Mochi Festival!

I know, I know, I keep telling lies.  I am a liar.  First, in August, I stated that my next post would be about Kyoto, but I didn’t write about it until almost October!  Next, I keep saying that I will post pictures of my Japanese house and I still haven’t gotten around to it (truth be told, I need to tidy the place, first!)  Also, I write about how it hasn’t snowed in Tarui, and then in the same post I declare that it’s snowing and post pictures of the snowy mountains (in my defense, it snowed as I was typing up that post).  And now, in my most recent post, I wished everyone a Happy Holiday and stated that I would not being writing in this blog again until the year 2012, and here I am, writing yet another post.  What can I say?  I’m one big, fat liar.  Bah humbug!!  (What am I saying?!  I like Christmas!  Forget the “bah humbug” part.)

So what is this post about now?  (I guess it had better be important, because it’s making a liar out of me…again.)  Well, it’s about Christmas in Japan…sort of. 

You see, as I have already mentioned, New Years is a probably the biggest and most important holiday in Japan.  In fact, Christmas isn’t that big of a deal.  It’s celebrated more like Valentine’s Day than Christmas.  It’s a romantic holiday, so couples celebrate it by going on dates or giving each other special, romantic gifts, etc.  In fact, Christmas isn’t really celebrated by the children here.  So in the last post, I may have posted pictures and information about Christmas in Japan.  But today I am going to write about Japanese New Years.  I am also going to write about the Mochi Festival/Gathering that I was invited to last Saturday because this is the event where I learnt a little bit more about Japanese New Years, which I’m grateful for since I won’t be here for Japan’s “ichiban” (number one) holiday.  I’ll be in Banff, Canada!

First, I was invited back to the Hachisu Children’s Center.  This is the same Preschool that invited me to the Halloween party I went to last October (please check out my Halloween blog that I posted in October and check out my Rira Kuma (Lila Bear) costume.  Sadly, I didn’t wear my costume last Saturday.)

First, my transportation was provided by the preschool.  A school bus picked me up, and I was surprised to learn that I was the only person that was going to be picked up that day!  Talk about being spoiled!  Also, this had to be the cutest bus I have ever seen!!  This bus was definitely made for small children!  (And big, clumsy English Teachers from Canada!)  I have to admit, the seats were a bit snug…time to exercise more in the New Year!

So here is the Hachisu Children’s Centre.  

The children, parents, and teachers gathered in front of the center.  We began our event at 9:30am.  The Mochi was already being steamed outside, but I’ll get to that later.

The director and teachers told audience of kids and parents about the different traditions of New Years and what families do over the holidays.  I guess making Mochi is important for the holiday, and that was what was being made that day.  The English translation of Mochi is “rice cake.”  You see, you basically pound a special kind of rice with a hammer after it’s been steamed, and then it forms a doughy like substance that is prepared and then eaten.  I’ve had it sweet, but at this event we all had this Mochi in a soup.  As you probably can guess if you know me, I like it better sweet.  But it was also delicious in a soup broth as well.

Anyways, I’m getting ahead of myself.  The children also practiced their “Mochi Song” and their “Mochi English Chant.”  It was really cute!  Here are some pictures of the students:

So it was explained that every year at New Years, every family does a huge clean of the house (I understood it to be like our version of Spring cleaning) and then they decorate the house with various decorations, like the one shown here:

Then they eat a special kind of small cake that, again, is made out of rice.

Also, instead of giving gifts, family members give money to each other for this holiday.  This kind of reminded me of Chinese New Year and how money is given to the younger family members in special red envelopes.  New Years holiday lasts for three days in Japan.

Now let’s talk about how the Mochi was made that day!  First, let me show you two pictures of rice.  The first photo is a picture of normal rice that is used for everyday meals, and the second picture is a photo of Mochi rice.  Can you tell the difference?

Ordinary rice.

Mochi rice.

First, it was steamed outside like this:

When it was almost ready, some people picked up this huge marble bowl and brought it to the middle of the yard.  It looked really heavy to carry. 

Next, the steamed rice was put into the bowl.  It was almost time to pound the Mochi!!

Next, two gentlemen took turns hitting the rice!  Meanwhile, the kids sang together and chanted!

Mochi Chant:

Pound the mochi, Daddy!

Pound, Split, Splat!

Raise the hammer, bring it down,

Pound the mochi flat!

The students and I even had a turn at whacking the mochi. 

There was an older lady who would put water on her hands and mix and knead the dough once in awhile.  Keep in mind that it had snowed the day before and we were outside…her hands must have been freezing!!

