Live eel sushi rolls

Just in time for Setsubun—the Japanese holiday on which demons are exorcized with dry beans and smelly sardines—the Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium built this hilarious (and twisted!) ehōmaki sushi roll hideout for its garden eels.

You’ll get the joke immediately if you know that ehōmaki rolls are only sold on Setsubun (which happens to fall on February 2 this year) and this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink of a sushi roll traditionally contains non-live eels, plus pink fish powder, egg, cucumber, dried bonito, mushrooms and rice.

Ehomaki sushi roll for Setsubun — To harness the *ehōmaki’s* true demon-slayer power, you have to face this year’s lucky direction (that would be SSE or south-south-east on your phone compass) and eat the entire thing without taking it out of your mouth or speaking (a fortunate requirement, since speaking with a mouth crammed full of this monster sushi roll would be well-nigh impossible).

Last year the aquarium built some sushi rolls that would only accommodate one eel each…

But they were so popular, this year they decided to go big or go home:

And now, what you’ve really been craving: THE VIDEO!

来月の節分を前に、仙台うみの杜水族館（仙台市宮城野区）では｢恵方巻き｣を模した筒から顔をのぞかせるアナゴが人気を集めています＝２２日午後　#恵方巻き　 #仙台うみの杜水族館　 #アナゴ pic.twitter.com/O3vmdjPcPS
— 時事通信映像ニュース (@jiji_images) January 22, 2021