On a Roll: Setsubun and Makizushi

A fly on the wall of many households across Japan would witness a baffling sort of sight on the evening of February 3. The insect would view all the members of a household solemnly and silently engaged in the business of consuming a super-sized sushi roll. All the faces and sushi rolls would be pointing in the same geographic direction. And once the family members began their hushed munching of the comestible, they would not pause until ingestion was complete.  As might be supposed, there is more to such scenes than a sudden appreciation for the merits of compass-guided consumption of hefty sushi rolls in utter silence. Those sushi rolls … Continue reading On a Roll: Setsubun and Makizushi