Japanese Devils Beat People for Good Luck on Setsubun

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Setsubun is a Japanese Spring Ritual where on the 3rd of February Japanese drive bad luck in the form of devils from their homes. At many temples and shrines throughout Japan, Setsubun activities take place. At Ishite-ji Temple in Matsuyama city on the island of Shikoku they have an interesting twist on the typical Setsubun activity of driving away devils.

Usually on Setsubun devils known as Oni are driven away by beans thrown at them. Japanese say at the same time "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" which means "devils out, good luck in!" At Ishite-ji Temple, the devils actually bring the good luck to people in the shape of bamboo staffs that they use to beat people lightly in a rhythmic cadence.

The staff they use is a variation of a keisaku stick which is used in meditation sessions of Zen Buddhism. Keisaku is a "warning stick" wielded by a Zen priest known as a Jikijitsu who is in charge of the zazen meditation sessions at Zen Temples. If a student is falling asleep the Jikijisu will administer a beating on the student's back. The keisaku's bark is actually worse than its bite as it sounds much lounder than it actually feels. In fact, students will often request a "beating" to keep themselves awake and to relieve muscle cramps. Another name for the keisaku stick is called kyosaku which means "encouragement stick."

The "beatings" administered by the Setsubun devils at Ishite-ji Temple are anything but painful and are for the purpose of giving the "beaten" good luck. So instead of driving the devils away like they do at many other Setsubun events, people actually run to the devils and let them beat them for the good luck aspect of Setsubun.



Japanese Devil administers a beating on a youth for good luck on Setsubun

Ishite-ji Temple is one of the temples on the Shikoku Pilgrimage Route






Mame Maki - people throw beans to gathered crowds












Location: Japan

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