There are only 10 days left in January. Each year, it feels like each day goes by faster and faster...
This time I would like to introduce the Setsubun Festival that will be held next month.

The original word "Setsubun" refers to the day before each of the four seasons: the beginning of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
In the old calendar, the day before the beginning of the year, the risshun (the beginning of spring), is especially important, so today only the day before the risshun (the beginning of spring) is called "Setsubun."

The beginning of spring usually occurs around February 4th, so Setsubun usually falls on February 3rd, but in 2021, the beginning of spring fell on February 2nd, the first time in 124 years since 1897 (Meiji 30).
This year, the beginning of spring falls on Monday, February 3rd, so Setsubun falls on the day before, Sunday, February 2nd.

Setsubun is best known for its bean-throwing ritual, in which beans are used to drive away demons, symbols of disease and evil. This is an event in which soybeans are thrown while people shout "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" ("Demons out, good fortune in").

The bean-throwing ritual originated from an event called "Tsuina" that was introduced from ancient China. Tsuina was mainly held during the Heian period, when officials led the way in driving away evil spirits with bows and arrows.

Eventually, as O-nan became more widely known to the general public, it is said that the custom evolved into the current bean-throwing custom of praying for the prosperity of descendants by scattering beans, which are originally seeds and the source of life.

■Characteristics of the Setsubun Festival held at Sensoji Temple

The Sensoji Temple's "Setsubun Festival" is held every year on Setsubun. It has a long history, and it is said that Sensoji Temple was the first to hold a large-scale Setsubun event in Edo.
The main event of the current Setsubun festival is bean-throwing by men born in the same year as the oldest man. On the day, the head priest of the temple and selected men born in the same year form a procession and march from Denboin to the main hall, after which the men throw beans from a stage set up on the east side of the main hall. The bean-throwing ceremony at Sensoji Temple is characterized by the fact that instead of saying "Oni wa soto" (demons out), they say "Senshu banzei fuku wa uchi" (luck in, good fortune in), in reference to the fact that "there are no demons in front of the Kannon Bodhisattva."
In addition to bean-throwing, the Setsubun Festival will feature a performance of the Fukuju Dance (Dance of the Seven Lucky Gods), one of the three major temple dances at Sensoji Temple. Starting at 4 p.m., the Asakusa Cultural Entertainers Setsubun Festival will see cultural entertainers with ties to Asakusa throw beans.