Gohei-mochi

In short

Many shapes

Gohei-mochi comes in many shapes: “straw sandal,” “oval coin,” “cylinder” and “round dumpling.” With the Nakasendo road as a border, the north is mainly round and the south mainly straw-sandal shaped, and there are said to be about ten kinds in all.

The dish is spread along the “salt road,” with Shiojiri as the dividing point. In the north of Nagano, the culture of oyaki is rooted; gohei-mochi is eaten mainly in the Kiso area and the south.

In the Ina area it is warm and has many bamboo groves, so bamboo skewers are often used. In the Kiso area, skewers were once made of hinoki cypress, one of the “Five Trees of Kiso.” The natural setting affects the dish.

Where the name comes from

There are many stories. One says the shape imitates a “gohei,” a paper offering used in Shinto rites. Another says a man named Gohei (or Gobei) crushed cooked rice and ate it with miso. Another says an old man named Gohei came over a pass from Mino Province to Iida about 400 years ago and taught it.

The origin is unclear, but it is said that gohei-mochi already existed around the middle of the Edo period.

Festival food, and snack

Now it is also eaten as a snack at any time of the year, but in the past in both Kiso and Ina, gohei-mochi was a food for special days, made for celebrations, festivals and guests.

In the Kamiina area, rice farming is central. After rice planting ends, a ceremony to send off the god of the rice field is held, and seedlings are offered at the household altar for a good harvest. After planting or when new rice arrives, a “gohei-mochi party” is held, where adults and children make and eat it together.

How it is made

Firmly cooked rice is half-pounded, shaped into flat dumplings and put on skewers. The skewers are grilled on both sides over a stove or hearth, brushed with plenty of sauce, and lightly grilled again.

Size, shape and skewers differ by region and home. Today it is made at home and sold at gohei-mochi shops, supermarkets, service areas and roadside stations. In Iida City, April 17 is “Iida and Shimoina Gohei-mochi Day,” a pun on 4 (shi-mo) 1 (i) 7 (na).

Think about it

• Q1Why would gohei-mochi have been a food for special days when rice was precious?
• Q2Bamboo skewers in a warm region, cypress skewers in a forest region. How does nature shape a dish?
• Q3April 17 is read as “Shimo-i-na.” Do you know a date in your language that makes a word?

There is no single right answer. Talking it over with someone at home is a good way to learn.