Setsubun
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Italic title Template:Infobox holiday
File:Samukawa Shrine - Kanagawa - mamemaki - 2024Feb3.webm
Template:Nihongo is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="sosnoski"/> The name literally means 'seasonal division', referring to the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional calendar, known as Template:Transliteration; though previously referring to a wider range of possible dates, Template:Transliteration is now typically held on February 3 (in 2021 and 2025 it was on 2nd February),<ref name="geisha">Template:Cite book</ref> with the day after – the first day of spring in the old calendar – known as Template:Nihongo. Both Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration are celebrated yearly as part of the Spring Festival (Template:Nihongo) in Japan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Transliteration 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.<ref name="mie"/><ref name="dwc150119"/>
History
Template:Transliteration has its origins in Template:Nihongo, a Chinese custom introduced to Japan in the 8th century.<ref name="sosnoski">Template:Cite book</ref> It was quite different from the Template:Transliteration known today. According to the Japanese history book Template:Transliteration, Template:Transliteration 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, Template:Transliteration 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.<ref name="dazaifu">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="kikou">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The custom of Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> a dictionary compiled during the Muromachi period, states that the practice of bean-throwing during Template:Transliteration originated from a legend in the 10th century, during the reign of Emperor Uda, that a monk on Mt. Kurama escaped misfortune by blinding Template:Transliteration with roasted beans. The Japanese word for bean, Template:Lang, is pronounced Template:Transliteration, which can be written as Template:Nihongo, and some believe that the pronunciation is similar to that of Template:Nihongo, meaning 'to destroy the devil', which is why people began throwing beans during Template:Transliteration.<ref name="mie">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="kikou"/>
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 Template:Transliteration. It was also during this period that the custom of tying roasted sardine heads to holly sprig to decorate the gates of houses during Template:Transliteration began. This custom was intended to scare away Template:Transliteration with the thorns of the holly leaves and the smell of the roasted sardines. The original form of this custom is recorded in the Template:Transliteration, compiled in 934 during the Heian period (794–1185). The diary describes a Shinto Template:Transliteration (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 Template:Transliteration.<ref name="mie"/><ref name="dwc150119">Template:Cite web</ref>
The custom of eating Template:Nihongo on Template:Transliteration began in the geisha districts from the Edo period to the Meiji period. Template:Transliteration is a special Template:Transliteration (sushi roll) eaten on Template:Transliteration. On Template:Transliteration, people face the most auspicious direction of the year and eat the whole Template:Transliteration, an uncut sushi roll, to pray for prosperity and happiness for the year. It is believed that it was originally called simply Template:Nihongo or Template:Nihongo. The name Template:Transliteration may have spread throughout Japan in 1989, when a Japanese convenience store chain renamed it Template:Transliteration and began selling it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Traditions
The main ritual associated with the observance of Template:Transliteration is Template:Nihongo3; this ritual sees roasted soybeans (known as Template:Nihongo3) either thrown out of the front door, or at a member of the family wearing an Template:Transliteration (demon or ogre) mask while shouting Template:Nihongo,<ref name="geisha"/> before slamming the door.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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 (Template:Transliteration), plus one more for bringing good luck for the year.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The custom of Template:Transliteration first appeared in the Muromachi period,<ref name="sosnoski"/> and is usually performed by either a man of the household born in the corresponding zodiac year for the new year (Template:Nihongo), or else the male head of the household.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Because Watanabe no Tsuna, a retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu during the Heian period (794–1185), is associated with the legend that he vanquished Template:Transliteration historically considered to be the strongest, such as Shuten-doji and Ibaraki-doji, there is a tradition that Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 Template:Transliteration is performed;<ref name="geisha"/> 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 Template:Transliteration events that are televised.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At Sensō-ji in the Asakusa neighborhood of Tokyo, crowds of nearly 100,000 people attend the annual festivities.<ref name="JTB">Template:Cite web</ref>
Other practices
A number of other, in some cases more esoteric practices exist surrounding the celebration and observance of Template:Transliteration; some are regional, such as the Kansai area tradition of eating uncut Template:Transliteration rolls, known as Template:Nihongo3, in silence whilst facing the year's lucky compass direction as determined by the zodiac symbol of that year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Though the custom originated in Osaka, it has since spread, due largely to marketing efforts by grocery and convenience stores.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Other practices include the putting up of small decorations of sardine heads and Template:Nihongo at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits.<ref name="geisha"/> A special variety of sake known as Template:Nihongo brewed with ginger is also customarily drunk on Template:Transliteration. Each region of Japan has its own lucky charms to eat on Template:Transliteration. Soybeans used for Template:Transliteration and soba are the most common, but peanuts in the Hokkaido and Tōhoku region, Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 Template:Transliteration 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.<ref name="geisha"/>
Because Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration.<ref name="geisha"/>
Template:Nihongo, who were normally shunned during the year because they were considered vagrants, were welcomed on Template:Transliteration to perform morality plays. Their vagrancy worked to their advantage in these cases, as they were considered to take evil spirits with them.<ref name="geisha"/>Template:Rp
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.<ref name="ShurtleffAoyagi2012">Template:Cite book</ref> Peanuts (either raw or coated in a sweet, crunchy batter) are sometimes used in place of soybeans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
There are many variations on the famous Template:Transliteration chant. For example, in the city of Aizuwakamatsu, people chant Template:Nihongo3<ref name="ShurtleffAoyagi2012"/>
See also
- Template:Transliteration, a sushi roll often eaten for good luck on Template:Transliteration.
- Exorcism
- Feast of the Lemures (a similar Roman custom)
- Holidays of Japan
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Template:Nihongo
- Saint John's Eve
- Taoism in Japan
- Walpurgis Night
- Zvončari (the custom dating to pagan times in Croatia whose goal is to scare away evil spirits of winter and to stir up new springtime cycle)