恵方巻き Ehohmaki ( Setsubun )

Ehohmaki ( Setsubun )

In Japan, the traditional end of winter falls on February 3rd,
and is known as Setsubun
The day's main event is the bean-scattering ceremony,
when people throw beans while shouting
"Fortune in and demons out."
And in addition to this, we have a special custom on the day,
when we eat an Ehohmaki which is a kind of sushi
but it is made especially for the setsubun day.
The Ehohmaki is a rolled sushi which is rolled Nori seaweed
and inside there are a lot of ingredients.
We have to eat this in silence (without speaking), closing our eyes
and facing a direction which depends on the year,
and until we finish eating it we pray for a wish to come true.
If you speak anything before you finish eating it, your dream can't come true.
We throw beans and eat the Ehohmaki in order to drive away evil spirits and bring in good fortune.

Ehohmaki's ingredients include cucumbers, shiitake mushrooms,
cooked eggs, eels, kanpyo (which is made from a kind of fruit) and so on.
The ingredients have the meaning of Shitifukujin,
which are the Japanese seven gods, and eating this Ehohmaki means
we roll the Shitifukujin inside us.
On the other hand, the Ehohmaki looks like a demon's weapon,
so we have this weapon which the demons have left
because they had run away by our throwing beans,
and we think our spirits have got stronger as a result.

I'll show you how to cook the Ehohmaki, next time.


See you, soon