Hello online Japanese learners, Still feeling the winter chills? Well, I have some good news for you: According to the lunar calendar, winter is almost officially over. I'm sure you've all heard of the lunar, or Chinese, calendar. Whereas the western calendar is linear (the years start with the birth of Christ and just keep on increasing), the Chinese calendar is cyclical, with a cycle of 12 years.
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There are many stories as to how the 12 years of a lunar-calendar cycle came to be associated
with the varied animals we have now. My favorite legend is the one where the gods decided to have
the years named after 12 animals, but of course the animals all started to quarrel over who would go first.
So a race was held, where the first animal to get to the opposite bank of the river would head the cycle and the following years would be named after the other animals in the order they finished. The ox reached the other side first, but on his back he carried the rat, which was cheating by hitching a ride on the unsuspecting ox. As the ox neared the bank, the rat jumped off and won the race. I've never figured out why the dragon came in only fourth, but the pig was dead last. As a result, the first year in the cycle is known as the Year of the Rat and the last one is the Year of the Pig. This year, we start a 12-year cycle anew. In Chinese horoscopy and astrology, the 12 animal years are combined with the 5 fundamental elements of metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. Each year is known by an animal-and-element combination, making for a full cycle of 60 years. A cycle of 12 metal years (Metal Rat, Metal Ox, Metal Tiger, etc.) is followed by a 12-year cycle of water years, then wood years, and so on. In China the 60-year cycle is an integral part of the culture, it plays a much smaller role in Japan. Astrological fortune-telling is considered almost as a form of entertainment by mostly young ladies who want to have some insight into their future love life. |
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Setsubun
More central to Japanese culture is the 24 seasonal sections known as setsubun (節分).
Each period, approximately two weeks long, traditionally marks a seasonal change of some sort, such as
the beginning of spring rains or the start of intense summer heat.
But if you were to ask a Japanese person to name the various setsubun, they would probably wonder why you are using the plural. There is, in fact, only one setsubun celebrated in Japan: the one that marks the end of winter and beginning of spring. To Japanese, this is the Setsubun with a capital S (OK, Japanese doesn't have capital letters, but you get the idea).
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Because of the lunar calendar's cyclical nature, the date of the Setsubun can fall on different dates each year, but people here tend celebrate it on February 3, the day before risshun (立春, literally "spring standing"), the start of spring according to the lunar calendar. The celebration of the day, which is also known as Make-maki (豆まき), or the Bean Throwing ceremony, is traditionally a family affair, in which the father puts on an oni (鬼, demon mask), and the kids in the house throw beans at him to drive him out. |
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The kids yell, "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi!, meaning "Demon out, good luck in!" In other families, they saute soybeans without oil, and in the evening, throw soybeans inside and outside of the house. For the evening meal, it is traditional to eat the same number of beans as your age. I always end up imagining poor old granddad laboring away at his attempt to consume 80 or so beans. "Pass me another glass of water, please!"
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In the Kansai area (west-central area of Japan), some people also observe Setsubun by eating an unsliced sushi roll called a maki-zushi (巻き寿司) while standing facing the new year's "lucky direction." I think this is part of the Kansai people's famed sense of humor: The word maki (巻き) meaning to roll is a pun on the homonym maki (撒き) meaning to throw or sprinkle. |
And, in case you can't find any good beans to throw or maki-zushi to eat on your own, there are popular bean-throwing ceremonies held at temples and shown on television, involving various TV personalities and sumo wrestlers scattering beans into crowds of screaming fans. If you can catch the beans thrown by these stars, you are guaranteed good luck for the coming year, so to speak.
Happy New ...er... Hmm...?
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Setsubun and Risshun are loosely connected with the Chinese New Year, and, depending on the
year's lunar calendar, can land on nearby days. With the Chinese New Year usually celebrated in early
February, especially within Imperial history, from the days of imperial rule this day has often been seen
as a second New Year's Eve.
This year the Chinese New Year falls on February 7, so it is an almost simultaneous celebration of the end of winter, start of the new year, and a whole new cycle. So with that, I wish you all a very, very, very happy new season, new year, and new beginning. Happy Setsubun! |
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Support Tips
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Are you hearing echoes in the classroom? Because the new classrooms let you and your teacher
talk at the same time, you may hear echoes (or cause echoes) if your microphone isn't adjusted
properly. We have several new FAQs to deal with the topic:
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| Is your voice cutting in and out in the classroom? Your Internet connection may be a little slow—try this FAQ for ways to improve your voice quality. | ||||||
| Are the voices of other users breaking up in the classroom? Again, it might be your Internet connection. One great way to solve this problem is to turn off your video reception, as described in this FAQ. | ||||||
| Don't forget about the weekly lesson blog! It's a free way to learn about Japanese culture and learn a few words and phrases along the way. |
Thanks, everyone, for helping make JOI a great online Japanese school! I hope you're having fun learning Japanese online.
If you have other questions, be sure to check out the FAQs, or if you don't find an answer there, write me at support@japonin.com.
Sincerely,
Moses
JOI Support
