Traditions Archives

Setsubun: Do You Know Where Your Beans Are?

Published February 3, 2012 by Alisha

Ehomaki, a rolled sushi traditional at Setsubun

Ah, Setsubun. This special day marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring on the Japanese lunar calendar. It’s a little bit like a New Year’s party in terms of one period coming to a close while a new one starts. It is celebrated in temples and home throughout the country. There are traditional foods and traditional behaviors. One such behavior involves chasing the male head of the household out of the house while throwing beans at him and yelling “Out with the Devil!”

You can’t make this stuff up.

Setsubun comes around every year on February 3rd or 4th. It’s like the Japanese spring equinox. It’s a day to let go of winter and welcome spring. The behavior of the day is reflective of this – the alpha male of the house traditionally dresses up as an oni (devil) and his family throws beans at him while chanting “Devils out! Happiness in!!” until he runs out the front door, which is then slammed behind him. This is meant to drive evil spirits from the home and welcome good ones.

This tradition isn’t practiced so widely at home anymore. Now, celebrations (some involving bean throwing) are held at temples. At some events, celebrities and sumo wrestlers show up. Rather than having everyone chuck beans at some unlucky guy, however, these events may feature celebrities throwing prizes, money, or gold foil-covered bans into the assembled crowd.

There’s food, too (as there often is with Japanese holidays). Setsubun’s special treat is the ehomaki. It’s a long roll of sushi that hasn’t been cut (about 20cm long). It is filled with seven different items because seven is a “lucky” number, and also reflects the legendary seven gods of happiness in Japanese folklore. Every year, a direction is designated as “lucky” (this year it’s north-northwest), and the goal is to eat the entire ehomaki in silence while facing the lucky direction.

I’m not a big fan of rolled sushi, but it’s not every day you see a compass attached to your food in the supermarket.

The compass attached to each roll of sushi is supposed to help you turn in the correct direction while attempting to eat the entire ehomaki.

While I did not participate in setsubun this year (aside from buying the compass-sushi), it’s a quirky, interesting way to say goodbye to winter and welcome spring. The day also seems to coincide very closely with groundhog day in the U.S. Both are fairly ridiculous. If relying on a rodent to predict the weather for you or throwing beans at your Dad sounds like fun, that’s great. I’m going to wait until I can turn my heater off before I officially welcome spring.

Scenes From Summer

Published October 13, 2010 by Alisha

I’ve gotten pretty backlogged with my photos. Summer is finally winding down (at least, I think it is – some days the weather still seems unsure of what month is is), and we’re transitioning into Autumn, at long last. The weeks of complaining about the heat have been abandoned and will be soon replaced by weeks of complaining about the cold. Most of my summer wasn’t experienced through the lens of a camera. However, a few new pictures made their way onto my hard drive. I’ve chosen the best (read: least crappy) to share.

First (because there’s only one photo worth sharing): this photo is from Koenji Awaodori. A huge, jam-packed parade through the streets near Koenji station. Dancing, music, drunk city folk, food, and fun.

Second: The Asakusa Samba matsuri. Old-timey tourist-friendly Asakusa meets scantily clad, noisy, feathery, busty Brazil. Dancing, music, drunk city folk, and fun (again). With about 3000% more boobs and glitter than Koenji awaodori. Wish I could have counted the zoom lenses and flannel shirts.

Lastly, I visited Honmonji temple to the southish westish of the metro area for another obon matsuri. You may have seen my video on YouTube about the circle dancing festival from Gifu prefecture – many, many of these style festivals took place in the summer – this was the same deal. Also, dancing, drunk city folk, food, and fun (sensing a trend here?).

This temple is beautiful – I arrived just as the sun was going down after hiking around the area for a while trying to determine if I was going the right way. It’s at the top of a hill, and there’s a very ethereal quality about the whole place. The pictures don’t do it justice.

