Mochitsuki 2024

After the Obon in July 2024, it was decided that two Temple zones (instead of just one) would come together to coordinate every major fundraiser and event. It took a lot of discussion and research, but the Temple Board ultimately devised a plan that would blend two compatible zones to chair the five major events (Chicken Teriyaki, Obon, Sangha Day, Keiro Kai, and Mochitsuki). By the time they determined which zones would work well together Sangha Day 2024 and Keiro Kai 2024 had already passed. This meant Mochitsuki 2024 would be the first fundraiser to try this two-zone collaboration. Zone 4 was slated to handle this event this year, and after due deliberation the temple board decided Zone 8 (our zone) would help out. All the other zones would be teamed up as well based on the number of members and leadership for all future events. While this year's Mochitsuki planning started out like all the others, there was one very exciting difference.

Early on, the Temple was contacted by a producer from CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley. Their plan was to film a story about mochitsuki and the cultural significance for people of Japanese ancestry at new year's. Since the temple's Mochitsuki Fundraiser was near the beginning of December, it would give CBS ample time to film, interview, and produce a piece to air around the new year. After some discussion it was decided CBS would arrive early on Sunday, Dec. 8th to set up and start filming (they filmed for about 7 hours). The reporter would arrive a little later on to interview different generations of volunteers to get a sense of what mochi at new year's meant to them. In the end, the reporter was truly blown away by what he saw. He said all of this could have been good enough for a documentary. When asked if he thought this would air, he responded, "100%, this will air nationally on Sunday, Dec. 29th at 7:00 am". This would seem to be an incredible opportunity to bring the Temple some well-deserved exposure, but it wouldn't stop there.

Saturday evening before rice steaming began on Sunday, Mochitsuki Chair Russ Nakano received a message from the temple's own Mike Inouye, morning traffic anchor for NBC Bay Area. He asked if it would be OK to do a live remote during all the activities between 7:00 am and 7:30 am. Everyone figured, why not? Let's get the word out for this event as much as we can. Sure enough, around 7:15, Mike went live from the Temple and explained the entire process of how the mochi is washed, steamed, ground, pounded, cut, shaped, cooled, and packaged. More importantly, he talked about the community and cultural aspects of this event and how generations of families participate every year.