In Japan, February 3rd is Setsubun no hi. Technically the day symbolizes the first day of spring, but this year, with snow from Monday night still lingering on rooftops, it hardly felt like it. Most of us who grew up here think of Setsubun simply as the annual bean-throwing festival. It's a sort of follow up to New Years — to bring good luck in and keep bad luck out, we throw roasted soybeans inside and out while reciting the mantra: "Oniwa soto! Fukuwa uchi!" or, Demons out! Good luck in! After the ceremony, everyone gets to eat the same number of soybeans as his or her own age.
This year, for the first time in at least a decade, I happened to be home in Tokyo for Setsubun so I took a short pilgrimage to a shrine in the city where celebrities gather every year to throw good luck soybeans at the crowds. That's where I took this video just a few hours ago. The people in ceremonial coats on top of the balcony are TV stars, athletes, and singers who have been invited to partake in the festivities; the guy in the shiny cone hat is the head priest at the shrine; and the dozens of paper bags and hats being held up from below belong to those of us who went there in hopes of scoring some extra luck for the year 2010.
The video is a bit long, but if you stick around (or skip) to the end you can see me pick up a bean from the ground and eat it.
