Antique Japanese Wood Netsuke Setsubun Oni Demon Yokai hit with Inlaid Beans

  
Material: Wood with inlaid green-dyed stag antler soy beans. Size: 1.3 tall (3.3 cm). Present: Ryan Snooks collection of Japanese & Asian Decorative Art. Collected: Tokyo Japan antique show / market in Asakusa, 16 FEB 2020 Condition: Item is used in good condition commensurate with age, see photos. Subject: Depicts an Oni ogre, devil, or demon, a kind of Yokai (spirit or monster) holding a hat as a shield to protect itself from thrown roasted soybeans (unfortunately for the Oni, one bean has landed squarely between his horns), a reference to the Setsubun practice of Mamemaki, where roasted soybeans are thrown at people dressed as Oni while shouting Devils out! Is the day before the beginning of. The name literally means'seasonal division', referring to the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional calendar, known as. Is now typically held on February 3 (in 2021 it was on 2nd February). With the day after - the first day of spring in the old calendar - known as. In its association with the. Though not the official New Year, was thought of as similar in its ritual and cultural associations of'cleansing' the previous year as the beginning of the new season of spring. Was accompanied by a number of. And traditions held at various levels to drive away the previous year's bad fortunes and. For the year to come. As we know it today began in the. Every household of the aristocracy and.

Class threw beans from their houses into the open air. A dictionary compiled during the Muromachi period, states that the practice of bean-throwing during. Originated from a legend in the 10th century, during the reign of.

The Japanese word for bean. Which can be written as. , and some believe that the pronunciation is similar to that of. , meaning'to destroy the devil', which is why people began throwing beans during.

And homes of ordinary people spread throughout Japan as an event or festival to drive away evil spirits during. It was also during this period that the custom of tying roasted sardine heads to holly. Sprig to decorate the gates of houses during. This custom was intended to scare away. With the thorns of the holly leaves and the smell of the roasted sardines.

The original form of this custom is recorded in the. Compiled in 934 during the Heian period. The diary describes a Shinto. (sacred rope) that was hung on the gate of a house during the New Year's holiday to mark the boundary of purification, and that a mullet.

Head pierced with a sprig of holly was attached to the. " "The main ritual associated with the observance of.'bean scattering'; this ritual sees roasted soybeans.

(,'fortune beans') either thrown out of the front door, or at a member of the family wearing an. Mask while shouting'Devils out!

The beans are thought to symbolically purify. The home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck. In, it is customary to eat roasted soybeans.

One for each year of one's life. , plus one more for bringing good luck for the year. First appeared in the Muromachi period.

And is usually performed by either a man of the household born in the corresponding zodiac. Year for the new year. , or else the male head of the household.

A retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. Historically considered to be the strongest, such as Shuten-doji.

There is a tradition that. Stay away from people named Watanabe. For this reason, some families with the surname Watanabe have not practiced the custom of throwing beans on Setsubun for generations.

Watanabe no Tsuna was the first person to take the surname Watanabe, and Watanabe is the fifth most common surname in Japan, with approximately 1.08 million people as of 2017. Though still a somewhat common practice in households, many people will also or instead attend a shrine or temple's spring festival, where the practice of.

In some areas, such as Kyoto. This involves a dance performed by apprentice geisha. After which the apprentices themselves throw packets of roasted soybeans to the crowds. In some bigger and more central shrines, celebrities and sumo. Wrestlers are invited to celebrations, usually to.

Neighborhood of Tokyo, crowds of nearly 100,000 people attend the annual festivities. Location: Antique Japanese Wood Netsuke Setsubun Oni Demon Yokai hit with Inlaid Beans.

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