- RISSUN- SHINTO
In the midst of my trip to Japan, was the date of February 3. February 3 is not just any day in Japan, it is a holiday called Rissun. Rissun is a holiday for the religion of Shinto, and Rissun is part of Harv Matsuri, a series of several spring festivals. Rissun is also called Setsubun, however that name is pretty vague, because Setsubun happens 24 different times throughout the year. Each Setsubun lasts for about 2 weeks. Each one symbolizes something new,
Like the the new season. I celebrated Rissun in a town in Japan by the name of Yokohama , bout 25 miles south of Tokyo.
On February 2, I went to the store to buy some food, and I was extremely confused because nearly every person in sight had at least one bag of uncooked beans in their hands. I finally asked a Japanese lady why this was, and her response was, " For Rissun. It is the start if spring. You may have heard, the bean throwing festival."that cleared things up quite a bit for me, and this young lady was very sweet because she had invited me to her house to celebrate the next day to celebrate with her family the following day. When u arrived at her house on the morning of February 3, her husband was dancing around the living room of their house, spreading beans all over the floor. While doing so, he was saying, "Omi wa soto, fuku wa uchi", meaning 'demons out, good luck in' over and over again. A few minutes later he was done, and he went to grab a 'monster' mask. The two children of the house came out and began to pick up the beans one by one, and threw that at their father. The point of throwing beans at their father was to chase him out of the house to "get the demons out." Later in the day, all five of us went to masaru's (the father)parent's house for the meal portion if this celebration. On our way, we walked past a shrine. There we saw a sumo wrestler throw beans into the shrines. They are thrown into congregation in hopes of good luck for all. When we arrived at masaru's parents house, all I saw were plants. A typical decoration on Rissun is plants, resembling the theme of plants and crops. Everyone was asked how old they are, and then handed that many roasted beans. Everyone wore normal Japanese clothing. That was my adventure in Japan during Rissun!
While I was in Japan, I met this guy named Carlos Ghosn. As Japan is a major export of automobiles, mr. Ghosn is the current CEO of Nissan. Carlos Ghosn is one of Japan's highest paid CEOs, with a salary of about 985 million yen per anum. Since Carlos is paid so much, he then has to pay A LOT of income taxes. First, he pays 4,404,000 yen and then he has to pay 40% of his remaining salary to the government. A constitutional monarchy is the government type currently in Japan. Shinzō Abe has been the prime minister of japan since 2002.
Recently, china has refused to say that Okinawa belongs to Japan. Because china has refused to confirm this, there have been a few territorial issues, and creating a small amount of tension between china and Japan.
Like the the new season. I celebrated Rissun in a town in Japan by the name of Yokohama , bout 25 miles south of Tokyo.
On February 2, I went to the store to buy some food, and I was extremely confused because nearly every person in sight had at least one bag of uncooked beans in their hands. I finally asked a Japanese lady why this was, and her response was, " For Rissun. It is the start if spring. You may have heard, the bean throwing festival."that cleared things up quite a bit for me, and this young lady was very sweet because she had invited me to her house to celebrate the next day to celebrate with her family the following day. When u arrived at her house on the morning of February 3, her husband was dancing around the living room of their house, spreading beans all over the floor. While doing so, he was saying, "Omi wa soto, fuku wa uchi", meaning 'demons out, good luck in' over and over again. A few minutes later he was done, and he went to grab a 'monster' mask. The two children of the house came out and began to pick up the beans one by one, and threw that at their father. The point of throwing beans at their father was to chase him out of the house to "get the demons out." Later in the day, all five of us went to masaru's (the father)parent's house for the meal portion if this celebration. On our way, we walked past a shrine. There we saw a sumo wrestler throw beans into the shrines. They are thrown into congregation in hopes of good luck for all. When we arrived at masaru's parents house, all I saw were plants. A typical decoration on Rissun is plants, resembling the theme of plants and crops. Everyone was asked how old they are, and then handed that many roasted beans. Everyone wore normal Japanese clothing. That was my adventure in Japan during Rissun!
While I was in Japan, I met this guy named Carlos Ghosn. As Japan is a major export of automobiles, mr. Ghosn is the current CEO of Nissan. Carlos Ghosn is one of Japan's highest paid CEOs, with a salary of about 985 million yen per anum. Since Carlos is paid so much, he then has to pay A LOT of income taxes. First, he pays 4,404,000 yen and then he has to pay 40% of his remaining salary to the government. A constitutional monarchy is the government type currently in Japan. Shinzō Abe has been the prime minister of japan since 2002.
Recently, china has refused to say that Okinawa belongs to Japan. Because china has refused to confirm this, there have been a few territorial issues, and creating a small amount of tension between china and Japan.