3rd Grade New Year’s Celebration
||| New Year’s Day (January 1) is a major celebration in Japan. Throughout the country, people make and eat mochi (rounded cakes made from pounded rice) on New Year’s Day, symbolizing health and longevity for the coming year. Ms. Sakai grew up with the tradition of pounding mochi following historic methods (an art that is being lost!) and brought this tradition to her 3rd Grade class. A small group of volunteers supported the preparation process that dates back to ancient times and the whole school got to enjoy the delicious fruits of their labors!