Japanese Wooden Barrel Cooper Craftsman, Kurita Minoru Kurita Minoru was born in Nagoya on July 4, 1…More
Japanese food for celebrations, Sekihan Red Rice / 赤飯
2013.06.20 [FOOD,WHAT'S NEW]
Japanese food for celebrations, Sekihan Red Rice / 赤飯
In Japan, auspicious occasions, birthdays, weddings and festive days are celebrated with
a special dish of sticky rice boiled with red azuki beans called sekihan. Sekihan was also
an offering to the gods, as red was believed to ward off evil. Sekihan was mentioned in
the Heian period (794-1185) penned “Pillow Book” and described as an azuki bean rice
porridge. Eating sekihan in times of celebration became popular in the Muromachi period,
(1337-1573) and spread to the common folk in the Edo period (1603-1868). It is usually
eaten straight after having been prepared, and served sprinkled with gomashio, a mixture
of lightly toasted sesame seeds and crushed rock salt. Some versions are slightly sweetened
with sugar, or using amanatto sweet beans.
お祝い事の食卓に並ぶ、赤飯(せきはん)。赤い色には邪気を払う、災いごとを避ける力があると
信じられていたため、赤飯は魔除けとして、神に供えられ、そのお下がりを食していました。
古くは平安時代に書かれた「枕草子」にも「あずき粥」として赤飯の原形が書かれています。
お祝いごとのときに赤飯を食べるようになったのは、室町時代と言われており、江戸時代には一般庶民
にも広がっていきました。
Prior to the Edo period, much of Japan’s rice was a red colored strain known as Akagome. This rice
which had a distinct, natural, reddish coloring had been brought to Japan from China and was
cultivated from the Jomon period. The rice had a strong tannin flavor and wasn’t very palatable,
and production abandoned over the years as better farming techniques and improved varieties of
rice were developed. However, the ritual of presenting red rice to the gods remained, and so
glutinous and regular rice was boiled with azuki beans as an offering.
江戸時代前までの赤飯と言えば、それは赤米(あかごめ、あかまい)のこと。赤米は、縄文時代、中国から
伝わってきた米の一種で、炊きあがった後は現在の赤飯のような色をしていたと言います。赤米自体は、
あまりおいしいものではなかったようで、時代と共に年々、減っていきました。技術の進化や品種改良に
よって日本でも味の良い米が安定して収穫できるようになると、「赤い色のご飯を神に供える」という習慣
だけが根強く残り、米(もち米や うるち米)に小豆(あずき)1〜2割を混ぜ、赤く色づけされたものが、
赤飯として広まっていきます。
Although azuki beans were often boiled with the rice to give it a red color, among the samurai
of Edo, small sasage, or cowpea beans were used instead. The skin of the azuki beans would
split on cooking, and the splitting of skin was likened to a samurai having perform seppuku,
cutting himself open in ritualistic suicide. For that reason, the black eyed cowpea bean was
used instead of Azuki by warrior families. Even now, many families in the Kanto districts
(Greater Tokyo and surrounding areas) use cowpea instead of azuki for their traditional celebratory
red-rice dishes.
赤飯には小豆が使われることも多いですが、江戸の武士たちの間では、小豆の代わりに「ささげ」を
使っていました。小豆は、炊いている時に皮がやぶれる=腹が切れる、つまり、武士の「切腹」を連想
させるということで、煮ても破れない「ささげ」が使われていました。江戸の武士の間では、赤飯に
ささげが使われるようになりました。今でも関東地方では、その名残からか、小豆ではなく、ささげを
使うことが多いようです。
Although the eating of sekihan is supposed to be for celebrations, in some rural areas of Japan,
red rice is shared at funerals too, as the red is believed to remove any bad luck associated with
death. Wherever people gather, and whenever people celebrate, they still enjoy a part of Japanese
culture and history, sekihan.
お祝い事の食卓に並ぶ機会の多い「赤飯」ですが、赤飯には元々、邪気を払うという意味もあったため、
地方によっては葬儀などでも、赤飯を食べ「縁起直し」をするところもあるようです。普段、何気なく
食べている「赤飯」ですが、調べてみると意外な歴史があるものですね。
Related Article of this Post
-
- 2013.05.21 PLACES Toyokawa Inari, the Fox Gods of Success / 豊川稲荷
-
- 2013.05.21 FOOD Inarizushi, the Food of the Foxes / いなり寿司
-
- 2013.05.20 FOOD Konpeito, Japanese Sugar Candy / 金平糖(こんぺいとう)

Nagoya Butsudan (Home Buddhist Altar) Craftsman, Goto Katsumi Goto Katsumi is the third gener…More
Nagoya Yuzen, Traditional ArtisanMitsuhisa Horibe Mr.Mitsuhisa Horibe was born in Nagoya in…More
Samurai Signatures, Kao (花押) Samurai Signatures, Kao (花押) Kao (花押) were stylised identification sig…More
Ninja didn’t wear black! Ninja didn’t wear black! Despite the popular image of the black clothed and…More
Samurai File; Shimazu Tadahisa Samurai File; Shimazu Tadahisa (??-August 1, 1227) Shimazu Tadahisa,…More
Book; Shogun / James Clavell In Osaka castle in the autumn of 1598, the great Japanese leader Toyo…More
The 47 Ronin Story / John Allyn In late 2013, Hollywood released its re-imagined version of the clas…More
BOOK REVIEW; Japonius TyrannusThe Japanese Warlord, Oda Nobunaga reconsidered. This is a brilliant b…More