{{Short description|Shinto ritual offering of alcohol}} {{Full citations needed|date=March 2023}}
[[File:Shinsen_002.jpg|thumb|271x271px|Sake offered on a ''sanbo'' altar]] ''{{ill|Omiki|ja|神酒}}'' {{Nihongo|2=お神酒}} is an offering of sake or other alcoholic drinks offered to gods in Japanese Shinto.<ref name="Bocking2005">{{cite book |author=Brian Bocking |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MWGQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT175 |title=A Popular Dictionary of Shinto |date=30 September 2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-79738-6 |page=175}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=字通|first=精選版 日本国語大辞典,デジタル大辞泉,普及版|title=神酒とは|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%A5%9E%E9%85%92-537696|access-date=2022-02-26|website=コトバンク|language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=神酒(おみき)とは何？ Weblio辞書|url=https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E7%A5%9E%E9%85%92|access-date=2022-02-26|website=www.weblio.jp}}</ref>
Sake is often consumed as part of Shinto purification rituals.<ref name="Kasulis2004">{{cite book |author=Thomas P. Kasulis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQPWNilhjPcC&pg=PT70 |title=Shinto |date=August 2004 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-6430-9 |page=70}}</ref> 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 {{Nihongo|2=お神酒}}. The first {{Nihongo|2=お|3=o}} is an honorific prefix. The second character {{Nihongo|2=神}} refers to ''kami'', a kind of spirit or deity in Japanese spirituality. This is normally read as ''kami'', but in certain compounds it is read as ''mi'', as we also see in the derivation of the word {{nihongo||巫女|miko|"shrine maiden"}}. The third character {{Nihongo|2=酒}} is read as ''sake'' 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.<ref name="DJR">Daijirin</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=March 2023}}<ref name="DJS">Daijisen</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=March 2023}}<ref name="KDJ">Kokugo Dai Jiten</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=March 2023}} There is a word {{Nihongo||くし|kushi}} in the {{lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} of 712, spelled using this same kanji {{lang|ja|酒}}, connected to the word {{Nihongo||奇し|kushi|"mystical"}} in reference to the effects of sake.<ref name="KDJ"/>
== Overview == Sake is an essential part of ''shinsen'', and is offered to the gods during rituals.<ref>{{Cite book |author=國學院大學日本文化研究所 |title=日本の食とこころ - そのルーツと行方 |publisher=慶友社 |year=2003 |isbn=4-87449-233-9 |ref=国学院}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |author=沼部春友|author2= 茂木貞純|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/705869854 |title=新神社祭式行事作法教本 |date=2011 |publisher=戎光祥出版 |isbn=978-4-86403-033-5 |pages=260–266 |language=Japanese |trans-title=Shinjinja Matsuri Style Practice Manual |oclc=705869854}}</ref> Some shrines also serve sake after ''ninenmairi.''
Some breweries produce sake specifically to be put on ''kamidana.''
== Types and brewing methods == There are many different types of sake, such as {{Nihongo|white sake|白酒|shiroki}}, {{Nihongo|black sake|黒酒|kuroki}}, {{Nihongo|clear sake|清酒|sumizake}}, and {{Nihongo|cloudy sake|濁酒|nigorizake}}, and many different brewing methods. The "{{Nihongo|ki|酒}}" of {{Nihongo|White Sake|白酒|Shiroki}} and {{Nihongo|black sake|黒酒|Kuroki}} is the ancient name of sake, and is also written as {{Nihongo|white sake|白貴|shiroki}} and {{Nihongo|black sake|黒貴|kuroki}}. Black sake is also called {{Nihongo|2=黒御酒|3=kuromiki}}.<ref>{{Cite web|last=日本国語大辞典|first=精選版|title=黒御酒とは|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%BB%92%E5%BE%A1%E9%85%92-253648|access-date=2022-02-26|website=コトバンク|language=ja}}</ref><ref name="Bocking2005" />
The origin of amazake dates back to the Kofun period, and there is a description in "Nihon Shoki" about Amazake, which is said to be the origin of amazake.<ref>{{Cite web|title=甘酒｜森永製菓|url=https://www.morinaga.co.jp/amazake/|access-date=2022-02-26|website=www.morinaga.co.jp|language=ja}}</ref>
According to the ''Engi-shiki'', 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'' roots to white sake and coloring it black.<ref>''Engishiki (''延喜式)</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=March 2023}}
