２月19日、江戸時代に北越雪譜（ほくえつせっぷ）という本を書いた鈴木牧之（すずきぼくし）をしのんで、南魚沼市の塩沢地域にある「牧之通り」（ぼくしどおり）に近い鈴木牧之記念館の前の「ふれあい広場」で、第27回「雪譜（せっぷ）まつり」が行われました。
Luckily, it was a sunny day.
運良く、晴れの日でした。
About 500 candles were lit.
約500本のろうそくに火が点けられます。
In the "mochi maki" (rice cake scattering) session, I got a total of 12 mochi!
餅まきでは、餅を全部で12個取りました。
Note that in mochi maki, round mochi, not rectangular ones, are usually scattered.
餅まきでは、普通、角餅ではなく丸餅がばらまかれます。
I bought four "Hanjuku Cheese" from Aoki Shoten.
青木商店の「半熟チーズ」を４つ買いました。
A favorite of my son's.
息子の好物です。
6 comments:
もちの中に何ですか。あずき？半熟チーズはreal dairy cheese ですか。
okasan: The mochi scattered in a mochi maki event do not contain any filling. "Hanjuku cheese cake" (and "hanjuku cheese" for short) is a relatively new type of cheese cake. It's neither "rare" (unbaked) nor baked cheese cake, but is somewhere in-between.
わかりました。 Thanks for the explanation. I thought the hanjuku chi-zu is a piece of cheese, over here we eat with crackers. 半熟チーズは美味しいそうね。
Do people actually eat the mochi that they caught? The kids or you, must have fun catching them.
okasan: Yes, hanjuku cheese cake is delicious! You should try some when you come to Japan!
And, yes, we eat them. Mochi maki is a lot of fun, but can suddenly make people act like hyenas...
"but can suddenly make people act like hyenas..."
a fine natural reaction when a crowd of people gets together for some bargain hunting. The undie truely makes the only difference between stoneage and nowadays. Come visit the carnival in Köln http://www.koelnerkarneval1.de/fastelovend-op-englisch.html
and try to catch some candies or toys!!! You will need lots of ellbowgrease :-).
What will you do with your mochis? Anything special in mind?
I am still collecting recipes for the upcoming Hanami with my friends of the japanese language club.
kiki: Thanks for the link.
"...since time immemorial"
That's quite impressive!
Before the mochi maki session for adults at 20:40, there were two others for children at 15:00 and 20:25, where not only mochi but also candies were scattered. My daughter and her friend told me they could get none! Separate sessions for adults and children mean that mochi maki is potentially dangerous! You will see how dangerous it can be from this tragic accident:
On January 1, 1956, 124 people were trampled to death in the mochi maki held in Yahiko Shrine in Niigata.
I gave five of the twelve mochi to my daughter's friend, and my wife and children had five with kinako (soybean powder) + sugar and anko (azuki bean paste). The last two went to udon suki last night, and were eaten by my children.
One caution on the mochi you get in a "topping out" (completion of the framework) ceremony:
These mochi should never be "grilled" but boiled in a pot (or heated in a microwave). Superstition has it that if you "grill" ("yaku" (burn) in Japanese) the mochi, the new house will be "burned" in a fire!
I'm looking forward to hearing from you about your hanami!
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