Feb 3 is Setsubun and a time for throwing beans at demons. (Beans represent vitality, demons represent evil spirits that cause illness and ill fortune.) The event takes place at shrines, temples and in people’s homes.
Here’s Wikipedia’s succinct overview of the custom and its origins:
“Setsubun is the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan. The name literally means “seasonal division”, but usually the term refers to the Spring Setsubun celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival. In its association with the Lunar New Year, 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 (literally “bean scattering”). Setsubun has its origins in tsuina, a Chinese custom introduced to Japan in the eighth century.”
For an explanation of the beans, click here. For some interesting facts about the festival, see here. For a description of the festival at Kyoto’s Yasaka Jinja, see here. For a photo story of Setsubun at Shimogamo Jinja, see here.
Purification of place prior to a Shugendo ceremonyThe Shugendo ceremony involves smoke from burning pine as wooden prayer tablets are thrown into the flames to be ritually burntMaiko descend from the stage after distributing lucky beans at Yasaka Jinja in KyotoGeisha join senior parishioners to throw lucky beans at Heian Jingu in KyotoDemons personifiying all things bad appear at many festivalsEating a specially fat sushi roll (ehomaki) in the year’s lucky direction is a Setsubun customPriests at Shimogamo Jinja show there’s a religious aspect to all the jollity
Feb 3 is Setsubun and a time for throwing beans at demons. It takes place at shrines, temples and people’s homes.
Here’s Wikipedia’s succinct overview of the custom and its origins:
Setsubun is the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan. The name literally means “seasonal division”, but usually the term refers to the Spring Setsubun celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival. In its association with the Lunar New Year, 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 (literally “bean scattering”). Setsubun has its origins in tsuina, a Chinese custom introduced to Japan in the eighth century.
For an explanation of the beans, click here.
For some interesting facts about the festival, see here.
For a description of the festival at Kyoto’s Yasaka Jinja, see here.
For a photo story of Setsubun at Shimogamo Jinja, see here.
Purification of place prior to a Shugendo ceremony
The Shugendo ceremony involves smoke from burning pine as wooden prayer tablets are thrown into the flames to be ritually burnt
Maiko descend from the stage after distributing lucky beans at Yasaka Jinja in Kyoto
Geisha join senior parishioners to throw lucky beans at Heian Jingu in Kyoto
Demons personifiying all things bad appear at many festivals
Eating a specially fat sushi roll (ehomaki) in the year’s lucky direction is a Setsubun custom
Priests at Shimogamo Jinja show there’s a religious aspect to all the jollity
Green Shinto has written of the meaning of Setsubun before, and covered the bean-throwing rite at various Kyoto shrines (see here). But we have never been to Matsuo Taisha for Setsubun, and this proved to be the most enjoyable of all. One reason was the stunning performance of Iwami kagura, Shinto inspired plays from Shimane based on Japanese mythology. Another reason was the local nature of the crowd and the generous amounts of packets in the bean-throwing. Hotly recommended for those looking for somewhere to go for next year!
Matsuo Taisha lies in the west of Kyoto, near to Arashiyama. It was founded by the Hata clan in 710, when the deity of Mt Matsuo was invited to watch over the clan. It took on extra significance after 794 when it became one of the guardian shrines of Heian-kyo (aka Kyoto). In the Middle Ages the deity became known for presiding over sake brewing, and the water of its Kamenoi spring is said to have a miraculous effect in protecting sake production.
The day’s events began with ritual purification, as arrows were fired off in different directions and spectators competing to catch them (this year’s lucky direction is west-south-west).Afterwards a demon took the stage in Iwami Kagura’s first playThe local lord giving orders to his finest warriorAfter quelling the demon in a titanic fight, the hero does a victory dance holding a sheath of his demon quelling arrows.The second play featured the terrible multi-headed Orochi serpent that in Kojiki mythology terrorised the Izumo region.The beautiful princess taken hostage by the Orochi monsterSusanoo no mikoto, half-brother of Amaterasu, finds a sword in the tail of the Orochi monster and prepares to do battle.The different parts of the Orochi struggled and writhed around the stage in acrobatic fashion, bringing gasps from the audience…… but finally Susanoo was able to slay it, despite being savagely bitten.
Amazingly the Orochi was packed afterwards into four neat little bags.
Later in the afternoon, when the two-hour Iwami kagura performance had finished, demons took over the stage.With their stunning masks and costumes, they provided a colourful and terrifying spectacle.Some of the poses were kabuki-like…… and the accompanying drumming drove them into a frenzy.At times it looked like the demons had taken over completely…
…and they mounted the shrine steps as if in victory…
…but out came the priests throwing beans to dispel them.Following the priests came parishioners in red caps like medieval scholars. The men were all born in the Year of the Rat. A short religious ceremony before the bean-throwing, in which the author was so involved grappling for beans he had no time or space for photographing.
The result was a handsome catch of three packets of beans and two mikan oranges, ensuring a fruitful year ahead.
Before departing the shrine, mothers lined up to hand over their babies to be terrified by a demon, a reminder that the festival is all about vigour and well-being. The louder the baby bawls, the better for its future.
