Mochitsuki (Making Pounded Rice)

Today was a special Sunday at our Church where all the children were prayed for individually by the pastor during the service. Afterwards, we had a celebration with the kids which included making Japanese style cotton candy "wata ame" and ....



... also participating in "Mochitsuki" (making pounded rice). It takes quite a lot of effort, and you can see that several of us took turns using the big wooden mallets!






We then ate the "mochi" for lunch with various toppings - including daikon radish sauce and black sesame sauce. We also ate it dipped in soy sauce and sandwiched between two pieces of "nori" (dried seaweed).



Ahh, nothing like a plate full of "mochi" served with "tsukemono" (Japanese pickles).