In my Beginner's Japanese class tonight we learned about Setsubun, the Bean-Throwing Cermony held as part of the annual Spring Festival on February 3, the eve of spring in Japan. The ritual, called mamemaki, is supposed to drive away evil spirits from the year ahead. There was no little irony in imitating the ritual with our teacher by tossing beans outside the door into three feet of snow. If only it were really the cusp of spring here.
What you say:
Oni wa soto (demons outside)
Fuku wa uchi (happiness inside)
Beans tossed into snow--
if only this ritual
could conjure spring.
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