This paper proposes a real-time simulation technique for thin rods undergoing large rotational deformation. Rods are thin objects such as ropes and hairs that can be abstracted as 1D structures. Development of a satisfactory physical model that runs in real-time but produces visually convincing animation of thin rods has been remaining a challenge in computer graphics. We adopt the energy formulation based on continuum mechanics, and develop a modal warping technique for rods that can integrate the governing equation in real-time. This novel simulation framework results from making extensions to the original modal warping technique, which was developed for the simulation of 3D solids. Experiments show that the proposed method runs in real-time even for large meshes, and that it can simulate large bending and/or twisting deformations with acceptable realism.