Oni wa Soto, Fuki wa Uchi!

Yesterday may have been groundhog day in the States (and from what I hear, Pungsatawnee has predicted another six weeks of winter) but on this side of the ocean, today was Setsubun. Every year on February 3rd the end of the coldest part of winter and the beginning of spring is marked, though today was far colder than yesterday and I have heard that we have not seen the end of it. Nevertheless, Setsubun is marked by some fun(ny) little traditions. The most important of the rituals is the mame maki, or throwing of beans. Dried beans (i believe they are soy beans) are thrown out and around the house, while saying "Oni wa Soto, Fuki wa Unchi," which translates to "Oni out, Happiness in". An Oni is basically a Japanese devil, so the ritual is a cleansing of sorts, a flushing of evil spirits, the beginning to a new season. The beans are then picked up by members of the family who eat the number according to their age, plus one, for luck and I suppose because beans tend to spill. An additional tradition, which apparently is more specific to western Japan (my hood) is the eating of Nori Maki. Nori Maki is sushi made with seven colorful fillings, representing the seven gods of happiness. The sushi roll is left uncut and each person is supposed to face the lucky direction of the year (based on the lunar calendar) and eat the whole entire roll (about 20cm) without talking.

I only found out about Setsubun last week and had admitedly been looking forward to the quirky rituals. My friend Corri and I eagerly rushed to the store after work and though we didn't get the correct type of sushi (according to the options at the market, any kind of sushi roll will due) we accomplished the scarfing of the roll without talking (though laughing), facing SSE, hopefully bringing us much luck with business, longevity from freedom from illness this new lunar year. And to finish it off, I ate 26 beans (apparently it's one more bean than the number of years you will be this year). So, happy Setsubun and if it's still the 3rd wherever you are, there is still time. Have fun!