainment, Sarugaku was gradually incorporated into the rituals of shrines and temples.
Japanese: 最初は余興的なものとして扱われていたが、やがて社寺の祭礼の中に、猿楽が重要な要素として組み込まれるような現象も起き始めた。
English: Sarugaku groups also performed short plays in order to explain the histories of shrines and temples or the relationships among deities, Buddha and the people.
Japanese: 社寺の由来や神仏と人々の関わり方を解説するために、猿楽の座が寸劇を演じるようなこともあった。
English: It is believed that these performances became known as 'Noh of Sarugaku' and eventually evolved into Noh and Kyogen under the protection of court nobles and warrior families.
Japanese: これらがやがて、「猿樂の能」となり、公家や武家の庇護をも得つつ、能や狂言に発展していったと言われている。
English: One of the poems often used was a Chinese poem that read, 'Choseidenri ni shunju tomu, furomonzen nichigetsu ososhi,' celebrating the everlastingness of the emperor and singing about his perpetual youth and longevity.
Japanese: 書く詩歌は「長生殿裏春秋富、不老門前日月遅」という漢詩がよく用いられた。
English: Kakizome was originally a ceremony held in the Imperial Court, but after the Edo period it became popular among ordinary citizens.
Japanese: もともとは宮中で行われていた儀式だったが、江戸時代以降庶民にも広まった。
English: The calligraphy written in kakizome is burned in sagicho (a ritual bonfire of New Year's decorations); it is said that when the flame rises high into the air, the writer's skill will improve.
Japanese: 書き初めで書いたものは左義長で燃やし、その炎が高く上がると字が上達すると言われている。
English: On January 5th of every year, the All Japan New Year Calligraphy Contest, an event of the calligraphy business hosted by the Nippon Budokan Foundation, which brings together approximately 4,000 participants, is held at the Nippon Budokan located in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; this event is broadcast nationwide through various media.
Japanese: 毎年1月5日には東京都千代田区にある日本武道館で財団法人・日本武道館が主催する書道事業の行事として全日本書初め大会が約4,000人を集めて催され全国的に各種メディアで放映される。
English: Koshogatsu is the day of mochi no hi in the New Year (January 15th of the old lunar calendar, or the first full moon of the New Year).
Japanese: 小正月（こしょうがつ）とは、正月の望の日（満月の日、1月15日(旧暦)）のこと。
English: It is considered that the term is a relic of the time when the mochi no hi was regarded as the first day of a month, before the Chinese-style lunar calendar was introduced.
Japanese: 中国式の太陰太陽暦が導入される以前、望の日を月初としていたことの名残りと考えられている。
English: Normally, matsu no uchi (the period in which matsu kazari (pine decoration) is displayed during the New Year) should last up to Koshogatsu; even today, matsu no uchi lasts until Koshogatsu of January 15th in the Kansai and Kinki regions.
Japanese: なお、この小正月までが本来の松の内であり、関西や近畿地方では現在でも1月15日の小正月までが「松の内」である。
English: It is recorded in writings such as "Tosa Nikki" (Tosa Diary) and "Makura no Soshi" (The Pillow Book) that azukigayu was eaten on Koshogatsu in bygone days.
Japanese: 古くは『土佐日記』や『枕草子』などにも、小正月に小豆粥を食べたことが記されている。
English: Even today, in some areas such as the farming villages of the Tohoku region, there is a custom of eating azukigayu before the sagicho (ritual bonfire of New Year's decorations).
Japanese: 現在でも東北地方の農村などに、左義長の前に小豆粥を食べる習慣が残っている地域がある。
English: In these regions, it is considered taboo to eat an adzuki bean (or red food in general, including meat) during the period from New Year's Day until Koshogatsu.
Japanese: これらの地域では、元日から小正月の期間中に小豆（あるいは、獣肉を含む赤い色をした食品全般）を食することが禁忌とされている場合が多い。
English: In contrast to Ooshogatsu, which is full of events for welcoming Toshigami (god of the incoming year) and Sorei (ancestral spirit, being the collective of ancestral spirits that have lost their individuality), Koshogatsu is centered around homey events and events relating to agriculture, such as praying for a good harvest.
Japanese: 年神や祖霊を迎える行事の多い大正月に対し、小正月は豊作祈願などの農業に関連した行事や家庭的な行事が中心となる。
English: In some regions, Koshogatsu is called Onna-shogatsu (Women's New Year, also called Me-shogatsu) to thank housewives for their hard work over matsu no uchi, during which they weren't supposed to have to work in the kitchen until Jinjitsu (in the lunar calendar, the seventh day after New Year's Day).
