かいま Kaima
It's a few days ago. In Japan, we hold "Setsubun" event on February 3rd every year. It is written as 節分in kanji. Setsubun means "the division between winter and spring". In other words, February 3rd is the last day of winter on Japanese traditional calendar. Long time ago, it was thoght that demons would come on the day so people scattered soy beans to drive away demons. Even now, many parents wear demon costumes and surprise their children! Children throw soy beans at the parents demons while crying lol. When we scatter soy beans, we have to say "Ogres out! Fortune in!" In Japanese, "Oni wa Soto! Fuku wa Uchi!" In addition, we have to do so many things on Setsubun! 1. Throw soy beans at demons (as I already explained) 2. Eat soy beans as same number as own age (If you're 18 years old, you have to eat 18 soy beans) 3. Eat "Ehōmaki (恵方巻)" while facing the lucky direction without saying a word Soy beans which use on Setsubun are not normal ones. It is called "fukumame (福豆)", fortune soy beans. So we eat fortune power via soy beans. Ehōmaki is a special fortune meal for Setsubun. It looks like big and long sushi roll. It should not be cut. It's delicious, but little hard to eat perfectly. It's a strange event, but it's happy to hear "Oni wa Soto! Fuku wa Uchi!" from neighbors every year.
Feb 5, 2024 4:56 PM