Hawaii Tribune-Herald Island Beat Thursday, December 29, 2016 9 the firewood and dry it, those who set up the fires and steamer boxes, the official rice tester and the Goto sisters who have just the right touch to break off the mochi and shape it. And people such as Yoko Gussman, who has the challenging job of official turner of the mochi as it’s being pounded. “It’s all a masterful art,” Masuda says. Even some of the older festival volunteers are looking to pass on their knowledge to the next generation. Jun Ishimine and Yumi Tomono will learn how to do what the Goto sisters do this year. Kehaulani Lum will take over coordinating the hundreds of chicken hekka plate lunches that will be served and Carol Alina, Jeane Monnier and Deb Scrivens will make the mochi. Brad Kurokawa, another mochi pounding volunteer, says, “We really want this festival to continue so we are all pitching in to share the load.” Kurokawa has participated in the annual Wailea Village Mochi Pounding festival since he moved back to the Big Island from the mainland in 2005. “You sort of learn as you do it over the years,” he says, noting that he started out turning the hot mochi as it was being pounded, then graduated to doing the actual pounding itself. “You watch and observe because we want to make sure the product is good, but we also let everyone participate if they want to.” Kurokawa says he thinks mochi pounding is an important part of Japanese heritage. “It’s important to share this tradition and provide others the opportunity to learn about it and join in if they wish,” he says. “It’s not just for those of Japanese ancestry. Here in Hawaii, that’s the beauty of our multicultural makeup. So many different people coming to this event enriches people’s appreciation for the range of cultures we have. I find that really gratifying.” Derrick Izumo, a volunteer who brought his Boy Scout troop to the festival last year, will be joining the event this year to help with the mochi pounding. Izumo brings to the event a long history of family tradition. “Our family did mochi pounding every year for more than 30 years,” he says. “It was a tradition for us since I was 10 yeas old. My mom grew up in Pepeekeo and was one of 11 siblings. All my aunties, uncles and cousins would fly over once a year just to do our family’s mochi pounding.” However, two years ago, Izumo’s family stopped doing the annual events for the family since the aunties and uncles were getting older and hosting the event at someone’s house took a lot of work. So, Izumo, 50, is looking forward to helping and continuing to be a part of the tradition that was such a big part of his childhood. “Akiko has this enthusiasm about her that draws you to want to help out,” he says. “I’d like to be able to transfer my knowledge about mochi pounding to anyone that’s willing to learn. This event (in Wailea Village) is so interesting because you see all these visitors from all over, in addition to the locals. There were even visitors from Japan last year. And if you live in the city in Japan, they don’t pound mochi the way we do over here. These cultural things are getting lost even in Japan in some places.” Kurokawa agrees that this grassroots effort has continued for so long because of the passion Masuda has to bring the community together. “This is how it happens,” he says. “People kokua. They share the load because it’s a really fun event for the community. It’s educational and cultural and offers something for our community and beyond. It has become a part of people’s holiday rituals.” Masuda moved to the Big Island in 1991 and began talking with many from the older generation about the “old days.” “That’s when Grandpa Masaichi Chinen and his wife, Yukiko, told me about mochi pounding,” Masuda says. “So, I asked if we could do one so I could see what it was all about.” Twenty-three people attended the first event, pounded mochi, brought potluck dishes, ate lunch and talked story. “It brought the community together,” says Masuda, noting that, to this day, they use Chinen’s usu (stone mortar) at the annual Wailea event. “At this stage in my life, the festival is a celebration — an affirmation of a rich tradition from my Japanese ancestry,” she continues. “However, it is reinterpreted in a way that is Hawaiian or ‘of these islands’ as well. I believe the essence of Hawaii is diversification. We have so many people from different cultural backgrounds participating.” It’s a festival that was built very organically over the years, and she adds, “The main thing for me is I just want to see the tradition continue.” MOCHI From page 7 HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald Guests visit various booths during the 2015 annual Wailea Village Mochi Pounding Festival.
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