University Commons was very Japanese at noon last Monday (Dec. 20)! Many native and foreign exchange students actively joined the occasion of “pestling rice cake” held by Department of Japanese. Vice President for Academic Affairs Feng Chao-kang and Chair of Department of Japanese Peng Chuen-yang put on traditional Japanese attire to experience the flavor of traditional Japanese New Year Rice Cake.

Peng Chuen-yang and his Japanese friends first put rice into the mortar and poured in proper amount of water. Next, teachers and students took turn to pound at the mixture in the mortar with huge Japanese pestles. For those in the activity, it’s hard to keep pounding hard with that big, heavy pestle. Vice President Feng Chao-kang made a try on the spot and felt interesting and fresh about it.

As indicated by Hiroko Satou from Reitaku University, work like this in Japan is usually done by men. Because of the progress in mechanical apparatus, nowadays Japanese people rarely use this kind of method. She never tried it before. She was very happy that her “first time” of pounding New Year rice cake was dedicated to Tamkang. Besides New Year rice cake, Society of Japanese treated teachers and students with red-bean soup. The whole Student Commons was filled with laughter; many students passing there joined the festivity and enjoyed their time together.

As stand-in chair of Society of Japanese Wu Te-wei indicated, the Japanese style of pestling New Year rice cake can be seen in special traditional activities. The purpose of this activity at Tamkang is to offer the opportunity of experiencing Japanese custom. Vice President Feng Chao-kang also pointed out the significance of activity like this: for those who haven’t gone abroad, they can feel multicultural atmosphere closely on campus. (~Han-yu Huang)

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