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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 27, 2020
Bean-throwing Festival to Take Place at MTSU
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee State University’s Japan Club is holding its second annual bean-throwing celebration of Setsubun, a Japanese spring holiday to ring in a new year, on Friday.
“Setsubun is a Japanese tradition usually celebrated in February where we throw soybeans at Oni to bring luck in for the new year,” Ryoko Poarch, the club’s faculty adviser, said. “We are celebrating it now so that we can give an educational experience to our members.”
During the event, members of Japan Club will color masks of oni, which are Japanese demons that are bad spirits. The oni masks will later be worn by half of the members while soybeans are thrown at them. The soybean-throwing is the most notable of traditions in the Setsubun holiday, where participants will throw soybeans at people wearing oni masks while chanting, “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” The phrase translates to, “Demons out! Luck in!”
The event will take place on MTSU’s campus in the Boutwell Dramatic Arts building. The soybean-throwing portion of the tradition will happen in the green in front of the BDA building. The club is opening this event to the public to teach about Japanese holidays and their traditions.
“We want everyone to be able to participate in the event,” Cyrus Franck, club president, said. “We open our events up so that even students who are not members can come and be a part of the fun.”
The event will start at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, in BDA room 301, and it will last three hours. Parking will be available at the Reese Smith lot behind the baseball field. For additional information, email Poarch at ryoko.fujise@mtsu.edu.
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Middle Tennessee State University’s Japan Club was established by a group of friends in 2019 after rebranding from its old identity as Japanese Language Table, originally established in 2014. The club encourages students to share Japanese culture. It hosts information sessions regarding study abroad, educational movie nights and fun game nights. Japan Club grew very quickly, with numbers going from under 10 to over 30 within one semester. Visit the club on Instagram at @mtsujapanclub.
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