Setsubun marks the beginning of spring, or the start of the
New Year on the old calendar (and it’s about the same time as Chinese New
Year). Soy beans are believed to have the power to drive away evil spirits, so throwing them to get rid of bad luck is a good way to start the new year, or at least, new season. If you live in
a house with kids, it can be really fun: Dad puts on a devil mask and the kids
throw beans at him, shouting “oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” – or out with the
devils, and in with good luck. The kids love pelting Dad with beans. I threw a few dried soy beans at my husband when
he got home from work, but he didn’t really appreciate it. You’re supposed to eat one bean for
every year of your life, but I don’t think they taste so good – maybe edamame
(boiled soybeans) would be better!
 |
| Dried soybeans with a few sweets |
For some reason, it’s become popular to eat a big sushi roll
called a “futomaki” on setsubun. It has 7 ingredients (lucky 7!) and it’s
usually a bit expensive – the ones I bought were 500 yen for a half roll, but
they had very yummy prawn, salmon and tuna, as well as vegetables and
omelette. Apparently , this
tradition started around Osaka in the Edo era, but it’s popular all over Japan now. You should eat it whole
(don’t cut it or you’ll cut the ties with your family), sitting in this year’s
lucky direction, without speaking. The lucky direction is printed on the sushi
pack if you buy it.
 |
| You can see the lucky direction on the pack |
This year was north, north west, so we had to face the
corner of the room and it was hard not to laugh. Anyway, the futomaki was delicious. I suspect the reason the
futomaki or ehou maki (lucky direction sushi roll) has taken off is that it’s a
good retail opportunity.
No comments:
Post a Comment