恵方巻き Japan has a culture that remembers traditional eating habits and stories associated with food each season, as symbolized by toshikoshi-soba (passing-of-the-year buckwheat noodle) served on New Year's Eve each year, and osechi ryori, a special assortment of traditional food for the New Year. Another one of these seasonal foods associated with traditional eating habits is ehomaki, the thick sushi rolls served on February 3, the day before the beginning of spring in Japan. Just like mamemaki, another traditional activity for February 3 where families throw soybeans out of the door shouting “demons get out, luck come in,” eating ehomaki is a tradition that is said to have long been handed down mainly in the Kansai area for this time of the year. In recent years, this sushi roll is popular not just in Kansai but throughout all of Japan and the number of people making their own ehomaki from their favorite recipes is increasing. Eating it whole, with luck rolled inside. Ehomaki is a thick sushi roll, eaten in silence while making a wish, facing the direction of best luck (eho) specified for each year according to the way of ying and yang, the esoteric cosmology based on ancient Chinese philosophy where good and bad luck for that particular year are interpreted by observing natural phenomena. There are many theories as to ehomaki’s origin but it is said to be a custom handed down from the Edo period (1603?1868). Apparently, people in the days of old ate ehomaki and wished for prosperity and good health for that year. It is also said to be good luck to use seven ingredients to prepare ehomaki, in sync with the seven gods of fortune in Japanese folklore. Apparently, good luck will come about by rolling the ingredients into the sushi. It is also served whole, without cutting into pieces, so that “relationships are not cut off.”
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