Setsubun is a Japanese holiday that takes place on Feb 3rd, the day before the start of Spring on the old Japanese calendar. It’s not a national holiday, but almost everyone celebrates it. It has some fun traditions that go along with it, particularly one called mamemaki.
Demon Cleaning Kits
Setsubun1 is a time to clean away all the evil of the former year and to chase away all evil spirits. The name literally means “seasonal division” and is celebrated as part of Spring Festival (haru matsuri). In Japan, they once celebrated the Chinese New Year instead of the Western one; Setsubun retains a little of the former celebration.
The main event (at least for kids) is mamemaki, or bean scattering. Roasted soybeans are gathered and thrown around the house and out the windows. Why soybeans? Demons can’t stand the smell evidently. When throwing the beans, people call out “Demons out, luck in!”. One old woman told me that when you throw the beans out the window, you have to be sure to slam the window shut as soon as possible so the evil spirits can’t get back in!
Demon mask and soybeans!
Typically the father of the house will don an Oni mask for the event An oni is a kind of devil in Japanese mythology. The children all enjoy then pelting him with soybeans and chasing him.
Eat Soy Bean, Demon!
After this, everyone has to eat their age in soybeans. Easy enough for the kids, but some old people complain to me that it’s tough to eat that many!
Sushi Time
A more recent tradition is for everyone to face a certain direction (which changes every year in accordance with the [Chinese Zodiac][] and feng shui) and eat a big and long sushi roll. You aren’t allowed to talk while eating. After you finish, good luck will come to you!! This tradition started in Western Japan (in the Kansai area2) but has since spread to most of the country due in no small part to grocery stores and sushi shops who don’t mind selling more sushi rolls every February.
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A good blog with good information. Thanks for posting your experiences.
Yummm sushi! I never touch it in Indiana, but I’ll eat it almost everyday in California!
Just dropping by.Btw, you website have great content!
thanks… this helped me heaps on my assignment
No problem — glad to help ^^