The people of Japan celebrate many festivals throughout the year - some of which coincide with the changes of the seasons. One of the more popular festivals that takes place at winter’s end is Setsubun (Setsu=season, Bun=divide). In Japan, the first day of Spring is called Risshun (Ri=stand, “S” sound, Shun=Spring) and usually occurs during the first week of February on or about the same day as our American Ground Hog Day. It is on the eve of Risshun that the time-honored ceremony of roasted bean throwing takes place.Although thousands of people elect to make pilgrimages to prominent temples and shrines to offer their prayers and witness bean throwing on a massive scale, the event is mainly a domestic affair. At home, on the afternoon of Risshun Eve, a square wooden rice measure full of roasted soy beans is placed upon the family altar as an offering. After the sun sets, the head of the family and any astrologically auspicious family members (the ones born under that year’s animal sign) take the measure of roasted beans from the altar and throws handfuls of them at all the entrances and into every dark corner of every room – the places that devils are most likely to be lurking about. With every throw of beans the shout of Oni wa soto; fuku wa uchi (Devils go outside; luck come inside) is made to enhance the beans’ powers of exorcism. While this is going on, the children of the house are having a joyous time pushing and pulling one another in their efforts to gather the scattered roasted beans. Later that night they will eat as many beans as the number of years in their age to remind them that another year of their life has gone by since they last participated in the age-old tradition of Setsubun.
Bob Davies was a former English instructor at Kansai University of Foreign Studies and Sonoda Women’s College.
Painting by Akira Kajiura. To view Akira's gallery, or for further information, please click on the banner below.
