Setsubun: Japan’s Bean-Throwing Festival and the Rites of Seasonal Transition
Setsubun — celebrated on February 3 or 4 (the day before the traditional start of spring in the old Japanese calendar) — is one of Japan’s most widely observed seasonal festivals, combining purification ritual, comic performance, and communal food tradition into a single annual event. The core practice of mamemaki (bean throwing) — scattering roasted soybeans while shouting “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (Demons out! Good fortune in!) — is performed at households and temples across Japan simultaneously on Setsubun evening, marking the expulsion of the previous year’s misfortunes and the welcoming of spring.
The Mamemaki Ritual
The household version of mamemaki involves scattering fukumame (lucky roasted soybeans) from a wooden box or bag, first out of doorways and windows to drive out demons, then into the house’s interior to invite good fortune. After scattering, household members eat one soybean for each year of their age (plus one for the coming year) — the custom is said to ensure health through the new season. The soybeans are traditionally the container-roasted type in small individual bags, and the bean-scattering itself is a physical engagement with the seasonal transition rather than a solemn ceremony.
Temple and Shrine Setsubun Events
Major temples and shrines host spectacular public mamemaki events where famous figures — sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, local celebrities, and the temple’s senior priests — stand on raised platforms and throw packets of beans, sweets, and lucky items into crowds of thousands. The combination of the celebrity element, the festive crowd, and the physical act of catching thrown items makes these events among Japan’s most energetic winter festivals.
Naritasan Shinshoji (Chiba): One of Japan’s most famous Setsubun events — sumo wrestlers and celebrities throw over 1 million packets of beans and lucky items into massive crowds. Draws 150,000+ attendees annually.
Yoshida Shrine (Kyoto): The most traditionally significant Setsubun event — the three-day ceremony incorporates the ancient Tsuina ritual (a Chinese-origin demon-expelling ceremony), ogre performances, and the midnight fire of bad-luck charms. Attended by tens of thousands over three days.
Zojoji Temple (Tokyo): Central Tokyo’s largest Setsubun event, with celebrity bean-throwers and a family-friendly festival atmosphere in the shadow of Tokyo Tower.
Mibu-dera (Kyoto): Known for its Mibu Kyogen — silent comic plays depicting the defeat of demons — performed alongside the mamemaki.
Ehomaki: The Lucky Direction Roll
A more recently widespread Setsubun custom involves eating an ehomaki — a large, uncut maki sushi roll — in silence, facing the year’s lucky direction (eho) as determined by the zodiac calendar, while concentrating on a wish. The custom originated in Osaka’s food culture and was promoted nationally by convenience store chains from the 1980s; it is now one of the biggest sushi sales events of the year. The ehomaki must not be cut (cutting would cut the year’s good fortune) and should be consumed entirely without speaking. The direction varies each year; the 2026 lucky direction is south-southeast.
Oni Masks and Setsubun Decoration
The demon (oni) — represented as a red or blue horned figure in a tiger-skin loincloth — is the central figure of Setsubun imagery. Oni masks, available at convenience stores and 100-yen shops throughout Japan in January–February, are used in household mamemaki where one family member wears the mask as the designated demon. The participatory, slightly comic character of this domestic ritual — adults chasing masked children with beans — is as much a part of Setsubun as the temple events. Many kindergartens and elementary schools hold Setsubun events where teachers or parents don oni masks; the children’s genuine fear and delight is a recurring Japanese cultural memory across generations.