Photos of Hakone Shrine marking Setsubun with bean-throwing to ward off evil spirits

HAKONE, Japan (AP) — Scores gathered at a shrine in Japan’s Hakone to try and catch “lucky beans,” hoping to ward off evil spirits as they celebrate the last day of winter in the Japanese lunar calendar.

Setsubun is also known as “mame-maki,” or bean-throwing. It falls around Feb. 3, on the eve of Risshun, marking the beginning of spring in Japan.

Long before modern calendars, the change of seasons was viewed as a vulnerable moment when illness and misfortune could enter lives. Setsubun was meant to contain that instability; people throw the same lucky beans at representations of demons to bring the loathed creatures misfortune.

As people pitch the soybeans, they chant, “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” — demons out, fortune in.

Families perform the custom at home, while temples and shrines conduct formal ceremonies.

Though the practice may appear playful, its origins lie in ancient purification rites.

Founded more than 1,200 years ago, Hakone Shrine stands beside Lake Ashi in the mountains of Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, and for centuries, travelers crossing the mountains often stopped there to pray for protection before continuing through terrain known for sudden weather changes and difficult routes.

On Tuesday, winter still dominated the landscape as the shrine marked Setsubun.

Visitors arrived quietly, bundled against the cold. Shinto priests conducted formal rites, reciting prayers; their movements were deliberate, reflecting the shrine’s emphasis on continuity.

As part of the ceremony, a Shinto priest and a figure dressed as a demon were pulled across the surface of the lake, briefly skimming the water before disappearing in the distance. By carrying the “oni” across the lake, the ritual symbolically removes misfortune from the community.

The ceremony then continued on land. Roasted soybeans were thrown, voices briefly rising with the familiar chant before falling silent. The beans scattered across stone steps and earth, left where they landed.

A student depicting a shrine priest skims across the water on water skis, with Mt. Fuji in the background, during the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Lake Ashi, near Hakone Shrine, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Lucky beans are thrown on an 'Oni', or demon-like figures in Japanese folklore, during the annual Bean Throwing Festival at Hakone Shrine in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People try to catch lucky beans during the annual Bean Throwing Festival at Hakone Shrine in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A student dressed as an 'Oni', demon-like figures in Japanese folklore, water skis during the annual Bean Throwing Festival near Hakone Shrine in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Locals dressed as Japanese folklore figures participate in the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Locals dressed as Japanese folklore figures throw lucky beans to 'Oni', or demon-like figures, at Lake Ashi near Hakone Shrine during the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A student depicting a shrine priest skims across the water on water skis during the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Lake Ashi, near Hakone Shrine, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Priests and guests throw lucky beans towards the gathering at Hakone Shrine in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Participants march towards Lake Ashi near Hakone Shrine during the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A priest leads participants towards Lake Ashi near Hakone Shrine during the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Participants thrown lucky beans to students dressed as 'Oni', or demon-like figures in Japanese folklore, during the annual Bean Throwing Festival, at Lake Ashi in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People try to catch lucky beans during the annual Bean Throwing Festival at Hakone Shrine in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Students dressed as Oni, or demon-like figures in Japanese folklore, bow to participants marching to Lake Ashi, near Hakone Shrine during the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Local students dressed as shrine maidens participate in the annual Bean Throwing Festival in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A student depicting "Oni", demon-like figures in Japanese folklore, skims across the water on water skis during the annual Bean Throwing Festival near Hakone Shrine in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People try to catch lucky beans during the annual Bean Throwing Festival, a ceremony marked in the hope of warding off evil spirits and inviting good luck, at Hakone Shrine in Hakone, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

LONDON (AP) — British police on Tuesday are assessing whether former Labour Party politician Peter Mandelson should face a criminal investigation for leaking sensitive government information to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The U.K. government is seeking ways to kick Mandelson out of Parliament and remove the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that comes with his lifetime membership in the House of Lords.

A trove of more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents released by the U.S. Justice Department has brought excruciating revelations about 72-year-old Mandelson, a powerful political figure who served in senior government roles under previous Labour governments and was U.K. ambassador to Washington until he was fired in September over his ties to Epstein.

The newly released files contain new details about Mandelson's contacts with the disgraced financier, including some which critics say may have broken the the law. Police say they are reviewing reports of misconduct “to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.”

Among the revelations:

In 2003-2004, bank documents suggest Epstein sent three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts linked either to Mandelson or to his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has said that he doesn't remember receiving the money and will investigate whether the documents are authentic. But he resigned from the governing Labour Party on Sunday, saying he didn’t want to cause the party “further embarrassment.”

In 2008, Epstein avoided federal prosecution by pleading guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Emails and text messages show that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued after the financier’s sentence.

In 2009, Epstein sent da Silva 10,000 pounds (about $13,650 at today’s rates) to pay for an osteopathy course. Mandelson told The Times of London that “in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer.”

Also in 2009, Mandelson, then business secretary in the U.K. government, appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.

The same year, Mandelson sent Epstein an internal government report discussing ways the U.K. could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson wrote: “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.”

In 2010, Mandelson messaged Epstein that “sources tell me 500 b euro bailout” is almost complete. The message was dated the day European governments announced a 500 billion euro deal to shore up the single currency.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ordered the civil service to conduct an “urgent” review of all of Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein while he was in government.

Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on U.S. federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls.

An email requesting comment on the documents was sent to Mandelson through the House of Lords.

British Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson speaks during the rededication ceremony of the George Washington Statue in the National Gallery in London, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)