Setsubun Bean-Throwing Oni-Soybeans Ritual Food

Japan — setsubun traditions documented from Heian period; ehomaki invention in post-war Osaka

Setsubun (節分, the day before the start of spring in the traditional lunar calendar, now fixed to February 3) is the Japanese seasonal ritual marking the end of winter, centred on mamemaki: the throwing of roasted soybeans (fukumame) to expel demons (oni) and invite good fortune. The ritual is practised at home, at shrines, and temples — with celebrities, sumo wrestlers, and Buddhist monks throwing beans from elevated platforms at major venues. The accompanying food tradition is to eat one roasted soybean for each year of your age plus one (for the year ahead), a ritual consumption called toshi no kazu no mame. The beans used are specifically irimame (炒り豆, dry-roasted soybeans) — raw or boiled beans are never used in the ritual as they might germinate and 'come back,' a bad omen. In Kansai and westward Japan, ehomaki (恵方巻, lucky direction roll) has become the dominant Setsubun food: a thick futomaki sushi roll eaten silently in the lucky compass direction (ehō) for the year while making a wish — the roll must not be cut as cutting severs the luck. Ehomaki contains seven ingredients representing the Seven Lucky Gods (shichifukujin), typically: kampyo, tamagoyaki, kanpyo, cucumber, shiitake, sakura denbu (sweet flaked fish), and unagi or shrimp. The uncut eating tradition is a post-war commercial invention originating in Osaka, spreading nationally through convenience store promotion from the 1990s.

Toasty, nutty roasted soybeans; the satisfying crunch of irimame; the layered richness of futomaki with seven ingredients — seasonal abundance in every bite