Photo/Illutration Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo tosses beans toward temple visitors in the Setsubun festival held at Naritasan Shinshoji temple in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, on Feb. 3. (Hiroyuki Yamamoto)

NARITA, Chiba Prefecture--Fewer beans were tossed out by fewer celebrities at this year's Setsubun ceremony at Naritasan Shinshoji temple here on Feb. 3, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued impacting the annual tradition. 

At this year's ceremony held on Setsubun, the last day of winter on the traditional lunar calendar, the beans were tossed in hopes of a bumper crop and the disappearance of the novel coronavirus.

As the number of daily COVID-19 cases continues skyrocketing in Japan, the temple downsized the ceremony compared to past years.

For the second consecutive year, organizers did not set up a special stage and drastically reduced the quantity of beans thrown.

In front of the great main hall, kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo, sumo wrestlers Okinoumi and Takayasu, singer Aya Shimazu and other celebrities threw beans along with participants from the public.

They shouted, “Fuku wa uchi!” (Good fortune in!).

But two other sumo wrestlers scheduled to attend, including the newly promoted ozeki Mitakeumi, were forced to cancel after testing positive for COVID-19.

Actors cast in a popular Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) historical drama also did not attend for the second year in a row though they usually did so before the pandemic.

Many temple visitors wearing masks stood near the main hall even though the admission was restricted in the area, and enjoyed watching the bean-scattering event from a distance. 

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