What is ehō, the lucky direction of the year?
The ehō (恵方), familiar from the ehōmaki rolls eaten at Setsubun, is the direction where Toshitokujin (歳徳神), the god who governs the year’s good fortune, is said to live.
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1.There are only four directions
The ehō is set by the year’s stem. Toshitokujin moves only between four of the 24 compass points, the points named 甲, 丙, 庚 and 壬, so there are only four possible ehō.
| Year’s stem | Ehō | Last digit of the year |
|---|---|---|
| 甲, 己 | The 甲 point (east-northeast, a little east) | 4, 9 |
| 乙, 庚 | The 庚 point (west-southwest, a little west) | 0, 5 |
| 丙, 辛, 戊, 癸 | The 丙 point (south-southeast, a little south) | 1, 3, 6, 8 |
| 丁, 壬 | The 壬 point (north-northwest, a little north) | 2, 7 |
The last digit of the year makes it easy to remember. 2026 ends in 6, so its ehō is south-southeast; 2027 ends in 7, so it is north-northwest.
2.Ehō by year
| Year | Stem | Ehō | Clockwise from true north | Setsubun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 庚 Kanoe | West-southwest | about 255° (the 庚 direction) | Feb 3 (Mon) |
| 2021 | 辛 Kanoto | South-southeast | about 165° (the 丙 direction) | Feb 2 (Tue) |
| 2022 | 壬 Mizunoe | North-northwest | about 345° (the 壬 direction) | Feb 3 (Thu) |
| 2023 | 癸 Mizunoto | South-southeast | about 165° (the 丙 direction) | Feb 3 (Fri) |
| 2024 | 甲 Kinoe | East-northeast | about 75° (the 甲 direction) | Feb 3 (Sat) |
| 2025 | 乙 Kinoto | West-southwest | about 255° (the 庚 direction) | Feb 2 (Sun) |
| 2026 | 丙 Hinoe | South-southeast | about 165° (the 丙 direction) | Feb 3 (Tue) |
| 2027 | 丁 Hinoto | North-northwest | about 345° (the 壬 direction) | Feb 3 (Wed) |
| 2028 | 戊 Tsuchinoe | South-southeast | about 165° (the 丙 direction) | Feb 3 (Thu) |
| 2029 | 己 Tsuchinoto | East-northeast | about 75° (the 甲 direction) | Feb 2 (Fri) |
| 2030 | 庚 Kanoe | West-southwest | about 255° (the 庚 direction) | Feb 3 (Sun) |
| 2031 | 辛 Kanoto | South-southeast | about 165° (the 丙 direction) | Feb 3 (Mon) |
| 2032 | 壬 Mizunoe | North-northwest | about 345° (the 壬 direction) | Feb 3 (Tue) |
| 2033 | 癸 Mizunoto | South-southeast | about 165° (the 丙 direction) | Feb 2 (Wed) |
| 2034 | 甲 Kinoe | East-northeast | about 75° (the 甲 direction) | Feb 3 (Fri) |
| 2035 | 乙 Kinoto | West-southwest | about 255° (the 庚 direction) | Feb 3 (Sat) |
The next Setsubun is Feb 3 (Wed), 2027, and the ehō is north-northwest.
The ehō stays the same for a whole year, from Risshun to the next Setsubun. The direction and angle for each year are in the table above.
How to spend Setsubun and where bean-throwing comes from are explained in What is Setsubun?
3.How to face the ehō
The ehō is measured clockwise from true north. Open a compass app on your phone, line the top of the screen up with true north, then turn toward the angle in the table. The north on map apps is true north, but a magnetic compass points to magnetic north, which in Japan lies about 5 to 10 degrees west of true north (depending on the area). To be precise, choose “true north” in your compass app’s settings.
The ehō is one of 24 compass points, a slice 15 degrees wide, so a little error doesn’t matter.
4.Ways to use the ehō
Eating an uncut sushi roll in silence while facing the ehō at Setsubun, the ehōmaki, began in the Kansai region and only spread nationwide from the 1990s. In the Edo period, ehō-mairi, visiting a temple or shrine in the year’s lucky direction on New Year’s Day, was popular; it is one of the roots of hatsumōde, the New Year shrine visit that spread from the Meiji era.
To find your own personal lucky directions, try the Nine Star Ki reading.
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