Feb 3
2008

Setsubun Snow

in Uncategorized

Today is Setsubun in Japan. Setsubun is a holiday celebrated yearly on February 3, one day before the start of spring, according to the Japanese lunar calendar. One of the ways this day is celebrated is with a special ritual to chase away evil spirits, called mamemaki (豆撒き), which means “bean scattering”. In this ritual the male head of the household dons an oni (demon or ogre) mask and the rest of the members of the household throw roasted soybeans at him and chant “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (鬼は外! 福は内!)(“Devils out, happiness in!”). After purifying the home by driving away the evil spirits with the beans, you can help bring luck in, by eating one soybean for each year of your life. It is said that you will be healthy and happy by doing so.

Today Mother Nature tried to freeze the evil spirits by sending us a fresh batch of snow. This time it stuck and we enjoyed watching our world turn wintry white for a day.This afternoon we tried to chase out some oni of our own. We took Squirrel in to the Emergency Room at our local hospital (here the ER functions as a kind of urgent care/after-hours clinic on the weekends when your normal doctor’s offices are closed).

She has had a horrible diaper rash for over a week now. We have had her in to see her pediatrician three times in the past week, and things just haven’t been getting better. After several diaper changes this morning that required both of us to pin her down to do a proper job because it was so painful for Squirrel, we said enough was enough and took her in. They got her some new medicines that seem to be helping a bit better. We’ll see tomorrow!

Vending machine at the hospital–you can buy a mask for 100 yen

If you remember I posted about a week and a half ago about two of our heaters being broken. Well, they are still broken. It was finally decided that the units need to be replaced entirely, because the parts needed to fix them are no longer being manufactured. It was also decided that to replace them, all of our units need to be replaced. This will entail 5 days of work where our ceilings will all be torn out and there will be absolutely ZERO heat. The parts were ordered and won’t be here for a while longer. The work will be done at the end of this month. So until then, we are bundling up, keeping the remaining 2 heaters working overtime, and employing the use of a space heater at night. Brrrr! Are you doing anything special/fun to stay warm this winter?

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Bobbi February 3, 2008 at 10:50 am

Ouch! Poor Squirrel. Poor You! I wish that I could send you some heat and the rash cream we used with Panda via transporter. Keep warm!!!! (Thankfully spring and potty training are right around the corner- so to speak!)

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Chimu2 February 3, 2008 at 11:11 am

I wish Squirrel feels a lot of better very soon! In England roasted soybeans are expensive so we sometime use some popcorn for Setsubun:-)

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gleek February 3, 2008 at 2:47 pm

ugh, poor squirrel! that sounds awful :( have you tried changing her brand of diaper? (or you may use cloth, i have no idea!) i’ve heard it sometimes helps. i bet you wish it was the summer so you could just let her have a few hours without a diaper a day!

setsubun sounds like fun! i read this entry last night and then dreamt we lived in japan :)

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Nestor the Chronicler February 3, 2008 at 2:59 pm

I didn’t realize it was so snowy over there. Fuku wa Uchi!

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Melanie Gray Augustin February 3, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Poor little squirrel! I hope she feels better soon.

Good luck with the heating problems. I think I’d be staying under my kotatsu for the whole month, I hate the cold.

I’m jealous that you guys are getting snow, we just have lots of cold dreary rain :(

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Melissa Hodgen February 5, 2008 at 2:03 pm

I’m so sorry that you had to take you baby to the ER. We had to take Shannon once and even though it was a good experience compared to the horror stories I’d heard, I NEVER want to have to do that again. I hope that everything is healing well.
So sorry about the continuing heating problems. I think warm thoughts for you.
Setbubun sound like fun. How special that you get to celebrate so many holidays.

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The Richards February 6, 2008 at 11:22 am

Hang in there with the heat, don’t freeze! Is Squirrel feeling better now???

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