Mochi (餅 - Rice Cake)

Today I did 餅つき (mochitsuki).

Mochitsuki is a traditional Japanese event that people make 餅 (mochi - rice cake) -- I explained about that just one year ago in the following entry.
http://lang-8.com/kanotown/journals/76091474305243240897493045035997627438

Today, I'd like to talk about one accepted theory about the reason why Japanese people eat mochi on New Year holidays.

The theory says that it comes from 歯固めの儀 (hagatame no gi - teeth hardening ritual), which was held during the Heian period.

In this ritual, people ate hard food from January 1st to 3rd in order to make their teeth strong, while wishing for longevity and health.

Here mochi were used as hard food.

餅

私は今日、餅つきをしました。

餅つきとは餅を作る日本の伝統行事のことで、そのことについてはちょうど一年前の以下の投稿で説明しています。

今日は、日本で正月に餅を食べるようになった理由について、1つの有力な説を紹介しようと思います。

それは、平安時代に行われた「歯固めの儀」に由来するというものです。

この儀式は、元日から三日まで硬いものを食べて歯を丈夫にし、長寿と健康を願います。

ここで「硬いもの」として「餅」が使われていたというわけです。

That's a good theory !

• Mochitsuki is a traditional Japanese event that people make 餅 (mochi - rice cake) -- I explained about that just one year ago in the following entry.
• Mochitsuki is a traditional Japanese event in wthichat people make 餅 (mochi - rice cake) -- I explained about that just one year ago in the following entry.

• Today, I'd like to talk about one accepted theory about the reason why Japanese people eat mochi on New Year holidays.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• The theory says that it comes from 歯固めの儀 (hagatame no gi - teeth hardening ritual), which was held during the Heian period.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• In this ritual, people ate hard food from January 1st to 3rd in order to make their teeth strong, while wishing for longevity and health.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Here mochi were used as hard food.
• Here mochi were used as hard food.

  I wouldn't call mochi "hard". Perhaps difficult to chew might be a better thing to say?