Setsubun

Setsubun

In February, there is a holiday in Japan called Setsubun. In celebration of the special day, I ventured out to Nagatacho (close to my work here in Shibuya) and visited the Hie Temple. It was so beautiful and peaceful up on a small hill, and oddly placed among the city life of Tokyo.

It was crowded with people (but not too crowded, hence why I chose Nagatacho over Asakusa) standing in front of the temple "stage", within which we could hear some music and see some people inside dancing and preparing for the event.

Because I got there earlier, I had to wait a bit, and so I talked with the older couple that stood next to me. Turns out, the husband and wife had been to the US before and lived in New Orleans about 10 years ago, so we eased into some great conversation. Very sweet people.

When the event started, I witnessed a person dressed as an oni (demon) emerging from inside the temple, being drawn out by the priests who threw beans at him and shouted a special Setsubun mantra. The temple became very lively during the performance, and after the oni disappeared behind the curtains, the priests and priestesses proceeded to throw beans and small snacks to the people who stood crowded around. I didn't join the crowd to catch any snacks or beans, but I had fun standing behind, watching, and taking pictures.

Also, when I got home, I did another interesting Setsubun ritual with my host brother and sister. While sitting west-southwest, you eat uncut makizushi. And while you eat it, you're not allowed to talk. When I asked why we couldn't talk (afterwards, of course), my host sister was like, "I don't know, we just do." Haha!

Back in the States, we definitely don't have anything quite like Setsubun, so I thought the whole experience was very interesting.

Basically, during Setsubun (and you can probably just google this, but I'd like to give you my couple cents worth, too), is that they throw beans saying, "Demons out, and good luck in!" as protection to the household and famly. It's mostly a kids' event, but I - of course - had a lot of fun with it, too.