Wasting food!? "Eho-maki", a traditional Japanese custom of eating sushi rolls at the end of the winter

Do you know the food bringing good luck when you eat silently without stopping and facing the specified direction on this day? This sushi roll is called Eho-maki, a special one made for this occasion. In reality, the Eho-maki culture brought good luck to the foodservice industry, such as deli and glossary stores. They changed it from a traditional Japanese custom to a commercial food event, overproduced a pile of Eho-makis every year and caused a huge amount of unsold Eho-maki. This, of course, ended making a big controversial argument nation-wide.

My heart aches for food waste

Needless to say, Eho-maki is a very delicious food if you like sushi. I like it too. To tell the truth, I don' like this event because the eating process doesn't sound right to me. Why do I have to eat it silently at once facing the specified direction? I'd like to take my time and enjoy its taste and flavor with my family.

It's hard to ignore this event completely while TV and other media advertise this event repeatedly. On the other hand, I don't want to help the foodservice industry gaining more profits which don't care about food waste.

My initial very little resistance to the industry was a boycott. Make it by myself. It's so easy that I could make it with my daughter even when she was a little. It remained as good memory. Nowadays, I'm so busy that I just buy unsold ones. I feel sad to see those Eho-maki at shops just before closing time, they would be discarded soon. I swore to them that I shall change their destiny from garbage to my stomach. At the same time, I'm excited to find signs indicating a huge discount on them!

Being manupulated by commercial events

Christmas and Valentine's Day are major events among Japanese people, I think. Most of the Japanese people far from original meaning are manipulated by the commercial industry but enjoy these events without knowing or not. Eating the Eho-maki might be a part of a more commercially-biased culture in the future. I hope it will change its course to be a more environmentally friendly one for everyone to enjoy it forever! At the end of the winter, we call it "Setsubun" which Japanese culture celebrates to welcome new season.