New Year’s is Japan’s biggest and longest holiday. People take Dec. 29 to Jan. 3 off from work to celebrate the first three days of the year praying at temples and shrines for the coming year.
Given that it’s made from sticky rice, just like the Japanese rice cake, and how similar the names are, it’s understandable to assume mochi and Okinawan muchi are the same.
The closure of the department store Okinawa Mitsukoshi in September 2014 was sad news to me, as it summed up the changes in the island’s shopping scene.
New Year’s is Japan’s biggest and longest holiday. People take Dec. 29 through Jan. 3 off from work to celebrate the first three days of the year praying at temples and shrines for the coming year.
Although there are many “good luck foods” for the new year in this world, the majority of locals in Okinawa have only one thing in their mind New Year’s Eve: Okinawa soba.
