A destructive, violent specter returned to terrorize the residents of Japan over the New Year’s holiday once again.
The specter is sticky rice cakes, a traditional New Year’s treat across the East Asian country. (Think something like turkey at Thanksgiving in the United States.)
At least nine people choked to death as they rang in 2015 with rice cakes, The Japan Times reports.
Over 120 other people had to be rushed to hospitals across Japan this year after trying but failing to eat the delicious treats, called “mochi.”
The gluey, starchy, ultra-thick, pounded-rice concoctions — typically grilled or cooked with sweat beans or in broth — have a tendency to get stuck in people’s throats which, obviously, can cause serious breathing problems.
Three of this year’s mochi victims suffered their fate in Tokyo. The other six lived in Chiba, Osaka, Aomori or Nagasaki.
Here is what a traditional mochi rice cake in Japan looks like:
mochi rice cake: Flickr/Creative Commons/Kazuhisa OTSUBO
On New Year’s Day and the days surrounding it, Japanese people commonly visit temples and shrines. Vendors around the temples and shrines sell mochi, sake and other delicacies.
Much mochi is consumed.
At nine, the number of mochi choke victims has been particularly high this year. In 2014, four people died from eating the desserts. In 2013, two people died.
Victims are typically the elderly. Along with children, they have the most difficulty swallowing the pasty cakes.
Each year, Japanese government officials try to remind citizens to dice mochi into little mochi morsels before serving. They also advise consuming it slowly — especially when old people and children will be eating the rice cakes.
Government officials say that no one should eat mochi alone as well, The Guardian notes.
When people inevitably get mochi stuck in their throats anyway, prevalent methods for dealing with the problem include the Heimlich maneuver and the universal whack on the back.
A firm in Osaka has announced that it has developed a newfangled mochi which contains an enzyme making the stuff easier to swallow.
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