Rice cake pounding ceremony We had a rice pounding ceremony at the Japanese language school last Saturday. We pounded steamed glutinous rice (mochigome) in a large mortar (usu) with mallet (kinu) to make mochi. It is called “mochitsuki” and one of Japanese traditional ceremonies that take place around the new year. Students looked they were enjoying pounding rice and eating rice cake. It’s been more than a year since I ate a rice cake last time. The rice cake just pounded was soft and so delicious.