Demons OUT! Good luck IN!

 Yesterday I attended Setsubun, the Bean-Throwing Festival, at Sensoji Temple where this ceremony began on a large-scale.   Setsubun celebrates the last day of winter according to the lunar calendar.  Approximately 10,000 people attend here, hoping to drive away evil spirits and gain good fortune by catching roasted soybeans (daizu) thrown down by Buddhist monks (or celebrities) who shout "Demons OUT! Good luck IN!"

Some use hats and some bring bags to catch beans.  In many temples and shrines beans are thrown at people wearing devil (oni) masks and costumes.   Some locations have celebrities like sumo wrestlers or kabuki actors throw beans.  I attended the 2:00 ceremony which had none. Celebrities attend the 4:00 ceremony but I wouldn't have recognized them anyway.
People also perform this ritual in their homes to frighten away wandering evil spirits.  Children throw beans at a family member wearing an oni mask.  In this sort of "spring cleaning" they throw beans out windows and inside the house to drive evil out and welcome in good fortune. 

This for-sale mask is missing the typical oni horns so I'm not actually sure it is part of the Setsubun.  But I did see sticks for sale used for beating out evil spirits.  Sometimes that is included in the ceremony but not at this particularly joyful community event. 

Video taken of the crowd around me.  Listen to the voices and watch the excitement!  http://youtu.be/e0byqpgXX1w