#bean-throwing festival

[aishiteru-kenshin]

Ehomaki (Setsubun Sushi Roll) 恵方巻 | Recipe

The primary food on Setsubun is a sushi roll called ehomaki. This special sushi roll is made with seven fillings, representing the Seven Deities of Good Fortune called Shichifukujin. The type of ingredients are not as important as the number. You can choose your favourite seven sushi roll ingredients and roll them up tight to lock in the elements of good health, happiness, and prosperity. It is also very important not to cut the ehomaki for this same reason. Cutting the sushi roll, as would normally be done on any other day, would slice into your good fortune. There is one more essential practice to get this right. Eho (恵方) means “lucky direction.” So this special sushi roll is literally a Lucky Direction Sushi Roll. That means if you don’t eat it facing the lucky direction for that year (depending on the Chinese zodiac symbol), don’t count on dreams coming true this spring.

[aishiteru-kenshin]

Setsubun Tradition: Mamemaki (Bean-Throwing)

On Setsubun, when evil spirits roam the streets and knock on your door, it’s time for desperate measures! Fill a Japanese cup called a masu with fortune beans (roasted soybeans). With the cup in your strong arm, bend your knees into a ready position. Ask the bravest family member to open the door on your count. 1, 2, 3, go! The moment that door rushes open, pushed by the force of a winter gale, with an evil spirit riding on that invisible wave, that’s when you give it a mouthful of beans. Toss that cup of roasted soybeans out through the door while screaming, “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (“Demons, out! Good Fortune, in!”, 鬼は外! 福は内!). As you lunge forward into that demon-tainted wind, the beans clearing your path to safety, catch the side of the door and slam it shut! Fall to the floor, with your back securing the door, and whisper under an exhausted and exhilarated breath, “Oni wa soto. Fuku wa uchi.” Mission accomplished. Many Japanese on Setsubun prefer instead to have a more tangible target for Mamemaki, to make certain they hit their mark and ward off bad luck for the coming season. This is where a parent courageously puts on the Oni (demon) mask and takes one for the team. Armed with fortune beans and an eagerness to break cabin fever, both spouse and children let the beans fly at the fleeing demon, chanting, “Demons, out! Good Fortune, in!” Roasted soybeans actually serve two purposes on Setsubun. They are, of course, excellent for thwarting demons, but just as good for snacking on after all that demon-thwarting activity. After Mamemaki is successfully over, the Japanese household gathers and eats the same number of fortune beans as their age for good luck.

[papercraftsquare]

New Paper Craft: 2013 Setsubun - Ogre Masks and Mamemaki Box Free Papercrafts Download

New Papercraft has been published on PaperCraftSquare: Link: http://www.papercraftsquare.com/2013-setsubun-ogre-masks-and-mamemaki-box-free-papercrafts-download.html Paper Craft Name: 2013 Setsubun - Ogre Masks and Mamemaki Box Free Papercrafts Download Description:

Here are 2013 Setsubun papercrafts, Ogre Masks and Mamemaki Box, designed by a japanese designer “坂啓典”. Setsubun (Bean-Throwing Festival or Bean-Throwing Ceremony) is the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan. The name literally means “seasonal division”, but usually the term refers to the Spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival. In its association with the Lunar New Year, Spring Setsubun can be and was previously thought of as a sort of New Year’s Eve, and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. This special ritual is called mamemaki (literally “bean throwing”). Setsubun has its origins in tsuina, a Chinese custom introduced to Japan in the eighth century.

The custom of Mamemaki first appeared in the Muromachi period. It is usually performed by the toshiotoko of the household (the male who was born on the corresponding animal year on the Chinese zodiac), or else the male head of the household. Roasted soybeans (called “fortune beans”) are thrown either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Oni (demon or ogre) mask, while the people say “Demons out! Luck in!” and slam the door, although this is not common practice in households anymore and most people will attend a shrine or temple’s Spring festival where this is done. The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat roasted soybeans, one for each year of one’s life, and in some areas, one for each year of one’s life plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come. The gestures of mamemaki look similar to the Western custom of throwing rice at newly married couples after a wedding. [Source: Wiki]

You can download the paper craft templates here: 2013 Setsubun – Ogre Masks and Mamemaki Box Free Papercrafts Download

For More infomaion please click on: http://www.papercraftsquare.com/2013-setsubun-ogre-masks-and-mamemaki-box-free-papercrafts-download.html More papercrafts, paper models, paper toys at PaperCraftSquare.com