Today, a combination of clear sake and cloudy sake (''nigori'') is often used as a substitute for white and black sake. In the past, sacred sake was home-brewed by Shinto shrines and their parishioners.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} Nowadays, however, due to restrictions in the Liquor Tax Law, Ise Grand Shrines are required to obtain a license to brew sake and nigori from the tax office. Ise Grand Shrine, which has a license to brew sake and a permit from the tax office to brew doburoku.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}
In Japan, it has been customary since ancient times to make doburoku and offer it to the gods to pray for a good harvest in the coming year, and even today, more than 40 shrines hold Doburoku Matsuri, etc.<ref name="SakeNo09">{{Cite web|title=酒類総合研究所情報誌「お酒のはなし」第9号|url=https://www.nrib.go.jp/sake/pdf/SakeNo09.pdf|publisher=酒類総合研究所|accessdate=2019-01-21|archive-date=2018-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304090922/http://www.nrib.go.jp/sake/pdf/SakeNo09.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> As a rule, it is forbidden to take doburoku out of the premises of a Shinto shrine.<ref name="SakeNo09" />
In Kumamoto Prefecture, the Katō Shrine next to Kumamoto Castle in Kumamoto City uses the local tradition of Akumochizake as its sacred wine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=連載総集編 酒おもしろ小話@ |url=https://www-1ness-net.translate.goog/rensai/sake_01.html?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=op,sc|trans-title=Series Summary: Interesting Tales about Alcohol |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=www-1ness-net.translate.goog}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=June 2022|reason=In reading it the source looks like it's saying this roughly but I don't understand it enough to be sure}}
== Omiki other than Japanese sake == At Dazaifu Tenmangū in Dazaifu City, Fukuoka, ''umeshu'' produced by Nikka Whisky Distilling's Moji factory is used as a sacred wine in honor of the legend of Tobi Ume.<ref>ニッカウヰスキー（旧協和発酵→アサヒ協和酒類製造）門司工場製。梅の実は境内で収穫し御祓いを受けたものを使い、これを焼酎のラインで梅酒として製造する。</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=March 2023}}
In areas where grape cultivation is popular, wine is dedicated as a sacred wine at the Ichinomiya Asama Shrine in Yamanashi Prefecture, Fuefuki City, and Osaka Prefecture,<ref>{{Cite web|last=淺間神社|date=2016-10-04|title=甲斐国一宮 浅間神社: 山梨県立博物館企画展に浅間神社の奉納ワイン棚が登場します！|url=https://asama-jinja.blogspot.com/2016/10/blog-post.html|access-date=2021-12-01|website=甲斐国一宮 浅間神社|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021080204/https://asama-jinja.blogspot.com/2016/10/blog-post.html|archive-date=2020-10-21}}</ref> and red wine is served as a sacred wine on the third day of the New Year at the {{Interlanguage link|link=Honda Hachiman Shrine|prefix=ja|foreign=誉田八幡宮|Konda Hachimangu|ja|誉田八幡宮}} in Habikino City. At the shrine, it is called {{Nihongo||日の丸神酒|hinomaru miki}} because the red wine pooled on a white plate appears similar to the Japanese flag.<ref>{{Cite web|author=|date=2019-01-02|title=誉田八幡宮の初詣で「日の丸神酒」を頂いて来ました。～羽曳野市 アクセス～|url=https://travel-minakawa.com/2019/01/02/hinomarumiki/|access-date=2022-02-26|website=南河内に何がある？｜南河内の観光スポットを紹介|language=ja}}</ref>
== Others == There is a theory that the custom of offering white sake at Hina Matsuri was created in the Edo period (1603-1867).{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}
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 storytelling. The ornaments made of split bamboo and are inserted into the sake tokuri are called mikiguchi.<ref>[http://www.komakino.jp/tugaru/mikiguti.html 神酒口]{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} つがる工芸店（2018年1月22日閲覧）</ref>
In Okinawa Prefecture, which is part of the former Ryukyu Kingdom, 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. It is made by adding sugar to crushed rice and fermenting it naturally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=「ミキ」を徹底研究してみた。→奥深さの沼にはまった。 「てみた。」１６ |url=https://ryukyushimpo.jp/style/article/entry-598076.html |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=琉球新報Style |date=22 October 2017 |language=ja}}</ref>
== See also == * Akumochizake - believed to be the original black liquor * Amazake * Doburoku Matsuri
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105530/http://www.stellar.meon.ne.jp/~kusunokichoshokokai/seinen/okazaki/okazakihatimannguu.htm Okazaki Hachimangu Shrine, Kusunoki-cho Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yamaguchi Prefecture: a rare shrine for Shiroki (white sake) in Japan] - Wayback Machine (archived March 4, 2016)
{{Shinto shrine}}
Category:Sake Category:Shinto Category:Pages with unreviewed translations Category:Libation Category:Shinto festivals Category:Religion and alcohol