Setsubun 節分

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Today, February 3rd, is Setsubun. This is a holiday that celebrates the day before the change of the seasons in the Lunar Calendar. To celebrate Setsubun many people throw beans outside their house and chant, "Out with Demons, in with luck!" or eat as many beans as their age. At Ikuta Shrine in Kobe there was a big festival for the holiday, which we saw highlights of on t.v. For our own celebration we bought the traditional Kansai Setsubun dish of huge uncut maki sushi from a local sushi take-out place for dinner and ate as many peanuts as our age (plus one for luck) in lieu of beans. The prepared foods section of the grocery store was, as Joe said, "like being in the first 10 rows of a Michael Jackson concert." The store devoted six cases to the special Setsubun rolls, and people were very excited to get their hands on them. Above is me with the oni (demon) mask that I got at the sushi place, below is our uncut maki sushi. So.... 鬼は外! 福は内！
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