Setsubun is known as Bean-Throwing Festival or Bean-Throwing Ceremony The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the spring.Setsubun, properly called Rissun(立春) celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival. In its association with the Luca calender, Spring Setsubun can be and was previously thought of as a sort of New Year's Eve and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. This special ritual is called mamemaki (Bean-Throwing).
We throw either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Demon mask, while the throwers chant "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内!).The words roughly translate to "Demons out! Luck in!" The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat roasted soybeans, one for each year of one's life, and in some areas, one for each year of one's life plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come.
References : Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun
We throw either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Demon mask, while the throwers chant "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内!).The words roughly translate to "Demons out! Luck in!" The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat roasted soybeans, one for each year of one's life, and in some areas, one for each year of one's life plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come.
References : Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun
There is Setsubun Event (Bean-Throwing) at the shrine just 2mins away from OAK HOTEL.
If you are in Japan on the day it is very good opportunity to see Japanese culture !!
Yuki
