Setsubon

I'm giving you a few days to think of how you can create this holiday within your daily lives - encourage your work place to make this a new ritual, convince your friends to give up their Friday night in return for soy-bean-enlightment. However you do it, you have until February 3rd.

In Japan, February 3rd is Setsubun, which is the day before Risshun, the first day of Spring on the lunar calendar. It is also known as Mame Maki for the many mame maki (bean throwing) festivals occuring on that day.

So grab your nearest handful of soybeans, or visit a temple where you and others born under the same Chinese Zodiace sign congregate, and watch some special bean throwers hurl soy beans either into the air or, better yet, at a Devil figure to ward off evil. Don't forget you have to shout "Oniwa Soto" (get out demons) when you do it and then follow that by "Fuku wa uchi" (come in happiness). Of course you have to make sure you don't have just any beans, they need to be fuku mame -- fortune beans. And you have to eat the same number of beans as your age -- you'll have to be honest with this one, the demons know the truth! If you can do that, then you should be happy and healthy.

Why doesn't the United States have more fantastic rituals like this? While it's not an official national hoilday in Japan, the research I've done sure looks like it's a fairly popular one. Perhaps if we all stepped back and threw beans instead of ogling a poor groundhog forced into unwanted stardom out of a warm winter's burrow, February would seem like a much better month. Because, even though it is the shortest month of the year, winter blahs and Valentine burnout prevail and to me, make February a completely useless month. Right up there with June....

Happy Setsubon everyone. And "Fuku wa uchi" to you all.