Japanese: 本来は人日まで竈を休ませるはずの松の内に、忙しく働いた主婦をねぎらう意味で、女正月という地方もある。
English: Since genpuku no gi (the ceremony of attaining manhood) was conducted in Koshogatsu, January 15th became a national holiday called Coming-of-Age Day.
Japanese: かつて元服の儀を小正月に行っていたということから、1月15日は成人の日という国民の祝日となった。
English: However, since it's difficult to relate Coming-of-Age Day to Koshogatsu based on the name of the holiday, and because people had lost their familiarity with Koshogatsu, in 2000 Coming-of-Age Day was changed to the second Monday of January.
Japanese: しかし、その名前から小正月との関連がわかりづらく、かつ、小正月自体がなじみが薄いものとなったこともあり、2000年から成人の日は1月第2月曜日に変更されている。
English: Yuan Xiao Jie (the Chinese lantern festival held on the 15th of the first month of the lunar calendar, called Genshosetsu in Japanese) is also called Shang Yuan Festival (Jogensetsu in Japanese) and is celebrated according to the old calendar.
Japanese: 元宵節（げんしょうせつ、）は上元節（じょうげんせつ）ともいい、旧暦により祝われる。
English: This is the fifteenth significant day counting from the New Year's Day, which is Ooshogatsu, and this period is called Chinese New Year.
Japanese: 大正月である元日から数えて15日目の重要な日であり、この期間を春節（しゅんせつ）と称する。
English: Because Koshogatsu falls on the night with a full moon, people celebrate Koshogatsu at night by installing chochin (Japanese paper lanterns) and objects such as dragons containing lights (also referred to as lanterns).
Japanese: 満月の夜に当たるため、夜に提灯や、ランタンともいう中に灯りを入れた竜などのオブジェを設置して祝う。
English: "Shigoto hajime" means working on January 2, for the first time in the new year.
Japanese: 仕事始め（しごとはじめ）とは、1月2日に年が明けて初めて仕事をすること。
English: On January 2, people only perform their usual tasks formally with the wish for safety in their work and improvement of their skills during the new year.
Japanese: 1月2日には普段の仕事を形だけ行い、その年の労働の安全や技能の上達を願う。
English: In farm villages, people started hoeing paddy fields and making rice-straw ropes, performed a rite for tanokami (deity of rice fields and harvests), offering rice or mochi (rice cake).
Japanese: 農村では田畑に鍬を入れたり、縄作りの作業を始め、田の神を祀って米や餅などを供えた。
English: In government administration offices, January 4 is the day they start to work every year, called "Goyo hajime" (first business day of the year), and most companies follow this practice.
Japanese: 官公庁では毎年1月4日を官庁御用始めとして初めて執務を行う日としており、一般企業でもこれに準じていることが多い。
English: On January 1, after the Choga (ceremony in which the emperor receives greetings of the New Year from officials), the emperor comes to the Daigokuden (the Council Hall in the Imperial Palace), the Buraku-in (Reception Compound, later the Shishinden, the Throne Hall), and Homeiden State Banquet Hall and so on, and lets his retainers and court nobles hold the banquet.
Japanese: 1月1日、朝賀の後に天皇が大極殿、豊楽院（後に紫宸殿）、豊明殿などに出御し、臣や公家の皆々に宴をさせる。
English: It was considered as one of the important ceremonies in the Imperial Court, and held continuously until the Meiji Restoration, except for about 30 years of the interruption between the start of the Onin War until being revived in 1490.
Japanese: 朝廷でも重要な儀式の一つとされ、応仁の乱の開始から延徳二年（1490年）に再興されるまでの約30年間中断された他は、明治維新まで継続して行われた。
English: It became the New Year banquet of January 5 in the Meiji period, then changed into 'Shinnen shukuga no gi' (the New Year Greeting) of January 1 after World WarⅡ.
Japanese: 明治時代からは1月5日の新年宴会となり、戦後は、1月1日の「新年祝賀の儀」となった。
English: Kagami-mochi is a circular, flat rice cake offered to Shinto and Buddhist deities on occasions such as the New Year.
Japanese: 鏡餅（かがみもち）とは、正月などに神仏に供える円くて平たい餅のことである。
English: There are many variations of kagami-mochi; in some areas, three rice cakes are stacked up, or one of the two layers of rice cakes is colored red in order to represent kohaku (red and white), which is believed to be a good omen (in Ishikawa Prefecture), or shapes are created out of sugar instead of rice cakes, or rice cakes are shaped long and slender and made into a scroll so as to resemble a coiled, white snake.
