The Setsubun event at Takao-san Yakuo-in (高尾山薬王院)

On February 3rd the “Setsubun-e (節分会)” event was held on  Mt.Takao.
Mt.Takao is located in Hachioji city, so Hachioji’s geisha have a strong association with Mt.Takao.
The famous temple, Takao-san Yakuo-in (高尾山薬王院), is located at the top of Mt.Takao, and “Setsubun-e” is the annual prayer ceremony held at that temple.

The Setsubun (節分, Bean-Throwing Ceremony) is always held the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan.
The name literally means "seasonal division", but generally the term is only used for the Spring Setsubun, which is celebrated yearly on February 3rd.

On the Setsubun day, all over Japan we throw beans.
At Takao-san Yakuo-in, Hachioji’s geisha, some celebrities and the local people throw beans several times on that day.

On the actual day, I went to the okiya around 8am.
I was going to throw beans at 12am, 1pm and 2pm.
From 10am to 2pm, we were going to throw beans a total of 5 times, and Hachioji’s geisha were divided into 2 groups; one group from 10am-1pm and the other group from 12am-2pm.
I was a member of the second group.

We left the okiya at 9:45 in order to take the cable car bound for the top of Mt.Takao.
When we arrived at the top of Mt.Takao, it was not so cold, however I thought that I would feel cold after we finished throwing beans 3 times outside.

When we were waiting for our turn, the members of the first group came back to the room where we were waiting.
We were planning to eat lunch in the intervals of the bean throwing.
Indeed it was not enough time to eat lunch.

I heard that at 12am and 1pm, the most people would gather at the venue to pick up the beans.
So both groups were going to throw beans together at that time.

It was my first Setsubun-e event, so when I was waiting for my turn, I was excited.

Hachioji’s geisha, some celebrities and the local people who were going to throw the beans gathered at the assigned meeting place and all moved to the main building of the temple.
When I saw that many people were waiting around there, I was surprised.

After we were guided into the main building, we sat on the floor in Japanese Seiza style.
After a while some Buddhist priests quietly entered the building and the ceremony started.
They read the sutras and the names of the people who were sitting on the floor.
While were were listening the sutras, the beans, which were in colorful Masu, were distributed to us.
I was surprised when I saw some people started eating their beans while the Buddhist priests were reading the sutras.

(Indeed it is a custom to eat beans on the Setsubun day as a way of praying for our health, however I didn’t think that people ate them while listening to the sutras.)

After we finished listening to the sutras, we went out from the main building in order to start throwing the beans.
Many people were waiting outside in order to catch the beans.
I threw my beans with a smile.

After throwing all of the beans, Hachioji’s geisha, some celebrities and the local people who took part in the bean throwing gathered at the stairs in front of the gate of the temple to take photos.

We repeated the above sequence several times.
I really enjoyed my first Setsubun-e event as a geisha.