OK, so it’s time we look at what happened in week 10.

I went to visit a new builder on Tuesday with the purpose of getting a new perspective on our potential new home and to get a second quote for the build. I had to take a train to get there and let me tell you was I grateful for that. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all quite cold, but Tuesday in particular felt like the wind was blowing over an ice field. These days were mostly overcast, with a short exception on Thursday. It was the first time I actually felt cold outside, even with gloves on. Thankfully – and again I send my blessings to the people who design these things – the seats on the train are heated. So, I had time to thaw out before I reached my meeting.

At the meeting, there was a woman who acted as interpreter, because neither the builder nor the architect could speak English. She was very nice, and very helpful. After I explained what we are trying to do, ie vegan/vegetarian B&B, she told me that she knew some people who run a café, which just happens to have a vegan menu! Not only that, it is quite close to the flat. She has suggested we go there together and she can introduce me to the owners. It also happens that she attended university in Brisbane, so she understands Australian…. I am looking forward to meeting her and her friends at the café.

The other major event this week was Setsubun – the celebration of the official beginning of spring. Setsubun was on 3 February and the first day of spring (risshun) was on 4 February. This festival dates back to the days of the lunar calendar and, in fact, risshun used to be thought of as the start of the new year. So, the ritual that goes along with this festival is a cleansing ritual, to clean away any evil from the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year ahead. The actual ritual is called mamemaki – literally meaning bean scattering.

If you’re wondering, does this mean that it involves throwing around beans, then You’re Right!!!!! The relevant beans are soybeans and for this ritual, they are roasted. The beans are thrown around inside the home (I have to admit I didn’t do this) and they are also either thrown out the door or at someone who is dressed as a demon, or oni. While throwing the beans, you call out Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! (Demons out! Luck in!). I did undertake the latter, although being in a block of flats I decided to put a box outside the front door, so that the beans didn’t spread all over the floor and stairs with me then having to pick them all up. On the other hand, I did throw some out the balcony door, so as to get the full effect.

The really fun part of this ritual, is that families do it together, with one parent (generally the father) dressing up as oni and scaring the kids, while the other parent helps the kids throw beans at the oni to scare it away. Why didn’t we have fun things like that when I was a kid? I might have considered being a parent if I could have dressed up as oni to scare little children. They look like fun demons, don’t they?

Events are also held at local shrines and temples, where priests, monks and invited guests, such as celebrities and sumo stars, join in the festivities, which includes them throwing beans at the crowd. At the temple I went to geiko and maiko attended and the maiko performed some dances. Geiko is essentially the Kyoto term for geisha, while maiko are basically apprentice geiko. The shrine I went to was the Yasaka Shrine, which is located in the Gion area and, as a result, is the local shrine for the geiko and maiko of the Gion district, hence their attendance. It is a very large shrine and a lot of important events are held there.

I went at midday to see the ceremony with the Shinto priests. The robes they wore were beautiful and very colourful. They spoke to the crowd and then two women each performed a dance. These women were carrying swords, which I hadn’t seen women do before and the crowd applauded at the end of each of the dances. Following this, the priests and women threw beans in little packets at the crowd. The crowd were very keen to get one of these packets of beans, as it is considered good luck. It was vicious! I had a little old lady nearly knock me over trying to get some.

After this was over, I was looking at what the shrine shop was selling when one of the helpers told me I should buy some lucky beans and a ticket. They were ¥300. Then they told me I had to line up to exchange my ticket for something else – I wasn’t sure what it was at the time, but I thought hey why not??? Not like I’ve got to be anywhere… Turns out the queue was at least 100 people long – it took over 10 minutes to get to the end. While I was in the queue I realised the people were exchanging their ticket for another ticket, which had numbers on it. It appeared that some people then lined up again, while others walked away.

So, I get to the end and have to pick out a ticket from a barrel. The man then told me I had to go to the white tent. I did get a prize! A set of 2 chopping boards. I think there were some other, much better prizes. The numbers corresponded with what they gave you. Feeling pleased that I had won something, I went to Starbucks and had a caramel macchiato to wait for the next performance, which was due at 1:00. I hoped it would involved the geiko.

I walked up the street looking in the shops as I was returning to the shrine. There was a fantastic local crafts shop on the way (which for some reason I hadn’t noticed in the past) and I spent a bit long in there. So, by the time I got back to the shrine it was a little after 1:00. This time there were at least double the number of people and I couldn’t see that much, but I did see that there were 3 maiko dancing. I knew they were maiko because a nice lady next to me told me this and she also said that the senior geiko was sitting on the stage too. Showed me a picture of her.

After the dancing was finished, the priests came out again and again threw the beans at the crowd. It was even more pushy this time, so I backed away – fast!!! Interestingly, the priests had changed their clothing and were wearing indigo patterned robes this time.

I left after that, although there were more performances due at 2:00 and 3:00. I came home and ate my roasted soybeans for good luck. You eat 1 bean for every year of your life, plus 1 more for good luck for the coming year. They were actually very nice but I did stop at my required number. Though, given my year of birth has recently changed to 34, perhaps I could have eaten more!!! Yes, it is now 34/10/10 (Japanese write the date as year/month/day and the year is the year of the reign of the particular emperor – I think this year is 29).

That about wraps up my ramblings for this week, I do look forward to the warmer weather. Two final photos this week – the first is a photo of Ziggy who I caught trying to steal my room shoes…

The second is the photo of the week. Apparently Psycho Bunny is a menswear outlet which began in New York. It looks like a store is about to open in Terramachi (a fantastic shopping arcade in the centre of Kyoto). I was just surprised by the name and the logo!

Cheers for now, and here’s to spring! Kanpai…