most fun day ever!

Two things that I'm always a sucker for --yummy mochi and 70 really excited kindergarteners-- combined to make one of my favorite school events on memory so far.

Mochi-tsuki is (from what I can tell) a festive party where mochi is made in a traditional manner, involving a hollowed-into-a-bowl tree stump and wooden sledgehammer-esque whacking tool. The whole scene is amazingly fun to watch and I think that someone who wasn't even remotely interested in the final product would still enjoy the festivities. Fortunately, I think that mochi is just the most yum-delicious thing, so I was especially excited to stand around all morning munching on the fresh, warm samples being handed to me as they were made... this standing around was made even easier by the bajillions of little kids hugging my legs and all trying to hold my hand at the same time. Little kids wearing aprons and head scarfs mind you--so cute! They also begged me to teach them English as we waited our turns to whack the sticky rice, providing me with long lists of Japanese vocabulary to translate: ears, eyes, eyebrows, fingers, legs, shoes, sweater, bandana, fruits, vegetables, dirt, rice, blah blah blah. We tirelessly carried on all morning in the cold, holding hands, giggling about English and eating sweets. After the making and sampling was done, we moved inside for an all-out mochi eating feast! While I was running around with the kids, 50+ moms were inside making several varieties of mochi for us to eat at lunchtime, served with tea, mikan and more sweets. I think that this would be a great way to increase retention on the JET Program... have every ALT attend a mochi-tsuki party the week before recontracting decisions are due. Its a better dose of happiness and sunshine and Japan-love than anything else available in the cold Gunma winter.

it all starts with the steamed rice...
there were literally a million parents on hand, but the superstars of this production were the random grandparent-types who quietly ran the show... anyone can just whack at the wad of rice, but this grandma had the timing to stick her hands in there and knead/rotate the rice between hammer falls to ensure that everything was evenly mushed, she even knew how to maintain the perfect balance of water in the bowl to make sure that nothing stuck to the sides!
early in the going...
munchin-sized mochi hammers wielded by adorable kids, supported by other adorable kids shouting chants on the sidelines!

I won't lie...this guy freaked me out

yum! the moms at this station were making the azuki mochi (sweet red bean paste), the others include soy sauce and nori, daikon (Japan's big white, overgrown carrot-looking response to the 'raddish') and kinako (a sweet soybean flour that has the texture of cinnamon)
the end result! and it was soooo good. (note: only seconds after I took this picture the two year-old sitting next to me climbed halfway into my lap and picked up one of my mochi, took a bite, put it back down and climbed back into her chair... but she was really cute and I couldn't have cared in the least)








...and I'll be turning in my paperwork next week for another year of cute kids and Japan through the JET Program.