Japanese mochi master has dedicated a lifetime to refining his insanely fast mochi slapping skills

Meet the fastest fists from the East.
 By 
Alicia Tan
 on 
Japanese mochi master has dedicated a lifetime to refining his insanely fast mochi slapping skills
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At three pounds per second, it only takes mochi maker Mitsuo Nakatani, two minutes to serve up one of the tastiest mochi you'll ever taste in Japan.

Mochi is a Japanese chewy sweet treat made from glutinous rice, and Nakatani has been making it for the past 23 years at his shop in the Nara prefecture. Nakatani's mochi shop has been made famous in part thanks to his skills, and attracts plenty of tourists to the little town.

According to Nakatani, the art of making delicious mochi lies in the team work which requires a lot of trust, practice and also passion. "I live my life for mochi pounding," he declares.

The video shows how quickly Nakatani pounds the dough with his bare hands, alternating with heavy beatings from a wooden mallet administered by a co-worker.

We're mad impressed watching Nakatani and his team work together in perfect coordination. Bruce Lee would approve!

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Alicia Tan

Alicia Tan was an Asia Deputy Editor at Mashable. She has over 11 years of experience in journalism, magazine production and content publishing; specialising in women's lifestyle, fashion and beauty. When she's not writing, she's obsessing over Totoro, Ryan Gosling and online shopping.


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