After Mamemaki ceremony, when you clean your room few days later, you often find some beans hidden in your room, like under a fridge or behind a sofa. We usually use dried soy beans for this Bean-Throwing ceremony, but soy beans are too small and they like to hide in corners.

So, it is a smart idea to use shelled peanuts instead, and you can even have fun with those peanuts like this!

.... Unidentified mysterious animal???

You can also use shelled peanut as a chopstick rest.

February 3rd is Setsubun in Japan.
Setsubun literally means "the day between two seasons", and according to the lunar calendar, winter ends on this day.

On Setsubun, Japanese people participate in traditional events to drive away evil spirits and bring in good fortune. One of the events is Bean-Throwing Ceremony called "Mamemaki", and people throw beans at home or temples while shouting "Fortune in and demons out." After the ceremony, people eat the same number of beans as their age to wish for good health

Here at Trinity office, we also enjoyed this "Mamemaki"!

Devils Out! Good Luck In!