Roving Ronin Report

Setsubun is an old Japanese tradition going back to the Heian Period (794-1192) where Japanese drive bad luck or evil out of their homes by throwing beans.

The evil is represented by devils called Oni and often fathers will don an oni costume so their kids can pelt them with beans - ouch! In America, dads dress up like Santa Claus and get milk&cookies for their troubles!

At temples and shrines, they do a mame-maki where they throw beans and other things to gathering crowds. People go crazy trying to catch these beans.

Setsubun is one of my favorite Japanese traditional events and for the last 4-5 years I have always gone somewhere to celebrate it. This year I started Setsubun a few days earlier by going to the small neighborhood of Shimokitazawa where they had the Tengu Matsuri. Tengu is a long nose goblin who protects the area.

On Setsubun I went to 4 places in and around Tokyo - Narita, Kanda Myojin Shrine, Hosen-ji Temple in Nakano, and Ashikaga in Tochigi. I saw sumo champions, Japanese celebrities, samurai, J-Pop stars, and fighting Buddhist monks.

I recorded the vlog part of the video around 3 in the morning because I had to catch a really early flight from Haneda to Hokkaido so I’m speaking low so as not to wake my neighbors. Plus I was tired!

For photos check here:

Setsubun 2009

The samurai were Japan’s elite warrior class of long ago - masters of many deadly weapons and stern possessors of martial fighting skills.

In Tokyo’s modern mecca of electronics and anime, Akihabara, the samurai have re-emerged as masters of a new deadly art.

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