Setsubun

Setsubun is a holiday in Japan that is celebrated every Feburary 3rd. It traditionally was part of the New Year celebration until the introduction of the western calendar. It is a tradition of sacrificing(or blessing) beans(to family altar in the house) then tossing them outside of your house. This is a sign of removing all of the bad things and allowing good things to come in. That is how this holiday started. I am not sure when the introduction of the ogres came but that is how the Japanese symbolize evil.
In the video you will see the ogres and then someone dressed in white. The person in white is to symbolize purity and good things coming in and helping to chase all the bad things out. The children all scream Oni wa Soto. Which means Ogre get out.

I will say right now that one of the kids is picked on by one of the teachers dressed up as an ogre. They did this because he is one of the trouble making students and because he claimed to be strong and not scared of anything. That is why he was singled out. Also, another note the kid was absent the next day from school because he said he was sick. But the reality of it was he was afraid to come back to school.

I hope the video works and you are all able to see it.

Lack of Updates

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have been pretty busy with work and planning, that we haven't had much time to sit down and write a blog. I am hoping tomorrow(computer permitting) that I will finally be able to get the video from setsubun up. I had a lot of fun recording this festival at one of my schools. It is good for some laughs.