Setsubun 2015

On the 3rd of February we celebrate "Setsubun" It is the day before the beginning of spring in Japan. The name of the festival literally means "seasonal division" and is closely associated with the Lunar calendar . It is said to drive away all the evil spirits by performing "mamemaki" To do this we throw roasted soybeans inside and outside of the house calling out loud "Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi" (Evil out, happiness in). And you are to eat the number of beans equal to your age.

Unfortunately we didn't have the special roasted soybean. Instead we ate some pistachio nuts ha ha! I made the Futomaki/Ehomaki - fat sushi rolls, to enjoy the tradition. On this day you don't cut up the sushi roll as you normally do. Instead you eat the whole roll looking towards the good luck direction. This year it was West-South-West, I think we were looking at the right direction according to Kei's cell phone...