So What's a Mochi Nage?
In Japan rice is a staple food which is eaten by many three times a day. According to traditional Japanese thought it is believed that within each grain of rice lives seven gods. Wasting even one grain of rice in Japan can be considered both impolite and wasteful. Only once did I leave uneaten rice in my bowl, about three grains, but after being questioned by an eight year old student as to why I didn’t finish my rice I made a conscious decision that it would never happen again.
Rice has been incorporated into various customs and traditions throughout Japan's history and today these customs continue to play an important role in lives of the Japanese. I recently had the opportunity to experience one of these customs, a mochi nage. Mochi is Japanese for rice cake, a food made by pounding rice into paste and then rolling the paste into round balls. The word “nage” is Japanese for throw.
When building a house in Japan it is customary for both construction workers and also the father of the house being built to climb to the roof and throw mochi down to the neighbors. Because mochi is sticky and long it represents longevity. No one wants their house to fall down after it’s been built so rice cakes are thrown in hopes that the newly built house will remain standing for as long as possible. Being on the roof is symbolic of the rice falling from the heavens as rice is essentially a gift of the gods.
Watching everyone from little kids to old grandmas and grandpas scurry around trying to get their hands on as many rice cakes as possible is truly a sight to see. The lucky ones have coins attached to their rice cakes, even more of an incentive to get excited. A friend of mine told me that the best way to collect rice cakes during the ceremony is to turn an opened umbrella upside down and let it do the work for you – I’ll be sure to try this out next time. Once the mochi has been thrown the beer and shochu have been poured the party begins. In a house with no doors and no walls everyone gathers together singing karaoke and enjoying one another’s company late into the evening. And that is a Japanese mochi nage!!
