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
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).
Like traditional Halloween and Christmas, Setsubun was considered to be a topsy-turvy time when normal rules were turned on their head.
Cross-dressing and wearing disguises was common. The young would dress as old people & vice versa (a tradition preserved in some Geisha districts).
Somewhat mirroring the 'big clean' that takes place before New Year, Setsubun is a time to ritually sweep away bad luck in preparation for 'Risshun' (立春), the first day of spring in the old lunar calendar.
This period is known as 'Haru Matsuri' (春祭), the 'Spring Festival'.
