2019 Setsubun celebrated in Tokyo


February 3, 2019, Tokyo, Japan – People in ceremonial attire participate in a special ritual celebrating the arrival of spring at a downtown Tokyo Shinto shrine on Sunday, February 3, 2018, in a symbolic act of throwing roasted beans to drive away all the evil spirits of the previous year and bringing in happiness and health for the year to come. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)


February 3, 2019, Tokyo, Japan – People in ceremonial attire participate in a special ritual celebrating the arrival of spring at a downtown Tokyo Shinto shrine on Sunday, February 3, 2018, in a symbolic act of throwing roasted beans to drive away all the evil spirits of the previous year and bringing in happiness and health for the year to come. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)


TOKYO, JAPAN – FEBRUARY 3: While chanting fortune in, Demons out, people gathered to catch for the lucky soybeans thrown from the balcony of Zojoji Temple in Tokyo on Feb. 3, 2019 to observe the annual mamemaki or the bean-throwing ceremony. The ritual ceremony, observed at temples and shrines throughout the country, is believed by Japanese to drive out the demons of misfortune and it is considered as the beginning of spring. (Photo: Richard Atrero de Guzman/AFLO)


2019/02/03 Tokyo, Setsubun (Mamemaki) or Spring Festival at Zojo-ji Temple is held the day before beginning of Spring.
(Photos by Michael Steinebach/AFLO)


February 3, 2019, Tokyo, Japan – People in ceremonial attire participate in a special ritual celebrating the arrival of spring at a downtown Tokyo Shinto shrine on Sunday, February 3, 2018, in a symbolic act of throwing roasted beans to drive away all the evil spirits of the previous year and bringing in happiness and health for the year to come. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)


February 3, 2019, Tokyo, Japan – People in ceremonial attire participate in a special ritual celebrating the arrival of spring at a downtown Tokyo Shinto shrine on Sunday, February 3, 2018, in a symbolic act of throwing roasted beans to drive away all the evil spirits of the previous year and bringing in happiness and health for the year to come. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)


TOKYO, JAPAN – FEBRUARY 3: Men dressed in demons posed for a photo during the annual mamemaki or the bean-throwing ceremony in Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan on Feb. 3, 2019. The ritual ceremony, observed at temples and shrines throughout the country, is believed by Japanese to drive out the demons of misfortune and it is considered as the beginning of spring. (Photo: Richard Atrero de Guzman/Aflo)