Happy Setsubun! As I'm sure you know, today is the day when all of Japan welcomes the new season (which I can only assume is Winter, Pt. 2) by eating sushi rolls and throwing beans at each other. You knew that, right? I mean, duh.
It's an occasion for great festivity, no different from the equally weird-ass Roman Feast of the Lemures. Family members put on demon masks and are pelted with hard, inedible beans by their relatives who chant rituallistically to drive out the demons and usher in the good luck. And it's not creepy at all!
Not even a little.
I'm celebrating by taking the day...well, actually, I do still have to work today. Two jobs. Yes, even though Japan has about three National Holidays per month, Bean-Throwing-Demon Day is considered of lower national import than Sports and Leisure Day. But I guess I'm observing it by working even less hard than I usually do. Also, I got a bag full of myserious objects from the school, some wrapped in plastic, most bean-shaped. I would try my luck at eating one but for the fact that I overheard two of the teachers discussing the contents of their identical bags (and for once, the meaning was clear enough that I could follow the conversation):
Teacher 1, holding up a red Jawbreaker-shaped object: "Hey, can you eat this thing?"
Teacher 2: "I don't know. I only ate the candies shaped like Anpanman."
Teachers 1 and 2: (Laughter)
So from all of us here in the Gaijin Patrol, may your demons go out and your luck go in. Beans on earth, etc.
When the demons are driven out, thanks to the crucial beans - where do they go? I don't think we, i.e., Americans, pay enough attention to our demons, or there wouldn't be 41 Republicans in the Senate.
ReplyDeleteHappy Bean-Related Winer Holiday!
Dad