Setsubun at Heian Shrine in Kyoto 節分

Setsubun, one of my favorite Japanese holidays, is the day where Japanese will drive bad luck in form of devils known as oni from their homes by throwing beans.

I went to Heian Shrine in Kyoto to see one of the oldest forms of Setsubun. Setsubun is an exorcism ritual from China. When it was officially adopted by the Japanese court they used a type of shaman exorcist known as Hososhi. Hososhi wore a mask with 4 golden eyes in order to drive evil out in the four directions. Over time this position faded and later beans were used to drive evil away.

Heian Shrine was built to reflect the old Imperial palace of the Heian Period (794-1192) so they have revived this old form of Setsubun. After Hososhi made his rounds, Japanese oni arrived but were later driven off by beans. Mame-maki (bean-throwing) followed with a Geisha and two Maiko (geisha apprentices) joining in.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Setsubun
• Japan
• Kyoto
• Japanese culture
• geisha
• maiko
• Heian Shrine
• Heian Jingu
• oni
• tsuinashiki
• tsuina
• hososhi
• devils
• 節分
• exorcism
• mame-maki
• japanese tradition
• festival
• matsuri
• Japanese festival

[DarkOnyx98]

Like always dave. Awesome video. That was great. I know I asked you this before, and I believe you did reply but I can't find that reply. XD what kind of camera do you use? I have a video cam now but it doesn't do too well w/night shots and yours always does pretty good w/shots of low lighting like at clubs and such and I need something like that since I have a friend in a band. They want me to record some of their preformances. I tried mine but doesn't come out too well. Thanks for any info.

[RoninDave]

@DarkOnyx98 actually got a new one just recently. My camcorders are generally in the $600 range but I make sure to use my point card. the last I had was a Canon

[petrustella]

Nice video... Thanks for sharing...

[RoninDave]

@petrustella you're welcome! Glad you liked it!

[murasakiryu]

Excellent! One of my faves too! I spent it at Senso-ji this year. I will get the footage up eventually. Keep them coming Dave!

[RoninDave]

@murasakiryu Senso-ji has a cool Setsubun. I went there a few years ago. Did they have the kindergarten kids pelting big devils with beans? Did you see any sumo wrestlers or TV celeb there?

[eplayersus]

this is nice dave, thanks for the great upload as always

[Jimaera]

Awesome video as always, Dave, thanks for sharing! Those chants sound an awful lot like Bhuddist sutras, is that actually what they are?

[MaxEMumm]

Great video, thanks for posting.

[murasakiryu]

@RoninDave Hi dave, I saw the bean throwing and the Shichifukujin-no mai dance but then I had to chip off ;(

[DarkOnyx98]

@RoninDave Yeah I remember you saying it was a Canon, just forgot what model. Yeah the good stuff is always way up there in price. LOL

[edtomorrow]

What!!! Why am I not subbed to you? Glad @Theytoldmetodoit1 faved it and it showed up on my twitter...

THis was awesome footage. I also loved your other one where they were really scaring the p*ss out of the kids. Thanks!!!!

[DarkOnyx98]

@DarkOnyx98 I'm sure yours cost a bit too, so if you know of any that are cheaper but close to yours that would be helpful too.. LOL

[LupineSmile]

Great video, thanks for uploading.