February third is the Japanese holiday of Setsubun. Actually, holiday is the wrong word. Setsubun is as much of a holiday as Groundhog's day is; only it's much more fun. Much like Groundhog's day it is a celebration of spring, but it also incorporates some Japanese superstitions.
Because Japan used to follow the Chinese lunar calendar, they used to celebrate the beginning of spring and the New Year around this time. Since this day was so close to New Years, they gave this day a spiritual ritual to help exercise all the bad luck from the previous year, keep bad luck from entering during the current year and welcome good luck into their lives. This ritual is known as mamemaki, or bean throwing. At home, the ritual is performed by someone in the family putting on a demon mask and then someone else throws roasted soybeans at them while chanting "oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (which translates to "Out demons! Welcome fortune!). After the beans have been thrown, they are collected and eaten by the family members. Each person eats as many beans as their age, as well as one more for good luck. In some parts of Japan they add an extra bean for good luck. This ritual is also performed at shrines and temples across Japan. Here, beans and candy are thrown by the priests and invited celebrities to the waiting spectators. Once again, the beans are eaten.
At our shrine, our celebrities were high standing government officials. A few of my friends also said they think they saw some of their principals. Also, beans weren't thrown, but peanuts still in the shell as well as mandarin oranges. And I gotta admit, there is nothing as scary as a mandarin orange flying at your head. Here's a short transcript of what was going through my head during the tossing of the treats:
Awww… they're not throwing them far enough.
Oh! Here comes some stuff. Okay, open the bag, hold it as high as you can and AHHH!
Okay, that was scary. C'mon, the kids are doing better than you. Don't be scared, just hold the bag up high and AHHHH!
C'mon, you can do this! Put the bag up high to protect your face and you'll be AHHHH!
Did Kris just fall?
Oh, the demons have some oranges. Oni-sama over AHHH!
So basically I was the biggest baby ever, but it was still so much fun!
A few of the peanuts had colored tape around them. If you caught any of them, you could claim a prize from one of the buildings. Three of my friends caught peanuts with red tape on them and they each got a pair of gardening gloves. They said that some of the prizes were pretty intense. Some people went home with big bottles of sake and big bags of treats and gifts from the shrine.
Another ritual, especially here in the Kansai side of Japan, is to eat large, uncut sushi rolls known as makizushi. While eating it, you must turn to face the year's corresponding good luck direction, which has something to do with the Chinese zodiac, and eat your sushi in silence. Why this is done, I have no idea. It's just another way the Japanese try to make sure their lives are filled with good luck.
Either way, it was a fun holiday to experience. And after all that, I hope 2010 is an awesome year!
Today's video: The throwing of peanuts and oranges to the crowd waiting below.
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