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Last weekend was Setsubun. Setsubun is a festival for luck in the coming new year. The day following Setsubun is traditionally the first day of spring, which under the lunar calendar is the start of the new year. Setusbun's most important tradtion is the throwing of beans at people dressed as demons while shouting "Out with the demons, in with the luck!" In households, the oldest male will usually play the role of the demon. At shinto shrines there are always a number of people playing the demons.

To partake of the Setsubun festivities, Keiko and I headed to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, and Heian Shrine in Kyoto. At Kitano Tenmangu they had a small kyogen play followed by a maiko peformance. Kitano Tenmangu is very close to one of the most famous remaining geisha-districts in Kyoto (and Japan). At Heian Shrine (the biggest shrine in Kyoto, I think BTW) the focus was more on the demons who marched from the gates to the main shrine about 300m away, scaring small children in the crowd along the way. Then they were summarily driven out by a group of middle aged men (most likely important people of the community, but I can't say for sure).

After both performances the VIP's gather and throw roasted soybeans into the crowd. Eating your age in beans is supposed to bring good luck for the coming year. Being part of the crowd in both cases was quite the experience. It can get pretty crazy with everyone trying to get their hands on a pack of beans. Surprisingly, it's the senior citizens who you have to watch out for the most. Eating beans for seniors is suppsoedly especially lucky, and as such, they go buck wild. If you don't pay attention you can get nailed in the head by a pack of beans or clubbed by an over-zealous crowd member. At Tenmangu, we were too far back to catch any of the beans, but there were plenty to go around at Heian Shrine. I managed to get 4 myself rather quickly before escaping from the chaos of the assembled crowd.

Today it has been snowing non-stop since I woke up and I love it. I picked up a concert ticket early in the morning, took a warm bath and spent the rest of the day reading, watching Seinfeld DVD's and sipping cocoa while watching the snow fall outside for the comfort of my warm bedroom. A fantastic lazy winter day.