february 3rd was setsubun. on this day in japan, people throw soybeans to get rid of oni (demon) and eat uncut maki-zushi. people also dress up as oni by wearing an oni mask. last year, i made my oni debut in a homemade mask. the oni mask i made was quite crappy, but at least i did look like an oni.

this year, i was planning to make a decent oni mask that might scare the hell out of paul. but we went out for lunch with his aunt and did some shopping, and by the time we got home, it was already 8pm. i was almost too tired to make sushi, but i managed to make one roll of maki-zushi. because if you don’t keep your culture, no one will…

luckily i had some leftover dried ingredients from making osechi ryori at new year’s. i used dried shiitake, kanpyo, steamed spinach, and egg omelet for the filling. i’m supposed to eat the whole maki-zushi without cutting, but it’s incredibly hard to eat. so i cut it anyway.

then i had to find some soybeans. but all i’ve been able to find in canada are these oily soybeans that look like they’re roasted then sprayed with oil. they’re tasty, but they give me pimples everytime. so i’ve stopped buying them. the soybeans you see in the photo are uncooked soybeans.

meanwhile, japanese roasted soybeans are not oily or salty at all. they are just roasted and full of natural flavour. yesterday, i received another package from my parents, full of japanese food and maternity clothes. they didn’t forget to include some setsubun soybeans and two paper oni masks as well. unfortunately, the package arrived too late for setsubun this year. but paul and i ate the traditional number of beans (one for every year of our ages) anyway.

this year, we missed our chance to wear oni masks. so next year, we both will put on masks to be oni parents for poko-chan.

on the february 3rd, we japanese celebrate setsubun (”season’s divide”). in the old japanese calendar, there was a set starting date for each season (spring: rissyun, summer: rikka, autumn: rissyuu, winter: ritto). the day before each season started was called setsubun. but eventually, setsubun came to mean only the day before the first day of spring, rissyun.

on setsubun, you throw mame (roasted soybeans) at oni (demons). you’re supposed to throw the beans out the front door, chanting “oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” (”demons get out, good fortune comes in”). oni are pretty scary monsters, with gigantic iron clubs, obachan (old-woman-style) perms and sharp teeth sticking out of their mouth (they seriously need braces). they come in different skin colours: red, blue, green, yellow, black and pink!

scary!

if you go to a supermarket in japan during setsubun season, you can buy a package of roasted soybeans that come with a paper oni mask. at home, my dad was the one who was the oni. he’d put the mask on and my brother and i would throw beans at him — gently. but i always wanted to be the oni.

since you can’t buy an oni mask in canada, i knew i’d have to make one myself. but i got so busy making maki-sushi that i almost forgot. when paul phoned me to say he was on his way home from work, i only had ten minutes. i’d been planning to make soup, but forget that — i had to make that mask. after all, this was my oni debut.

of course, my instant mask turned out pretty crappy. and it was hard to eat uncut maki-sushi with a mask on (especially since i didn’t cut a mouth hole). at least the soybeans were delicious (”oni wa soto, mame wa oishii“)

it’s hard, being an oni.