Seeing a Oni in the Kobe Area ~Myouhouji -temple 妙法寺

Date; January 3rd every year
Location; Myōhō-ji temple 1286 Bishamon-yama, Myōhō-ji, Suma Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Access; About a 10-minute walk from Myōhōji Subway Station It takes about 30 minutes by subway to get to Myōhō-ji from Sannomiya, in central Kobe.

The gate to Kansai https://www.the-kansai-guide.com/en/directory/item/20241/

The Oni of Hyogo Prefecture

In Hyogo Prefecture, you can see rituals to drive away demons in various locations from January through March. To those familiar with Japanese people and Japanese culture, this may seem strange.
Tsuina refers to a ritual performed at the imperial court to drive away demons. Also known as “Oni-yarai,” it originally was a ceremony held on New Year’s Eve in the ancient Chinese imperial court.
There is also a festival called Setsubun. “Setsubun” literally means “the dividing point of the seasons.” While today it refers exclusively to February 3, in the past, the day before each of the “beginning of spring,” “beginning of summer,” “beginning of autumn,” and “beginning of winter” was called “Setsubun.”
The arrival of spring marks the beginning of a new year, and since it is a season that is especially eagerly anticipated, the term “Setsubun” is now used exclusively to refer to the period immediately before the start of spring. For this reason, while you can see rituals to drive away demons in various places on February 3, the Tsuina (a ritual to ward off evil spirits) is not necessarily performed on Setsubun.
There are plenty of events scheduled throughout the Kobe area, especially in early January.

https://discoverdeeperjapan.com/2023/02/19/seven-oni-bring-happiness-setubun-at-kobe/

Myouhouji temple

It’s about a 30-minute ride on the municipal subway from Sannomiya, Kobe’s downtown area. From there, it’s a short walk. Sannomiya is one stop away from Shin-Kobe Station on the Shinkansen.

The ceremony begins around 3:00 p.m. Since it’s a small temple, you’ll need to arrive early to get a spot up front. It starts with the monks chanting sutras.

Oni appear

Finally, after the commentary, the black ogres make their first appearance. They come out holding their masks in their hands.

A wooden mask that seems remarkably simple yet exudes an ancient aura. Hyogo Prefecture possesses many old and charming masks.

White Oni ~main characters

After the Black Oni, a child Oni appears. Finally, the White Oni appears carrying a torch.

The mask isn’t the typical terrifying face with slanted eyes; its enigmatic nature is both eerie and comical.

Breaking the mochi at the end

This is repeated several times, and at the end, the white demon breaks the auspicious mochi. This is a symbol of good fortune.

Ending

At the end, mochi is thrown into the audience. Since the mochi is believed to bring good health and ward off illness, the audience scrambles to catch it.
At 4:30 p.m., the Tsuina ceremony—which lasted about an hour and a half—comes to a close. Spring is still a little ways off.