Yesterday (Feb. 3rd) was the last day of winter according to the lunar calendar. In Japan it is called Setsubun (Parting of the Season.) It is a very big deal here and on the evening of the day a religious ceremony called Mamemaki (bean throwing) occurs at shrines and temples throughout Japan. You throw beans at O-NE (devils or goblins) who symbolize evil spirits to get them to go away and then FUKU appear who symbolize happiness. Although this is a religious rite it has become more of an event for children. On Tuesday Ben threw beans at his school at the "grumpy monster." He brought a package of the beans home and they were quite tasty! Last night we actually went to a shrine to observe a Setsubun event.
Ben right after he got off the bus with his hat on from the art show.
The kids with their package of beans and their basket from the bean throwing at school.
At the shrine before the Setsubun ceremony.
Our tour guide Erico explaining the event.
You can see the monster in the background.
O-NE!!
Another O-NE!
The O-NE playing the drums during the ceremony.
This lady played with Jo the entire time! It was so cute!
Ben loves to play with Jo too!
So the ceremony got a little long and the kids were getting restless so we had to leave...
On the way back to the car we saw this group practicing their dragon dance.
