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Naokichi Hashizume Collection (92.18.9)

Naokichi Hashizume Collection (92.18.9) [14 of 23] (Celebrating New Year's by making mochi (Hashizume_14))


Published: June 13, 2008 Modified: Feb. 11, 2025

Black and white silent amateur footage documenting life in Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, captured by Naokichi Hashizume in February 1945.

This segment shows the traditional mochitsuki ceremony; people stoke flames under a large outdoor wooden rice steamer; people use paddles to unload the steamed rice [dark]; people use traditional mallets (called kine) to pound the rice in a mortar (called an usu) into a paste [dark]; women shape the pounded rice paste into cakes (mochi) (01:37).

Credits: Naokichi Hashizume Collection, Gift of the Hashizume, Uemura and Ouchi Families, Japanese American National Museum (92.18.9). Preserved and made accessible in part by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.


1940s ceremonies concentration camps cooking food Heart Mountain concentration camp holidays mochi mochitsuki New Year Oshogatsu traditions winter Wyoming

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Naokichi Hashizume Collection (92.18.9)
Color amateur footage documenting life in Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming by Naokichi Hashizume in February 1945. Composed of home movie clips of Japanese Americans engaged in a variety of activities, including people gathering …
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