Throwing lucky beans

(Senior Airman Veronica Pierce is a photographer assigned to 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs)

Being stationed in Japan has given me great opportunities to experience another culture so very different than my own. In Japan, every festival is performed with such honor and beauty.

On February 3, I went to the Setsubun Festival at the Takahata Fudo Temple at Hino, Japan along with a few other Yokota residents. In the Chinese calendar, Feb. 4, is the beginning of the spring season, the Japanese throw beans to exorcise evil spirits and misfortune. At popular temples, the person throwing the beans is said to be the one to spatter luck to the public. Japanese visit the nearby temples with bags in hand waiting for people to throw beans from the temple balconies; they catch the beans then eat them for good luck.

This year I was able to be one of the lucky people tossing the beans. There were Japanese movie stars and beauty queens also tossing the beans, it made me feel like a star too. There are so many different festivals through out the year I can’t wait until the next one. This was just one of the many opportunities us as military personnel living in Japan get to experience.