Celebrating the Spring Setsubun (Risshun) in Asakusa, Tokyo

Today I took a trip to Asakusa to see the Setsubun celebration. As I approached the temple I was caught by a teacher and his 4 pupils who wanted their photo taken... or so I thought. In fact he wanted to take a photo of me with his pupils! So I threw up a peace sign and smiled. I wish I'd got the teacher to use my camera too!

Afterward he said something to the kids and one girl shyly asked where I was from. Apparently it was their homework to ambush foreigners and practice their English skills. It was fun and after a few minutes we said goodbye and I headed towards the shops and food stalls.

People were setting up ready for the Setsubun event. So I found a good spot and waited. I was there especially for the mamemaki ritual, performed by cute kindergarten kids. This time I had my Sony HandyCam so I mostly took video.

Keeping the kids in line. They were surprisingly well behaved.

Almost ready to begin!

I was standing with a speaker right behind me, hence the bad audio. There was also a very cute baby girl strapped to her mums back next to me and she kept grabbing my arm, the camera, my hood... it was hard work keeping the camera straight ^^

It began with an announcement which I think was a story or explanation of what was going to happen. Then the kids began to sing.

Then 2 people dressed as demons appeared with what can only be described as the voice of terror playing over the speakers. It's no wonder some of these kids broke into tears.

After the kids wiped the tears away they took their beans and threw them at the demons! Take that you badly dressed mutants! One kid throws so hard he almost falls on the kid below ^^

Finally they sing another song and wave goodbye to the demons.

kuroshirohaiiro said on Wed 2009/02/04 04:25 JST:

mega lolz with a pinch of "awwwwww"

Hao said on Wed 2009/02/04 04:47 JST:

Asakusa is a really nice place, the temples are amazing!

But... those kids definitely make it a lot more fun :D nice videos!

Cheers~

mskc said on Wed 2009/02/04 18:51 JST:

When throwing beans we say "Fuku ha uchi, Oni ha soto". That means Fortune, come inside, Bad things, go outside. Oni: the demons are symbol of bad things. Then people eat the beans, same number with their age, to wish their health.

Chris said on Wed 2009/02/04 18:58 JST:

Hi mskc, thanks for the explanation :)

Alexandre said on Wed 2009/02/18 09:59 JST:

I love Asakusa!... which I was there again... :(