Coming up next week is the festival of setsubun, which I wrote about after last year's events: Setsubun and Mamemaki: Driving out the Demons. Among the variety of events are the demon-driving-out highlighted in that post, and a ceremonial bonfire (so to speak) that I wrote about in Intense Burn.
February 3rd falls on a weekday this year, so I won't be able to attend the photogenic events at the Heian Shrine, but I thought I'd share photos from one more event from last year, the “throwing of the beans”.
As I wrote last year, the beans represent goodness and good fortune, which is why they can be used to drive out demons. For the same reasons, they are good when thrown at people, so one event at the shrine has a small group of dignitaries showering the populace with beans...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 125 mm — 1/250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Fumie and Anthony Heading In
to get beaned... you can see many packets of beans flying through the air
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Dignitaries Throwing Beans
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
More Dignitaries Throwing Beans
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Dignitaries Throwing Beans III
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/320 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Dignitaries Throwing Beans IV
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/350 sec, f/3.2, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Dignitaries Throwing Beans V
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — full exif & map — nearby photos
View From Afar
the blue tarps cover items for the later intense burn
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/640 sec, f/4, ISO 800 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Aftermath
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Aftermath II
“beans represent goodness and good fortune, which is why they can be used to drive out demons.”
Ahhh. So THAT’S what happens when you eat beans. I always thought it was just an unfortunate gastrointestinal side effect. But no! Wow! Eating a bean burrito must be very good for you in that it drives out LOTS of demons.
I like the throwing form of the Geisha (Maiko?) in IV. Bet she could throw a mean curve ball