Setsubun is an annual festival held around February 2nd, 3rd or 4th, depending on whichever day precedes the official starting date of spring based on the old Japanese lunar calendar.
On the night of setsubun, it is tradition to eat a long sushi roll filled with seven different ingredients (to represent the Seven Gods of Fortune) called ehomaki, while facing the year’s “lucky” direction.
You are meant to close your eyes and make a wish (for good health, business success, etc.) while you eat the entire ehomaki in silence–and get this–without ever cutting off the sushi roll into bite sizes. If you do, it is believed to metaphorically “cut off” your good fortune for the upcoming year.
It’s probably hard to imagine what this looks like in action, but you typically need to hold the ehomaki with both hands, keep it in front of your mouth the entire time and just keep chewing (again, without cutting off the edges) until it’s fully consumed.
If you’ve never heard of this custom, I’m sure it sounds pretty quirky but I fondly recall the fun of doing this with my family every year growing up!
Setsubun: https://shorturl.at/7vGC1