Setsubun — Demons Don’t Like Beans.

While throwing something away at school last Monday, one of my coworkers struck up a conversation. 「豆」 (“mame”) He said, pointing to some beans on the table. “Eat some.” I obliged and immediately regretted it. These were Setsubun beans, dry roasted soybeans that are so hard it’s like biting into a jawbreaker. They’re so hard they give me a headache trying to chew them, and I already had a headache because I was (and still am) nursing a cold. And to top it all off, they don’t taste all that great.

When I was done forcing down the tiny rocks, my co-worker explained a bit about Setsubun. “Setsubun,” he started, “means ‘the division between seasons.'” He drew the kanji, 節分, to show me. The first comes from the word for season and the second means to divide. Makes sense. He also said that this means that while yesterday was winter, tomorrow, the day after Setsubun, is spring. “Yeah, well, it’s been spring this entire winter,” I thought to myself. We’ve had a strange, snow-less winter this year. Not good.

Next, he told me a bit about how Japanese people celebrate Setsubun. “Usually, someone at home will put on a demon mask and others will chase them out of the house and throw beans at them. This represents clearing the house of evil and bad influences.” Ahhh. “Ok, but why do you throw beans? Why not something else?” He just looked at me for a second. Then he said,

“Because demons don’t like beans.”

I mean, if someone started throwing those legume pebbles at me, I’d run too.

The last thing he mentioned was the ehou-maki, the long, uncut sushi rolls that traditionally people in the Kansai area eat for Setsubun. Apparently, konbini and supermarkets have really marketed ehou-maki, though, so now everyone eats them. One important thing about the ehou-maki is you’re supposed to eat them in total silence. I asked my co-worker why and he sheepishly said, “I’m not actually sure why.” I did some research later, and I found out a couple of different reasons!

Ehou-maki

Turns out eating them in total silence is not the only rule.

1. Ehou-maki should have seven ingredients inside of them, one for each of the seven gods of fortune.
2. When you eat ehou-maki, you should face the lucky direction for that year.
3. You should eat in total silence. I found two different reasons why:
   1. The first is just to enjoy a few moments of quiet contemplation. Enjoy the sound of everyone crunching and eating their sushi rolls.
   2. The second is that when you face the lucky direction and eat your roll, you are absorbing and inhaling good luck. If you speak, you exhale some of that luck. You remain silent so you can get as much good luck as you can.

Have you ever taken part in Setsubun activities? What kind of things do you do to refresh your house for a new season? Let me know in the comments!