Are you scared?

The end of winter is about to arrive.  It couldn't come soon enough.  The chilling cold has overstayed its welcome, mainly because it didn't bring snow with it this year!  When winter ends on Sunday, it is time to celebrate Setsubun - where a demon, called Oni, comes to visit and brings bad luck with it.

As the holiday neared, I began to hear horror stories of it being celebrated in the schools.  Tales of teachers wearing Oni masks chasing and scaring children to the point of tears and nightmares.  I was not impressed to say the least. 

While we have celebrated Setsubun at home for years, many immigrant and visiting children in Japan have no experience with this holiday.  I can only imagine their horror.  I started getting worried about my son, who sometimes likes to be scared and other times is traumatized by it and I spend weeks or longer calming and reassuring him.

I asked one of the park moms who has a child that went to my son's school last year how the school celebrated the holiday.  After all, I didn't want my son cowering in a corner!  I thought about keeping him home today if the school had a reputation for celebrating in this overzealous fashion.  However, her report gave me a sense of relief.

This week, the class talked about the upcoming celebration.  They were told that Oni was going to come to the playground and they made a special door decoration with sprigs of holly and dried sardine fish head so that Oni would not enter their classroom.  This special deterrent is called hiiragi iwashi.  I guess Oni don’t like smelly fish or anything pointy (like holly leaves…) that might poke out their eyeballs. Hiiragi iwashi is mainly a Kanto and Nara tradition, and not all areas of Japan hang these little bundles outside their door.  I really liked hearing that the school had a "safe place" for kids that didn't want to participate. 

Photo courtesy of munchies.vice.com

I also talked with my son a few times to make sure he was prepared for Oni coming to his school.  He reported he was excited and ready to be scared (in a fun way).

When he came home today, he enthusiastically reported about the celebration.  After each student was given some dried soybeans to throw at Oni, the teacher announced that it was time to go out to the playground.  Almost all of the children went outside to play along (he told me one student decided to stay inside and not participate).  Oni was big and scary.  He waved his arms about and growled.  But my son and his friends were brave.  They threw their soybeans at Oni and shouted "Oni wa soto!  Fuku wa uchi!"  (Out with the demons!  In with the luck!)  Suddenly, the principal banged on a gong and the Oni ran away. 

Once the big Oni went away, the kids brought out masks that they had made and took turns playing chase with each other. 

I am so glad that the school helped the children to really enjoy and embrace the spirit of the holiday by chasing out the bad luck.