Happy Setsubun!

~February 3rd marks a Japanese celebration called "Setsubun" (節分). I had no idea what it was until one of my coworkers explained it to me. Essentially, setusbun is a traditional New Year's activity to drive out all the bad luck that has accumulated from the old year, and welcome good luck into the new year. The manner in which this is done, however, is unique.

The principal activity of setsubun is called "mamemaki", which means "bean scattering". To perform mamemaki, one person in the house dresses up as an oni (demon), and somebody else throws dried soybeans or peas at them! More recently, everyone except the oni participates in the bean-scattering. Kids, as you can imagine, love it.

The person who pretends to be the oni is usually the oldest brother or the father. Interestingly, the Japanese word from brother is "Onii", which sounds very similar to the word for demon! I'm sure that sisters the world over heartily agree with this linguistic similarity.

^ The "oni" is supposed to be chased all around the house, so that the peas are scattered everywhere. While doing this, the pea-thrower chants, "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内!), which means, "Demon is out! Good luck is in!". Some regions of Japan utilize variations on this chant.

I found a pair of online mamemaki-themed games where you have to throw beans at demons. If you need some amusement, you can play the games here and here.

^ Supplies for setsubun can be easily purchased in many stores. I took this picture in a local supermarket, where the packages of beans come with ready-to-wear oni masks. Young children often make their own masks at school, and mamemaki is also celebrated at Shinto shrines across Japan.

You can find downloadable pictures of oni masks here and here which you can print, cut out, and wear, should you so desire. There is also a site where you can create your own oni mask. Go on, you know you want to try it out.

^ A green oni mask. This one reminds me of Green Goblin from the Spider-Man movie.

^ Red oni masks. To me, they look more like clowns than evil spirits. Wait, clowns are evil spirits, right? The next time I see Ronald McDonald, he's getting a soybean thrown in his face courtesy of yours truly.

After the beans have been scattered around the house, it's time to eat them! That's right, you have to eat the stuff you threw to get rid of your residual bad luck. Ideally, you should eat one bean for each year of your life (or, more accurately, one for each setsubun you've celebrated). If you happen to live alone and can't throw beans at someone, you can still eat the beans to supposedly keep yourself free of sickness in the coming year

Of course, it's not exactly hygenic to consume food that you've thrown on the floor, so in recent years many people have switched from beans to peanuts that are still in the shell. Once the thrown peanuts have been collected, the shells are removed and the clean peanuts inside are eaten. In addition, after makemaki is finished, you're supposed to eat "chomaki". This is a kind of roll containing rice and dried seaweed (yum!); I'm told that it resembles an uncut California Roll.

The word "setsubun" actually refers to the day before the first day of each new season in the traditional Chinese calendar. However, in Japan the word has come to refer to February 3rd, the day before Risshun (立春), the traditional first day of spring. Ideally, setsubun should precede the Lunar New Year; in the year 2000, the solar and lunar cycles matched up to almost make setsubun the actual New Year's Eve (the Lunar New Year in 2000 was on February 5th). However, this year the Lunar New Year will not arrive until February 18th (Year of the Boar, baby!).

Learning about setsubun clears up something I had been wondering about for a few days. Last weekend, I went shopping in the largest supermarket in Nagaoka, and I noticed a large display set up with huge packages of peanuts. There were several children wearing demon-masks who were laughing and chasing each other, defying parental attempts to catch them. At the time, I thought it was some kind of sale, or perhaps a promotion to sell peanuts by offering a colorful mask. Now, of course, I know that it was in preparation for setsubun.

Living alone as I do, I don't have anyone to throw beans at. And because I was working all day, I couldn't check out the festivities held at the many local shrines. So I'll celebrate setsubun in my own way: by scattering 23 pistachios around my apartment, and then eating them...after removing the shells. ~Oyasumi!

Checkpoint! *Bonus Time!*

~Due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts, my replacement teacher will not be arriving until after my one-year contract expires. Therefore, I have graciously agreed to work for another three weeks in Japan. This means that you will all have to suffer the lack of my presence until late April. Please reschedule the massive surprise return party that you were all undoubtedly planning for me.

By way of consolation, I offer this Japanglish:

SARULOGO
Monkey panic sarulogo and people joy.
MONKEYS CHARACTER

As you might guess, "saru" is Japanese for monkey. This "sarulogo" was located on the back of a T-shirt that I spotted during one of the many festivals that take place in Nagaoka. I was able to assign each of the six different monkey characters on the shirt to six of my young students. They're monkeys, that's for sure. ~Oyasumi!

Liquid Assets

~Well, I wanted snow. All things come to he who waits:

^ A snowstorm hit the area this morning and lasted for a few hours, giving us an inch or so of snow. The temperature remains above freezing, so it's temporary and is currently devolving back to sleet.

On a brighter note, the snowfall gave me an excellent opportunity to take a picture of these:

^ That's right, this is a picture of the legendary road sprinklers! Powered by volcanically heated water from the underworld, constructed with the aid of The Infernal Contraption, and spewing lukewarm water all over the convex streets, they keep the roads free of ice.