Japanese: 地域によっては餅を三枚重ねたり、二段の片方を紅く着色して縁起が良いとされる紅白としたもの（石川県で見られる）、餅の替わりに砂糖で形作ったもの、細長く伸ばしたものを渦巻状に丸め、とぐろを巻いた白蛇に見立てたものなど様々なバリエーションが存在する。
English: Kagami-mochi came to be offered in the style found in the present day after the Muromachi period, when houses began to feature the tokonoma (an alcove in a traditional Japanese room where art or flowers are displayed).
Japanese: 鏡餅が現在のような形で供えられるようになったのは、家に床の間が作られるようになった室町時代以降のことである。
English: It became customary to place yuzuriha (Daphniphyllum macropodum), noshi (a thin strip of dried abalone wrapped in folded red-and-white paper), shrimp, kelp, bitter orange and so forth on kagami-mochi; this style was called Gusoku-mochi (literally, armor rice cakes) or Buke-mochi (literally, samurai family rice cakes).
Japanese: 鏡餅には、ユズリハ・熨斗・エビ・コンブ・ダイダイなどを載せるのが通例となり、これは具足餅（武家餅）と呼ばれた。
English: Today, hanshi (calligraphy paper) is placed on sanbo (a small wooden stand on which to place an offering in a Shinto ritual), the umbrella ferns "Gleichenia japonica Spr." are placed on the hanshi, small and large rice cakes are placed on the ferns, and kushigaki (dried persimmons on a skewer), dried cuttlefish, bitter orange, kelp and so forth are placed on the rice cakes.
Japanese: 今日では、三方(神道)に半紙を敷き、その上にウラジロ（シダの一種）を載せ、大小2つの餅を重ね、その上に串柿・干しするめ・橙・昆布などを飾るようになっている。
English: Today, for the sake of convenience in displaying at home as wel as for good hygiene, many products, such as a plastic case filled with rice cakes to resemble the double layers of kagami-mochi, or a similar case containing many small "individually wrapped" rice cakes, offered in sets with a plastic bitter orange, are sold by rice-cake manufacturers.
Japanese: 近年は、家庭内に飾ることの利便性と、後で食べる際の衛生面を考えて、鏡餅が重なった姿を型取ったプラスチックの容器に充填した餅や、同様の容器に（個別包装された）小さな餅を多数入れ、プラスチック製の橙などとセットにした商品が多く、各餅製造会社より発売されている。
English: December 29th is considered a day to be avoided because, in Japan, the number nine, which can be read as 'ku' in Japanese, is linked to the Japanese word for suffering (contrastingly, this day is selected in some areas because one way to read the number 29 in Japanese is "fuku," which is also the word for happiness).
Japanese: 12月29日は、日本では「九」が苦しむにつながるので避けるべきとされる（逆に29を『福』と読み替えて、この日に餅を搗く地域も有る）。
English: December 30th, being a round number, is not considered bad, but selecting this day would be regarded as "one-night rice cake" according to the old lunar calendar, in which the thirtieth is the last day of December.
Japanese: 12月30日はきりの良い数字なので悪くないと考えられている（ただし、旧暦では12月は30日までしかなかった為、旧暦通りならば『一夜餅』の扱いである）。
English: Displaying kagami-mochi on December 31st is avoided for reasons such as 'lack of sincerity' and 'suggesting the manner of display at a funeral,' and is called 'one-night ornament' or 'one-night rice cake.'
Japanese: 12月31日に飾るのは、「誠意に欠ける」「葬儀の飾り方を連想する」などの理由により、「一夜飾り」「一夜餅」として忌避される。
English: Because it's offered as shogon (to decorate Buddha statues and temples) at shusho-e (the New Year's service), kagami-mochi is displayed after the devotional exercises on the morning of December 31st and before the devotional exercises in the afternoon.
Japanese: 正月（修正会）の荘厳として供える為、12月31日の朝の勤行のあと、夕の勤行までに飾る。
English: The offering is based on the principle of not being caught up in the concept of good and bad omens, which is based on annotations for the calendar such as taian and a play on the words for days.
Japanese: 大安などの暦注や語呂合わせによる日の吉凶に惑わされないという教義に基づく。
English: The day of kagami-biraki (the custom of cutting and eating kagami-mochi) is generally considered January 11th, although this differs from one area to another.
Japanese: 鏡開きの日は地域によって違いはあるが、一般的には1月11日とされる。
English: After the period for display is over, there is a custom of breaking kagami-mochi into pieces with a wooden hammer or the like and then eating the pieces by making them into shiruko (sweet red-bean soup with pieces of rice cake) and so forth.
Japanese: 供え終わったときに木槌などで砕き割り、汁粉などに加工して食べる風習がある。