Setsubun Festival (February 3)

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Setsubun, the "Seasonal Divide" (Japan)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late winter (February 3)
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

The seasonal divide, setsubun 節分 せつぶん
February 3, the day before the beginning of spring (risshun 立春) according to the asian lunar calendar.

"Bean-throwing, mamemaki 豆まき、豆撒き"

WKD : Calendar Systems, Asian Lunar Calendar


http://www.nihongomemo.com/nenchugyoji/oni.jpg

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Setsubun on February 3 is the time to think about Demons.

Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi !
Demons, out you go! Good Luck, please come in!

On February 3rd of 2005, Setsubun will be celebrated throughout Japan. Falling at the end of the period defined by the solar principal term Daikan (Severe Cold), Setsubun occurs one day before the sectional term Risshun (Spring Begins). The setsu of Setsubun (literally "sectional separation") originally referred to the eve of any of the 24 divisions of the solar year (see The Lunar Calendar in Japan for an explanation of these divisions). However, the Setsubun associated with "Spring Begins" gained significance as a symbol of Toshi Koshi (year passing) or Jyo Jitsu (accepting the old year) by marking the completion of the cycle of the 24 divisions of the solar year. Only this Setsubun is still marked on the official calendar.

Setsubun achieved the status of an imperial event and further took on symbolic and ritual significance relative to its association with prospects for a "returning sun", associated climatic change, renewal of body and mind, expulsion of evil, symbolic rebirth, and preparation for the coming planting season. Customs surrounding this day apparently date as early as the Ming Dynasty in China, and in Japanese form, began to take shape in the Muromachi Era (1392-1573).

Setsubun has been celebrated in many ways, but perhaps the most common custom found throughout Japan is the traditional Mame Maki or the scattering/throwing of beans (mame) to chase away the evil oni (ogres, evil spirits). In some ritual forms, the Toshi Otoko [literally "year man" but referring either to the "man of the house" or to men who are born in the animal sign of the coming year (bird for the year 2005)] will throw mame within the house or at someone perhaps dressed as oni and repeat the saying
Oni wa Soto; Fuku wa Uchi (Get out Ogre! Come in Happiness!).

After the ritual throwing of the beans, family members may then pick up the number of beans corresponding to their age; eating these brings assurance of good fortune in the coming year. These days, of course, it is not uncommon to see children dressed in masks of oni, others madly throwing beans, and all gleefully shouting for evil to hit the road. Prominent temples in Japan may also find monks or celebrities showering large crowds of people with mame to ward off spirits and welcome the renewal of the coming New Year.

Read more about this Spring festival.
http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/setsubun.htm

Useful Collection of LINKS about the Setsubun Festival
http://www.nihongomemo.com/nenchugyoji/setsubun.htm

Throwing Beans at the Temple in Narita, 2005

http://www.naritasan.or.jp/event/setubun/image/kaiun001.jpg


Scene from a local kindergarden

http://www.vill.kariwa.niigata.jp/h15event/top-gazou/top-photo-mamemaki.htm

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.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Some Questions and Answers
Thanks go to gK and Etsuko Yanagibori

Is is dried soy beans, pan-fried soy beans, or sugar-coated soy beans?
I buy pan-fried soy beans at the store. But in recent years, some people use peanuts with peel, it is better to clean the room after the event

Are they thrown in the house, or out the door?
We throw them in both directions: in the house (Fuku wa uchi, luck come in) and out the door (Oni wa soto, Demons go out) .

People born in the Year with this lunar animal sign will throw beans at famous temples and shrines. These people are called "Man of the year, toshi okoko" or "Woman of the year, toshi onna". Also in kindergardens and families, we throw beans.
I did this event with my all family when my children were small.

Do you eat the same number of beans as your age, or it your age + one beans?
I eat as many beans as my age . That is the custom in my region. This custom dates back to the Muromachi Period.
Setsubun is before the day of the first day of the Lunar New Year the evening , we will decorate sardine heads (iwashi) and holly leaves (hiiragi) in front of entrance.

