Illustrated Japanese Culture
節分
Setsubun usually means the day before the traditional beginning of spring, marked by customs for driving out misfortune and welcoming good fortune.
01
Setsubun originally referred to the day before each of the four seasonal beginnings. Today it usually means the day before risshun, the beginning of spring in the traditional solar calendar. Risshun is determined by the Sun’s position, so Setsubun is not permanently fixed to 3 February.
In bean-throwing customs, oni represent threatening forces such as illness and misfortune. Beans are thrown to drive them away and invite good fortune.
02
Bean throwing may take place in a household or at a shrine or temple. Participants cast beans while calling for good fortune; the familiar cry pairs “Oni out” with “Good fortune in.” The details belong to the local practice.
Sensōji calls for long-lasting prosperity and good fortune, without shouting “Oni out.” The temple explains that there are no oni before Kannon. Its present-day ceremonies include bean throwing inside the hall and from a stage.
Hiiragi iwashi combines a sardine head with a holly branch at a doorway. Its sharp leaves and fish head are used as a protective object in some local traditions.
03
Tsuina, a rite for expelling harmful forces with roots in China, and Setsubun were originally distinct observances. Tsuina used bows, arrows and other ritual actions before its association with the later bean-throwing custom.
The diary Gaun nikkenroku records bean throwing on the eve of spring in 1447, with calls to send oni out and welcome good fortune. The practice was therefore established by 1447, though its beginnings are uncertain.
By the Edo period, expulsion rites and Setsubun were closely connected. A customs survey of 1813 recorded different local calls and doorway objects. A print of the actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII throwing beans shows the practice within the period’s popular imagery.
04
Ehōmaki is a rolled sushi eaten facing the year’s auspicious direction. Accounts of its origin differ. Promotion by Osaka businesses after the Second World War and wider retail distribution in the 1990s helped spread it beyond its earlier regional setting.
Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency advises against giving hard Setsubun beans to children aged five or younger because of choking risk. Clear scattered beans from the floor so young children cannot pick them up and eat them.
The day before risshun, the traditional beginning of spring.
No. Its date follows the timing of risshun.
Misfortune and harmful forces within the ritual.
No. Sensōji omits that call.
A sardine head combined with a holly branch, used at a doorway in some traditions.
No. They began as distinct observances and became closely connected later.
Bean throwing before spring, with the familiar type of call, existed by that date.
No. Postwar promotion and later retail distribution helped spread it.
The auspicious direction assigned to that year.
Do not give them hard Setsubun beans, and clear away scattered beans they might pick up.