I was surprised when I looked out of the window of my dorm today and saw that the plum tree across the street from the dorm had begun to spring some buds. Meanwhile, my hometown in Canada is being plummeted by a snow storm as I type this.
This weekend in Japan everyone will be celebrating Setsubun, which literally means the change of seasons but in this case specifically is a celebration of the comming of spring or something like this.
A few ceremonies are performed, the most famous of which is Mamemaki, which means "Bean Scattering", and basically... well, I will take an excerpt from Wikipedia because I don't feel like explaining this:
Pan-heated soybeans (called irimame) are thrown either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Oni (demon or ogre) mask, while the throwers chant "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内!). The literal meaning of the words is something like "Demons out! Luck in!" The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat soybeans, one for each year of one's life, and in some areas, one for each year of one's life, plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come.
I think tommorow a bunch of the Japanese from the dorm, and myself will go to one of the temples/shrines to take part in the celebrations.
1 comment:
How fun!! I am so glad that you get to take part in a really cool festival! Enjoy the spring! (I wish I could!)
Post a Comment