Next, a few people tore the dough into smaller pieces and floured it.  They laid it down on a sheet. 

Now I didn’t see what happened to the Mochi after that, so I’m assuming it was cooked in some way.  Perhaps steamed or baked?  But if had to make my best hypothesis, I think the Mochi was put directly into the hot soup to cook.  I mean, it was doughy in consistency, but it’s not “raw” like bread dough or cookie dough.  Here is a picture of my bowl of soup with the Mochi in it:

While the Mochi was being made, students made crafts like kites and spinning tops.  (I think that these are important “toys” for children during the New Years holidays.)  Here are some pictures of the top I made and my kite:

Here are some pictures of the children working on their crafts and playing:

The children were also playing a traditional Japanese racquet game.  The racquets were made out of wood and the object that they were hitting reminded me of a miniature version of a badminton bird.  It was difficult to play outside because it was really windy that day.

Here are the two volunteer Junior High students that “helped” me for part of the morning:

(And by helped, I mean kept me company while I practiced my Japanese on them and they practiced their English on me…their English was much stronger!  Unfortunately they had to leave for their Saturday club activity at school so I only saw them for about an hour.)

There was even a tea ceremony for the parents and me.  The children were the ones who served the tea and sweets!  It was adorable!

We had our tea ceremony in a 600 year old temple.  Here are pictures of the temple:

The kids did great!  No one spilled anything and nobody stepped on the black stripe.  Well done, everyone!

Did I mention that this temple was on the preschool premise?  The director told me that sometimes the students would have their naptime inside of the temple.  She told me they slept well in the temple because it’s really quiet in there during the daytime.

Another tradition for New Years is that the temple bell is rung 108 times and on the 31^st everyone eats sobe noodles because the noodles symbolize long life.  I don't have any pictures of the noodles, but here are some pictures of the temple bell:

Did I mention that Baskins Robins Ice Cream has 31 flavors of ice cream, and so it always has a 31% off sale every 31^st day of the month?  Yes, I only learn about the important dates and “holidays” that are celebrated in Japan!!

After lunch, it was time to leave.  I was stampeded by a huge group of students as I left the temple.

I was able to get a group photo with all of them.  They were all really cute!

As my bus drove away, the students tried to run after the bus, waving their hands in the air the whole time.  They were really cute!  I was sad to leave.  It’s too bad I don’t have more opportunities to work at more elementary schools or preschools. 

Now before I end this post, I took a couple of interesting pictures over the weekend.  (At least as a Canadian, I found them interesting.)  For instance, I walked by a Dentist’s office that had a eucalyptus plant growing outside of the office.  Eucalyptus!  Wow!  I’ve only seen this plant dried in the craft stores I go to in Canada or as an essential oil for my diffuser!  I’ve never seen it alive, growing!  Neat!

Also, at the local McDonalds drive though, I think there were a couple of cars waiting to take their order.  A couple of people were waiting?!   GASP!  Japanese customer service has high standards!  We can’t have people waiting!!  So two of the employees went outside in the cold to take the orders of both customers at the same time.  (Again, keep in mind that it had snowed just the day before, so this was a cold day for the citizens of Tarui.)  Now that’s service!

Hey, look!  Cherries in December!  Nice.

Finally, here is a picture I took today after class was finished.  (Keep in mind that class was over and we were in middle of a class change.)

I wish my camera was a bit quicker, because the boy beside the sleeping student (the one just lifting his head) was also sleeping.  He was using his sleeping friend as a pillow!  Just as I pushed the button on my camera, he raised his head.  It was a really funny sight!

The reason why I’m showing you this picture is not to get the student in trouble, (remember, class was over at this moment and the students had a ten minute break), but because that student feels exactly like I do.  In fact, I think everyone feels the same way.  Today I asked a teacher what he was doing over the holidays and he said that he was going to sleep.  I laughed.  He didn’t laugh.  He added that he liked to sleep.  I’m not joking.  Without laughing or smiling, he said seriously, “I like sleeping.”

I think it’s time for winter holiday for both the teachers and students.  In fact, we all need a break.  We all need time to relax and, well…sleep!  Soon all of us will have a much-needed Christmas break, even if it’s only for a day. 

And just think, only a few more days, a long plane ride away, and I’ll be shoveling the driveway at home before you can say “…and to all a goodnight!”

So I think I will end this post here and again, I want to say that this will be my final blog for the year…but I don’t want to make any promises or I’ll be a liar again.  So I’ll just end with a simple, “See you later!” and “Happy Holidays!” and maybe, just maybe, I’ll see you in the New Year!