Dressed in long straw coats and masks, the younger men chosen to play the of the Namahage venture off to visit the local households.  They enter the households roaring and stamping, chasing and frightening the children of the house shouting things like “Are there any crying kids here?” or threatening to eat them or kidnap them to the mountains (Foster 2013, pg 306). Their mission is to scare the children (and sometimes new husbands and wives recent to the family) away from the lazy habits they might have developed lounging by the fire in the cold winter months. 

     After this continues for a few minutes, and the children are scared into the arms of parents and grandparents, the Namahage relax and set down to a small meal accompanied with sake, and banter with the parents before venturing off to the next household