Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Setsubun (Bean-Throwing Festival)

Wishing "Demons out! Luck in!" on Feb. 3rd. Setsubun 節分,
(節分Bean-Throwing Festival or Bean-Throwing Ceremony) is the day before the beginning of spring in Japan. The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun (立春) celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival (春祭 haru matsuri). In its association with the Lunar New Year, Spring Setsubun can be and was previously thought of as a sort of New Year's Eve, and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. This special ritual is called mamemaki (豆撒き, literally "bean throwing").

While throwing beans we say, "Demons out! Luck in!"
 (鬼は外! 福は内! Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!)


恵方巻き Good Fortune Sushi Rolls
Eho-maki (fortune rolls) are futo-maki (thick sushi rolls) eaten on the night of Setsubun. To be related with the Seven Deities of Good Fortune called Shichifukujin, seven fillings are traditionally rolled in a sushi roll. For example, simmered shiitake mushrooms and kanpyo (dried gourd), cucumber, rolled omelet (tamagoyaki), eels, sakura denbu (sweet fish powder), and seasoned koyadofu (freeze-dried tofu) are used. These ingredients represent good health, happiness, and prosperity, and rolling the fillings means good fortune.



PS> Thank you very much for the understanding my feeling towards encyclopedia. At least I wished to know in advance.  It snowed here all day and we were at home in front of PC. It seems tap into a computer (or type in?) is the hardest part for hubby rather than surfing pages, haha obviously.  
I must say I've been posting too frequently. I'll take a break for seveal days, friends  (^^;)   Hope you all are having wonderful week and probably see you close to the weekend.     Love, Orchid.

11 comments:

  1. Your posts are always chock full of wonderful information, my dear friend Miyako! I love to read them because I always always learn from them and the very interesting pictures you include. And, I never think you post too much!

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  2. My dear friend you do not need to worry about posting too much. Your blog is extremely interesting and I always enjoy my visits with you. It's a treat for me to learn so many things about you and your rich culture. Where else would I have learned anything about the Bean Throwing Festival? As I'm typing this the comment window is open next to the pictures of sushi and I find myself distracted and getting hungry. :-)
    Enjoy your week. Hugs

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  3. I think we all need a bean throwing festival. It would be wonderful to get rid of all the evil and start anew, wouldn't it?

    Thanks Orchid, for your sharing with us glimpses into your culture.
    Have a wonderful week ahead. Hugs and love to you my friend.

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  4. My good friend Orchid I think you should post more.We all find your life very interesting and enjoy the many traditions you share.
    I like the bean throwing idea9wonder if it would work here ) tee hee I'd love to see some Spring .
    Ours officially start the 20th of March. So we have 57 more day's to go.
    It is snowing here too !
    Warm Hugs

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  5. It is always a pleasure to visit here, Miyako. I look forward to reading about your husband's progress on the computer. I wish it was almost spring here - we have a couple of months to go. xo

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  6. Dearest Orchid, You don't post too much at all! I post almost every day, so no worries. I see your husband needs to learn typing skills. You can take typing lessons online and practice. He might like that. I learned to type in high school and I've always been glad they taught me.

    I love the meaning of this festival, and the wonderful food that goes with it. My ritual of telling demons to go away is to quote some words from the Bible, but I will remember the beans when I do this and think of you my sweet friend.

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  7. My dear friend, Miyako
    I don't think you post too much.
    Your posts are always filled with wonderful information and beautiful pictures.
    I thank you for sharing so much of your wonderful culture with us!
    I would not even know where to look to find such things if left on my own.

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  8. My dear friend Miyako. Greetings to you on this January day! What a wonderful idea that bean throwing ceremony is. If only we could do that over here in England, and throw all the evil and bad things away, and start afresh. As you can see, we all love to hear all about the traditions in your country. We certainly don't think that you post too much, but perhaps you mean that it is taking up too much of your time! Hee Hee! Either way, I will look forward to your next post. Big hugs from me to you x

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  9. Oh Orchid, I love this festival and the symbolism of traditional foods and celebration. How wonderful to usher out negative and bring in positive. Have a beautiful week my dear friend.

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  10. Oh Setsubun! I forgot it's coming so soon! When I was in Japan, we always had mame soup on Setsubun. I think it was a soup made with leftover beans (which we did not throw) and hot water. I liked it very much :-)

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  11. Bean throwing sounds like alot of fun

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