Why are we throwing beans? 🚲 👹 🫘 celebrating Setsubun, cycling in Kanazawa, & life in Japan – 金沢の節分

Why are we throwing beans? 🚲 👹 🫘 celebrating Setsubun, cycling in Kanazawa, & life in Japan – 金沢の節分

So, happy Setsubun! Literally it means seasonal  division, but technically it’s the first day of   spring. But I’m on my way to Kanazawa, to the  Higashi Chaya area. There’s a shrine there,   and they’re having a Setsubun party. I thought  it would be fun to bike over and check it out.  

Setsubun could fall on February 2nd, 3rd or  4th and it happens to be February 3rd today,   and it also conveniently is a Saturday, so  probably a very lucky Setsubun this year,   but I’m riding along the Asanogawa River right  now to get to the Higashi Chaya district,  

Which is one of the 3 tea districts in Kanazawa. On the other side of the Asanogawa here is the   Kazuemachi District, another of  the 3 tea districts in Kanazawa.   Another reason why riding your  bike around Japan is so great  

Is because there’s a ton of free bike parking. Since this part of the city is usually a little   popular and crowded, I parked my bike and walked  to Otatsu shrine. This is Higashi Chaya, probably   one of the most well-known areas in Kanazawa.  If you come from a country that doesn’t really  

Celebrate Setsubun like I do, you might also be  wondering, how do you celebrate this holiday?   Well, one of the main ways is by throwing beans. So the celebration of Setsubun is thought to have   come from China during the Heian period, but it  wasn’t until the Muromachi period between 1336 and  

1573 that people started to throw beans to drive  away evil spirits during the seasonal change.   One explanation is that the Japanese word for  beans is mame, which sounds like the word for   evil eyes, also mame, but different kanji. So throwing beans can sound a lot like  

The word for demon slayers, mametsu Mamemaki or bean throwing is usually   done at home, but it could also take place at  shrines or temples, like the one I was going to.   There were posters hanging advertising the  nearby Setsubun festivities and also people  

Handing out flyers inviting anyone nearby to  join. Utatsu shrine is just down the road,   and when I arrived there weren’t too many people  yet, but they had already opened the sake.   There was free sake being handed  out, which was a fun surprise.  

These big barrels are called Komodaru  and they can hold 72 liters of sake.   You might have seen similar barrels stacked  up outside of shrines, but those are only   empty kazaridaru or decoration barrels. During the celebration, there would be several  

Performances before the bean throwing at the end  and all the performers were busy getting ready   for the festivities to begin. I decided to pay my  respects at the shrine before it got too crowded.  

When you visit a shrine or temple in Japan, the  first thing that people do is wash their hands at   the fountain, called a chozu-ya or temizu-ya. After making an offering and praying,   you can also get a fortune called  an omikuji, or a good luck charm.  

Many temples and shrines also offer goshuin,  or honorable seals, that you can collect to   commemorate when and where you’ve visited. This shrine has a hidden ninja underneath.   This is the idea of some students at Hokuriku  University to try and generate attention for  

The area and attract visitors with hidden ninjas. At this point, there was still an hour left until   the main event and I was getting pretty hungry, so  I decided to take a break and find some place nice  

By the river to eat the lunch I packed. My lunch is not very exciting. It’s not   a very pretty Bento box, but it’s some  rice and tastes pretty good. And yeah,   it’s a little too cold to be really  enjoying a picnic, but it’s still nice out.  

When I got back to the shrine though,  there were so many more people I couldn’t   even get past the torii gate, but I  could still see the geiko dancing.   In western Japan, including places like  Kanazawa and Kyoto, geisha are called geiko,  

Which directly translates as women of art. Finally, it was time to throw the beans.   While throwing, you shout “oni wa soto, fuku wa  uchi,” which means devil outside, fortune inside.   Families also do this at home. My friend told me  that when her kids were small, her husband would  

Dress up as a devil and the kids would chase  him around the yard throwing beans at him.   Afterwards, you’re supposed to eat the  number of beans equal to your age.   All of this is supposed to bring good luck. It  was fun to be able to participate this year.  

Afterwards the the cold was  starting to get to me and I   decided to search for a cozy cafe to warm up. I saw a cafe on Google Maps but it was closed, so   I was just wandering around the base of Utatsuyama  Park on the outskirts of Higashi Chaya.  

That’s where I found this new cafe Colere. This  means culture in Latin, and the owner was really   friendly. The inside was very cozy and inviting. Places with libraries like this really make me   wish I could read Japanese fluently. I got a bunch of beans to take home.  

They weren’t selling any more coffee for the  day, but he still gave me a little sample cup,   which was very kind. And then I have some beans  that I can take home and surprise Zeb with. The  

Coffee shop had some really cozy vibes. Very nice  people in there. Also, he taught me a new word,   Tama tama. Means “by chance.” they were asking me how I found it,   and I said I was just walking around. That was fun, I’m really cold now.  

The sun was beginning to set, so I started my bike  ride home. But there was one more thing to do for   Setsubun. On my way home, I picked up two Ehomaki,  large sushi rolls which are made especially for  

This day. Ehomaki means fortune sushi roll and  you eat them facing that year’s lucky direction,   stay silent while eating, and finish  without stopping or cutting the roll.   It might sound a little silly, but we were ready  to participate in the name of getting some good  

Luck. So here’s us at home trying to figure  out which way is the lucky direction for 2024.   OK, we have to eat it facing the  lucky direction of the year.   Turns out it was East-Northeast. That’s east.   OK. Some people say that this is a fairly  

Recent tradition made popular by convenience  store marketing, but it was still fun.   Delicious. You feel luckier?   Yeah. Yeah. OK. We have one more activity. Where are my beans? So when I   got home I showed Zeb I got some coffee beans,  

But today is all about this kind of bean, which  I don’t think really matters the kind of bean. On   the package it just says devil fighting beans. Apparently you’re supposed to eat your age,   so I need to eat 32 beans. Yeah.  

Wow, look how many beans you get to eat Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi – Oni wa soto,   fuku wa uchi – And then how many   beans do we get to throw? well, I think, I  think we’ve probably thrown enough beans.  

OK, now we can eat them. Well I ate two, so that’s thirty more.   Here’s my goshuin, my temple stamp. I need to put it into my goshuin book   This one has a cool little milipede on it   It’s kind of scary Yeah, very neat.  

Here’s our little local train crossing  over the lagoon that evening. Thanks for   joining me on a city ride and Setsubun  celebration. See you next time!

Join me on a bike ride around Kanazawa (金沢) and a shrine visit to celebrate Setsubun in Japan! Setsubun (節分) means “seasonal division” and marks the start of the Spring season.

One of the shrines in the Higashi Chaya district was hosting a celebratory event, with music and dance performances, free sake, and of course, bean throwing! I also got to visit a cozy cafe (there are so many great coffee shops in Kanazawa!) and eat ehomaki with Zeb to mark the change in seasons.

🎙️ Want to keep up with the rest of our adventures? We have a podcast! : https://www.ramblingramsbothams.com

🇯🇵 More videos about Japan here:
Bike Tour to Fukui: https://youtu.be/zZJ0jJLVePY
Kanazawa cherry blossom tour on a mamachari bike: https://youtu.be/Xjn89S64iXE
Noto Peninsula Japan Cycling Tour: https://youtu.be/AtgQuM1PLaI
Watching the F1 Race: https://youtu.be/y6IfZwFB63s

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