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Tonight my family's getting together to pound mochi [sweet sticky rice dessert] to eat on January 1st.
In recent times I've noticed that the younger kids don't really care about this tradition anymore. When I was a kid we'd all sit around and wait our turn around the big stone bowl. We all looked forward to our turn with the sledgehammer. It doesn't help that stores put prepared mochi on sale. It's just not the same!
The pounding of the mochi for the New Year is an old Japanese tradition that my family has followed since I can remember. The mochi itself is a symbol of health, happiness, luck, and prosperity for the upcoming year.
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