Beauty for All
Walks of Life

On Setsubun day, we bought roasted soybeans to throw when the oni (demon) arrived.

The children were excitedly wondering when the oni would come.
Even during dinner and bath time, they kept the beans close by, ready for action.
One might think that bringing beans into the bath would make them soggy, but modern beans are quite sturdy and retained their original shape.

I was assigned the role of the "oni lookout," responsible for alerting the children as soon as the oni appeared.
During dinner and bath time, I sat beside the beans, keeping watch over the surroundings.
At bedtime, we placed the beans by the window, and I slept next to them while the children huddled together in the center of the room.
The plan was to immediately throw the beans and drive away any oni that might come during the night.

Fortunately, we made it through the night without being attacked by any oni.
The next morning, on the way to school and daycare, the children spotted beans scattered on the roadside and nodded in understanding—"Ah, an oni must have appeared here."

The thumbnail image shows the beans placed by the window.

Yoshiko Kuno