Chinese New Year is Here!

Hey there everyone! It’s Cindy taking over dad’s place (dad went traveling already) to wish everyone a very happy Chinese New Year! May this new year be prosperous and blissful to all! This Chinese New Year is just another normal working day here in Japan, but the interesting thing is that it coincides with this year’s Setsubun in Japan.

On February 3rd of 2011, Setsubun is celebrated around Japan to indicate the day before risshun (立春), which is the first day of spring on the Japanese lunar calendar. On the night of Setsubun, many households domame-maki – a bean-throwing ceremony. They fill a masu (a wooden measuring cup) with roasted soybeans and throw the beans all about the room, shouting ”Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!”meaning “Out with the goblins and in with fortune!” They also open the windows and throw the beans outside. Mame-maki began as a New Year ceremony (in the traditional Japanese calendar) to drive out evil spirits and the seeds of misfortune, as well as to pray for the family’s well-being and good business.

So I had pizza for our reunion dinner actually (grin) for a change. Hope you had a great reunion dinner with your family too! Have fun and don’t forget to prepare ang pows for the little ones! (I bet you know what I mean .. hint hint .. haha)

All right, cut the crap, Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!