節分 (Setsubun)
Setsubun was Friday, and me, Yoko and a couple of my friends all trundled down to the local shrine for some good old-fashioned bean-throwing. My mom always made a big deal out of holidays and I had a great time when I was a kid and everything was magical. I'm not sure if Yuki felt the magic, exactly, but I had a good time, and we even got on TV.
Setsubun Masks Seems like you have a choice of the red or the green/blue oni (demons), but red is more popular.
Door Decoration Traditionally it is holly leaves and sardine heads, but much to my relief and the cats' dismay, the sardine heads have been replaced by dried soybean husks and rice straw.
Eating 恵方巻 (Ehomaki-Lucky Direction Roll) You have to face the lucky direction for this year and eat the entire roll in silence, which is kind of a feat since they are pretty big. This is one of my friends going for it. The lucky direction this year is NNW.
豆まき (Mamemaki-Throwing Beans) Local dignitaries lined up and threw soybeans, mikan, and mochi at us. It got pretty intense; a lot of people brought shopping bags for their loot.
Baby Debut A dude videoed us and put us on the local webTV site.
Shrine Priest Got a rare shot of the head priest in his finery.
Loot Score. Actually, most of this was given to us by Japanese who were more competitive and felt sorry for us. Strapping a baby on will often get you unexpected benefits.
Waiting for the 鬼 (Oni, Demon) You are supposed to have one member of the family (usually Dad) dress up like a demon and come in. You then get to pelt him with beans and shout 鬼外！福内！(Oni soto! Fuku uchi!-Demons out! Luck in!) Then you pick up the beans off the floor and eat the equivalent of your age.
Scaring the Children There are tons of awesome videos on youtube of kids screaming and terrified of the demon dads. Being a parent can be fun.
Setsubun Masks Seems like you have a choice of the red or the green/blue oni (demons), but red is more popular.
Door Decoration Traditionally it is holly leaves and sardine heads, but much to my relief and the cats' dismay, the sardine heads have been replaced by dried soybean husks and rice straw.
Eating 恵方巻 (Ehomaki-Lucky Direction Roll) You have to face the lucky direction for this year and eat the entire roll in silence, which is kind of a feat since they are pretty big. This is one of my friends going for it. The lucky direction this year is NNW.
豆まき (Mamemaki-Throwing Beans) Local dignitaries lined up and threw soybeans, mikan, and mochi at us. It got pretty intense; a lot of people brought shopping bags for their loot.
Baby Debut A dude videoed us and put us on the local webTV site.
Shrine Priest Got a rare shot of the head priest in his finery.
Loot Score. Actually, most of this was given to us by Japanese who were more competitive and felt sorry for us. Strapping a baby on will often get you unexpected benefits.
Waiting for the 鬼 (Oni, Demon) You are supposed to have one member of the family (usually Dad) dress up like a demon and come in. You then get to pelt him with beans and shout 鬼外！福内！(Oni soto! Fuku uchi!-Demons out! Luck in!) Then you pick up the beans off the floor and eat the equivalent of your age.
Scaring the Children There are tons of awesome videos on youtube of kids screaming and terrified of the demon dads. Being a parent can be fun.