"Let's pass on the traditions to our children!" cheered the notice delivered to my doorstep. The black-and-white printed flyer informed the event details: "Mochi-making. Outside the Public Hall, Dec. 8, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m."
When I arrive at 8:25 a.m. on Sunday morning, the rice is already percolating away, threads of steam escaping from the sides of flat wooden boxes stacked three high and positioned over a small cauldron of boiling water.
The three island children are present, two of them running amok while their limp-limbed baby sister hangs from her father's child harness. Of the 20 or so bystanders, not all are islanders. Friends and family have come over to Shiraishi Island from the mainland to join in the festivities, including a few more children, which makes a total of six under the age of 12. An army of a dozen island wives outfitted in white aprons formed the "women's club," on hand to shape the mochi rice cakes.
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