Kura-biraki: Opening the Storehouse (Kura Biraki)

What Is Kurabiraki?

January 11th is "Kurabiraki" (Opening the Storehouse) in Japan. It is a custom in which merchant households open their storehouse for the first time in the new year and pray for prosperous business. It is said to have begun with a ceremony in which feudal lords (daimyo) opened their rice storehouses at the start of the Edo-period new year. It was originally held on an auspicious day chosen each year, but it came to be held mostly on the 11th day of the New Year, the same day as Kagami Biraki.

Kurabiraki in the Edo Period

Kurabiraki was practiced in the lives of both samurai and merchant households.

• The daimyo's rice storehouse: The rice storehouses holding tax rice were the financial backbone of a daimyo's domain. The ceremony of opening them at New Year is said to be the origin of Kurabiraki.
• Merchant households: Merchants opened their storehouses for the first time in the new year to pray for good business, and sometimes broke kagami mochi and ate it in zoni soup, as in Kagami Biraki.

"Kurabiraki" Today

Today, events at which sake breweries open their doors to the public for tastings of new sake and brewery tours are also called "kurabiraki." These are not limited to January 11th; breweries around the country hold them on their own schedules from winter to spring, when the new sake is ready.

Fun Facts About Kurabiraki

• Sturdy earthen storehouses: Dozo storehouses, thickly coated with earth and plaster, resist fire and soften changes in humidity, making them valued for protecting household goods, rice and merchandise.
• "A storehouse goes up": The phrase "kura ga tatsu" (a storehouse is built) is still used to mean making a fortune.
• Link with Kagami Biraki: Kurabiraki and Kagami Biraki are often held on the same day, January 11th, and both have long marked the end of the New Year events and the real start of work.
• White-walled streets: Streetscapes lined with storehouses, such as the Bikan Historical Quarter in Kurashiki, Okayama, and the kura-zukuri district of Kawagoe, Saitama, have become tourist attractions.

Ways to Spend Kurabiraki

• Open up your closets and storage to air them out, and sort through things that have been tucked away
• Check where you keep your work tools and documents, and organize them for easy use this year
• Look up the dates of "kurabiraki" events at sake breweries near you
• Talk about this year's business or work goals over the mochi from Kagami Biraki

Kurabiraki has been handed down as a milestone marking the start of a new year of business. On January 11th, why not open up your own "storehouse" and get ready for the work ahead?