-
-
(03) 5421 1200
-
First Week of 2025 in Languages
The 3rd of February in Japan is known as ‘Setsubun’. It traditionally marks the transition from Winter to Spring, based on the old lunar calendar. It is a festival celebrated in schools and houses all over Japan. On this day, homes, schools, temples and shrines participate in the bean-throwing festival. People wear ‘demon’ masks while others take a handful of soybeans and throw them outside and at the household member with the mask on, while shouting ‘oni wa soto’ (demons get out) and ‘fuku wa uchi’ (good luck, come in).
The festival also allows us to put things behind us and start afresh. This week in our Year 8 Japanese classes, we studied about festivals and then participated by throwing beans at the masked students. This provided the students the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and set new goals for Year 8 Japanese. We then summarised five main points we learned about the festival on a cut out of a hand and decorated the classroom with what we had learned.
