Today is setsubun (節分), the day before changing the seasons. There are four seasons in Japan, therefore there are four setsubun, but we usually refer the day before spring.
On this day, we do mamemaki (豆まき), scattering roasted soybeans called fukumame (福豆：good luck bean)to drive out bad luck. Depends on regions shouts are different, but we usually say "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi (鬼は外、福は内)", devils out, fortunes in. After mamemaki, we eat the same number of soybeans as our age to wish our good health and good luck of the year. This custom started around the Muromachi Era (1392-1573).
There is another custom so-called ehomaki(恵方巻き) in the evening of setsubun. That is to eat a big rolled sushi (futomaki: 太巻き）facing toward eho (恵方), the good luck direction of the year which is tohokuto 東北東, east-northeast this year without saying anything. If so, it is said that the fortune will come. This origin is not sure, but it has become popular since 1970's in Osaka.
It sound delicious... can you put a picture of this?
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ReplyDeleteI should have taken pictures before eating last night, but I forgot. Sorry.
I ate 2 different ehomaki. One is gomoku futomaki (五目太巻き) which had 5 different ingredients such as tuna, egg, imitation crab, dried gourd shavings called kanpyo, and honewort. The other was negitoro maki (ネギトロ巻き) which was tuna paste with green onion.
If you go to google image or other search engine and put ehomaki or 恵方巻, you can get many pictures. Please try.
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