The story of Bainbridge Island’s Mochi Tsuki festival starts in the Okano family’s dry cleaning business. It began when the Nakatas and the Okanos (two Japanese American Bainbridge Island families) ...

Long before Japanese Americans were taken from Bainbridge Island and interned during World War II, they celebrated the new year by making a sweet rice called mochi, a food believed to bring strength ...

HONOLULU (KHON2) — As the New Year approaches, some families in Hawaii take joy and pride in mochi pounding every New Year, also known as ‘Mochi Tsuki.’ Mochi pounding is a way to welcome the New Year ...

HILO (Island News)-- Mochi-tsuki is the art of mochi pounding. And for the New Year- at Hilo's Taishoji Soto Mission, first timers and others in the community were welcomed to partake in the annual ...