Mochi Pounding!

Guy and I went to a Japanese hosted event here on base called Mochi Pounding or mochitsuki.

They had people who translated names into kanji - in this picture she is writing the beginning of Ryan's name :)

I pounded mochi with a friend of mine. The mochi was super sticky and those wooden hammer things were really heavy! I'll try and upload a video later. Basically it's an annual Japanese tradition where rice is pounded into a paste (mochi) that is used to make rice cakes :)

Guy and I :)

Traditional Japanese dancers!

...and musicians!

They performed several dances.

The music was really neat.

Guy and I with the two female dancers :)