ACTIVITIES
Mochi(rice cake) making
Details
As traditions, ancient skills and masteries fade into the passage of time, there’s a place where they still live and breathe. Right here in Okuizumo. Mr. Wakuri, a local legend exudes a grandfatherly aura and keeps these traditions alive as he shares a lifetime of experience with the next generation.
Leave the hustle and bustle behind and become one with the local community and history as Mr. Wakuri guides you through Mochitsuki, a Japanese custom where you create mochi (Japanese rice cake) by pounding freshly cooked rice with a big wooden mallet in a big wooden mortar. This hands-on fun and stress-releasing experience ends with a gooey treat for you to enjoy. The locally grown Nita rice is perfect for making unforgettable delicacies. The freshly made mochi will open your eyes to textures that you didn’t know existed but you'll continue wanting forever. Don’t miss out on this exceptionally fun and tasty encounter.
Highlights
•Create freshly made super fast chewy mochi.
•Take the chance to do Mochitsuki with Mr. Wakuri at anytime of the year, even though it is normally only done as a new year's celebrations.
•Experience the increasingly rare but immensely fun traditional way of making mochi with a mallet and mortar; as most people these days are using a rice-cooker like mochi making machine.
Where to meet
Schedule
Join Mr. Wakuri and learn about how to make delicious and gooey mochi in the traditonal Japanese way.
•Step 1: listen to an introduction and learn the flow of the day’s activity and about the history of Mochitsuki.
•Step 2: collect and deposit the cooked rice in a large mortar and then pound with a mallet until the rice is gorgeously gooey and sticky.
•Step 3: pull off pieces of mochi the size of your hand for the perfect sized treat and eat it with sweet and nutty kinako (roasted soybean flower) or in zenzai (sweet red bean soup).
What's included
Mochi making experience (35 hand sized mochi will be made at the end) -if you don't eat them all, you can take it home.
Min/Max Number of participant
Min 2/ Max 30
Duration
2 hours
Time
Pick a starting time between 11:00~17:00
Price (tax incl.)
•1 Guest ¥7,680
•2 Guests ¥7,920
•3 Guests ¥8,160
•4 Guests ¥8,400
•5 Guests ¥8,640
Cancellation policy
* Must be made 8 full days prior to 12:00 AM (JST), the day of your scheduled tour. For example, if your tour is scheduled for Friday, cancel before Friday of the previous week for a full refund minus a 5% transaction fee.
If you cancel within 7 days, our cancellation charges (incl.5% transaction fee) are as follows:
•4-7 days prior:15%
•3 days prior:25%
•2 days prior:35%
•The day prior:55%
•On the day :100%
•No show:100%
Other
Free for under 3yo
Between 11:00-17:00, 120mins
One batch of the rice allows you to make about 35 pieces of hand sized mochi.