Another example of chikara-mochi as the official New Year's food is its fairly dense distribution from the Chugoku region's western half of Tottori Prefecture to the Izumo region of Shimane Prefecture. This is an area that has long required our comprehensive investigation because of some characteristic changes in the various folklore of this region as a whole. Still, the subject of chikara-mochi seems to provide us with a particularly hard-to-overlook suggestion. Comparing the customs in various regions in detail, it is said that in the east, chikara-mochi made in the villages to the west of Tohaku County is an offering to the god Toshitoku* in the New Year. It is made by rolling rice into the size of a bowl of rice and wrapping the outside with rice cake. This is then placed next to another rice cake made from new rice and served on a tray placed on a new straw mat (Inhaku Mindan Vol. 4, No. 1). In Hosshoji Village, Saihaku County, this rice cake is called "chikara okoshi no mochi" (rice cake for raising power). Two rice cakes are made by wrapping steamed glutinous rice with rice cake dough, shaping them into inverted bowl forms, and offering them on the household Shinto altar when kagami-mochi is made for the New Year (Fushi Zuihitsu 4). These are taken down and eaten by the entire family on the day when the snow stops and the first thunder of spring sounds. They never ate it before the first thunder of the year, even if it grew moldy (Kinki Minzoku Vol. 1, No. 1). In the villages on the Yumigahama Peninsula in the same county, kowamochi (mochi with whole grains of glutinous rice) is also called chikaramochi. It is likewise made for the New Year, placed on a sanbo tray** along with kagami mochi, and decorated with yuzuriha leaves***, oranges, shrimp, hijiki****, and other items (Minzoku Geijutsu Vo.2, No. 1). They will eat it later on a fixed day, but that has not been reported. Additionally, in the example from Shimane Prefecture, in Nogi District, Izumo Province, eating this rice cake is referred to as "chikara iwai" (a celebration of strength). The date is January 24th, and it can be inferred that on this day, half-pounded rice cakes from the year-end pounding are molded with the patriarch's rice bowl and offered to the god Toshitoku, hence the name "chikara mochi (reported by Katsunori Sakurada*****)."

dense（形）密度が高い、密集した

distribution（名）分布

comprehensive（形）包括的な

glutinous rice......もち米

inverted（形）さかさまの

moldy（形）カビの生えた

patriarch（名）家長

Comparing the above several examples, it seems that there are two ways in which chikara-mochi is offered: to Toshigami and to the patriarch, but since the method and purpose are the same, the former two were omitted and the latter one was offered. It is said that some villages in Hikawa County produced two kinds of chikara-mochi until recently. Here, too, rice cakes that have not yet been pounded sufficiently and whose shape of rice can be seen are called chikara-mochi, which is molded and hardened in the patriarch's bowl, and placed on a sanbo tray with sacred rice, chestnuts, persimmons, oranges, and dried squid on New Year's Day. It is said that if you grill them on the 20th and eat them, you will gain strength, but it is said that there were also families who offered a large black bowl stuffed in it to the god and ate it to receive strength. We cannot yet explain why people either pound this rice cake halfway or knead it from freshly steamed glutinous rice. However, in Kitahama Village, facing the sea in the same Hikawa County, on the day of rice cake pounding at the end of the year, they take the rice cake that has been only pounded with a pestle and mold it in a bowl, place it on a sanbo tray as a decoration, and call it "chikara-mochi." On the 20th, the whole family eats it (reported by Kiyoko Segawa******). This, like Usubata and Tenokubo-mochi, is recognized as a customary share for those who participated in the preparation of the rice cake. Moreover, it seems that the principle in this region was for the head of the household and their spouse to pound the rice cakes offered during the New Year themselves. Therefore, it can be considered that this portion was designated for their consumption from the beginning (Refer to the section on minoue-mochi).

harden（動）固める

persimmon（名）柿

knead（動）練る

pestle（名）杵

*the god Toshitoku: In Onmyodo, the god who controls the happiness and virtue of the year is also called Toshigami. In this context, it broadly means a god who visits at the beginning of the year.

**sanbo toray: It is a stand for placing offerings used in Shinto rituals and has three holes on the side.

***yuzuriha: Daphniphyllum macropodum. It is a plant considered auspicious because new leaves continuously grow, symbolizing the long-lasting prosperity of the family through generations.

****hijiki: Sargassum fusiforme. A type of seaweed. It is commonly eaten in Japan.

*****Katsunori Sakurada: (1903 - 1977) A historian and folklorist. As a subordinate of Keizo Shibusawa, a businessperson and folklorist, he investigated fishing villages in various parts of Japan. His nortable works include 'Gyoson Minzokushi (The Folkgraphy of the Fishing Village)' and 'Gyoro no Dento (Fishing Traditions).'

******Kiyoko Segawa: (1895 - 1984) A folklorist. She is one of Kunio Yanagita's disciples and a pioneer in folklore studies on women, conducting research on female divers on Hekura Island in Ishikawa Prefecture. Her notable works include 'Ama (the Female Divers),' 'Wakamono to Musume wo meguru Minzoku (the Folklore Relating to Young Men and Ladies),' and 'On'na no Minzokushi (the Folkgraphy of Women)'.