Shops have been doing a good trade in kits for domestic rites, when you get to throw beans at your family!
Yes, it’s that time of year again, when we get to look towards the promise of spring and try to rid ourselves of winter demons/ Here are five points of note about the seasonal festivity. For those mystified by what is going on, there are links below explaining about the reasons for the bean-throwing, or simply use the search or Categories buttons to the right and check out the many postings for Setsubun.
Green Shinto has covered all the main Setsubun events in Kyoto on previous occasions – except one, at Matsuo Taisha. So tomorrow morning we’ll be setting off to investigate how this ancient Shinto shrine, founded 712, celebrates the spring rite. Meanwhile, here are a few key points for those new to the event.
1) It’s traditional to gather up the scattered beans and eat the same number as your age, plus one for good measure.
2) The date is taken from the old lunar calendar. Because it needed tweaking to keep in alignment with the solar cycle, the year was divided into 24 seasonal sections. The last day of each section was known as ‘setsubun’ (division). One of these ‘setsubun’ came to hold a special place, because it marked the end of winter by coming between two sections, ‘Severe Cold’ and ‘Spring Begins’. It was clearly a time for celebration.
Eating a fat rolled sushi roll (ehomaki) in the year’s lucky direction is one of the Setsubun customs.
3) Chasing away the demons at this time was originally a Chinese custom. The change of seasons was seen as a time when the border between the spirit and human world was at its weakest, making it possible to cross more easily from one realm to the other.
A fearful winter demon needing to be chased away with beans
4) The throwing of beans in Japan began during the Muromachi period (15th-16th centuries). It may have been connected with a Noh play in which an old woman is visited by a stranger, who turns out to be a demon. In terror she reaches out for the nearest thing to hand – a handful of dried beans – and hurls them at the devil, who is chased away. (My own supposition here would be that the beans represent life and growth, as against the negativity spread by the demon.)
5) In the Edo period traditional Daoist yin-yang geomancy, with its notion of a lucky direction for each year, brought in the custom of facing that way while eating an entire role of rolled sushi. It’s said to have begun when an Osaka geisha performed the ritual to ensure she would be with her lover. As the rolled sushi combines gifts from land and sea, it’s considered auspicious. (I’ve also been told that the ehousushi [lucky direction sushi] contains seven different ingredients, in line with the Seven Lucky Gods.)
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Why beans? See here to learn why the bean-throwing obsession.
Click here for an account of how the celebrations were carried out in Lafcadio Hearn’s time. Green Shinto has reported on the events in Kyoto on a number of previous occasions: see here, or here, or here.
Bean throwing at Kyoto’s Heian Jingu; spot the beans (and the geisha)
Young women throwing beans during the mamemaki at Inari
Kyoto is blessed with Setsubun events, and so far I’ve done the rounds at Yasaka, Yoshida, Shogo-in, Heian Jingu, Rozan-ji, and Mibu-dera. This year I thought I’d try Fushimi Inari (next year it will be Matsuo Taisha).
Cosplay rental shops doing a good business these days
Unlike other places, Fushimi Inari does not go in for a performance of oni demons or spectacular fire ceremonies. Instead it has two sessions of mamemaki (bean throwing) at 11.00 and 13.00. As explained in a previous post, the beans symbolise the life force, and have the power to drive away demonic forces.
The bean throwing is done by a team of parish members and young women in kimono born in the zodiac year 24 years ago. They all line up around the kagura stage and throw out packets of beans. It’s all over in about five minutes, and everyone goes home happy as there are plenty of beans for everyone. (Catch them and you’ll have luck through the coming year.)
The most interesting item as far as I was concerned was a lucky charm called shirushi no sugi. This consists of red and white shide (paper strips) on a wooden stick with a picture of Otafuku and a cedar sprig attached. Otafuku makes sense, since the plump cheeked woman is a symbol of fertility like the beans, and therefore an enemy of anything injurious to life, like evil demons. (For a previous piece on Otafuku, click here.) But what of the cedar? I asked one of the priests, and this is the interesting answer I got.
shirushi no sugi on sale at the shrine
In Heian times, when the Kumano pilgrimage was popular, people starting out from Kyoto would stop off at Fushimi Inari to take a sprig of cedar from the hill, because it was considered sacred (the whole hill was imbued with kami). They attached this to their robe as a sign they were on pilgrimage and showed it to the priests in Kumano to be blessed. On their return to Kyoto, they headed again for Fushimi Inari and planted the sprig on the hill. If it took root and started to grow into a new tree, then their wishes would come true.
It’s a pleasant custom in lots of ways, for it asserts the divinity of nature and suggests an environmental element to Inari spirituality. Good to see it still surviving1000 years later, if only as a token charm. Good for Inari, and good for Otafuku!
Poster advertising the shirushi no sugi for Y1000 ($9) with Otafuku face.
Otafuku fertility on display with red and white paper strips (shide) signifying celebration and happiness.
Ujiko (parish) members pose for a photo following their bean throwing. Looks like they enjoyed it!
Some were better at throwing long distance than others…
New businesses are seizing the opportunity that Fushimi Inari’s spectacular rise in popularity has brought…
