Before the New Year, the making of kagami mochi for the New Year is at its peak. Okashidokoro Teradaya, a Japanese confectionery shop in Ryugasaki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, which has been producing mochi for over 70 years, was busy shaping mochi into round balls on the 28th as white steam rose from steaming glutinous rice.

The shop uses glutinous rice "Mangetsu Mochi" produced in the prefecture. Because it is additive-free, it receives orders from private homes and businesses both inside and outside the city, where they can enjoy the original taste of mochi. Masayoshi Terada (77), the representative, and his eldest son Masato (42) carefully finished the plump mochi into round shapes one by one.

Terada said, "I'm making this with the hope that everyone will have a good year. I hope everyone will be happy to eat it in the New Year."