Two people have died in Japan and several are in a critical condition after choking on traditional rice cakes as part of the new year celebrations.

日本有兩人在新年慶祝活動中因食用傳統年糕被噎住而死亡，另有幾人情況危急。

They may seem harmless, but each year the hard-to-eat snack claims several lives, prompting annual warnings from officials.

這些小吃可能看起來對人體沒有害處，但是每年都有人因為這一難以吞咽的小吃喪命，這也引發了官方的年度警告。

The cakes, known as mochi, are cute round buns made of soft and chewy rice.

這種叫做“mochi”的年糕是一種很可愛的圓形糕點，是用軟軟的糯米制作而成的。

The rice is first steamed and then pounded and mashed. The resulting sticky rice mass is then formed into the final mochi shape and baked or boiled.

首先要將大米蒸熟，然后把大米搗碎。將敲打后形成的糯米團做成最終的年糕形狀，再進行烘焙或水煮。

The buns are chewy and sticky. Given they are far bigger than bite-sized, they need to be laboriously chewed before swallowing.

年糕粘性大，非常有嚼勁。年糕比一口就能吞下去的大小要大很多，吞咽之前就需要費勁地咀嚼。

Anyone who can't chew properly - like children, or the elderly - will be likely to find them hard to eat.

不能很好地咀嚼食物的人，如兒童或老人，都可能難以食用。

If not chewed but simply swallowed, the sticky mochi gets stuck in the throat - and can lead to suffocation.

如果不嚼就下咽，年糕就會卡在喉嚨里，而且會導致窒息。

According to Japanese media, 90% of those rushed to hospital from choking on their new year's dish are people aged 65 or older.

根據日本媒體報道，每年新年被食物噎住而緊急送往醫院的人中，90%的人年齡為65歲或以上。

Two people have died in Japan and several are in a critical condition after choking on traditional rice cakes as part of the new year celebrations.

日本有兩人在新年慶祝活動中因食用傳統年糕被噎住而死亡，另有幾人情況危急。

They may seem harmless, but each year the hard-to-eat snack claims several lives, prompting annual warnings from officials.

這些小吃可能看起來對人體沒有害處，但是每年都有人因為這一難以吞咽的小吃喪命，這也引發了官方的年度警告。

The cakes, known as mochi, are cute round buns made of soft and chewy rice.

這種叫做“mochi”的年糕是一種很可愛的圓形糕點，是用軟軟的糯米制作而成的。

The rice is first steamed and then pounded and mashed. The resulting sticky rice mass is then formed into the final mochi shape and baked or boiled.

首先要將大米蒸熟，然后把大米搗碎。將敲打后形成的糯米團做成最終的年糕形狀，再進行烘焙或水煮。

The buns are chewy and sticky. Given they are far bigger than bite-sized, they need to be laboriously chewed before swallowing.

年糕粘性大，非常有嚼勁。年糕比一口就能吞下去的大小要大很多，吞咽之前就需要費勁地咀嚼。

Anyone who can't chew properly - like children, or the elderly - will be likely to find them hard to eat.

不能很好地咀嚼食物的人，如兒童或老人，都可能難以食用。

If not chewed but simply swallowed, the sticky mochi gets stuck in the throat - and can lead to suffocation.

如果不嚼就下咽，年糕就會卡在喉嚨里，而且會導致窒息。

According to Japanese media, 90% of those rushed to hospital from choking on their new year's dish are people aged 65 or older.

根據日本媒體報道，每年新年被食物噎住而緊急送往醫院的人中，90%的人年齡為65歲或以上。