Nagoya Festivals

One of the most important dates in Japan’s lunar calendar, every February 3, Setsubun marks the beginning of Spring. It is a time of ‘out with the old and in with the new .’ This metaphorical idea’s literal representation is someone dressing up as an ‘oni’ [demon] and being chased out of the house under threat of being pelted by soybeans. Once the evil is gone, allowing good luck to enter the home, everyone gets stuck into some ‘eho-maki’ [uncut cylindrical sushi rolls]. But, while these are the best known Setsubun customs, there are numerous other centuries-old traditions, particularly coming from Kyoto, Japan’s historical capital of culture. These include elaborate ‘ghost’ hairstyles, as well as lots of dressing up, with older women donning fineries above their station, and men clothing themselves in female attire and women wearing men’s garments (this was a time when rigid class and gender rules were fastidiously adhered to). It was believed that visiting shrines and temples when dressed in this way could eradicate one’s troubles, and it frequently led to an atmosphere akin to The Carnival of Venice or modern day Hallowe’en. Replicating this tradition, Ryotei Kawabun, one of Nagoya’s oldest (and fanciest) restaurants holds…