Taking Japanese customs of demon-vanquishing to impressive new levels.

In Japan, 3 February is Setsubun, the day before spring according to the traditional calendar and a time for new beginnings that involve ushering out bad energy and inviting good luck into the home through the custom of throwing beans.

While the bean-throwing is usually done by hand, our reporter Takuya Inaba recently came across a gadget that scatters the beans for you, and it’s called the Mamemaki Bazooka, or in English, Bean-throwing Bazooka.

Created by Denroku, a long-established confectionery manufacturer, the Bean-throwing Bazooka was a bargain at just 658 yen (US$4.50), which includes eight packs of fukumame (“lucky beans”) for ammunition.

Following the instructions on the back of the box, the bazooka was super easy to assemble.

▼ Simply pass the string through the inner box…

…and connect the firing port and inner box together with the included rubber bands and you’re done!

▼ Now all that’s required is to fill the bazooka with the beans…

▼ …and pull the string at the bottom to fire away!

Testing it with the bags still unopened, he counted down to the firing.

▼ 3…2…1…Bazooka!

Hmmm, the result wasn’t as impressive as he’d expected, but upon closer inspection, he found this was because he’d loaded too many of the bags inside, which meant some got stuck and didn’t get released.

▼ So he decided to reduce the amount of bags to three and try again.

Beans are usually thrown at devils, with one family member acting as the “oni” or “devil” by wearing a mask. But for this experiment, Takuya aimed at the camera, giving us a devil’s-eye view of the proceedings.

With less in the chamber, he was able to achieve greater power and range with the beans, with the packs landing about three metres (9.8 feet) away.

With this much power, Takuya felt confident he would be able to defeat any demons in his home, but looking at the packs, he thought the sharp corners could be dangerous if they got in anyone’s eyes, human or demon.

So he came up with a safer, and possibly even more impressive way to eliminate demons from his home, by taping up the holes and pouring the beans right into the chamber.

There was nothing in the instructions to advise against this method, so he couldn’t wait to see what the results would look like. His hands shaking with nerves and excitment, he pulled the string back on the bazooka and…

▼…boom!

▼ The spray was so glorious and widespread that even demons would cry at the sight of it.

▼ If you throw beans like this, demons won’t dare come near you for the rest of your life!

▼ A demon’s-eye view of the bean-throwing.

We can’t deny that Takuya certainly looked powerful behind that thing, sending out a spray of beans that would send any demon running in the other direction.

However, once he’d shot his beans, he now had to face the consequences of his actions and clean up the mess he’d made on the floor.

The Bean-throwing Bazooka sprays the beans in a much wider arc than hand-thrown beans, so there’s considerably more clean-up than usual after using it.

Still, it was worth it for Takuya, who now feels his home is cleaner than ever before, with no beans on the floor, and no demons for miles, thanks to the Bean-throwing Bazooka.

Related: Denroku
Photos ©SoraNews24
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