It’s like a cross between Halloween, and a riot.

In Japan, the mochi nage is performed to bless a new home. After the frame has been completed, a Shinto temple is erected on top of the house. Here, the carpenters and home owner give thanks to the house’s spirit, and wish for luck in the coming years - usually with a toast. Meanwhile, someone pours sake around the house’s foundations. House spirits love sake.

Throughout the ceremony, a crowd gathers on the ground below. Each person - from young children to the very elderly - carries a plastic bag. These bags are - for the moment - empty.

After the ceremony is complete, rice cakes (mochi) are thrown to the people below - and they fight. The crowd rushes to stuff their bags with rice cakes, which in ancient times was a symbol of happiness. In more modern times, the gleeful mob also elbows each other for other symbols of happiness - which, in Japan, can sometimes include packages of instant ramen.

Foreigners are often shocked at the violence - which is all, of course, in good fun.