Mochi Pounding Party

Mochi (Japanese: 餅 is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time.

Japanese Mochi Pounding Party

Saturday, Jan 3 12:00p

at Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

Once essential to the New Year celebration, the practice of mochitsuki is now rare even in Japan, as busy people eat store-bought mochi rather than make their own. Come and celebrate the Japanese New Year with the music and dance of Kagami Kai, a San Francisco-based group dedicated to maintaining the Japanese tradition of mochi pounding. read more

Price: Free with museum admission

Age Suitability: All Ages

Tags: museum, kids, new years, fun

Once essential to the New Year celebration, the practice of mochitsuki is now rare even in Japan, as busy people eat store-bought mochi rather than make their own. Come and celebrate the Japanese New Year with the music and dance of Kagami Kai, a San Francisco-based group dedicated to maintaining the Japanese tradition of mochi pounding. Pound your own mochi, and decorate and write a New Year greeting to friends or family.

There are plenty of ways to spend time with family and friends, but have you ever made mochi together? Come on down to the museum for our novel festivity: mochitsuki, or mochi pounding, in which steamed glutinous rice is transformed into delectable soft, chewy cakes.

In Japan, mochi (sticky rice dumpling) is a tasty treat made to commemorate special occasions, most notably the New Year. The museum’s party will be led by Kagami Kai, a San Francisco-based group dedicated to maintaining the Japanese tradition of mochi pounding. To inspire the communal spirit associated with mochitsuki, people of all ages are encouraged to try their hand at swinging the wooden mallets that pound the wet rice paste and afterwards, taste the result of their hard work.

This lively event is an interactive performance, complete with music, dance, and costumes. Visitors can also create their own art (after the ceremony), shop in the museum store, refresh at Cafe Asia, stroll the museum’s collection galleries, and view the special exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.

The Process:

Oshogatsu (Japanese New Year; literally, new month) is the most important time of the year for most Japanese, a joyous period imbued with good feelings and nostalgia. Once essential to the New Year celebration, the practice of mochitsuki is now rare even in Japan, as busy people eat store-bought mochi rather than make their own. Traditionally, glutinous rice is washed and soaked overnight on the evening before the pounding.

The next morning the rice is steamed and placed in the usu (large mortar) where it is pounded with a kine (wooden mallet). Once the mass is soft and smooth, it is pulled into various sizes and shapes. It can be enjoyed a variety of ways: fresh, with different sauces, sweet stuffing, or seaweed. An offering to the kani (deity), called kagami-mochi, or okasane, is comprised of two mochi cakes usually placed on a sheet of pure white paper in the center of a wooden tray. Kagami-mochi at New Year is an auspicious gesture that signifies hope for a happy and bright year ahead.

San Francisco’s Kagami Kai was started nearly twenty years ago by Tetsu Takatani upon his arrival to the United States. Longing for the taste of fresh mochi, he decided to make his own equipment in hopes of preserving the mochitsuki custom and sharing it with the Bay Area community. Kagami Kai performs demonstrations locally throughout the year.