Mochi making in Matsuyama

Recently I got to go to Japan for a culinary exchange with the local TAFE in Townsville and the Matsuyama culinary arts collage. While i was attending classes my Australian peers and me were invited to a ceremony called mochitsuki. At this traditional ceremony we made Mochi. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and moulded into shape. We also learned while also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year, boiled in a broth making a thick and gloopie soup and is commonly sold and eaten during that time.

(OOPS) While pounding the rice i broke the kine (traditional wooden hammer). I was very embarrassed but Japanese are very polite and didnt make me feel bad.

Well when i got back to Australia i tried making my own mochi and was successful. Although my pounding equipment was quite smaller i got alot of mochi balls out of it. 

ps. I ive made mochi again since then and its a lot easier to put the rice in to a mixer with a dough hook attached and let it do all the work. The end product is a lot softer and its much quicker.