TOKYO: It is an annual tradition in Japan, eating sticky rice cakes or « mochi » on New Year’s Day. But every year, a handful of elderly people die from choking on the cakes. This year, two men in Tokyo – aged 60 and 81 – died. Thirteen other people were treated in hospitals,
TOKYO: It is an annual tradition in Japan, eating sticky rice cakes or « mochi » on New Year’s Day. But every year, a handful of elderly people die from choking on the cakes.
This year, two men in Tokyo – aged 60 and 81 – died. Thirteen other people were treated in hospitals, reported NHK on Tuesday (Jan 2).
It’s a habitual problem, so much so that every year, Japan’s emergency services warn people to cut the glutinous rice cakes into smaller pieces and chew them slowly.
