Setsubun at Hachimangu

“Oni wa so to (Out with the devil).
Fu ku wa uchi (Come in happiness)!”

On February third, the Japanese celebrate Setsubun, a festival celebrating the end of winter and the beginning of warm spring. Roasted soybeans, called fuku mame (fortune beans) are thrown at Mame make (bean throwing) ceremonies held in shrines and temples as people try to ward off devils and wish for good fortune. It is believed that if you eat the same number of fuku mame, equal to your age this will bring you health and happiness in the coming year. Setsubun is unique in that it is honored both at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. 

I joined 20 Americans and one very generous and lovely Japanese lady, Reiko-san, for the bean throwing celebration at the Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura yesterday. Reiko-san, when asked if she could arrange for a group of Americans to view the Setsubun activities did not miss a beat and responded by replying "Sure, how many tickets?" 

20 was the answer. 

She's a brave soul to take on so many of us single handedly but more than managed (we introduced her to the saying of "herding cats"). She was not only able to procure us tickets to the roped off area of the event but also tickets to the Winter Peony exhibition (my good fortune to see it twice within a week) as well as having us meet one of the head priests after the ceremony. He then presented all of us with gift bags. Seriously. The tickets were free and we get gifts too? 

I had no idea what exactly to expect but the celebration was so much fun. The throwers are apparently dignitaries and local celebrities who line the pavilion holding boxes filled with little packets of soy beans. At the sound of a gong they proceed to throw them out to the crowd, while over a speaker you hear "Oni wa so to. Fu ku wa uchi! Oni wa so to. Fu ku wa uchi!" After less than a minute you hear whistles and everything stops. This happened several times until I finally turned to one of my friends and said "what are the whistles for?" and a Japanese bystander piped up and told us that they are for crowd control. Only in Japan! Not only do they have people watching and decide when things are getting a little rowdy to blow a whistle – everyone listens and stops. I can see why they do this though, I was too busy trying to snap photos while getting knocked about and left the bean catching to my daughter. She did quite well, not only did she get a packet with a symbol for a prize (what we discovered the bags were all for that I took a photo of walking in) she also scored enough packets for everyone in the family to eat roasted soy beans to bring us health and happiness in the coming year. Now that's something to not only celebrate but also give me some ... inspiration.