Setsubun

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Japanese holiday celebrating spring held in the first week of February

title: "Setsubun" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["february-observances", "buddhist-festivals-in-japan", "oni", "japanese-words-and-phrases"] description: "Japanese holiday celebrating spring held in the first week of February" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Japanese holiday celebrating spring held in the first week of February ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox holiday"]

Field	Value
holiday_name	ja
type	Shinto
image	Setsubun.jpg
imagesize	250px
caption	Tokuan shrine
nickname	Bean-throwing festival, Bean-throwing ceremony
observedby	Japanese people
longtype	Religious, cultural
significance	Day before the beginning of spring
scheduling	Varies
frequency	Annual
duration	1 day
date	Between 2 and 4 February
relatedto	Spring Festival (ja)
date2023	Friday, 3 February
date2024	Saturday, 3 February
date2025	Sunday, 2 February
::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Samukawa_Shrine_-Kanagawa-mamemaki-_2024Feb3.webm" caption="Kanagawa"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Kinpusenji_Setsubune_2018a.jpg" caption="[[Kimpusen-ji"] ::

is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan. The name literally means 'seasonal division', referring to the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional calendar, known as ja; though previously referring to a wider range of possible dates, ja is now typically held on February 3 (in 2021 and 2025 it was on 2nd February), with the day after – the first day of spring in the old calendar – known as . Both ja and ja are celebrated yearly as part of the Spring Festival () in Japan. ja was accompanied by a number of rituals and traditions held at various levels to drive away the previous year's bad fortunes and evil spirits for the year to come.

History

ja has its origins in , a Chinese custom introduced to Japan in the 8th century. It was quite different from the ja known today. According to the Japanese history book ja, ja was first held in Japan in 706, and it was an event to ward off evil spirits held at the court on the last day of the year according to the lunar-solar calendar. At that time, ja was an event to drive away evil spirits that brought misfortune and disease by decorating each gate of the palace with clay figures of cows and children and using peach branches and walking sticks.

The custom of ja as we know it today began in the Muromachi period (1336–1573). Every household of the aristocracy and samurai class threw beans from their houses into the open air. The ja, a dictionary compiled during the Muromachi period, states that the practice of bean-throwing during ja originated from a legend in the 10th century, during the reign of Emperor Uda, that a monk on Mt. Kurama escaped misfortune by blinding ja with roasted beans. The Japanese word for bean, 豆, is pronounced ja, which can be written as , and some believe that the pronunciation is similar to that of , meaning 'to destroy the devil', which is why people began throwing beans during ja.

From the Edo period (1603–1867), the custom of throwing beans at Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and homes of ordinary people spread throughout Japan as an event or festival to drive away evil spirits during ja. It was also during this period that the custom of tying roasted sardine heads to holly sprig to decorate the gates of houses during ja began. This custom was intended to scare away ja with the thorns of the holly leaves and the smell of the roasted sardines. The original form of this custom is recorded in the ja, compiled in 934 during the Heian period (794–1185). The diary describes a Shinto ja (sacred rope) that was hung on the gate of a house during the New Year's holiday to mark the boundary of purification, and that a mullet head pierced with a sprig of holly was attached to the ja.

The custom of eating on ja began in the geisha districts from the Edo period to the Meiji period. ja is a special ja (sushi roll) eaten on ja. On ja, people face the most auspicious direction of the year and eat the whole ja, an uncut sushi roll, to pray for prosperity and happiness for the year. It is believed that it was originally called simply or . The name ja may have spread throughout Japan in 1989, when a Japanese convenience store chain renamed it ja and began selling it.

Traditions

The main ritual associated with the observance of ja is ; this ritual sees roasted soybeans (known as ) either thrown out of the front door, or at a member of the family wearing an ja (demon or ogre) mask while shouting , before slamming the door. The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat roasted soybeans, one for each year of one's life (ja), plus one more for bringing good luck for the year.

The custom of ja first appeared in the Muromachi period, and is usually performed by either a man of the household born in the corresponding zodiac year for the new year (), or else the male head of the household.

