February 03, 2008

Bite into a sushi roll!


On"setsubun" day, commonly known as the day before the first day of spring, the Japanese often have the bean-throwing event.

Also, they rush into a sushi shop to get sushi rolls. It is customary to bite into a sushi roll without cutting in bite-size pieces. They must face “the lucky direction of the year” (we called it ehoh. Ehoh varies every year.) and not talk to anyone while eating a roll. It is said that people have a good and healthy year after following this custom.

This custom came from Kansai (ex: Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe) area, but it has been being popular throughout Japan because the nation-wide convenience stores started to sell sushi rolls on setsubun day.


You’ll find several kind of rolls; basic sushi roll (eel, cucumber, Japanese omelet, dried gourd shaving), salad-like sushi roll (canned tuna, lettuce with mayonnaise), fried cutlet roll and so on. Even thin roll cakes are sold for setsubun!

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