5 taken to hospitals in Tokyo after choking on mochi; one dies

It seems that eating Mochi is more dangerous than Covid 19.

Dont think so. 1 death from mochi as opposed to 50-60 daily in Japan from Covid recently.

RIP to the man.

Pirate coins (check from wikipedia), with the diameter of approximately 2,5cm, were one of my favourite candies as a kid. They also posed a notorious choking hazard, so eventually they were retracted from the market. A new, smaller version came out later, but it's not the same... taste and feeling is different.

However, perhaps some kind of variation could be produced of the mochi as well? Sell the mini mochi alongside the traditional one?

The Japanese struggle changing traditions and routines, doesn't matter if they are inefficiënt, plain dumb, or even potentially fatal.

Every. Single. Year.

don’t these people get it?

One of them, a man in his 90s who lived in Nishi-Tokyo, had gone into a state of cardiopulmonary arrest after choking on the mochi, Sankei Shimbun reported. He died later in hospital.

Feel sorry for him. Rest in peace.

In one famous incident that occurred in 2001, a woman used a vacuum cleaner to suck the mochi out of her 70-year-old father's throat, saving his life.

As I recall, yes, I know that. Good idea.

There is no vacine for stupidity

You have to wonder about the aftermath of these deaths... do the surviving members say, "Geez... who could have known?" I mean, talk about preventable deaths! They announce this year after year after year, and yet every year we get the same headlines about deaths.

@ Vinke

A lot of people make their own omochi.

Eating mocha at New year is a tradition.

Not giving mocha to a toothless 90 year old is common sense.

In Japan Tradition always beats common sense!

Sounds akin to the Blue Whale Challenge plaguing the internet.

The Mochi Challenge... swallow it whole to prove you're still young!

Don't people ever learn ? Don't those around them, wish to offer advice to take smaller bites and to take it slow, and enjoy the food - rather than scoff it all in one go...?

I wonder, exactly how large or small are these mochi pieces?

Why do we want to eat mochi even though eating them has a risk of chocking? Mochi looks like one of the innocent killer for elderlies ironically.

In one famous incident that occurred in 2001, a woman used a vacuum cleaner to suck the mochi out of her 70-year-old father's throat, saving his life.

She must have seen Jûzô Itami's "Tampopo" for that tip.

Easy answer stop eating the Japanese potential killer food. Make that garbage illegal to save lives. Today I ate 5 mochi and got away from the grim reaper. Eat or die but mochi is eat and hope not to die lol

@Hello Kitty 321

A lot of people make their own omochi.

Ah, yes, probably. I'd totally support Smithinjapan's idea especially in cases like that.

How about this -- make it a law that if a relative chokes on mochi all members present at the time are charged. I guarantee that'll suddenly see people cutting the mochi into small pieces and taking care. For example, if I feed my 90 year old dad a big piece of mochi and he chokes to death, I get charged with negligence resulting in death.

This happens every year.

It seems that eating Mochi is more dangerous than Covid 19.