Food choice at these festivals is pretty standard wherever you go – meat on a stick, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, chocolate bananas, and takoyaki (think doughnut holes, but made with octopus and batter instead).

I had my first taste of okonomiyaki at this festival (pictured rather unappealingly below). It’s like a pancake pizza thing made with cabbage that they cover in a sauce and you dip in mayonnaise. I realize how unappetizing that sounds. I’m still undecided if I like it or not – I got about halfway through my portion before I decided I was uninterested in eating the rest. Maybe it’s better to try it…not…at a festival.

This is the central “dance tower”, where all the obon dances are performed.

The stairs leading up to the temple. I apparently arrived at the bank entrance, via a hill. These stairs in the evening really lent to the otherworldly feel of the place – probably moreso when there’s less people around.

Lastly, this is a photo of what I was looking at while I was eating the previously mentioned okonomiyaki. I was parked on the steps of a temple older than my home country eating a new food, and looking at this view when I had a “wow, this is my life” moment.

Moments like those are just one of many reasons I enjoy living where I do. Sometimes I’m still surprised that I made it here and I’m experiencing things like this. Mostly, I’m just grateful. These are good times.

Apologies for the lack of updates recently – there’s been some changes in my schedule and my free time is now limited (and treasured!). I haven’t forgotten all things internet – I have some ideas for videos, I just haven’t put them into action yet. I’m still somewhat active on Twitter, but my content isn’t strictly Japanese-culture-related. Feel free to check it out. As always, thanks for reading!

Tanabata!

Published July 7, 2010 by Alisha

With summer in Japan comes heat, humidity, increasingly irritating insects, and festivals (along with some other stuff, I’m sure)! Tanabata is a summer festival observed every year on July 7th. This event is a celebration of the story of two lovers called Orihime and Hikoboshi (AKA the stars Vega and Altair). In accordance with the legend of their relationship, these two are separated by the Milky Way and can only come together once every year on the seventh day of the seventh month.

Tradition dictates the writing of wishes onto small strips of paper called tanzaku and attaching them to stalks of bamboo. Many communities will also hold parades or display streamers from buildings. After the festival, the wishes and streamers may often be burned or floated down the river.

Our office had its own bamboo stalk in the reception area for each student (and staff member) to attach a wish to:

Students began writing their wishes last Tuesday so we could ensure a full stalk by the date of the actual event. We tried to get most of the students to write their wishes in English, and for those unable to, we provided a little assistance. I peeked around at what some of the kids wrote:

This was written by one of my students (she wrote in English too, but her Japanese handwriting is nicer). It reads “I want to become a high school student”.

This one was written by Yusuke, a university student in his early twenties. His English is astoundingly good – he’s been studying at our school for the majority of his life and you’d think he’d spent time abroad based on how natural his English sounds. He stays extremely busy with school, but always manages to have a cheery disposition at his classes with my coworker.

The nature of the wishes written here is representative of the majority of the things written by the rest of the students. Countless “I hope I get good grades” or “I want to improve X skill” litter our now-bent bamboo stalk.

“I hope my family is safe” and “I’d like to have X profession” are also common. In fact, the only one I could find that mentioned receiving a new possession was the “puppy” note pictured above.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kinds of wishes American children would have written. How many would have chosen to write “I hope my family is healthy” or “I’d like to pass my final examinations”? How many would have scribbled a note for an Xbox or the new iPhone? I’m not saying Japanese children wouldn’t also go crazy to receive a shiny new toy, but I found it interesting when I noticed the different nature of these personal wishes. A little research reveals that traditionally boys and girls wish for an improvement in skills, or they express a desire for self improvement. Probably something we could all use now and then.

My wish was pretty simple:

“Happiness, success, and cooler temperatures”. I figure with a wish this vague at least one is bound to come true eventually.

Category: Traditions

Setsubun: Do You Know Where Your Beans Are?

Scenes From Summer

Tanabata!