Hey guys!

It is still like the middle of the winter (especially due to the abnormally strong polar front this year), but it is almost spring on the Japanese calendar.
In Japan, we have the beginning of 'calendar seasons' for each of the four seasons (立春=beginning of spring, 立夏=biginning of summer, 立秋=biginning of autumn, and 立冬=beginning of winter).
The beginning of spring is especially important and was used to be regarded as equivalent to New Year's day.
So, to celebrate, the day before that (Feb 3rd for this year) is called Setsubun (=節分) which basically means the day of the changing season.
This word can be used for every season, but we usually refer to the day between winter and spring.

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Japanese spring characterized by Sakura

Just as we had many rituals on New Year's Eve to hope for a good New Year, we have many rituals (especially foods) on Setsubun as well. 
Here are some of the three things to eat on Setsubun.

1. Fortune beans 

This is a dried soybean and sadly, it does not contain any scroll with fortune on it (you wouldn't be able to read it even if there were anyway).
It is believed that they can get rid of evil spirits and bring in good fortune.
To do that we throw the bean outside (or to a demon) saying '鬼は外 (=demons out)' and throw beans inside saying '福は内 (=good fortune in).'
We use demons since they were a symbol of evil spirits (for more about demons please check Japanese monsters, ghost stories and gods).

This is what usually happens but there are many regional rituals and in some places, they might do the complete opposite thing or let both evil and good spirits in.
This is because some demons are actually nice to human and those regions may have folk stories related to demons saving them from a crisis.
In the places where they let good fortunes out, they usually believe that it will give a good fortune to others which will eventually come back to you in return.
 
After the bean throwing, you get to eat the beans.
The number of beans you have is 'your age + 1'.
It is believed that by eating those numbers of beans, you can have a good fortune for the year.

By the way, there are several reasons we use beans.
First of all, beans were believed to have spirits (or gods) in each grain (just like there are in rice).
So, just like we have rice cakes in New Year's Eve, we, in a sense, wish for the spirits to bring us good luck (for more about New Year's Eve and rice cakes, please check Kagami-biraki).
Also, the pronunciation of bean (Mame=まめ or 豆) can be expressed as 魔滅, which basically means to demolish the evil spirit.
That is why beans are more suited for the particular event compared to rice and other grains.

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Demons are a symbol of evil spirits

2. Sushi rolls

That's right, we also eat the all-time favorite Japanese food.
This specific sushi roll is called Eho-maki (=恵方巻き), and it is not cut like those we see in normal sushi restaurants.
There are also some rules when eating them to gain good luck.

First of all, we have to look at the 'lucky direction' or 'Eho (=恵方)' which is where the name comes from.
The directions are determined by the place where the annual god is and in 2019, it is a bit to the east of east-north-east.
The reason the directions are complicating is that ancient people divided the directions in 12 rather than 8 or 32.

Once you've got the direction, you have to eat them quietly.
It is believed that, by doing this, you can gain good luck as well.

3.Sardine

Sardine or Iwashi (=イワシ, 鰯) are also eaten on this day.
They are usually not preferred as a food normally in Japan due to their strong smell and relatively small edible parts.
In fact, their Kanji includes which mean weak, and their pronunciation is also similar to weak or vile.
However, because of their 'negative effects', Sardines are believed to let out the evil spirits within our body.

In some places, people decorate the fish in their front door with Holly (I mean the actual holly as in Christmas).
They are usually roasted before decorated, and the smoke is believed to give extra power to get evil spirits away.
Sardines may not be the best food you ever have, but I recommend having them.
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So, here were the three things to have on Setsubun.
Setsubun is coming up very soon, so if you liked it please try some!!
Also if you found it interesting or want to know more about it, like, share or leave a comment.

See you! 

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