Setsubun - Spring Tradition

In Japan, February 3rd was Setsubun, which marks the beginning of spring (ironic, as it has been very cold this week). The most well known tradition is a when a person walks around a house (or a school or other building) throwing 'fuku mame' or happiness beans and yelling "Oni wa soto!" meaning "Demons out" in a spring cleaning attempt at clearing out any evil spirits.

There are also other less well-known traditions such as sardine head talisman hung outside doors to keep evil spirits from entering a home, see picture below. Setsubun is a fun way to remember that we can clear bad energy away and that spring is finally around the corner.