Amami Superman Photography

Setsubun is a ceremony or festival all about bringing in good luck for the New Year. It's always held on February 3 and is celebrated throughout Japan.

One of the things they do to bring in the good luck is drive out the bad. Probably the main thing associated with this is an event called mame maki. Mame maki involves throwing beans (or peanuts), at demons and monsters to drive them away or for throwing at/to people for good luck. Some people follow this tradition in their own homes. The father, or head figure of the family, would put on a demon mask and the children would throw peanuts at him while yelling, "oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi!", which basically means, "Demons out, good luck in!" They also do this kind of thing at shrines.

Another ceremony they perform at shrines during setsubun is otakiage. In my previous post, I posted some photos of omikuji and ema. Otakiage is the burning of these items from the previous year. These are some of the photos I took of that event here in Amami.

Along with burning omikuji and ema, they also burn charms and talismans from the previous year. The charms and talismans are for all kinds of things. Most of them are for good health. There are also some for business success, safety for driving automobiles, school and study, etc.

"To grow up healthy and bright. Nov 25, 2008" The ema in the middle of the photo is probably a wish about a newborn child.

"To grow and always be bright and healthy with a cute smile." Another ema probably for a child.

"To pass the entrance exams for Amami High School. I WILL PASS!" Written on the ema at the bottom of the photo.

I'm not sure if this is correct or not, but while writing this post and reading the Japanese written on this ema, 五角 (5 corners) and 合格 (to pass), are kind of like homonyms. 五角 is GOKAKU and 合格 is GOUKAKU. They both sound the same when spoken quickly.

So that was otakiage they do for setsubun here in Amami. Because Amami is such small place, this ceremony is dinky compared to the big places in central Japan. My friend Jeffrey Friedl made a post in his blog a few years back of setsubun at the Heian Shrine in Kyoto. He has some fantastic photos and you really get an idea how big this event can be.

Later on in the afternoon they had the mame maki event. I have to admit, my photos pretty much sucked for that. But I'll try to share some in my next post.