Setsubun (seasonal division) was celebrated today in Japan which is where the Japanese purify their homes by throwing beans away which supposedly drive out evil spirits for the year to come. I’ll probably never see the point of such a ritual as I just don’t have enough faith to believe that scattering beans out of the door or at a family member in a mask will frighten away devils because they fear that a little bean will make them go blind or whatever!

Anyway, despite my scepticism, good fortune is brought into the homes by eating your age in soybeans with maybe an extra one for luck and further celebrations continue at the temples and shrines around Japan. People gather at these places on February 3rd each year to witness priests and celebrities tossing away beans as well as sweets, envelopes of money and other prizes which sounds like a recipe for disaster in my book what with everyone then frantically trying to grab these things.