The wind is chilly, however, the sunlight has become stronger recently.
February 3rd is Setsubun, which literally means”the day which divide two seasons”. The next day, Feb. 4th, is supposed to be the first day of spring on the traditional Chinese calendar which consists of 24 seasons.
On Setsubun, bean throwing events are held in every Shinto shrine throughout Japan. Soy beans and sometimes packages of sweets are scattered from the temporal stages in the shrines.
Athletes, kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers (in famous shrines), or ordinary people (in ordinary shrines like the one in my neighborhood) threw beans with a shout of “Evils Out! Fortune In!”
This event used to be held in each household in the evening.
After the event, we eat as many soy beans as the number of our own age.
Besides this event, we eat rice rolls called Ehomaki. It is said that the fortune will come to you if you eat it facing to the lucky direction (which varies every year) without uttering a word.
This practice may be traditional in some areas, yet has become popular nationwide these years.
The staffs were sea foods at the beginning, yet we have various kinds of Ehomaki these days, such as beef, various vegetables, fried pork, fruits, Korean ingredients etc.
Today, probably all the Japanese ate Ehomaki wishing earlier containment of the Covid-19 pandemics.
