Tokyo Weekender - February 2016

EDUCATION SPECIAL
DEMONS OUT!
HAPPINESS IN!
by Brian Christian
The age-old holiday of Setsubun isn’t just one for the kids: it’s
another opportunity to greet the still new year, full of beans
I
have never been sure about February.
Such a cold, contrary month.
Perhaps it is simply because we
have tired of winter that it seems to
drag. Despite being the shortest of them
all it’s not a month that hurries itself.
Spring might be on its way but it remains
tantalizingly out of reach, just around the
next corner, just over the next hill. At this
time of year I can’t help feeling like an
impatient child on a long car journey: “Are
we nearly there yet?”
In Europe our very wise forefathers
had an interesting attitude towards the
rather dark, cold period that followed
their tenth month, December: they disliked
it so much that they tried to ignore it
completely, making the depths of winter
a monthless period and, figuratively
speaking, stopping the clocks until the
emergence of better weather in March.
It was only around 700 BC that the
workaholic Romans decided that we
couldn’t continue to have a 304-day year
and simply write off the grim bit as if we
were in some sort of snug hibernation.
Thus Februarius was born: the month of
purification, suggesting that even in days
of old they were no strangers to the New
Year detox.
For all our worldly
modern-day sophistication,
I feel sure that we can
learn much from the
folklore handed down to us
through the ages
It may seem odd here in Tokyo—
where February is one of the driest,
sunniest months (and often the
coldest)—that the ancient Britons called
it Salmonath or month of mud—hardly
one for the tourist brochures! Another
equally unappealing old English name
for it was Kalemonath, or month of the
cabbage, perhaps taking us back to that
dreaded post-Christmas detox and those
ghastly green “health” drinks that make
their annual appearance on office desks
around the world at this time of the year.
The arrival of February in Japan is
both ominous and auspicious. Ask any
child. Setsubun ( 節 分 ) on the third day of
the month, the eve of spring according to
the old Japanese lunar calendar, sees the
spirit realm at its closest to our human
world. It is a time to take care—strange
things might happen. You wouldn’t want
a wandering demon to sneak through
your door and take up residence for the
year ahead. In the dim, dark, distant past
you might have banged a drum or lit a
bonfire and burned evil-smelling sardine
heads to frighten off unwelcome visitors,
but these days mamemaki (まめまき) or
bean-throwing is the preferred method of
exorcism. Of course, once any itinerant
ogres have been sent on their way, it
makes sense to eat up the beans but you
must make sure that you eat just one for
every year of your age, plus one for the
year ahead—especially as they now tend
to come sugar-coated!
I like the notion of Setsubun. For all
our worldly modern-day sophistication, I
feel sure that we can learn much from the
folklore handed down to us through the
ages; so often there are messages worth
listening to in these archaic rituals and
customs if only we are prepared to hear
them. Had a bad year? Not happy with the
cards that fate has dealt you and hoping
for better luck this time round? Then do
something about it! It’s up to you to bang
that drum and throw those beans because
the alternative is to let your demons walk
all over you.
At the start of this cold, contrary
month, just when all our New Year
resolution is beginning to weaken, maybe
a bit of bean-throwing is just what we all
need to get us back on track.
Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! Bring on
the Year of the Monkey!
FEBRUARY 2016 www.tokyoweekender.com