Close out 2020 and welcome 2021 with hope for prosperity, fortune and good health.

Mochi tsuki (moe–chee sue–key), or pounding rice to make mochi (rice cakes), is an important traditional event in preparation for the New Year. For over a millennium, making and eating the sweet rice treat mochi has been a celebrated New Year’s tradition in Japan, with generations of families and communities coming together to wish good health and prosperity for the new year.

For 31 years, BIJAC has brought this celebration to Bainbridge Island, inviting everyone, young and old, to bundle up in the crisp winter air and enjoy the tradition of mochi-making. The Japanese have traditionally believed that all material objects are imbued with spirits, and so by partaking of mochi–thought to symbolize the spirit of rice–they hoped themselves to gain the strength of these rice divinities. While we cannot gather together in person this year, there has never been a more important year to draw strength from mochi!

We invite you to celebrate Virtual Mochi Tsuki, Jan 2-31, 2021.

From the Okano’s dry cleaners to Woodward Middle School, experience over 30 years of Mochi Tsuki history.
Enjoy virtual mochi pounding with Master Shoichi.
Learn how to play the taiko drum like a pro.
Learn what a “tsuru” is and how to make one yourself.
And much more for kids and adults!

Akemashite Omedetou, Happy New Year!