What is Setsubun?
Setsubun (節分) means “dividing the seasons”, and once meant the day before each of Risshun, Rikka, Risshū and Rittō. Today it usually means only the day before Risshun, which was seen as the start of the year.
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The next Setsubun is Feb 3 (Wed), 2027, and the ehō is north-northwest.
1.Dates and ehō of Setsubun
| Year | Setsubun (day before Risshun) | Ehō of the year |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Feb 3 (Tue) | South-southeast |
| 2027 | Feb 3 (Wed) | North-northwest |
| 2028 | Feb 3 (Thu) | South-southeast |
| 2029 | Feb 2 (Fri) | East-northeast |
| 2030 | Feb 3 (Sun) | West-southwest |
| 2031 | Feb 3 (Mon) | South-southeast |
Setsubun is set by the date of Risshun, so it falls on 2 or 3 February (the last time it fell on 4 February was 1984).
Many people think of Setsubun as 3 February, but the date of Risshun depends on the sun’s movement, so it shifts from year to year. In 2021 and 2025 Setsubun fell on 2 February. The eto and Nine Star Ki also change on the day after Setsubun, at Risshun.
2.Bean-throwing
Bean-throwing (mamemaki) drives out the evil spirits, or oni, thought to slip in at the turn of the seasons. In the Heian-period court, a demon-expelling ritual called tsuina was held on New Year’s Eve, and from around the Muromachi period it spread as Setsubun bean-throwing.
- Roasted soybeans are the usual choice (one explanation is so that forgotten beans don’t sprout). In Hokkaido, Tōhoku, Niigata and parts of southern Kyushu, many families throw peanuts instead.
- People throw them crying “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi!”, “Demons out, luck in!” Some regions and temples use different words.
- Afterwards, you eat as many beans as your age (or your age plus one) to wish for a healthy year.
3.Ehōmaki
Ehōmaki is the custom of eating a whole thick sushi roll in silence while facing the year’s ehō. Its origins are disputed, but a practice from parts of Osaka spread across Japan from the 1990s, helped by convenience-store sales. People say you eat it uncut “so as not to cut your ties”, or that it “rolls in good fortune”.
4.Hiiragi-iwashi
This is the custom of sticking the grilled head of a sardine on a holly branch and putting it by the front door. The holly’s spines and the sardine’s smell are said to keep demons away. Some families still do it.
5.How to spend Setsubun
Setsubun is the line between winter and spring, the old year and the new. Along with bringing in luck with beans and ehōmaki, it is a good day to tidy your home and think about your goals for the year. Check the new year’s fortune from Risshun with the Nine Star Ki reading.
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