Making Mochi at Kohala Jodo

Today was the annual mochi making day at the Kohala Jodo Mission. There were 14 people present with about 10 of us actually working with the mochi. The mochi "pounding" is now done by machines; very few communities both here & in Japan still use the stone mortars & wooden pestles to make mochi. Not only is it a lot of work but it also takes skill to turn the rice mass in the mortar without getting hit by the pestles! Pounding with the pestle also takes skill since with each strike the rice mass is also kneaded up against the side of the mortar; a mistake could break the stone mortar. Usually 3 men are pounding while a woman adds the water & turns the rice mass.

The steamed rice is now ready for kneading.

Almost pau with kneading.

There were 2 types of mochi that we made. The main reason was the kagami mochi, the rice cakes made as offerings placed on the grave sites & butsudan. Apparently we made about 100 of those; half were the larger bottom piece, topped with a smaller piece. We also made about 40 pieces of mochi filled with an & about a dozen pieces filled with peanut butter. 

(L to R) Fran, Billy, Joy, Glenn, Susan, Leslie, Joshua from New Zealand, & Trudy showing Joshua what to do.

(L to R) Trudy, Glenn, Susan, Leslie, Joshua, & his grandma Kathy.

Balls of an waiting to be wrapped up in mochi.

Joy & Glenn taking mochi out of machine, while Fran & Billy make an mochi & Joyce gets her apron on.

All the volunteers were given kagami mochi for their butsudan & an mochi for eating. We also ate some of the an mochi as a snack while there. 

Fresh made kagami mochi on our family butsudan.

The mochi making was followed by a potluck lunch; I forgot to take a photo of the potluck. Just know that, as usual, it was pretty tasty! During lunch, we learned more about Joshua. He & his family are visiting his grandparents Dan & Kathy who live in Kona. Dan was raised in Kohala & several of his family ancestors are buried at the Kohala Jodo Mission cemetery. Joshua just graduated from high school & will be enlisting in the New Zealand army next year; he & his family would visit Grandpa Dan & Grandma Kathy every 3 to 5 years & stay for about 3 weeks so he is familiar with life in Kohala but had never helped with mochi making. 

I usually get up at 6:30 am & usually take a photo of what the weather is like when I wake up. At certain times of the year, like now, I am waking up before the sun rises. Here is an example of what it looks like when I wake up versus when the sun rises.

Twenty-eight minutes before sunrise.

Sunrise!

The next episode at Kīlauea is still predicted to be between the 7th & the 14th.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Bria!