Happy New Year!!!

Yesterday, the 3rd of February, was 節分 (Setsu Bun - the division of the seasons). This is the day on which 'we' Japanese greet the coming Spring with a wish for good luck and a cleaning out of the bad spirits around us.

It's a day when we take dried soy beans, long believed to have the power to fight evil, and throw them around the outside of our homes. As we throw we shout '鬼は外　福は内’ (Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi - Devils Begone! Good Luck Come Inside!). I can't afford to go nuts with the beans, though. Those readers who've been with me since last year will remember that I tend to get pigeons coming to squate over my door once February ort March rolls around. I don't want to do anything to encourage the little blighters.

I'm pretty sure last year I must have gotten the words mixed up as it turned out to be such a dog of a year. This year I was extra careful and enunciated clearly. 2007 is supposed to be my year, after all.

There is another custom on Setsu Bun where you buy a very large sushi roll and eat it in one go facing in a particular direction. I think the direction is dictated by some sort of feng shue. But I don't bother with this tradition as I was told it's only a recent idea and was simply created as a way to increase the sales of the dried seaweed used to make the sushi.

This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Most holidays in Japan are just an excuse to go shopping. I mean we've already been bombarded with various Valentine's Day promotions since the New Year decorations came down about three weeks ago.

In the ancient Japanese calendar, Setsu Bun was actually New Year's Eve. That means today, the 4th of February, was the first day of the New Year. As such it should be a time for celebration.

I went to Shimo Kitazawa, my old homestead, to enjoy the annual ’天狗祭り' (Tengu Matsuri - Goblin Festival). This forms part of the old New Year's Day Festivities.

I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy an amazing display of traditional Japanese drumming just outside the station. And all for free. Here's a video. I'm sorry about the glare. Today was a beautiful, bright day and I was stuck in a place facing into the sun.

These young people really put me to shame. They were so serious and respectful of the culture and heritage they were carrying on. It made me ashamed that I don't know more about my own native traditions and customs. I guess one of the keys is to start young. You can see in the next video that the players are actually smaller than the drums they're playing (again, sorry about the glare).

As I was watching the older drummers I was reminded of the Whirling Dervishes of Islamic tradition. As with spinning, it seemed as if the drummers were going into a kind of ecstatic trance as they drummed, giving thanks to God not just with their minds, but with all of their bodies.

The final video is of some drummers accompanying three girls playing Japanese bamboo flutes. The music had echoes of Celtic melodies, I thought.