Setsubun

The mask of an evil spirit. "Get out of the house!""They're wa-a-a-soto!" Fuku wa-a-a-u-ti!
This multi-voiced cry is certainly heard in temples, squares and specially reserved areas, in some houses of the Japanese on February 3.
“Evil spirit, get out of the house! Happiness, come into the house! – these words mean, accompanied by the scattering of dry soybeans. Beans fly in handfuls, sometimes hitting scatterers in the neighborhood or in patient spectators.

Scattering soybeans with an invitation to happiness in the house is a rite of mame maki, one of the important rituals of the festival.

The celebration of Setsubun Day is one of the oldest and most interesting traditions in the country. Its appearance is associated with the concept of Chinese Yin-Yang philosophy. These are the two opposite interacting principles underlying the universe: light and darkness, positive and negative, active and passive, feminine and masculine. It was believed that at the junction of the seasons, these beginnings are opposed to each other, which causes the danger of all sorts of misfortunes.

The term “setsubun” is directly related to the change of one season to another. Traditionally, in Japan, the word “setsubun” refers to the night between 3 and 4 February, the eve of the day Rissin – the day of the onset of spring according to the lunar calendar.

Legend says that in ancient times, the epidemic claimed many lives, and devils and evil spirits were responsible for this misfortune. They managed to get rid of them by throwing roasted beans. Hence the Mame Maki ritual was born to banish evil spirits and preserve prosperity.

Scattering soybeans to invite happiness into the home is one of the festival’s important rituals.

With the rite of mame maki begin the New Year on the lunar calendar. The rite is performed in order to disperse all misfortunes and let happiness, prosperity and luck into your home. In families where there are small children, the ritual of mame maki usually turns into fun. Someone (usually a father or grandfather) is dressed in devils, he jumps and runs around the room, and the rest throw soybeans at him. In some schools, pupils make masks of evil spirits and in Setsubun have fun throwing beans at each other.

According to legend, after the ritual of mame maki, each family member must eat exactly as many soybeans as he is old. Now this is rare, except in remote small villages.

The rite of exorcism of evil spirits is publicly held in all temples, and it gathers numerous spectators. After performing a religious ritual, men in costumes of evil spirits run out of the temple with noise and mix with the crowd, then monks appear and chase them through the streets. Then everyone returns to the temple grounds and the Mame Maki ceremony begins. It is usually performed by specially invited respected and influential personalities of the city, popular artists, politicians. Dressed in traditional festive clothes, they throw beans wrapped in white paper from wooden boxes. The whole action is noisy and fun.

And February 4 comes spring...