せつぶんジョーク

Today is slowly winding toward the weekend. I'm relaxing - or as I like to think of it, recuperating - from this week's activities. I have my can of ice coffee beside me and life is good. The highlight of the day was "Setsubun", a cultural experience very esoteric to an outsider but perfectly normal for generations upon generations of Japanese kids. The goal of the ritual is to cleanse all buildings of demons. With the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy fresh on our minds, one might consider this a major - almost heroic - task. But alas, demons the world over are puny and all it took was some kids armed with peanuts and dried soy beans. There are many ways to celebrate "Setsubun"; each area long ago developing their own traditions surrounding the day. The common link between them being peanuts.

In Fukushima I experienced "Setsubun" quiet by accident: Today was not an exception. After lunch the students and staff met in the gym. Certain groups of children were selected (probably for their speed) to act as demons and we basically played variations on tag. Quiet fun and thankfully no injuries. (It seemed until that point I had been comforting kids all day. In that vein, today we had our second Canada Studies' injury, when a child put his chair down on his friend's foot. Fear not; kids are tough, and besides some tears, there were no lasting effects.) A careful reader must now be wondering how soy and peanuts get worked into the story. Well, after the games, the students were released to find personalized packages of soybeans hide somewhere the school. I, fortunately, was forgotten - probably just an oversight - in the distribution of soybeans, and for which I was thankful. However, much to the kindness of the students, and later, the chagrin, students offered their packages of dried soy beans to me, which I politely declined (or, later, strongly refused).



Please follow the directions below to enjoy your own version of "Setsubun".

1. Ready your pre-bought supply of peanuts and dried soy beans (umame).
2. Open all the windows in your house.
3. Throw said peanuts around the house, while ringing a bell, and yelling, "Good luck inside! Devil outside!"
4. Eat nori-maki.*

* This step is optional.