抄録
Rice cakes or "Mochi" is not only a traditional food of Japan, where rice is a diet staple and even mentioned in the ancient text of Kojiki. Mochi-pounding has always been a big group event held at large family or community gatherings. And, Japanese sayings such as "Mukashi totta kinezuka" (A skill one learned in one's former days) and "Mochi wa mochiya" (Every man to his trade) indicate that mochi-pounding requires a certain amount of expertise or experience. Mochi-pounding is done in pairs -- one referred to as the "tsuki-te" to bring down the hammer, and another one referred to as "aino-te" to add water (so that the mochi doesn't stick to the sides of the mortar) and turn over the mochi as it gets pounded. In this study, we focused on the action of pounding on the mochi. We paired the same experienced aino-te with three inexperienced tsuki-te -- each of different age, nationality and strength, and conducted three-dimensional motion and visual analyses. As a result, we clarified the difference of movements between the expert and beginners and how making ochi efficiently.
