Today
in New Orleans, quarterbacks for the San Francisco 49ers and the
Baltimore Ravens will be throwing footballs to their running backs.
Today
in Japan, celebrities and sumo wrestlers will be throwing roasted
soybeans plus small envelopes with money, sweets, candies, and other
prizes into the crowds around Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
The
football throwing, of course, is Super Bowl XLVII. The bean throwing
is part of Setsubun,
the Japanese bean-throwing festival. Soybeans are known as “fortune
beans.” In the past (and in some homes still) the “man of the
family” throws beans out the front door, into the street, or at a
member of the family who is wearing a demon mask. While he is
throwing beans, everybody says, “Demons out! Luck in!” Then they
slam the door shut. The whole festival is meant to purify the home
before the start of spring.
Most
Japanese people do not throw beans themselves, these days, but
instead visit the local temple or shrine for the fun of scooping up
what the celebrities throw.
Other
Setsubun
customs include wearing disguises, dressing in a way that reverses
roles (such as young children dressing as adults and adults dressing
as young children, or boys dressing as girls and girls dressing as
boys), eating uncut makizushi
(a kind of sushi) and drinking ginger sake.
By
the way...
I
mentioned that today is Super Bowl XLVII....
but
do you know what the Roman numerals XLVII stand for?
L
= 50, X = 10, V = 5, I = 1.
If
a smaller number is positioned in front of a larger number, you
subtract that smaller number from the larger number. Otherwise, you
add up the numbers.
X L V I I
10
from 50 plus 5 plus 1 plus 1 = 47
Also
on this date:
No comments:
Post a Comment