About 180 children aged 0 to 6 participated in the bean-throwing event held on January 31st at Koma Nursery School in Wakayama City. Each child wore a demon mask, and the nursery school teacher first explained that it was an event to ward off bad things such as illness and pray for a healthy year.
In classes for 0- to 2-year-old children, newspapers rolled up into 2-centimeter pieces were thrown to resemble beans. Some of the kindergarteners were so surprised by the demon that they started crying and clinging to the teacher.