Setsubun & Mamemaki - Beaning the Evil Spirits

I remember this day in 1990 when I was still a greenhorn to Japan... I was teaching at a class in Yokohama, and my employer brought over all these bags of dried beans, and told me that this day was called Setsubun, a special time in Japan when everyone "threw beans at demons to get them out of the house, while calling in the good spirits". This is known as "mamemaki" or "tossing beans".

The rest of the day was a blur as kid after kid after kid went nuts throwing beans all over the classroom at everyone. There were beans flying everywhere and I was afraid somebody was going to lose an eye. In the end, nobody lost an eye, the teacher (me) was exasperated by the uncontrollable craziness of the children, and he also had to spend another hour after the day was over cleaning up a bazillion beans that had been crushed and ground into the classroom carpeting by barefoot monsters running pellmell around the tiny room chanting, "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" (Out with the demons, and in with good fortune!).

I visited Max and his family today to get my screen modified a little bit to improve it's "lampshade" capabilities even more. I was right to think that what I wanted modified would improve it, and it did! (sometimes I'm so smart!!). Max' dad had gone out earlier to hand out little packages of the nefarious mamemaki beans. He had some leftovers and they were munching them in their workshop so they gave me two little bags to bring home. And I did. I munched on one bag while cooking dinner, and after eating, made my bedtime triple espresso, and sitting on the chesterfield promptly fell asleep! It is amazing how powerfully my body reacts to carbohydrates!

Here is some deeper "eddication" for the "Japanophile" in you, on Setsubun and Mamemaki from Wikipedia. Welcome to February 3rd, the day of ringing out the old, and to new beginnings! See you February 4th, when "spring has sprung" and celestial stormy weather is officially over.

What are you waiting for? Grab your beans and let's celebrate!

I love you!

Cam

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In Japan, Setsubun is the day before the beginning of each season. The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival (haru matsuri). In its association with the Lunar New Year, Spring Setsubun can be thought of (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 (lit. bean scattering).

Mamemaki is usually performed by the toshiotoko of the household (i.e. the male who was born on the corresponding animal year on the Chinese zodiac), or else the male head of the household. Roasted soybeans (called irimame) are thrown either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Oni (demon or ogre) mask, while the throwers chant "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!". The meaning of the words roughly translates 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 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.

At Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines all over the country, there are celebrations for Setsubun. Priests and invited guests will throw roasted soy beans (some wrapped in gold or silver foil), small envelopes with money, sweets, candies and other prizes. In some bigger shrines, even celebrities and sumo wrestlers will be invited; these events are televised nationally. Many people will come, and the event turns wild, with everyone pushing and shoving to get the gifts tossed from above.

It is customary now to eat uncut maki-zushi called Eho-Maki (Lit. "lucky direction roll") on Setsubun while facing the yearly lucky compass direction, determined by the zodiac symbol of that year. Charts are published and occasionally packaged with uncut maki-zushi during February. Some families will also put up small decorations of sardine heads and holly leaves on their house entrances so that bad spirits will not enter.

While the practice of eating maki-sushi on Setsubun is historically only associated with the Kansai area of Japan, the practice has become popular nationwide due largely to marketing efforts by grocery and convenience stores.

Cam: Mayu and everyone else in the office used to get one every year from the owner of the building that the company she used to work for teaching, owned... You have to eat the entire thing in one standing and they are HUGE in Fukui! About eight inches long, and... and... well... you can't even wrap your fingers all the way around it! Watching all the women in the office stand up, face the same direction, and at the same time eat that thing all in one ... standing... makes me think of a "group deep throat contest" that you might find on a Japanese YouPorn channel!).

In the Tohoku area of Japan, the head of the household (traditionally the father) would take irimame in his hand, pray at the family shrine, and then toss the sanctified beans out the door.

Nowadays peanuts (either raw or coated in a sweet, crunchy batter) are sometimes used in place of soybeans.

There are many variations on the famous Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi chant. In the Nihonbashi area of Fukushima Prefecture, the chant is shortened to "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" And in the city of Aizuwakamatsu, people chant "Oni no medama buttsubuse!", lit. "Blind the demons' eyes!"