The Ojai Post

I grew up in Pennsylvania, which boasts the rather odd tradition of pulling a cossetted (but in the moment cranky) groundhog out of its comfy digs on February 2nd, and imagining whether he sees his shadow to portend an early spring. Generally, the crankiness wins out, and he harrumphs off to cover again after announcing in terse but eloquent groundhog speak that there was no shadow to be seen.

The Japanese have a much better idea, I think! On February 3rd, they celebrate the coming of spring with an festival called Setsubun (the formal name for the Spring version is Risshun, and Setsubuns occur at the beginning of each season, but this one has landed as the biggie).

There is the traditional throwing of soy beans. Which sounds like loads of fun (and has an odd reverberation of the Festivus pole of Seinfeld fame to me), except that it's traditionally the head of the household who gets to do the throwing. In our house, that would be our cat Zuzu, and I'm not convinced that she wouldn't aim for the face. In Japan, the soy beans are thrown either out the door, or at a family member wearing the mask of an ogre. As beans are flying, family members chant:

"Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!"

Ogre out! Happiness in! (Or luck, depending on the translation.)

And that is most certainly a ritual I can quiver over!

So, today, I invite you to chant your ogres out, so happiness and luck may blossom in their place. Even in California, land of eternal sunshine, this strikes me as the best February festival I've ever heard of.

"Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!"