About the Event:

Join the Japan Society of Boston and Table for Two for this family-friendly online Japanese home cooking class series おうちごはん (OUCHIGOHAN) and cook along or just watch from your own kitchen!

鬼は外、福は内！Out with demons, in with good fortune!

We’re celebrating February with ehomaki—an uncut sushi roll traditionally eaten on Setsubun (February 3) while facing the year’s auspicious direction for good luck. The roll will be thickly filled with a customizable assortment of ingredients including omelette, marinated mushrooms, seafood, and other vegetables. We’ll finish the meal with a cozy soy milk matcha latte that’s perfect for warming up in the late winter weather.

Setsubun is a Japanese seasonal celebration that marks the transition from winter to spring and the welcoming of good fortune for the year ahead. Observed in early February, Setsubun is best known for its playful rituals like throwing roasted soybeans to chase away bad luck and invite health and happiness into the home. 

Joining Debra Samuels as guest instructor this month will be Kevin Hiromoto, owner of the former Ebisuya Japanese Market, a beloved Japanese delicatessen in the Boston area for over 15 years. Kevin and Debra will share simple techniques, ingredient tips, and cultural context to help home cooks of all ages and experience levels enjoy this special Setsubun-themed meal!

A full list of ingredients, recipes, and instructions will be sent the week of the class.

Members of Japan America Societies/US JETAA can enter their society’s discount code at checkout for member pricing. Advance ticket purchase required. Only one registration per household needed. 

About the Instructors: 

Kevin Hiromoto is a Boston-based entrepreneur, musician, chef, and educator. He started the Japanese restaurant Eliot Cafe in 1993, then established EBISUYA Japanese Market. He is currently expanding his business to provide the world's best Japanese cuisine in Boston. In May 2025, he received the Consular General's Commendation from the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston.

Kevin first moved to the U.S. in 1991 to study under jazz drumming legend Al Anderson. He performed with master Eddie Gomez in 2017 and maintains close ties with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and others. He has served as an instructor at the Boston Japanese School since 1992, later becoming a board member, and has served as a part-time lecturer at Kyushu University since 2021. He is also active in Japan as a lecturer for various seminars on topics including overseas expansion and how to find happiness.

Debra Samuels leads the program content and curriculum development of TABLE FOR TWO USA’s Japanese inspired food education program, “Wa- Shokuiku: Learn. Cook. Eat Japanese!”.

She was a food writer and contributor to the Food Section of The Boston Globe and has authored two cookbooks: “My Japanese Table,” and “The Korean Table.” She curated the exhibit, “Obento and Built Space: Japanese Boxed Lunch and Architecture,” at the Boston Architectural College (2015) and co-curated “Objects of Use and Beauty: Design and Craft in Japanese Culinary Tools,” at the Fuller Craft Museum (2018). Debra also worked as a program coordinator and an exhibition developer at the Japanese department of the Boston Children's Museum (1992-2000).

Debra has lived in Japan, all together, for 12 years and specializes in Japanese cuisine. She travels around the country and abroad teaching hands on workshops on obento, the Japanese lunchbox. During Covid 19 she is teaching live online cooking programs to youth and adults.

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