Centuries-old New Year’s tradition of mochi continues in Livingston

A centuries-old Japanese tradition brought to Merced County around the turn of the 20th century remains alive and well at United Methodist Church of Livingston.

Dozens of people turned out recently for the church’s annual mochi pounding event, which brought together several families descended from some of Livingston’s earliest Japanese immigrants, who came to Merced County more than 100 years ago.

Mochi is a traditional Japanese New Year’s dish created from dough that’s made out of rice. While mochi in Japan is typically created from a machine, in Livingston around New Year’s the food is still made by hand.

Making mochi by hand isn’t a simple process, and it takes several hours. The day before the event, organizers wash about 500 pounds of rice in bins. The rice is soaked overnight and then put into steamers. The rice is then put into a grinder, and the doughy mass is pounded in a stone bowl with wooden hammers. The hammers have plastic caps, to keep splinters from getting into the dough.

The dough’s then formed into individual balls and rolled, a process called “cutting.” Some of the individual pieces, called “ahn mochi,” have a paste made from sweet red beans inserted inside. Plain mochis can be eaten with a fish-flavored soup called ozooni or dipped in sugar and soy sauce or other dips.

Corn starch is used to make the mochi less sticky. The plain mochis are spread out on long tables to cool. Workers brush the corn starch off the mochi, and the pieces are packaged for sale.

According to a Japan Times article by columnist Makiko Itoh, written accounts from Japan’s Nara Period (710-794) indicate mochi was considered a sacred food. The first recorded accounts of mochi being used as part of the New Year’s festivities comes from Japan’s Heian period (794-1185), according to Itoh. To the nobles of the Imperial court, the long strands of fresh mochi were thought to symbolize long life, and the hardness of dried mochi was thought to make one’s teeth more durable.

Here in Merced County, the mochi tradition was brought to the Livingston area by Japanese immigrants who settled in the Yamato Colony, which was founded in 1907.

Livingston resident Sherman Kishi, 89, is among the remaining “Nisei,” children of the first generation of Japanese immigrants, who grew up in the Yamato Colony. Kishi said about 60 Japanese American families lived in the farming community years ago.

Kishi remembered making mochi during the 1930s. Back then, Kishi would go to a neighbor’s home before New Year’s Day every year to make mochi. “So it’s been going on for a long time,” Kishi said.

But World War II put the brakes temporarily on the mochi tradition locally. Events took an ugly turn locally and nationally, as Japanese Americans and the Yamato Colony families were discriminated against by the U.S. government. Japanese American families became targets of wartime hysteria, paranoia and racism. They were uprooted from their homes and daily lives, and sent to live in internment camps. Kishi was interned but volunteered to join the Army. He was sent to language school in the military intelligence service and was among the first U.S. troops to occupy Japan at the end of the war, serving as a translator-interpreter.

After the war, the mochi tradition was in hibernation for many years – until the children of the Yamato Colony asked to bring it back. Kishi remembers the mochi tradition returned by popular demand sometime around the 1970s. By the late 80s, early 90s, it once again was a regular annual tradition.

Aside from being a fundraiser for the church, Kishi and other participants say the tradition is a great way to bring the descendants of the original Yamato Colony families together. While some of those descendants still live in the area, others have moved to the Bay Area and elsewhere for jobs and other opportunities. “I think it’s a wonderful tradition. And those of us who like mochi, we like it very much.” Kishi said.

Younger members of the Japanese American community say they plan on keeping the mochi tradition going. Lindsey Soto, 24, a Livingston resident who is Sansei (third generation Japanese American) said she’s been making mochi since she was a child. She’s also been involved in every stage of making mochi, from washing the rice to pounding the dough with a wooden hammer.

“It’s a gathering. For people that don’t get to see each other often, this is a time to convene and just get to see everybody again,” she said.

“And it’s also fun. It gives the younger generation a chance to see what the older generation used to do. I hope we can keep this going in future years.”

Joann Wells, 67, born and raised in Livingston, has been participating the in Mochi tradition for 34 years. She invited family members from Oregon to come and check out the cultural tradition. “Everyone is welcome,” she said. “We can really get the most help over Christmas break because that’s when the young people come to visit their families.”

Kishi said organizers raised about $3,200 from Saturday’s event.

This story was originally published January 2, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Centuries-old New Year’s tradition of mochi continues in Livingston."