Setsu-bun--bean throwing festival

Although early February still seems like winter here, setsu-bun celebrates the beginning of spring, according to the ancient solar calendar. They celebrate by throwing beans and shouting, "oni wa soto" and "fuku wa uchi" which translates to "out with evil" and "in with good luck". The beans have something to do with spring planting season. People go to the temples here to throw the beans. usually soy beans. Also, they have Oni masks, a devil-like monster mask. In most homes, especially if there are young children, the dad wears the mask and the kids chase him around the house, throwing the beans out the window while they say, "out with evil" and throwing the beans around the house, when they say, "in with good luck". In the grocery stores, oni masks and soybeans are on display in the front of the stores. These are the kids' oni masks they made at school in Japanese class. Their teacher wore an oni mask and they got to chase him around and throw the beans. It was a fun day for them.