Holly and Sardine

02/08/2006 @ 6:00 am

Two more holly and sardine pictures for you, just to show that I found a few more instances of this very old custom in Japan.

sardine and holly 2

sardine and holly 3

By Marie Mockett, Stored in: Japan

3 Responses to “Holly and Sardine”

Erich Said:

I thought that there was nothing new I could read about strange Japanese customs, but you have proved me wrong, thank god. And it’s really old, too. Excellent! Sardines and holly rule!

February 8th, 2006 at 8:56 am
Danny Said:

Marie,
Once again, great pics. My friends in Tokyo, Satoru and Mitsuko, saw your pics and told me:

“Yes, Marie’s photos show what is a very old custom. And, it is more popular in the Kansai region than the Kanto region.
(We never did it before though…. Maybe because we are from Kanto)
People used to do this (maybe old people are still doing this) on February 3 every year, which is
the day before the calendrical beginning of spring. It is believed that the head of sardine sticked into
a holly will protect you from bad things. Very unique custom, right?”

February 8th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Japundit » Mugwort and cattails Said:

[...] Back in February, Marie Mockett posted some interesting photos here about the Japanese tradition of placing holly and sardine heads on door fronts during Setsubun there. Her mother explained that it was is a very old custom, and is intended to help ward off demons (oni). [...]

June 3rd, 2006 at 2:46 pm

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