New Year's Celebration

To say that the Japanese love rice is an understatement. The foods made of rice are endless here: steamed, boiled, broiled, deep-fried, baked, sweetened, fermented into alcohol, candies, snacks, and so on. For New Years, the Japanese pound the rice into a substance that resembles playdough. The pounding is called mochitsuki. The pounded rice is called mochi. They put different toppings on it including sesame seed, sea weed, dried fish flakes, sweet beans with syrup, and more. Here are some pictures of Tommy’s school taking part in their annual mochi making festival.

All of the kids got to have a turn at pounding the rice into dough. The parents provided the real muscle in pounding the rice. Once the pounding was done we got to enjoy the rewards of everyone’s efforts. This activity is about as common as a Christmas party is back in the states. It definitely symbolizes the New Year season.