Inaka

A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to be invited to have lunch at a traditional Japanese ryokan. I went along with a few others in the program as well as a couple of Japanese. A ryokan is similar to a bed-and-breakfast in that it's usually a private home, run by a family who also resides there. This particular ryokan was located in a really rural area and run by a Japanese couple who had done a fair amount of globe-trotting before deciding that the inaka (middle of nowhere, rural Japan) was where they wanted to settle.

In fact, in order to make reservations to stay at this place you had to write them a letter in advance and wait for a reply, as they have no phone. There was minimal electricity and running water, and the only heat was from the central hearth. The place was freezing as a result, but the food more than made up for this. Everything we ate was made on site, including a rural version of sake and a dense unleavened bread that we toasted on coals. I even tried shark, which apparently keeps longer than fish and so historically, was well suited as a staple for areas of Japan away from the coast. Surprisingly, it didn't taste much different than fish!

Setsubun 節分

This past Saturday was Setsubun (節分) in Japan. It's a seasonal celebration each year on February 3rd marking the transition from the coldest days of winter to the coming days of spring.

People mark the occasion by cleansing their homes of evil spirits that have lingered over the past year, while welcoming good fortune into the home. Traditionally this is done by throwing roasted soybeans out your front door at a family member wearing a devil mask . This is called mamemaki or "bean scattering". While tossing the beans you are screaming "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" which means "Devil get out! Good fortune in!"

As a way to ensure good luck for the year you are then supposed to eat the number of soybeans that correspond to your age. Recently, people found that picking up the beans and eating them after throwing them outside into the muck wasn't exactly sanitary, so shelled peanuts have been adopted to do the job instead. I had a lot of fun experiencing this occasion with the Hashimoto family, though I definitely had my fill by the time I got through 24 peanuts!