Great time

Three friends of mine invited me to their mochi pounding, or rice-cake making party at their place. They live in an old cow barn, do farming, and take care of a horse for a traditional ceremony called Yabusame. (Boys get on horses and launch arrows at a target. People pray for their healthy growth.) They keep a sheep, a goat and a piggy. They said they would shear the sheep after the party. I went a bit early to help them organize the event. About 25 people came. Half of them were children. I knew most of them, so did they.

It took quite a long time to prepare everything but none of us was in a hurry. Everyone was enjoying the time and it was great. We made mochi, and ate it with different kids of toppings: the azuki bean paste, sesame seeds, natto, etc. The hosting friends made soup with bamboo shoots, wild plant called warabi and the wakame sea vegetable that I brought from home. It was all tasty :)

Sheep shearing took a while since none of us had the special shaving machine but Imaizumisan, a professional knife sharpener, had brought some of his old cissors and he was very good at cutting the sheep's hair so he was a great help.

The kids were running after the animals :) I played with the kids and it was so much fun :) They are so lovely!

I had a great time there.