Japanese Parents Are Sending Rice Bags Shaped Like Newborns To Their Relatives. Here’s Why.
Japanese Parents Are Sending Rice Bags Shaped Like Newborns To Their Relatives. Here’s Why.
The pandemic has compelled people to stay away from the elderly in order to keep them safe. People haven’t been able to see each other since they haven’t been able to travel. As a result, many elderly people have not had the opportunity to meet their newborn family members. To deal with the issue, young Japanese parents have adopted a strange approach.
Japanese parents are now sending proxies in the form of adorable rice bags. The amount of rice in these bags is proportionate to the baby’s birth weight, it also features the newborn’s face. The next step is to drape the rice bag with a blanket. According to The Guardian, the price of each bag increases according to its weight, with some charging one yen for each gram, with a 3.5-kilogram bundle costing 3,500 yen (£22.90).
The aforementioned are attempts to make the rice bag look like a genuine newborn infant. Its aim is to replicate the joy of holding a child in elderly relatives who are isolating. Allowing family members to cradle the proxy newborn while looking at a photo of their face pinned to the front, during a pandemic.
This practice is known as “Dakigokochi,” and it dates back to the pre-pandemic period. In Japanese, “Dakigokochi” means “Comfortable to hold”. In the midst of the pandemic’s restrictions, this new Japanese tradition has gained significant popularity amongst new and young parents.
