Japanese Devils Beat People for Good Luck on Setsubun
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 st...