Two people choked to death on mochi rice cakes, continuing a deadly New Year trend in Japan

Despite an annual warning from authorities, Japan’s deadly New Year’s trend continued this week as two people subsequently died Choking on mochi – A doughy cake made from sweet steamed rice that is traditionally served to celebrate the New Year. Nine people were hospitalized in Tokyo after choking on mochi during the first three days of January. Japan Today reportedCiting the Tokyo Fire Department. Two of these people, both elderly men, later died.

A man in his 70s choked on mochi at his home in Itabashi, outside Tokyo, on New Year’s Day, and was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Local television reported. Another man in his 80s who lived in the Tokyo suburb of Nerima also died after choking on the delicacy, according to Japan Today.

Mochi is a staple on the Japanese New Year’s holiday menu and is often eaten in a delicious soup called ozune. Emily Anderson, curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, He told CBS Sunday Morning: Last month, New Year’s Day was the most important holiday in Japan, and the delicious rice cake is an integral part of the celebration.

“Eating mochi is a really important part of the most important family day,” she said.

But sticky cakes can easily get stuck in the throat, hindering breathing. Choking on Mochi It is so common that authorities give advice every year on how to help someone with food stuck in their throat. The National Police Agency and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency advise people annually to cut rice cakes into small pieces and eat them in the presence of another person, Japan Today I mentioned.

Despite public warnings, desserts made with steamed rice have caused this to happen Suffocation deaths Almost every year, mostly among the elderly. According to a survey conducted by the Tokyo Fire Department cited Local mediaFrom 2019 to 2023, 368 people were hospitalized with mochi or other objects stuck in their throats, more than 90% of whom were people over 65 years old.

In 2022, four elderly women choked to death on rice cakes, and another 12 people were hospitalized. In 2015, Nine people are believed to have died Participate in annual culinary traditions.

In 2001, a woman saved her father’s life when… I used a vacuum cleaner To get the mochi out of the 70-year-old man’s throat.