Learning Lucky New Things

 

It's almost Chinese New Year. And Setsu Bun, one of my favorites! Despite my age, I'm still managing to learn new things, and I want to share some with you. First new thing is the kanji chosen by the government for 2010. It's '新' meaning new! Second new thing I learned is the lucky direction for this year. As a bonus, I'd also like to talk about Setsu Bun, which is not so new for me, but I love it, it coincides with the publishing of this article, and it's lucky!



Since there's not much to mention about this year's kanji, I'll first write about E-Hou which is the lucky direction for this year. It is West-South-West (WSW) which is halfway between West and South-West. To look in this direction prior to your Toefl test, your wedding, or your job interview is guaranteed to boost your score/longevity/chances, whether by lucky gods recognizing you, or just some classic placebo giving you confidence. Even better, you could head down to the 7-11, buy some E-Hou maki, and eat it in some high place, maybe a rooftop, while looking and contemplating in the WSW direction.



Growing up with fairy tales, I know that magical beans are way more lucky than a direction will ever be. The magical beans in season are the setsu beans. Japanese people and some foreigners living in Japan will consume their age in setsu beans on this auspicious day. With the remaining beans, we pelt the 'Oni'¹ while chanting 'Oni wa soto/Fuku wa uchi' meaning the Oni better go outside (or we will keep throwing beans at him) while luck is (coming) inside. Sure, the beans end up all over your apartment, but if you have a pet dog, no worries.



And as far as setsu beans go, I think they're pretty tasty. Oni has his own brand of sake, called Oni Goroshi, which complements the beans quite well. Check it out, 7-11 has this too. Just look for Oni's red face with horns on a white box. Oni himself must be pretty lucky with sales, considering convenies only really sell the most popular stuff. You should be able to pick up the beans there and, if you've got the Oni's own luck, a cardboard mask of Oni! Now you too can be Oni! Terrorize children! Rob 7-11's with your identity disguised! Just don't forget to celebrate...Happy Setsu Bun!!
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1. Your father wearing an Oni mask.

▼▽▼▼【講師】Sandy先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【No Tray】2009.12.23 (Wed)