I recently visited Little Tokyo's oldest mochi shop, Fugetsudo. Third-generation owner Brian Kito showed us how to make suama, a multi-colored sweet made of mochi flour. I was impressed by his deft kneading skills, and when it came time for me to try my hand at it I realized I was all thumbs. =/
The 105-year old shop also makes traditional sweets like kuzu mochi,kuri manju, my most favorite ohagi, as well as modern creations like peanut butter mochi. Most cost no more than a dollar each!
Japan is a country where people throw rice cakes from a roof. An unfinished roof. Rice cakes, or mochi, symbolize longevity which is what you'd want in a home. Collapsing homes suck after all. This is why the construction workers of this particular project are throwing mochi at the neighborhood kids below. It's a blessing for the happy family that will soon take residence. "Please don't collapse!" they pray. Just for good measure, money is also thrown overboard. That's why you see little old ladies and grown men getting in on the action. Like me, they're saving up for an iPhone.
After I took this video I dove into the mosh pit, too. Though I only ended up with one measly mochi. Oh yeah, I'm currently in southern Japan right now, visiting relatives and friends. Just like in Los Angeles, I've been going around devouring tasty treats and discovering wondrous oddities.
This rice cake tossing tradition is something that, in all my years of traveling to Japan, I discovered just yesterday after a kindly neighbor came by to tell us about it. "Come! They're about to toss food and money off a roof!" Who'd think that generosity still existed in this world. In Los Angeles it'd be more like, "Run! There's a gunman spraying bullets from the roof!" Sigh... I'm gonna miss Japan.
