One of the earliest memories of my childhood in Kahului, Maui, is of mochi pounding, probably on one New Year’s Eve at the back of my mother’s fish market. I can still see Mrs. Sakane, who lived there in a small cottage rented rom my mother, turning over the cooked rice while her teenaged son … Continue reading Jonathan Okamura: Mochi Pounding Helps Japanese In Hawaii Maintain Their Ethnic Identity