🫘👋DRIVING OUT DEMONS👹💨
It is time to gather your lucky beans, 'fukumame' (福豆), for Setsubun and the first day of lunar spring is almost here!
Let's drive away misfortune for another year!
🫘👹🚪➡️
"Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!"
🍀➡️🚪😊
"Devils out! Fortune in!"
(鬼は外! 福は内!)
Tiger loincloths, roasted soybeans, holly and dried sardine heads, oni, a plump-cheeked woman, lucky directions and makizushi...
...this thread will tell you everything you need to know about Setsubun (節分)🤔
driving out demons
sweeping out beans...
now I sit cross-legged
鬼の出た跡はき出してあぐら哉
-Kobayashi Issa, 1822.
Setsubun (節分), which falls on February 3rd this year, marks the beginning of spring in the lunar calendar.
Yoshida-jinja (吉田神社), Mibu-dera (壬生寺), Yasaka-jinja (八坂神社) and Rozan-ji (廬山寺) host the city's most famous celebrations.
We're kicking off Setsubun season with 2 sweets from Kameya Shigehisa (亀屋重久), named after a famous phrase you will hear during the February 3rd celebrations...
鬼は外!🫘👹🚪➡️
"Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!"
福は内!🍀➡️🚪😊
"Devils out! Fortune in!"
There are three symbols in particular that confectioners enjoy using for Setsubun...
1)💋
Okame (also known as Ofuku 於福 and Otafuku 阿多福) is a cheerful, plump-cheeked woman that has become a symbol of Setsubun. The character '福' (fuku) in her name means 'luck'.
#setsubun
4)🩲BONUS
Our friends over at Itotatsu (いと達) sell some charming sweets for Setsubun: red oni (赤鬼), blue oni (青鬼), and oni pants (おにのパンツ).
Named after a famous children's song, the wagashi depict oni and their tiger-pelt loincloths.
For those wondering about the ear-worm that is "Oni-no-Pantsu" (おにのパンツ).
👹🤣🐅👖
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https://youtu.be/iazbC7o5-bI
So why are oni (鬼) associated with Setsubun, and why are they wearing tiger-pelt loincloths?
One common belief is that their physical appearance is an embodiment of the unlucky N.E. direction, known as 'Kimon' (鬼門), lit. 'Demon Gate', in Chinese Taoism and esoteric Onmyōdō.
In Taoism and Onmyōdō the directions are each assigned 1 of the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals (or a combination).
The N.E. is 'Ushitora' (丑寅), 'Ox Tiger'.
It has been suggested that oni (horns, teeth, strength and loincloth) evolved as a representation of this directional name.
👋🥜THE ORIGINS OF SETSUBUN👹
Setsubun ushered in the first season of the new year. It was a period when the boundaries between our world and the spirit world grew weak, and so people took care to make sure to drive away any spirits that might have wandered into the home.
Originally people would bring tools and outside items into the house to protect them from the spirits. Rice cakes were left at doorways and windows to keep the hungry ghosts at bay.
In Tottori a talisman of holly and dried sardine heads (柊鰯) is still used as an anti-oni charm.
🙏🥜THROWING BEANS🥜🥜
In the Muromachi period the custom of 'mamemaki' (豆撒き) first appeared. Unwanted spirits, thought to bring with them bad luck and sickness, were chased out of the home by the scattering of roasted soybeans.
The tradition is still popular to this day!
Roasted soybeans called 'fukumame' (福豆 'fortune beans') are thrown out of open doorways (or at brave family members dressed as oni) while everyone yells📢
"Devils out! Fortune in!"
(鬼は外! 福は内!).
The doors are then slammed firmly shut, trapping any misfortune outside.
#節分
The bean scatterer is traditionally a male family member born on the zodiac sign of the new year (年男), or else the male family head🙄
For good luck family members eat 1 soybean for each year of their life, plus 1 extra for the new year.
How old you are at Setsubun is based on 'kazoedoshi' (数え年), the traditional system of calculating age in Japan. A child is counted as 1 year old at birth, and on New Year's Day (old Japanese calendar) another year is added.
Happy Birthday to Nao-san! She's a Setsubun baby🎂🥳🥂
Why are beans thrown?
While some have suggested that 'mame' (豆 'bean') is a homonym for 'mame' (魔滅), which can be translated as 'demon extermination', a more simple explanation may be that beans, like seeds, symbolize the promise of new life (and are extremely nutritious).
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