Frequently, famed show business personalities or Sumo wrestlers throw the mame to the crowd at shrines. Gojo Tenjinsha Shrine, in Ueno Park (among other shrines and temples), is the site of wonderfully theatrical version of the rite. Setsubun is a great time to visit your local shrine and watch a more spectacular version of the private household mame-make ritual. The idea behind it is this: oni love dried fish, / so when they see it, they grab at it, but the sharp leaves of the holly wound them and send them running off in pain! ![]() This is a charm made of a piece of holly and a small fish tied together. On Setsubun many families hang a hiragi over their doorway. After this the house is thoroughly cleaned of dirt-and beans-and made ready for spring. As, for example, a 10-year-old child eats 10 beans, she also absorbs good luck and guarantees her health for the year, or so the legend tells us. This is done by family members tossing soybeans at him (and into all the rooms of the house) while yelling, “ Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi!” Roughly translated, this means, “Go out devils, come in good luck.” The next day is considered the first day of spring in Japan, so it is magically important to thoroughly cast out the winter demons.Īfter this bean-throwing ritual called mame-make, each person eats the number of his or her age in beans from the pile that is left. What is sure is that when dad puts on the aka-oni mask, he represents all the problems and evils of the winter and the sooner he is chased out of the house, the better. They may have some connection with the Nio-sama, the “thunder god and wind god” that can always be seen on either side of gates guarding temples across Japan no one can be sure. They are aka-oni (red оnі) and ao-oni (blue oni). Two particular oni are associated with the hardships and nasty weather of winter. ![]() They are said to live in the wilderness and can help or harm, depending on their mood. There are all kinds of oni, most with horns, tigerlike loin cloths, clubs and elfin satyr-like faces. The oni is a spirit who resembles the Western Devil greatly in that he has horns and a lecherous leer, but in Japanese mythology oni are not always evil just mischievous. Though on the surface the entire drama is quite hilarious, there is a deeper magic behind it. These “devils,” actually called oni, can be seen scampering about, being pelted with roasted soybeans, are often the fathers or mothers of each household. This day is Setsubun (“the parting of the seasons”), the festival that marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Not only do they show themselves, but they can be observed fleeing for their lives from bean-throwing children in almost every house and apartment in the country, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. 3, some of the “devils” that supposedly caper about us unseen suddenly become visible in Japan.
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