Often considered a symbol of longevity, mochi annually brings about sudden deaths.

My wife and I went to her parents’ house for dinner on January 1, and included in the spread were a number of osechi (celebratory New Year’s) dishes. If you’ve got a dual passion for the Japanese language and linguistics, osechi is a real treat, since names of the dishes all have some sort of cultural or linguistic significance. For example, renkon (lotus roots) are an osechi staple because they have holes in their cross-section, so that you saki ga mieru/“can see ahead,” implying that eating them will give you a clear vision of an auspicious future.

But osechi has a dark twist in the form of mochi (rice cakes). Outside Japan, mochi is most commonly encountered as mochi daifuku, a bite-sized dessert that’s actually a thin mochi covering with some sort of sweet filling. But when mochi is eaten as a solid block, like it is for osechu, its texture is incredibly stretchy. The Japanese word for “stretch,” nobiru, can also mean “extend” or “continue,” and so eating osechi at New Year’s is said to extend your longevity, giving you a long and happy life. Ironically, though, mochi is the only osechi dish that consistently racks up a body count.

Mochi is so stretchy that it can be hard to bite through, especially for senior citizens whose teeth aren’t in the best shape to begin with. That leads to people trying to swallow their mochi in bigger pieces than they would for other foods, and every year, a number of elderly Japanese choke on their New Year’s mochi. This year, the Tokyo Fire Department reported that by 9 p.m. on January 1, 15 Tokyo residents were taken to the hospital for emergency medical treatment as they gagged on mochi. Their ages ranged between 55 and 90, and two men, one in his 50s and the other in his 80s, perished when the mochi could not be dislodged in time.

In Japan, the New Year’s festivities traditionally continue through the 3rd of January, which means that there’s still a lot of osechi, and thus more mochi, to be eaten. The fire department encourages seniors to cut their mochi into small pieces, chew thoroughly, and swallow carefully. The department also implores fellow diners to be attentive of elderly relatives and acquaintances and to offer assistance and contact the paramedics if they are having difficulty swallowing.

Sources: Sankei News via Jin, Ryugo News Sokuho Tsuhin Kyoku
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