And is there, or is there not "a famous monk" (unnamed) associated with driving away "oni" by throwing beans?
There is no famuse monk associated with Setubun.
The event started during the Muromachi period on New Year Eve (old lunar calendar). At that period, contagious diseasees had spread in the capital of Kyoto (Miyako).
http://markun.cs.shinshu-u.ac.jp/japan/f_custom/mame.html

Etsuko Yanagibori

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Read about Smallpox, Diseases, the Color Red and Daruma
Gabi Greve
http://www.geocities.com/gabigreve2000/redsmallpoxarticle.html


Green (blue), red and black demon

http://allabout.co.jp/fashion/colorcoordinate/closeup/CU20020201A/rozan01-w300.jpg

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Worldwide use

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Things found on the way

More about the Japanese Demons, Oni 日本の鬼の話
Gabi Greve
http://fudosama.blogspot.com/2005/02/oni-japanese-demons.html

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No Beans About It

There is an expression in English, "no beans about it" which means that there is no problems. I wonder where this expression came from?I always associated it with chili (the food) in that in Texas it is believed that you ruin chili if you add beans.
Chibi

From the QPB Encyclopopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson, Facts On File, Inc, 1998 comes the following:

doesn't know beans.
Boston, home of the "bean eaters," "home of the bean and the cod," may be behind the phrase. Walsh, in his Handbook of Literary Curiosities (1892), says that the American expression originated as a sly dig at Boston's pretensions to culture, a hint that Bostonians knew that Boston baked beans were good to eat, that they were made from small white "pea beans"--even if Bostonians knew nothing else.
It may also be that the American phrase is a negative rendering of the British saying "he knows how many beans make five"--that is, he is no fool, he's well informed--an expression that probably originated in the days when children learned to count by using beans. But he doesn't know beans, "he don't know from nothing," possibly has a much simpler origin tha[n] either of these theories. It probably refers to the fact that beans are little things of no great worth, as in the expression "not worth a row (or hill) of beans."
Ed Schwellenbach


Another expression in my early Texas (through the South in general, and back to England between the time of William the Conqueror and Cromwell's taking over the government during the Protestant Revolution) family is, 'It doesn't amount to a hill of beans,' meaning something had been blown up out of proportion, when actually it was not important. Coming from an agrarian society, where beans grew prolifically and were cheap to plant, this had a lot of significance in everyday conversation.
Johnye Strickland


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HAIKU

hit by a demon
still holding my hand
at the Setsubun meet

Masasue Yumiko
http://www.ecf.or.jp/shiki/2001/100haiku-e.html


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Related words

***** Beginning of Spring (risshun) 立春： early Spring
risshun, beginning of spring [one of the 24 Seasonal Essences (fortnightly periods); the next day after Setsubun, February 2 or 3.
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/2006/07/spring-haru.html

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***** Setsubun-Soo (Plant) 節分草

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fe20050203li.htm

.. .. .. .. .. Essay by Linda Inoki

It's not that I am out of touch with the world --
But I am better off
Playing by myself.

By Ryokan (1757-1831), from "Selected Tanka,"
translated by Sanford Goldstein, Shigeo Mizuguchi and Fujisato Kitajima (Kokodo)

In the traditional Japanese hana kotoba (language of flowers), the icy-white blooms of the setsubun-so mean "I want to be alone," and, in their austere simplicity, we can see a reflection of the life of the renowned Zen hermit Ryokan. These plants bloom amid the retreating snow, around the time of the festival of setsubun (changing-of-the-season day), and so they were named setsubun-so, literally "setsubun flowers." According to the ancient lunar calendar in use in Japan until Jan. 1, 1873 (when the Gregorian calendar replaced it), the third day of the second month marks the departure of winter. So spring is in the air!

Despite its delicate appearance, Shibateranthis pinnatifida is a tough alpine plant adapted to growing in woodlands and chalky ravines. It is a member of the buttercup family, which includes anemones and monkshood, and it has the attractive, deeply cut leaves typical of the group. Its papery "petals" are really sepals: The actual flowers are tiny yellow dots clustered around the dark pink stamens in the center. Unfortunately, this lovely plant is now an endangered species in Japan, but numbers of the flowers are still found in Hiroshima Prefecture. In Tokyo, you can see them flowering from mid-February at the Jindai Botanical Garden in Chofu City, and at the Mukojima Hyakka-en in Sumida Ward.

The Japan Times: Feb. 3, 2005
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fe20050203li.htm


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