' is an offering of

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

or other

alcoholic drink Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s offered to

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

s in Japanese

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

Sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

is often consumed as part of Shinto purification rituals. People drink ''omiki'' with gods to communicate with them and to solicit rich harvests the following year.

Etymology

The word ''omiki'' is spelled using the three characters . The first is an honorific prefix. The second character refers to ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'', a kind of spirit or deity in Japanese spirituality. This is normally read as ''

'', but in certain compounds it is read as ''mi'', as we also see in the derivation of the word . The third character is read as ''

'' when used alone, but in certain compounds of ancient derivation it is read as ''ki''. The compound ''omiki'' is very old and dates back to

Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Ja ...

.DaijirinDaijisenKokugo Dai Jiten There is a word in the of 712, spelled using this same kanji , connected to the word in reference to the effects of sake.

Overview

Sake is an essential part of Shinsen, and is offered to the gods during rituals. The meaning of this ceremony is to receive the sake that has been offered to the gods and in which the spirit resides, and to eat and drink the same food as the gods as well as other food offerings. Some shrines also serve sake after ninenmairi. Some breweries produce sake specifically to be put on

kamidana are miniature household altars provided to enshrine a Shinto . They are most commonly found in Japan, the home of worship. The is typically placed high on a wall and contains a wide variety of items related to Shinto-style ceremonies, the mos ...

Types and brewing methods

There are many different types of sake, such as , , , and , and many different brewing methods. The "" of and is the ancient name of sake, and is also written as "" and "". Black sake is also called . The origin of amazake dates back to the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

, and there is a description in "

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

" about Amazake, which is said to be the origin of amazake. According to the

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

, white sake is brewed from rice grown in Kanda and strained as it is, while black sake is made by adding burned ashes of

Clerodendrum trichotomum ''Clerodendrum trichotomum'', the harlequin glorybower, glorytree or peanut butter tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, India, and the Philippi ...

roots to white sake and coloring it black. Today, a combination of clear sake and cloudy sake (

Nigori ''Nigori'' or is a variety of sake, an alcoholic beverage produced from rice. Its name translates roughly to "cloudy" because of its appearance. It is about 12–17% alcohol by volume, averaging 15% with some as high as 20%. Description Sake ...

) is often used as a substitute for white and black sake. In the past, sacred sake was home-brewed by

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

s or

Ujigami An is a guardian ''kami'' of a particular place in the Shinto religion of Japan. The ''ujigami'' was prayed to for a number of reasons, including protection from sickness, success in endeavors, and good harvests. History The ''ujigami'' is ...

s. Nowadays, however, due to restrictions in the Liquor Tax Law,

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...

s are required to obtain a license to brew

s and a

from the tax office.

, which has a license to brew

and a permit from the tax office to brew doburoku. In Japan, it has been customary since ancient times to make doburoku and offer it to the gods to

pray File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

for a good harvest in the coming year, and even today, more than 40 shrines hold Doburoku Matsuri, etc. As a rule, it is forbidden to take doburoku out of the premises of a

. In

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

, the Katō Shrine next to

Kumamoto Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was a large and well-fortified castle. The is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but a number of ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original ca ...

Kumamoto City is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

uses the local tradition of Akumochizake as its sacred wine.

Omiki other than Japanese sake

Dazaifu Tenmangū is a Shinto shrine in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is built over the grave of Sugawara no Michizane (845–903) and is one of the main shrines dedicated to Tenjin (kami), Tenjin, the deified form of Michizane. Shrine ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

, Dazaifu City,

Umeshu is a Japanese liqueur made by steeping ''ume'' plums (while still unripe and green) in and sugar. It has a sweet, sour taste, and an alcohol content of 10–15%. Famous brands of ''umeshu'' include Choya, Takara Shuzo and Matsuyuki. Varie ...

Plum Wine (produced by

Nikka Whisky Distilling The is a producer of Japanese whisky and other beverages headquartered in Tokyo. It is owned by Asahi Group Holdings. The company operates a number of distilleries and other facilities in Japan, including two Japanese whisky distilleries, the Y ...

's Moji factory) is used as a sacred wine in honor of the legend of Tobi Ume. In areas where

Grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

cultivation is popular,

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

is dedicated as a sacred wine at the Ichinomiya Asama Shrine in

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

, Fuefuki City, and

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

, and

Red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...

is served as a sacred wine on the third day of the New Year at the in Habikino City, at the shrine it is called because the red wine pooled on a white plate appears similar to the Japanese flag.

Others

There is a theory that the custom of offering white sake at Hina Matsuri was created in the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

(1603-1867). Since the sake is usually offered to the altar in pairs, it is used as a metaphor for the happiness of married couples, and is also used in

rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal comedy, traditionally performed in '' yose'' theatres. (Bibliographyvolume 38(1)article
T ...

storytelling. The ornaments made of split bamboo and are inserted into the sake tokuri are called mikiguchi. In

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

, which is part of the former

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

, and the Amami region of Kagoshima Prefecture, a unique rice-based beverage called " Miki" has been handed down and is also sold commercially as a

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

. It is made by adding sugar to crushed rice and fermenting it naturally.

Related Items

* Akumochizake - believed to be the original black liquor *

Amazake is a traditional sweet, low-alcohol or non-alcoholic Japanese drink made from fermented rice. ''Amazake'' dates from the Kofun period, and it is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki. It is part of the family of traditional Japanese foods made using ...

* Doburoku Matsuri

References

External links

Okazaki Hachimangu Shrine, Kusunoki-cho Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yamaguchi Prefecture: a rare shrine for Shiroki (white sake) in Japan
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Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

(archived March 4, 2016) {{Shinto shrine Sake Shinto Pages with unreviewed translations Libation Shinto festivals Religion and alcohol