今日は節分です。

I'll admit, I don't know the first kanji in setsubun, but today is a Japanese holiday called Sestubun! It marks the begining of a new season. (春）Spring! So, yes, spring has started for Japan. Ironically, today was also the first time I saw a tiny tiny bit of snow outside the window during lunch. ufufufu.

Basically, Setsubun is called the bean throwing festival. It is kind of looked at as a New Years, so the ritual is to clean out all of the dirt from the past year and drive away evil spirits or omens by throwing beans. Bean throwing is known as "Mamemaki." Usually, someone in the house will dress up like an "oni" or devil/demon and will have the beans thrown at them. I've also heard that eating these beans is considered good luck. When people throw the beans, they yell "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" which means demons out! fortune in! Some people use peanuts instead of soybeans.

Now-a-days, it is also custom to eat "makizushi," or uncut sushi. Basically a long sushi roll. When you eat it, you are supposed to face the direction of the years corresponding zodiac animal, which is on a chart. It sounds like a fun tradition. (I don't know if I could eat that much sushi though. Maybe if it had tuna in it).