Setsubun fun!

Setsubun is one of the more fun traditional Japanese holidays, celebrated the day before the first day of spring according to the old lunar calendar. This year, it fell on February 3^rd, and I was invited to celebrate the day with Katy Yoshida and her little gems, Sayuri and Ayame.

We started with mamamaki, or bean throwing, which is what this festival is most famous for. You shout “oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” whilst throwing beans at the oni (demon). This signifies driving away the bad spirits, and welcoming good luck into your home.

I’ll admit I got a little too into this, as did the kids, because there were beans EVERYWHERE. I found a bean in my shoe later that evening, even when my shoes hadn’t been in the room.
After the craziness of the bean throwing, we all had to pick up and eat the number of beans corresponding to our age. I’m not sure if Ayane was being super cute like usual, or secretly trying to hint I look closer to 75 than 21.

Next, we ate ehoumaki, a special type of sushi roll that you eat facing the “lucky direction” for that year. It’s believed that if you close your eyes and concentrate until you finish eating, your dream will come true. Little Sayuri was taking things very seriously. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about spilling pork onto my shirt.

I had a wonderful evening afterwards, being graced with some dance performances from the kids, having tickle fights and being treated to a cuppa and some Turkish delight from good old Marks & Spencer. Sayuri did mention it was her first time eating dinner with a teacher, something that must be quite strange; I'm just super grateful to have a little taste of home mixed with Japan, and a wonderful family to enjoy it with.