Kanda Myojin Shrine Setsubun Festival 神田明神 節分祭
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Torii gate at Kanda Myojin Shrine.
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Base of the torii.
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On Feb. 3, 2012 to mark the start of spring, Kanda Myojin Shrine near Ochanomizu/Akihabara, Tokyo held its annual Setsubun Festival from 2 pm to 3:30 pm. About 350 people including local politicians and an idol group threw beans.
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About Kanda Myojin in English. Kanda Myojin was originally built to protect Edo Castle from the ominous kimon direction.
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About Kanda Myojin in Japanese.
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Carvings on the gate.
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Path to the main worship hall.
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Oni ogre statue used in the Kanda Matsuri.
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Monument to mark Emperor Meiji's visit to the shrine.
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Stone lion mountain.
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About the Stone lion mountain.
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At 2 pm, a procession led by kiyari workman chanters and the bean throwers entered the shrine.
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Blue and red ogre representing the evil spirits to be chased away.
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Daikoku and Ebisu, two gods of good fortune.
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Bean throwers born in the year of the dragon. About 350 of them. They pay money to do it.
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The bean throwers head for the worship hall for a short Shinto ceremony.
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This is a singing idol group called Houkago Princess who threw beans and sang at the end. They are still obscure.
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Nice that they included all of us in the ceremony too. A priest waved his wand outside to bless us.
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The archers symbolically aim their arrows at the two ominous directions (kimon and ura-kimon).
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The archer symbolically aims his arrow at the ominous directions (kimon and ura-kimon).
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Bells of Good Fortune swung by the Daikoku and Ebisu gods.
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Besides small bags of soybeans, they threw small packets of sweets and mikan (tangerines).
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They didn't throw very far.
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Live festival music played during the bean throwing.
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Clean up after a crowd.
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They broke up the crowd into groups and the crowd took turns getting the beans. This is the next crowd waiting to enter.
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Very difficult to catch the mikan (you need a baseball glove). Most of it fell to the ground and got trampled. It's a waste and dangerous to throw such heavy things.
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I bagged this bag of beans. It actually hit me when I wasn't looking.
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My video of Kanda Myojin Setsubun.
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Map of shrine grounds
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Grand mikoshi
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Corridor going to the Honden. Photos of the Kanda Matsuri adorn the wall.
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Inside the Honden worship hall.
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Ebisu-sama god
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Ebisu on a wave.
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There are several lesser shrines.
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Storehouse.
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Shrine museum.
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Ema with dragon design.
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Sacred horse (pony).
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About the Sacred horse (pony).
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An idol group perform in the Kaguraden. They are called Houkago Princess. They're not AKB48 who threw beans here 3 years ago. 放課後プリンセス
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Houkago Princess performing at Kanda Myojin Shrine for Setsubun.
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Houkago Princess
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Houkago Princess
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