Setsubun

Setsubun is a Japanese holiday (though not the no-school kind) usually celebrated on February 3rd, though occasionally (such as this year) on the 2nd. It has to do with lunar stuff. It was the last day before spring in the old Japanese calendar. It is celebrated by adults dressing up as an oni (demon/ogre (but not the Shrek kind)) and scaring the unchi out of little kids as they throw beans at you.

Oni are a staple of Japanese fairy tales. There’s usually red and blue oni. Usually they’re antagonistic, except in that super super sad story where the red oni wants to play with the villagers, but they’re afraid of him, so his best friend the blue oni pretends to attack the village and the red oni pretends to stop him, but then when he gets home playing with the villagers there’s a note from blue oni saying he had to leave forever because he worried the villagers would find out they were friends and not play with the red oni anymore and who do you think you are to make that decision on your own without talking to the red oni first you… where was I? Oh yeah – why do they throw beans?

Well, unlike many western traditions (looking at you, Easter Bunny eggs), we know the origin of this one. The bean throwing started somewhere around the 1400s where nobility and samurai would throw beans out of their homes to ward off evil. Legends tell of a monk who 1000 years ago chased off an oni by blinding it by throwing beans. The word for bean is mame (remember your Japanese lesson? Not “maim,” “mah-may” like how I usually call for my mom). This is a homophone for 魔目 (also mame – devil’s eye) and similar to mametsu (to destroy evil). Did this legend just start as a dad joke? Very possible. 2-300 years later, this spread to the common people as a festival.

Nowadays, kids will throw roasted soybeans outward yelling “Oni wa soto,” [demons out], chasing them out. Then throw them inward yelling “Fuku wa uchi” [luck in]. Then you eat a soybean for each year of your life +1 for another happy year. If this sounds like it makes a huge mess, you’d be right, except the convenience stores sell little plastic bags full of a few beans. Much less messy. Though our kids are too young to eat them, so I’ve used the same bags for a few years. There’s also the tradition of eating ehomaki, which are long sushi rolls while facing the lucky direction that year (NNW, ESE, etc.). So usually you’re just facing a wall while you do it.

Here's how it went (you may have to request permission).

If you ever have a minute, just look up videos of kids on Setsubun. It’s funnier when you don’t know them. Last year, C was too small to notice me. J knew it was me, but it still freaked him out. However, Maki encouraged him to throw the beans and he enjoyed my – I mean the oni’s reaction to getting hit. This year, C saw the oni, yelled once, then immediately ran to Maki. J was better this year, and kept pelting the oni with the beans (and then a wooden block or two). Afterwards, he just kept saying, “You were the oni, right? You’re the oni.” Which means I need a better costume next year. And maybe a stunt double… The next day at school, two oni also showed up at their preschool. C hated those ones more.

One more tradition we celebrate on Setsubun is C’s birthday. One of the more unfortunate birthdays here. “Happy birthday! We’re gonna open presents, a demon is gonna attack you, then we’ll have cake.” She still takes (way too short) naps, so we were able to separate the scary part from the happy part. She got to open presents, then Maki made her a cake (which she refused to eat for whatever reason). So J got extra cake, but is learning the hard lesson that you don’t get as many presents when it’s not your birthday. He’s gonna be even more disappointed when he finds out that when you’re older, you usually get nothing. Or even worse, you get a to-do list of all the things you have to prepare for their birthday. Or in this case, prepare for her birthday AND Setsubun. Maybe when she’s older, I can have fun pretending to go get presents, then coming back as an oni. Though when she’s a teenager, I might be the one having to throw beans at her. We’ll see…

Why are Japanese parents so mean? Where in Japan did the oni find tigers to make their loin cloths? Is he standing behind me right now? Find out on the next episode of the Gaijin Chronicles! Dah dahh dadahhh da dahh duuhhh.