Nakatanidou Mochi Shop - Nara

What I love about food businesses in Japan is that they are always trying to one-up each other. This leads to products that are either very eye-catching, artistic, and sometimes downright unique. The same goes for quality, servings, and taste. When all these seems tied or it's hard to really distinguish which is the best, they resort to annual national competitions. To which the winner gets recognition for his work and better sales for the year (and sometimes beyond). This applies to many of the Japanese traditional cuisines like ramen, okonomiyaki, and mochi among others. 

Nakatanidou Mochi Shop

Speaking of mochi, this Japanese food is an important part of Japan's culture and tradition. Since there are machine-made mochi now, those who make mochi in the mochitsuki style (mochi traditionally made in a ceremony) are still held by many in high regard and their mochi is considered higher in value and quality. 

Nakatanidou Mochi Shop - Nara City, Nara Prefecture

If you wish to see a mochitsuki during your visit to Japan then head to Nara City and check out the Nakatanidou Mochi Shop. Located at 29 Hashimotocho, Nara City in Nara Prefecture, Nakatanidou Mochi Shop is home to the fastest mochi pounders in Nara. The current owner Mitsuo "Mochiman" Nakatani, and his staff were famously known as the mochitsuki national champions in both 2005 and 2006. 

The crowd flocks to the shop to see the famed Mochiman

After that back-to-back success, they were featured in numerous travel videos and articles both locally and internationally. As a matter of fact, it was in one video of Only in Japan that my wife and I first saw Mochiman in action. Since then, we've been looking forward to revisiting Nara City again just to see Nakatanidou Mochi Shop and also witness Mochiman in action. Then came December 21, 2019 - the third day of our 2019 Japan trip. During this visit, we made sure to include this (it's probably safe to say) world-famous mochi shop in our itinerary. As a matter of fact, it was first on the list of places in our itinerary. 

Mochiman with his crew in action

Even the camera had a hard time capturing Mochiman's fast hands

We were lucky to have arrived a little before the grand show started. In short, we had the best seat in town. The mochitsuki started when one of the staff members opened the glass panel giving those in the vicinity an unobstructed view of the workstation. First, the yomogi mixture was pounded by the staff with kine and occasionally stopping to adjust or wet the mixture. When the pounding continues, the pace tends to be faster than before. Then, Mr. Nakatani joins the fray pounding the green mixture with kine then later on with his bare hands while rhythmically shouting like Bruce Lee. For every two or three hits by Mr. Nakatani, the mallet follows. It was quite a show as most onlookers were cheering with each hit as if it was a boxing match. 

Check out this 7-second clip of Mochiman in action:

The final act of the spectacle was when Mr. Nakatani lifts up the yomogi mixture and throws it back down the large wooden mortar as if he did a finishing move to a defeated enemy. He then throws the yomogi mixture into a machine that fills it up with anko which is a sweet reddish paste made from azuki beans. Then to complete the process, it will be manually "dusted" with the roasted and sweetened soybean flour called kinako. 

The mochi is manually rounded into a ball before being dusted with kinako 

Kinako is roasted and sweetened soybean flour.

The final product - the amazing Mochi

Of course, our visit wouldn't be complete if we wouldn't try the final product hence, we bought a box of 6 yomogi mochi which costs 900 yen. You can also buy it per piece for only 130 yen but then again where is the fun in that. 

Here are the prices... 

Pack of 6 = 900 yen

Taste test

Check out the fillings.

Nakatanidou Mochi Shop Opening Hours:

Nakatanidou Mochi Shop is open from 10AM - 7PM every day.

Why Visit Nakatanidou Mochi Shop?

Nakatanidou Mochi Shop might look like a typical Japanese store at first glance but when the mochitsuki starts, expect an amazing and memorable show to happen so don't miss that out when you're in Nara CIty. It's an experience worth seeing. 

Getting to Nakatanidou Mochi Shop:

 

From JR Nara Station, one can reach Nakataidou Mochi Shop on foot for only 13 minutes.

Ratings: 

Crowd

Cleanliness

Overall rating