Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

since yesterday, we have a really cool and new service for you! ^^

It's our

"Running Service"!

Really great for all runners around here, who wants to get a refreshing shower without worries after their training!

The Sumida-gawa riverside is the perfect place for going outside and doing jogging and running.

You can run and run and run and have this great view everywhere around you.

Just look at this! ^^
Agu-san shows you, how nice it is! ^^

Here, your new running route could take place! ^^

So you can enjoy your practice and training the most! ^^

But what happens after?

You're feeling great, in your head adrenalin screams loudly "Yes, yes, yes, I made it!"...but your body at the same time may get grumpy "Hey, great job...but I'm full of sweat now, so give me a shower...hurry up, man!" :D

But that's no problem anymore. ^^

Just close to Sumida-gawa riverside is our Hostel placed, waiting with nice and clean showers for you!

You can leave your valuables and clothes to change here, where everything is save and take your training...

And after you've finished your training...

Yes, this is it. Winning Eleven!!!

yesterday I wrote about Setsubun, the bean-throwing Festival or bean-throwing Ceremony, which will take place on February 3rd.

But to throw beans around is not the only way, to catch a good fortune for the future for oneself.

There's another tradition for that day.
It's to eat
EHOMAKI
^^

So what is ehomaki?

Ehomaki are "lucky direction rolls" and thicker than normal sushi rolls.
You eat them on the night of Setsubun.

Here you can have a little idea, of how big and ehomaki is...really big! ^^

As you might guess, there are some special rules for making and eating ehomaki to really have a good fortune:

First it must contain seven ingredients: so to be related with the Seven Deities of Good Fortune called Shichifukujin, seven fillings are traditionally rolled in. For example, simmered shiitake mushrooms and kanpyo (dried gourd), cucumber, rolled omelet (tamagoyaki), eels, sakura denbu (sweet fish powder), and seasoned koyadofu (freeze-dried tofu) are used. These ingredients represent good health, happiness, and prosperity, and rolling the fillings means good fortune.

Finally, you must eat the whole roll in total silence. So eat it quietly and don't stop while eating, wish for what you want in the coming year.

For 2012 the lucky direction is North-North-West. So best to take a compass before eating. ^^

So what's the history behind the ehomaki?

Legend says when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was fighting for the rulership of Japan, one of his samurai, Horio Yoshiharu 堀尾 吉晴 ate a rolled sushi (makizushi) on the evening before the battle and then the warriors won the battle. So now it is eaten to bring good luck when driving out the demons of Setsubun.

Others say it comes from Osaka and the Kansai area, where rolled sushi was eaten hoping for prosperity in the coming year.

If you are visiting Japan and want to eat an ehomaki on February 3rd, you can buy them in convenience stores (but better to make a reservation for that in advance, because they could be sold out) or on sushi shops! ^^

Wish you a great setsubun! ^^

Sakura Hostel Asakusa

Address: 2-24-2 Asakusa Taito-ku, Tokyo

tel +81-3-3847-8111

fax +81-3-3847-8112

e-mail: info@sakura-hostel.co.jp

URL: http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SakuraHotelTokyo

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/asakusa_hostel

one day before the start of spring, on February the 3rd, here in Japan
Setsubun (節分)
will take place.

Setsubun, what originally means "seasonal division", nowadays is called the bean-throwing Festival or bean-throwing Ceremony, which is my topic for today :)

So on Setsubun, roasted soybeans, which are called 大豆(daizu), will be thrown through the air.

This bean throwing ritual is called 豆まき(mamemaki).

The people, who are throwing the beans, will shouting
鬼は外！福は内！(Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!),
what means
"Demons out! Good luck in!".

This will get rid of bad luck and invite in good luck.

For that, the beans will thrown against people, who are wearing an oni costume.
Oni (鬼) are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls.

Because of this special event, the beans are not longer just daizo (= soy beans), they will be called fuku mame (fortune beans) on this day and you can buy them in most of the stores. ^^

So it is also believed, that people can be healthy and happy, if they pick up and eat the thrown fuku mame.
You should eat so many fuku mame equal to the number of your age!
So I had to eat a lot of beans :D

A lot of shrines or temples hold a mamemaki throwing soybeans event.