Because Watanabe no Tsuna, a retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu during the Heian period (794–1185), is associated with the legend that he vanquished ja historically considered to be the strongest, such as Shuten-doji and Ibaraki-doji, there is a tradition that ja stay away from people named Watanabe and their houses. For this reason, some families with the surname Watanabe have not practiced the custom of throwing beans on Setsubun for generations. Watanabe no Tsuna was the first person to take the surname Watanabe, and Watanabe is the fifth most common surname in Japan, with approximately 1.08 million people .

Though still a somewhat common practice in households, many people will also or instead attend a shrine or temple's spring festival, where the practice of ja is performed; in some areas, such as Kyoto, this involves a dance performed by apprentice geisha, after which the apprentices themselves throw packets of roasted soybeans to the crowds. In other areas, priests and invited guests throw packets of roasted soybeans, some wrapped in gold or silver foil, small envelopes with money, sweets, candies and other prizes. In some bigger and more central shrines, celebrities and sumo wrestlers are invited to celebrations, usually to ja events that are televised. At Sensō-ji in the Asakusa neighborhood of Tokyo, crowds of nearly 100,000 people attend the annual festivities.

Other practices

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Setsubun,_hiragi_iwashi.JPG" caption="Sardine head talisman on house entrance to keep bad spirits away"] ::

A number of other, in some cases more esoteric practices exist surrounding the celebration and observance of ja; some are regional, such as the Kansai area tradition of eating uncut ja rolls, known as , in silence whilst facing the year's lucky compass direction as determined by the zodiac symbol of that year. Though the custom originated in Osaka, it has since spread, due largely to marketing efforts by grocery and convenience stores.

Other practices include the putting up of small decorations of sardine heads and holly leaves at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits. A special variety of sake known as brewed with ginger is also customarily drunk on ja. Each region of Japan has its own lucky charms to eat on ja. Soybeans used for ja and soba are the most common, but peanuts in the Hokkaido and Tōhoku region, ja and ja in the Kanto region, tea with kelp and sardines in Kansai region, konjac in Shikoku region, sea cucumber in the Oki Islands, and whale in the San'in region are also eaten.

Historical practices

The new year was felt to be a time when the spirit world became close to the physical world, thus the need to perform ja to drive away any wandering spirits that might happen too close to one's home. Other customs during this time included religious dances, festivals, and bringing tools inside the house that might normally be left outside, to prevent the spirits from harming them. Rice cakes were also balanced on lintels and windowsills.

Because ja is considered to be a day set apart from the rest of the year, a tradition of role reversal in appearance and dress was also practiced; such customs included girls wearing the hairstyles of older women and vice versa, wearing disguises, and cross-dressing. This custom is still practiced among geisha and their clients when entertaining on ja.

Traveling entertainers, who were normally shunned during the year because they were considered vagrants, were welcomed on ja to perform morality plays. Their vagrancy worked to their advantage in these cases, as they were considered to take evil spirits with them.

Regional variations

In the Tōhoku area of Japan, the head of the household (traditionally the father) would take roasted beans in his hand, pray at the family shrine, and then toss the sanctified beans out the door. Peanuts (either raw or coated in a sweet, crunchy batter) are sometimes used in place of soybeans.

There are many variations on the famous ja chant. For example, in the city of Aizuwakamatsu, people chant

References

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(January 19, 2021). "All About Setsubun: The Bean-Throwing Festival | Work in Japan for engineers".
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Mishima, Shizuko. "Setsubun – Bean Throwing Festival". [[About.com]].
(January 29, 2014). "Setsubun Is Right Around the Corner". [[Japan Travel Bureau]].
(March 5, 2002). "Setsubun – Around February 3". [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].
Lapointe, Rick. (February 3, 2002). "Are you ready to roll with the change on 'setsubun no hi'?". [[The Japan Times]].
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(December 2012). "History of Soynuts, Soynut Butter, Japanese-Style Roasted Soybeans (Irimame) and Setsubun (with Mamemaki) (1068–2012): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook". Soyinfo Center.
(February 2, 2013). "Setsubun 節分". Japan Reference.

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Setsubun

History

Traditions

{{transliteration|ja|Mamemaki}}

Other practices

Historical practices

Regional variations

References

References