February

This weekend I went to TOKYO to visit my mother and my mother-in-law. Each time I go to TOKYO I think that; TOKYO is lively and busy, TOKYO is cheerful and noisy. It has both sides. BUT anyway TOKYO is warmer than UTSUNOMIYA.

When I walk with my daughters, especially with my younger daughter in UTSUNOMIYA, I often tell her to walk early. But yesterday I asked her to walk  more slowly in TOKYO. TOKYO makes every body walk fast.

Yesterday it was SETSUBUN, which is  to celebrate coming spring. On the day we have a special ritual. This day has another name, "Bean-Throwing Festival". We throw bean to cleanse away all the evil, and  drive away disease.
In most shrines this ritual was held. And many families must have enjoyed this "event", though we didn't do that.
And these days eating EHOUMAKI on the day is getting familiar. It is familiar in west Japan. But when I was young, or when my daughters were here in UTSUNOMIYA this food was not familiar. A few years ago a famous convenience store advertised "let's eat EHOUMAKI". Since then it's getting familiar in Japan.

It's a " huge" sushi roll. The EHOUMAKI I bought has egg, spinach, ground-beef, and KANPYOU (kind of vegetable) inside.  (There are various types)

I'm not sure why we eat it on the day. Anyway it is said eating it on SETSUBUN brings a good luck.



This was main for our dinner. Of course I bought sweets.
It was sold as "Fulankfulu ta Kuhen". It seems to come from Frankfurter Kranz.
Do you know Franfurter Kranz? I don't know.