Some of the big shrines or temples have celebrities, such as popular sumo wrestlers or Kabuki actors, as guests to throw beans to crowds.

Traditionally, people in Japan not only visit temples/shrines on Setsubun, but also perform bean throwing at home to drive away bad lucks and invite happiness into their houses.

One person (usually the father ^^) wears then an oni demon mask and the rest of the family throw beans at that person.

If I imagine, to hold this ritual with my family in Germany, that would be really fun! ^^
Children surely would love that :D

So if you want to experience Setsubun here in Japan - this event is held
on February 3rd at 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM
in Sensoji Temple
only two minutes walk away from our Hostel.

I hope, you will enjoy that special, traditional event and get all the demons away from you! ^^

And might be better not to wear only red on that day! :D

Sakura Hostel Asakusa

Address: 2-24-2 Asakusa Taito-ku, Tokyo

tel +81-3-3847-8111

fax +81-3-3847-8112

e-mail: info@sakura-hostel.co.jp

URL: http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SakuraHotelTokyo

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/asakusa_hostel

yesterday, a Minyo and Shamisen Concert was hold at our Hostel.

Minyo is a genre of traditional Japanese music - it describes the Japanese folk songs, which have their own, different style pretending on which prefecture they had their origin.

Minyo songs are passed down from generation to generation and were born out of the climate and culture in various regions.

The Shamisen is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi.
I think, outside Japan, it's one of the most popular known instruments.

Many Shamisen songs also represent the countryside' s landscape.

So as I never hear Minyo songs and a Shamisen live before, I was very curious about the concert. ^^

But first, we had some work to do, to make this concert and the after-show-party as wonderful as possible! :)

Johrel-san prepared really nice food for the party! ^^

Naoto-san made the stage clear and doing the sound check! ^^

Agu-san was our bar-woman, did a great job and mixed the best Samurai Cocktails ever! ^^

Then the concert starts, yippie :D

Before every song, we get an introduction about the following song and it was shown on the map, to which prefecture the songs origins belong to.
That was totally great, so for me as an non-Japanese, it was totally heplful and interesting, to know more about every song.
Great work! ^^

The singer Kazuse-san, the Shamisen player Taiyo-san and their nice moderator really made a great concert! :)

They were singing around 12 songs, as I could remember from different prefectures.

For me, it was really great, to listen to this different kind of music, as the used tonal system in Japanese Minyo music differs from the western one. So it sounds really, really Japanese for me...and that was great. ^^

After performing songs, we sang one really popular Minyo song together. ^^
It's called "Kokiriko Bushi".

That was fun, hehe! But it wasn't as easy, as it may look. The Japanese used in Minyo songs is ancient Japanese, which is even for Japanese people sometimes hard to understand. ^^

And when we had a little training in singing it, one should go to the stage and sing it together! ^^

Wah, as everyone seems to shy, Tomo-san should sing...and then me too...but, hehe, I took my boyfriend with me :p
So we three sang together, giving our best in not singing wrong (but I'm for me not sure, if it worked ^^). :D

That was really cool! ^^

Later we had the chance, to ask the musicians questions.
That was so nice, because when you're curious, then it's a good and rare chance, to ask the musicians directly! ^^

It was the groups first concert and I hope, many of them will follow!
They will record a Minyo album soon in the future together and I'm sure, it'll be great! ^^

Not only the music and the performance were really great and fascinating yesterday, it's also in my thinking important, to preserve this traditional music and let it keep in mind through such great concerts. :)

Thank you very much for that concert and to let us experience this kind of wonderful music!

After the concert, we had a nice sit together and drink some more drinks.
And we could eat soooo many totally yummy food.

Tomoyuki-sans green macha cake! ^^ Great job! ^^

And look, what Johrel-san prepared! ^^ Delicious! ^^

And of course we had many things more (I loved the panda pan, hihi).

So we sit together, all talking and have much fun in great atmosphere.

This evening was really so nice, traditional, great, wonderful and an experience more, I don't want to miss! ^^

Thank you for sharing this evening with us! :)

Sakura Hostel Asakusa

Address: 2-24-2 Asakusa Taito-ku, Tokyo
tel +81-3-3847-8111
fax +81-3-3847-8112

e-mail: info@sakura-hostel.co.jp
URL: http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SakuraHotelTokyo
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/asakusa_hostel