皆さん, こんにちは! Minasan, konnichiwa! Hello, everyone! 🌸
The setsubun is currently taking place here in Japan. Setsubun is a Japanese festival that takes place every year in early February and marks the beginning of spring. At that time, various rituals are carried out, among other things, which serve to drive away evil demons.
Setsubun is a pretty big deal here and festivals take place at many shrines and temples. The largest and most famous is at the Yoshida Shrine, which I visited today. 🙈
Before you even get to the shrine, you are going around 800 small food stalls. From fries to taiyaki and okonomiyaki to chocolate bananas, you can find everything here! 😋
So on the way to the shrine you will not starve, even if it pulls a little, because the shrine is on Yoshida Mountain. Sturdy footwear is the order of the day because it is going uphill. Arrived at the main shrine, various events take place.
On February 2nd there will be the so-called "Tsuina ceremony" at 6:00 pm, which can be described as a demon exorcism ritual. 4 demons appear, of which the three colored ones (red, yellow and blue) represent misfortune and the fourth represents a good demon who drives away the bad ones. Unfortunately, I could not see this ritual because I only attended the festival the next day, but I found a video in which you can see how the whole thing works.
On February 3rd, at 11:00 p.m., a sacred fire is lit, which is 5 meters wide and 5 meters high. Here Japanese New Year's ornaments are going to be burned. 🔥
In general, it is customary to scatter roasted soybeans around the house, at temples, or shrines (sometimes they are thrown at disguised demons). People are going to say: "Fukuwauchi, Oniwasoto", which means something like: "Demons out! Happiness in!“. These beans are also eaten, and you eat as many as you are years old. This serves the desire to stay healthy throughout the year.
You can buy these beans at different stands of the main shrine and you also get a small lot with a number.
A raffle will take place on February 4th, where various prizes will be awarded. Among other things, you can win a car, a television, a suitcase or kitchen appliances. The winners can be viewed on the website on February 5th. Who knows, maybe my number will be there too. 🙈
In any case, I should be lucky, because at the shrine there were also lucky charms and Daruma figures that contained an omikuji. These are divinations that predict different types of luck and also bad luck. Mine says "吉 (kichi)", which means luck. 🍀
In addition to the main shrine, you can also visit other side shrines. On the way there you are surrounded by more food stands. For example, you can visit the Daigengu shrine. The special thing about it: This is usually not open to the public and can therefore only be accessed by visitors during the setsubun. Here you can pray to all gods, because they are all represented there, or as my colleague Tomoko put it: it is the mansion of all gods. 🏠
Since I didn't visit the shrine during any event, the most interesting for me were the food stands. For these alone, it is worth coming! Nevertheless: Maybe someday I will get the opportunity to see the main events. Since you know about them now as well you may check them out. 😉
次回まで! Jikai made! See you next time! 💕
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