HILO, Hawaii (KHON2) — For many Japanese families, mochi pounding is a New Year’s tradition as it is meant to bring good fortune and longevity. One Hilo family has been doing it for a century.
More than 50 members of the Takeya family reunited in Hilo on Sunday, Dec. 29 to help with pounding, steaming rice and making mochi for the New Year.
According to the family, the tradition started in 1924 when Masao Takeya, the son of immigrants from Kumamoto, Japan, married Hatsumi Hiura, the daughter of immigrants from Hiroshima.
The pair moved into their Hamakua Coast home with their 12 children. The Takeyas then gathered with friends and family, usually the weekend after Christmas, to make sweet rice cakes with sticky rice.
Members would come together in the sugar plantations near Wailea and Hakalau to take place in the tradition that “is supposed to keep the family together.”
“Flipping the mochi is hard. The rice comes out real hot. Um, all about timing. Make sure you, your fingers don’t get smashed. And, um, the consistency of pounding the mochi to make it the nice smooth texture,” said Jodie Takeya, 4th generation mochi pounder.
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The tradition has been passed down seven generations.
Sunday’s 100th annual get-together brought members from Oahu, Maui, Washington state, Florida and Nevada.