Mochitsuki Station
Goshuin

We first brought mochitsuki (rice cake pounding) to the Davis Cherry Blossom Festival through the artifact loan program of the Office of the Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco. The Consulate helps support the programming of Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, a festival that has been hosted since 1968 following the resettlement of Japanese Americans to the Japantown in San Francisco after being incarcerated by the United States military during the war. Our Davis Cherry Blossom Festival draws inspiration from this long standing Nikkei tradition.

This year’s stone usu (mortar) is brand new to the Consulate’s inventory - you are the first event to get to break it in! The previous usu that we rented was made of wood.
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Mochi making will happen in the HOPYARD from 2pm to 4pm! 

For the last few years, a Sacramento-based mochi expert, Stan Umeda, ran our mochi demonstrations, though he retired from this work last year. As Camp Survivors, Stan and his wife Christine are active members of the community and supporters of civil rights groups like the Japanese American Citizens League, where Stan was presented with a Leadership Award this year.

Stan Umeda teaching the process of mochitsuki.