Why do New Year mochi accidents happen every year? How older people and children should eat it
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
Every January in Japan, a run of people are taken to hospital after choking on mochi (sticky rice cake), and some die. In the Tokyo Fire Department's area alone, around 100 people a year are taken by ambulance, and 90% of them are 65 or older. Many people assume "chew well and you are fine", but for anyone whose chewing and swallowing have weakened, mochi is one of the foods most likely to cause choking. If you spend New Year with a Japanese family, this is worth knowing.
Mochi accidents in numbers
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Ambulance cases | Around 90–130 people a year taken to hospital for choking on mochi in the Tokyo Fire Department's area. More than half in January, concentrated on 1–3 January |
| Age | About 90% are 65 or older. People in their 80s are the largest group |
| Deaths | Nationally, choking deaths from food run at about 3,500–4,000 a year, and mochi is among the most common foods involved. Consumer Affairs Agency analysis found mochi deaths concentrated in January: more than 40% of the year's total |
| Properties of mochi | It hardens and becomes stickier at mouth temperature (around 37°C / 99°F). Saliva does not dissolve it. It is easy to swallow whole without biting through |
| Children | Under-threes are generally not given plain mochi. The foods behind choking in children aged 5 and under are nuts, grapes, cherry tomatoes and mochi |
Prevention (households with older people or children)
| Measure | Details |
|---|---|
| Cut | About 1 cm cubes, or thin slices. Cut the mochi in ozōni (New Year soup) too |
| Mouthful size | One piece at a time; swallow before the next. Do not eat while talking or laughing |
| Moisten the mouth | Have tea or soup before eating to wet the mouth and throat. Washing mochi down with tea mid-mouthful is counter-productive (the mochi shifts and blocks the airway) |
| Posture | Sit up, leaning slightly forward. Do not eat lying down or straight after waking |
| Alternatives | Shiratama dumplings (cut small), rice porridge with mochi, shop-bought "soft mochi" (やわらかい餅) or "melting mochi" (とろける餅), bread porridge or suiton (flour dumplings) instead of mochi |
| Supervision | Never let someone eat alone. Avoid mochi if dentures are not fitting well |
| Time of day | Swallowing is weaker at breakfast and just after waking. Some advice says midday or later is safer |
What to do if it gets stuck
1. Check "can you make a sound?": if the person can cough or speak, let them keep coughing (they may clear it themselves). Do not hit their back (the mochi may move and block the airway completely). 2. No sound, face turning blue, hands clutching the throat (signs of choking): call 119 at once (ask someone nearby), and at the same time: - Back blows: bend the person forward, head low, and strike hard several times between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. - Abdominal thrusts (Heimlich manoeuvre): from behind, place a fist above the navel and thrust sharply inwards and upwards. Not for pregnant women or infants (use chest thrusts). - Alternate the two until the object comes out or the person loses consciousness. 3. If they lose consciousness: start CPR (chest compressions). Remove anything visible in the mouth (do not probe with fingers for anything you cannot see). 4. Vacuum cleaner: not recommended by the fire service or doctors (it injures the mouth and wastes time). Do the above rather than searching for equipment. 5. See a doctor even after it comes out: possible airway injury or remaining fragments.
- Infants: back blows (face down, head low, strike the back) and chest thrusts. Do not use abdominal thrusts on infants; they damage internal organs.
- Dentures: ill-fitting dentures weaken the bite. Have them adjusted at the dentist before the year end.
- Other high-risk foods for older people: konnyaku (yam jelly), boiled eggs, bread, meat, dango dumplings, cherry tomatoes, grapes. The same measures apply.
[Verify] Check the ambulance numbers and age breakdown against the latest year from the Tokyo Fire Department, and the national choking-death figures against Vital Statistics and Consumer Affairs Agency analysis. Check the first-aid steps against the latest Japanese Red Cross and Fire and Disaster Management Agency guidelines.
Misunderstanding 1｜Chew well and mochi is safe
For older people with weaker chewing and swallowing, mochi is the most dangerous food precisely because it forms a lump even when chewed. Cutting, small amounts and supervision go together.
Misunderstanding 2｜Wash it down with tea and you are fine
Washing it down with liquid mid-mouthful can shift the mochi and block the airway. Moisten the mouth before eating, not during.
Misunderstanding 3｜If it sticks, hit the back first
If the person can cough or speak, do not hit them; let them keep coughing (a blow can cause complete blockage). If they cannot make a sound, give back blows and abdominal thrusts and call 119.
Misunderstanding 4｜A vacuum cleaner will suck it out
The fire service and medical bodies do not recommend it. The time spent finding the machine makes things worse. Back blows and abdominal thrusts instead.
Misunderstanding 5｜Cut it small and a child of any age can have it
Under-threes cannot bite through it, and the general practice is to avoid mochi. Shiratama dumplings have the same properties, so take care with those too.
---
Sources
- Consumer Affairs Agency, "Beware of choking accidents from mochi over the New Year!" [年末年始、餅による窒息事故に御注意ください！]
https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/consumer_safety/release/
- Tokyo Fire Department, "Beware of choking accidents from mochi" [餅による窒息事故に注意] (ambulance data)
https://www.tfd.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/lfe/topics/
- Japanese Red Cross Society, "Steps for clearing an airway obstruction (back blows and abdominal thrusts)" [気道異物除去の手順（背部叩打法・腹部突き上げ法）]
https://www.jrc.or.jp/study/safety/
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
About this article
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
This is general information. Results vary from person to person and depend on your own conditions and surroundings.
Please decide for yourself, using your own judgement, whether any of this suits your situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from following this article.
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