Finding Chinese New Year traces in Setsubun

When the Chinese around the world ushered in the year of rabbit on 3 February this year, the Japanese were celebrating 節分 setsubun, which means the change of season. Though theoretically there are 4 節分s in a year, but only the one which signify the change from winter to spring is celebrated every year.

At the end of February, supermarkets started to sell beans.

Beans (豆 mame) play an important role in 節分 customs.

First, we should eat the same number of beans as our age. For example, if I am 18 years old, I should eat 18 beans. Mmm... it will be pretty difficult when I become an old lady though... :P



Second, children will throw beans at the monster (鬼 oni). And of course, the monster will lose the battle. This special ritual is called 豆撒き (mamemaki).

My Japanese colleague told me that her parents used to dress as monsters and let the three siblings throw beans at them for this day. Kindergartens also have this practice today. It seems like a really fun day for the kids. :)



This tradition is pretty similar to the Chinese tradition of lighting firecrackers during 农历新年 Chinese New Year. According to the folktale, a long long time ago, a monster called 年 (nian) terrorised a village. In order to chase it away, the villagers gathered together and lit many firecrackers. Eventually, the loud noise scared the monster away. It signifies chasing away the old year (年 nian) and welcoming the new year.

Another interesting custom of 節分 is eating 恵方巻 (ehoumaki), which is a long uncut maki. According to this ritual, we have to finish eating the 恵方巻 while facing a specific direction. This direction is determined by the year. Each year, the direction is different. This special direction is called 恵方 (ehou). For 2011, the direction is slightly Northeast.

Too bad, I only heard of the custom the day after 節分, and the supermarket no longer sell any 恵方巻. :(

恵方 is pretty similar to Chinese belief in 风水 fengshui, which determines the different auspicious directions for different aspects like health, wealth, love, career and so on. The directions changes, too.

Well, I hope to try out the 恵方巻 tradition in future though. :)

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Yup, I am participating the Japan Blog Matsuri again! :) This time, the theme for February is on "Famous Japanese Events". If you have a blog post to share on the theme, do find out more from this month's host, Reesan's blog or FAQ page.

Soaking in the Summer Festivities

August in Japan is the month of fireworks. And I love fireworks! Yet, another reason for me to love August (August is my favourite month :D ).

During the first week when I arrived, I joined a welcome party for all new ALTs in my prefecture at Najikashima- watching the fireworks from the rooftop of a sempai’s (senior) apartment.

Take a look at the video below to see how much fun we have that night.



I didn’t climb up to the rooftop in the end, as it seemed like you require nimble arms and legs to climb from the escape ladder. The escape ladder only starts midway, hence it requires an agile jump which I lack. :P So the video footages were from the first and second storeys only.

I notice that the huge difference between fireworks festival in Japan and Singapore would be the time and frequency. For Singapore, fireworks are fired a few at a time, continuously. Hence it only lasted 5-10minutes approximately. The sky will look pretty busy, and you can capture a really magnificent scene. But for Japan, the entire festival can be as long as 2 hours, as they start by firing fireworks one at a time, and announcing the sponsors of each firework. Towards the end of the festival, things start to get exciting, as more and more fireworks are set up together and continuously. In this case, you can fully appreciate the beauty of each firework fully, and not miss any.

Next, I joined the matsuri that was in my neighbourhood. It’s a small one for the local community. (I may have missed the main festivities which were at the shrine though, as I did not know how to get there. :P)

Here’s a footage on the night:



First, participants would follow the mikoshi around the neighbourhood. The background music that you hear was played by the children in the neighbourhood. Once we reached the community area, they started to distribute food and drinks to the participants. After that, participants, regardless of age and gender, gathered around in a circle and started dancing to their folk songs (I think?).

Very interesting!

Next year, I shall visit a full matsuri in my yukata. Mmm.. I would need to buy a yukata then. :P