Discussion

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social · last week

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 #Japan

4 media

Nao-san, wearing an oni mask, munches on 'lucky' beans for Setsubun.

An actor dressed as an oni prepares for dancing at Rozan-ji (part of the temple's Setsubun celebrations).

Visitors pass through the mouth of a giant Otafuku mask at Kushida-jinja in Fukuoka during Setsubun celebrations.

A box of sugar-coated soy beans, munched on for luck at Setsubun.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · last week

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 #Japan

4 media

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · last week

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.

#Kyoto #京都 #Setsubun #節分 #Japan

4 media

Preparing lucky beans to throw into the crowd at Rozan-ji.

Collecting lottery tickets during Yoshida-jinja's Setsubun celebrations.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · last week

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!"

#wagashi #和菓子 #京都

4 media

A sweet from Kameya Shigehisa that mimics the plump cheeked face of Otafuku (a symbol of fortune at this time of year).

Nao-san, in an oni mask, poses with one of her favourite tea bowls. As guests drink the matcha a face appears inside the bowl...a smiling Otafuku.

Painting of Otafuku scaring away oni.

Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/ — Painting of Otafuku scaring away oni. Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/

A kinton sweet from Kameya Shigehisa that resembles a red oni (with sugar horns).

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · last week

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 media

A sweet inspired by the plump-cheeked symbol Setsubun, 'Otafuku'.

Print of Otafuku.

Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/ — Print of Otafuku. Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/

Statue of Okame (Otafuku) at Daihoon-ji.

One of Nao-san's precious Setsubun plates features Otafuku tossing beans at an oni.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · last week

2)🫘
Masumame (枡豆) is a wooden box originally used to measure rice, but nowadays used to hold the beans for scattering (scaring off oni) at Setsubun.
The shape is considered lucky as 'masu' (枡) is also a homonym for ' 増す' & '益す', suggesting 'increased' (fortune).
#Japan

4 media

A sweet inspired by the old style of square wooden rice measures, now used for storing the soy beans tossed at Setsubun.

Print of a man tossing soybeans at Setsubun.

Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/ — Print of a man tossing soybeans at Setsubun. Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/

Decorative masumame for Setsubun (painted with auspicious designs).

A masumame filled with colourful, sugar covered soybeans.

Camellia Tea Ceremony

@camelliakyoto@mastodon.social replied · last week

3)👹
Oni (鬼) - Setsubun has its roots in a Chinese folk custom called Nuó (傩). In the 8thC this religious tradition arrived in Japan as 'Tsuina' (追儺), a 'ritual to exorcise evil spirits on the last day of winter'.
It was necessary to physically drive away unwanted spirits.

4 media

An oni inspired kinton sweet (with slivers of sweetened burdock as horns).

Visitors being blessed by an oni at Rozan-ji as part of the Setsubun celebrations.

Woodblock print of a woman casting out a small oni with soy beans. Above her head the god Daikokuten floats on a cloud.

Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/ — Woodblock print of a woman casting out a small oni with soy beans. Above her head the god Daikokuten floats on a cloud. Image thanks - https://ja.ukiyo-e.org/

A green and black oni dance at Rozan-ji.

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