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Anime Celebrities Throw Beans for Setsubun

Yesterday was Setsubun, a Japanese holiday that demarcates the end of winter and coming of spring. As it is also a day upon which evil spirits are likely to intrude upon the human world, it is customary to hurl beans at an ogre (usually dad wearing a mask) to dispel them while crying, "Fortune in, ogres out." In addition to private household celebrations, shrines and temples will often hold public celebrations in which the local clergy — and occasionally celebrities, especially sumō wrestlers — throw beans into the audience.

Here we see the celebration at Ikegami Honmon-ji, a large temple in southern Tokyo, at which a group of Pretty Cure All Stars heroines were in attendance, along with Winning Giabbit, the Yomiuri Giants' mascot. (Skip to 1:11.)

At Shibamata Taishakuten in northeast Tokyo, RoboCop was on bean-chucking duty to remind spectators of the upcoming release of the RoboCop remake.

Hello Kitty also got into the bean-throwing action at Sanrio Puroland, an indoor theme park in Tama New Town, Tokyo:

Mori Anna, one of the graduated members of the idol group AKB48, performed ogre duty at her home, mentioning that she really freaked her brother out:

Here we see the cast of the Madoka Magica Online digital card game dressed for the occasion: Madoka and Mami are wearing yukata, traditional festival clothing, while Homura is dressed as a shrine maiden. Sayaka and Kyōko play the role of ogres.

As for Sakuya Amano, creator of the manga series Gosick, she honored the occasion by drawing a picture of manga's most famous ogress, Urusei Yatsura's Lum:

[Via Otakomu; Image from Cinema Today]