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Visits to the Buddhist temple, traditional music, koto performances, karate demonstrations, mochi pounding. . . these are just some of the components of the New Year's celebration in Little Tokyo. For the second time, my family and I experienced this celebration. This year, the festivities were not attended as well due to inclimate weather, however, there was still a strong Japanese-American flair.
New Year's in Little Tokyo is a celebration of Japanese culture. There are exhibitions of varying Japanese customs and traditions. Multiple styles of marial arts are present, as are musical and cultural performances. There are ikebana (flower arranging), kite making, and origami, among others. Of course, my favorite part is mochi making. This is an important New Year's tradition amongst Japanese. Mochi is pounded sweet rice. Although in modern times, one can make instant mochi or machine-made mochi, there is nothing like traditionally pounded mochi for New Years. The rice mixture is pounded with a huge mallet, as onlookers give cries of encouragement - "yoisho." The pounding itself is exhausting as the mallet is quite heavy. My family and I were fortunate to be able to give it a try. My husband did some with my daughter, and I helped my 2 year old son. What fun!
Having had the opportunity to have New Year's in Japan, it is fun to participate in some of these traditions here in the states. Interesting, though, is how the Little Tokyo celebration lumps all of these Japanese customs and traditions into one day. In Japan, one would only participate in temple visits, special food, family visits, and mochi making. The rest would be experienced in different times.
If anyone would like a fun thing to do on New Year's Day next year, I would suggest Little Tokyo