«They're wa-a-a soto! Fuku wa-a-a uchi!» — this polyphonic cry is certainly heard in temples, squares and specially built areas, as well as in Japanese houses on February 3. «Angry spirit, get out of the house! Happiness, come to the house!» — means these words, accompanied by the scattering of dry soybeans. Beans fly in handfuls, sometimes hitting those scattering in the neighborhood, patient spectators, at home — into household members.
Scattering soybeans with an invitation to happiness in the house — is a ritual of mame-maki, one of the important rituals of the ancient Setsubun or Setsubun festival (Japanese). ˈ ().
Celebrating Setsubun Day — is one of the oldest and most interesting traditions in the country. Its appearance is associated with the concept of Chinese yin-yang philosophy. These are two opposing interacting principles underlying the universe: light and darkness, positive and negative, active and passive, feminine and masculine. It was believed that at the turn of the seasons these principles oppose each other, and this causes the danger of various kinds of misfortunes.
The term «secubun» itself is directly related to the change of one season to another. Traditionally in Japan, the word «setsubun» refers to the night between February 3 and 4, the eve of the Risshin day — of the day of spring according to the lunar calendar.
The legend says that in ancient times the epidemic claimed many lives, and devils and evil spirits were to blame for this misfortune. We managed to get rid of them by scattering toasted beans. This is where the ritual of mama-maki was born to expel evil spirits and preserve well-being.
In ancient times, the maquis began celebrating the New Year according to the lunar calendar with a ritual. The ritual is still performed in order to disperse all misfortunes and let happiness, prosperity and good luck into your home. In families with small children, the ritual of mama-maki usually turns into fun. Someone (usually dad or grandpa) is dressed up in the devil, a mummer jumps and runs around the room, and the rest of the household throws soybeans at him. In some schools, students make masks of evil spirits and have a lot of fun in Setsubun, throwing beans at each other.
According to legend, after the ritual of mom-maki, each family member must eat exactly as many soybeans as he is years old. Nowadays this is rare, except perhaps in remote small villages.
The rite of exorcism of evil spirits is held publicly in all churches, and it attracts numerous spectators. After performing a religious ceremony, men dressed as evil spirits run out of the temple with noise and mix with the crowd, then monks appear and drive them through the streets. Then everyone returns to the temple territory and the ritual of mama-maki begins. It is usually performed by specially invited respected and influential personalities of the city, popular artists, politicians, and sumo wrestlers. Dressed in traditional holiday clothes, they scatter beans wrapped in white paper from wooden boxes. The whole action is noisy and fun.
The mass of soybeans scattered is also impressive. For example, in the Narita-san temple, where the Mama-Maki ritual has been performed for decades, about one ton of beans are scattered per day.
And on February 4, spring comes...