in common with other auspicious foods in other Asian countries. According to archaeological research, the homemade production of mochi increased beginning in the 6th century (Kofun period), when earthenware steamers became popular in every household, mainly in eastern Japan.

In the , compiled in the late 8th century in the Nara period, a legend concerning mochi was described. According to the book, when a rich man made a flat mochi from leftover rice and shot an