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.
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
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
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.