Rotana al-Regeb, who was allowed into Gaza from Egypt following the long-awaited reopening of the Rafah border crossing, reunites with her children in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) |
Local students dressed as shrine maidens participate in the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) |
Photos of Hakone Shrine marking Setsubun with bean-throwing to ward off evil spirits |
Scores gathered at a shrine in Japan's Hakone to try and catch "lucky beans," hoping to ward off evil spirits as they celebrate the last day of winter in the Japanese lunar calendar. Setsubun is also known as "mame-maki," or bean-throwing. It falls around Feb. 3, on the eve of Risshun, marking the beginning of spring in Japan. Long before modern calendars, the change of seasons was viewed as a vulnerable moment when illness and misfortune could enter lives. Setsubun was meant to contain that instability; people throw the same lucky beans at representations of demons to bring the loathed creatures misfortune. |
