But what I do get this year - is lots and lots of roasted soybeans in packets. Well, Japanese are so fond of New Year that they actually celebrate three New Year. There's the Big New Year (Oshogatsu) on January 1st, the Small New Year (Koshogatsu) on January 15th and then the Setsubun, the beginning of Spring, which this year falls on February 3rd.
So, yes, I get free roasted soybeans at the Center of International Education Office in Waseda. I also get free roasted soybeans at my hostel. And yes - the Setsubun kits can be found everwhere - from large supermarkets, convenience stores and even 100 yen shops. The setsubun kits consist of a demon's mask and a bag of roasted soybeans.
Setsubun usually involves Mame maki - a rite of throwing beans to dispel evil. It almost corresponds to the Chinese belief of making noises to chase away the demons - so I was not that surprised when I read somewhere that the Mame maki originated from a custom found in China a long long time ago. There are several stories relating to the origin of Mame maki - but I kind of like the version which involved a disguised ogre and a greedy old widow. The plot goes something like this:
One day an ogre disguised himself and went to the house of an old widow. With his magic mallet, he produced a beautiful kimono. The old widow succumbed to the beauty - and plotted to steal both the kimono and the mallet away from the ogre by getting him drunk. Surprised by the old widow's greed, the ogre revealed his true self. Stunned and scared, she got hysterical and starting throwing the first thing handy, a bunch of beans she had on hand. They must have hurt, because the ogre immediately fled away, leaving the widow without her greedy desires but nonetheless wiser and healthier.
So, now, it's common for the head of the family to don a demon's mask, and gets pelted with beans while everyone else chanted "Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi" (Demon out, Fortune in). Families with small children especially enjoy Mame maki due to the fun of chasing the demon around, throwing beans and gleefully shouting for the demon to go away. After that, family members will then eat the number of beans that is equivalent to his or her age, to bring good luck in the coming year.
This year, I also received a lucky bag from a Korean friend n conjunction with the New Year. The bag is filled with roasted red beans - which are to be cooked with rice and eaten for health and fortune, or so she advised. While of course the idea of eating roasted soybeans on Setsubun and roasted red beans for good luck is something that I won't buy - I enjoy eating them anyway. Think of roasted soybeans as a nicer version of kuaci minus the hassle to get rid of the skin - that's how delicious they are. As for the red beans - I'm thinking of buying more and make some bubur with them.
As a muslim, I ushered the 1st of Muharram 1427 recently by reciting the doa awal tahun three times on the new year's eve. My baby Huzaifah had another cukur session earlier that day. Of course, that has nothing to do with ushering the new year. It just so happened that some hair has started to grow on the balding spot, commonly known as cukur bantal, on his head. So my Ayah Tam had decided to make Huzaifah's hair grows evenly by shaving his head again. Later on, I took turn chatting many cousins - all who congregated at my Ayah Jang's place in Putrajaya for a BBQ feast. Even my parents and Huzaifah were there too that night. Unfortunately there wasn't any webcam nor microphone there - so while they got to see me in my kaftan and listened to my voice, I only got to read their messages and descriptions of this and that. (To date, I have yet to see my son's new hairdo since the internet connection in Kampung Tunku is pretty bad, so hubby hasn't been able to show it off via the webcam to me.)
Anyway - here's wishing all of you a happy, prosperous and blessed new year.
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