The proper Japanese name of these devices is "shôsetsu paipu". The city recently published a guide to winter driving which advises drivers not to splash over the water spraying out of the pipes. That's easier said than done, because some of them are malfunctioning and are blasting water far higher than those around them. They're veritable geysers that intermittently sputter on and off like Old (un)Faithful.

Avoiding them is a challenge, especially when you're riding a bicycle. Yes, yes, I know it's dumb to ride a bike in the snow, but I was running late. Or rather, riding late...arrgh, you know what I mean!

Here are some other winter road hazards:

• "Suberimasu" -- Pavement is slippery.
  

• "Semakunarimasu" -- Roads become narrower.
  

• "Mienakunarimasu" -- You cannot see well.
  

It's at times like this when I'm glad I don't have a car in Japan. Between the winter conditions, the lack of parking, and the less-than-stellar capabilities of Japanese drivers, driving is much like a high-speed game of pachinko. ~Oyasumi.

Can You Hear Me Now?

~I recently stumbled across this fascinating article about an interesting use for a cellular phone. To summarize, the FBI was able to turn a mobster's cell phone into a listening device--a bug--by remotely reprogramming it. In other words, your cell phone can be used to listen in on you, should someone take the trouble to remotely hack into and reprogram it.

In fact, according to a security guide from the U.S. Department of Commerce, "a cellular telephone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone." For even more fun, this article from the Financial Times describes how your wireless phone company can "remotely install a piece of software on to any handset, without the owner's knowledge, which will activate the microphone even when its owner is not making a call." I wonder if they charge extra for that.

All of this may sound unnerving, but here's where the story gets really strange: apparently, these cellular bugging techniques can work whether the phone is on or off. This is because some phone models (I'm looking at you, Nokia users!) never fully power down as long as a charged battery remains attached to the handset. If your phone has been converted into a bug, the only way to keep it from listening in on you is to physically remove the battery.

Just a little something to think about when you're discussing a sensitive topic within range of a cellphone, which may or may not be listening to you...~Oyasumi!

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Box

~While in a large supermarket a few days ago, I noticed a section of the store had been converted into a display for storage containers that were for sale. I realized that there were lots of loose objects sitting around in my apartment, and that perhaps I could use a box or two to put them in. Imagine my delighted surprise when I saw this:

^ Wow, a free box! The Japanese are so generous! As a bonus, the free box even comes with some Japanglish:

Clothing, a tool, a toy, etc
It is arrangement order
shapely finely.
It is the free box
which can be contained
anything freely.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. The last part of the writing seems to indicate that this "Free Box" is, in fact, some kind of extra-dimensional storage container with theoretically infinite capacity; hence "which can be contained/anything freely". Perhaps this only works if the objects to be contained are arranged correctly in "shapely finely" order?

I was about to grab a few of the free boxes when I noticed that they had attached prices: ¥900 each (about $7.50). That's supposed to be "free"?? I call false advertising! Lies, I tell you, lies! ~Oyasumi.

The Maypole From Hell

~When I arrived at the Civics Center today for my weekly class, there was some kind of celebration in progress. People were dancing outside, and booths were set up with Japanese foods. Inside the Center was a series of displays and exhibits. I later spoke to one of the staff members, who said that it was a cultural celebration from the town of Tochio:

^Tochio is located to the East of Nagoka, on the other side of these mountains (click on the picture for a better look at the panoramic). One of my students is from Tochio, and gets to Nagaoka by bus. She says that the most "exciting" shop in Tochio is the local supermarket, so she and her friends have to go to Nagaoka or Niigata if they want to buy any non-necessities.

On New Year's Day, Tochio merged with Nagaoka, which explains the festival. Come to think of it, Nagaoka is a lot like Cary, North Carolina: it's continually expanding, swallowing up smaller nearby municipalities. It's like a civic version of Wal-Mart.

I took a few pictures of the mini-festival:

^ Yours truly, posing with a pair of uniquely-dressed individuals. I think the one on the right is supposed to be a fisherman, while the one on the left is a farmer, complete with a hammer for pounding rice into mochi.

^ Dolls of old people sitting around. They're highly detailed, but I doubt they would sell well in America.

^ Model houses from Tochio a hundred years ago. Because the town is in the mountains and (normally) receives a lot of snow, all of the roofs are steeply angled so as to keep them from collapsing under the weight of accumulated snow.

^ An example of glassware made in Tochio. This example, a glass plate with a picture of a cat built in, was particularly striking.

^ A display of children's artwork. This, I thought, was the best example. The artist's use of perspective is particularly good.

Finally, here was the most bizarre thing at the festival, just outside the entrance to the Civics Center:

^ Words fail me. I was going to make a joke here involving the word "woody", but I'm just not in the mood. Let it never be said that the Japanese are prudish. ~Oyasumi!