Tag Archives: setsubun

japan custom

Japanese custom eat Ehomaki in Sestubun

3rd of Feb. is “Setsubun” in Japan.
If you missed my blog about Stsubun, please click here!

In setsubun, we eat “Ehomaki”.
ehomaki
Ehomaki is a long sushi roll which you eat all in one go on the night of Setsubun,
while facing silently toward the year’s “lucky” direction with your eyes closed,
wishing for perfect health and praying for prosperity of business.

You make ehomaki with seven ingredients, cucumber, shiitake mushrooms, seasoned omelet, teriyaki eel,
sweet fish flakes and kanpyo are rolled in seaweed representing the seven gods of happiness.
By doing so, people hope to bring happiness into their lives.

Actually, ehomaki had long been eaten in the Kansai area but the reason why it spread throughout Japan was, surprisingly, due to a sales-promotion by convenience stores in the early ’90s!
Also, research shows that 60 percent of people in the Kanto area still don’t eat ehomaki.

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japan custom

The Last Day of Winter “SETSUBUN”

The Last Day of Winter, called “Setsubun”.
In 2015, 3rd of Feb. is Setsubun.

Setsubun literally means “division of seasons.”
It is used to mark the end of winter and summer, and is derived from the old lunar calendar.
However, “setsubun” has now come to mean the day before the first day of spring only.
It usually occurs around February 3rd. On this day, in a custom called mame-maki,
people throw and scatter roasted soy beans inside and outside their houses while saying,
“Get goblins out of the house! Invite happiness into the home!”
In Japanese “Oni ha soto! , Fuku wa uchi!”
setsubun

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Please let me know if you have any comments!
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