This is mochi, or rice cake, formed into a round shape to represent a mirror (kagami), one of the three sacred treasures, and displayed at New Year as an offering to the New Year gods (toshigami).

Japan's “Oshogatsu “ or "Shogatsu," or New Year's celebrations, are deeply rooted in custom and have great cultural value. Beginning on January 1st and often continuing into the first few days ...

Pounded rice cake called mochi plays a central role in Japanese seasonal festivals like New Year. This sticky treat is also an ingredient in a variety of traditional sweets and recipes. Mochi, or ...

During the Japanese New Year celebration, arguably the most important holiday in the country, mochi takes on a sacred role. Named kagami mochi, this variety is displayed from around December 28 to ...

Japanese New Year celebrations are quite different from Western ones ... There’s also an offering to the gods called "kagami mochi," two round rice cakes stacked one on top of the other and topped ...

looks forward to the brothy soup bobbing with mochi pieces every year. Ozoni is standard New Year’s Day fare for many Japanese Americans, whether they are nisei, the children of Japanese ...

Mochi is a staple of the Japanese New Year's holiday menu and is often eaten in a savory soup called ozoni. Emily Anderson, a curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles ...

Mochi is a staple of the Japanese New Year's holiday menu. But the glutinous cakes, grilled or cooked in broth or with sweet beans, can easily get stuck in people's throats, blocking breathing.

Shogatsu, the term for the New Year's holidays in Japanese, is a time when people take the first three days of the New Year off to relax with their families and engage in traditional activities to ...