Mimi-dango

For maybe the first time this winter I was happy to see the sun that had been winning the battle against the snow that never came. Despite being disappointed that it was so much like spring last Sunday, that I was able to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt, I was happy to see the sun shining through the windows of the smoke-filled neighborhood temple. Every year the temple is opened up for one day and everyone from the neighboring hamlets files in to say a few prayers and eat some mimi dango (mochi rice shaped like an ear - mimi means ear) It is PROVEN that if you eat a mimi dango this day, you WILL NOT catch a cold for the next year. I had never heard of this before moving here, so I asked around and found that it used to be done all over Japan, but the drug manufacturers wanted to start marketing western cold medicine and lobbied to have mimi-dango declared illegal. It was illegal until the mid-sixties, but by that time most people in urban areas had forgotten all about them.

I have mimi-dango made with our no-chemical rice powder if anyone would like to remain cold-free this year! Only 1,999 yen plush shipping for two. (You are only supposed to have two because you only have two ears)