The Setusbun festival – which features a starring role for the lowly sardine – took place on 3 February in Japan.
Grilled sardines are a staple of the Setusbun festival. Setsubun is just before the winter solstice, and is considered a time when spirits are especially active. Accordingly, many rites are conducted to drive out devils and welcome good luck.
In some parts of the Kansai district, impaling the sardine head on a twig of holly and displaying it by the front door is considered good luck. Devils are said to fear having their eyes poked by the sharp leaves of holly, in addition to disliking the smell of the fish head. It is called “hiiragi iwashi,” literally “holly sardine.”
The Kansai district includes Osaka, Kobe, Nara, and Kyoto, but the custom is less popular in Kyoto than in the other areas. It is not generally practiced in other areas of Japan, such as Tokyo, though sardines are eaten throughout Japan on the day.
Apartment- and condominium-dwellers, and younger Japanese in general, are less likely to carry on this tradition, and it is gradually declining. However, the eating of an uncut rolled sushi in silence while facing the year’s lucky compass direction – east by southeast for 2019 – is increasing. Additionally, dried soybeans are tossed out the windows while chanting “devils out,” and into the rooms while chanting “luck in.”
Sardine fishermen off Eastern Hokkaido are already receiving good luck, as the catch there is recovering. In fiscal year 2018, the catch in the area increased about 14 percent compared with the previous year, to over 100,000 metric tons (MT), the first time it has reached this level in 25 years. Although this is still far below the peak of over one million MT in the 1980s, it shows a trend of recovery.
Not only does this mean a plentiful supply for the holiday, it may also be used increasingly for canning. Canned bluefish, such as saury, sardines, and mackerel, have become very popular in Japan recently, as they are said to be healthy. Sardines can be expected to fill the place of Pacific saury, which have been in short supply. The Nikkei Shimbun reported that a Maruha Nichiro canning plant in Kushiro will install more equipment to handle sardines, and to flexibly switch among sardines, saury, and mackerel.
The retail price of one sardine is now hovering around JPY 100 (USD 0.91, EUR 0.80).
