The cakes, known as mochi, are cute round buns made of soft and chewy rice. The rice is first steamed and then pounded and mashed. Mochi-pounding at a shrine in Tokyo The resulting sticky rice ...

This year, during the final event, family members and friends wore T-shirts saying “mochi memories” and placed a lei-framed photo of Carolyn Fujita on a table next to a plate of mochi.