Welcoming the New Year is the major celebration in the Japanese community: a time of special foods rich with symbolic meaning and gathering with family and friends. Mochi is a sticky rice cake that symbolizes starting the New Year with a full belly in hopes of abundance in the year ahead. Visitors to Mochitsuki 2011 will see steamed rice pounded into mochi with huge mallets and taste samples made from the humming electric machines popular in Japan today. Portland’s Japanese American community welcomes everyone to join in a seasonal feast for the senses on Sunday, January 30th at the Scottish Rite Center in Portland. The 15th annual Mochitsuki is expanding its offerings and enriching the experiences for all ages.
Three different stage shows will showcase a range from classical Japanese dance to hip-hop and J-pop. Koto musician Mitsuki Dazai may play a traditional instrument, but she plays original and contemporary compositions with great energy and artistry. The Minidoka Swing Band has captured hearts with multi-generational musicians playing music popular in the Japanese concentration camps of WW II. Portlanders will be mesmerized by the acrobatic and juggling feats of Nanda, an up and coming group from Port Townsend, WA. San Francisco storyteller Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo weaves enchanting tales from the Year of the Rabbit, and Portland Taiko’s drums epitomize the energy and celebration of the event.
New activities are designed to help visitors experience New Year’s traditions in a memorable way. They can create the bamboo and pine flower arrangement typical for the season, or make a quick and delicious version of mochi in the microwave. Children can make a cute bento box lunch themed for the Year of the Rabbit. Visitors can sample ozoni, New Year’s soup with a rice cake or taste locally made sake, a rice wine, or green tea in a tea ceremony. In the Asian zodiac, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. For this year’s Mochitsuki Celebration, the theme is particularly meaningful because in Japan, the shadows on the moon are said to depict a rabbit pounding mochi. Everyone is invited to see mochi being pounded, and then check the moon to be reminded of good luck for the year ahead.
Mochitsuki 2011 is the collective effort of over two dozen community groups, led by Portland Taiko, Oregon Nikkei Endowment, the Japanese American Citizen’s League and Konko Church, and supported by the Japanese Ancestral Society and the Consulate General of Japan.
Tickets are available at boxofficetickets.com (800 494-8497), at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, 121 NW Second Avenue in Old Town, (503) 224-1458 and Lyrik Cafe, 2035 SE 39th Avenue at Lincoln, Portland. Details at http://www.mochipdx.com, www.facebook.com/mochipdx, twitter.com/mochitsuki
