Setsubun
Setsubun is a small festival with a lot of noise: beans, demons and a big sushi roll. This lesson gives you the words for the bean-throwing, the masks and the lucky direction, plus everyday verbs for throwing, picking up and running away. Tap to hear any line. The bar at the bottom plays a hands-free drill for walking.
About this festival
Setsubun, , falls on or around 3 February, the day before spring begins in the old calendar. The exact date can shift by a day in some years. It isn't a public holiday.
At home, families throw roasted soybeans, , to drive out bad luck, shouting (Demons out! Luck in!). Often a parent wears a paper demon mask and the children pelt them. Then everyone eats as many beans as their age, or one more. Kindergartens do it too, and big shrines and temples hold bean-throwing events, sometimes with celebrities.
Many people also eat , a thick uncut sushi roll, facing the year's lucky direction, , in silence. The custom comes from the Kansai area and spread across Japan through convenience stores and supermarkets from the 1990s, so in January you'll see posters for pre-orders everywhere.
25 Setsubun words
Each card shows a word and a sentence for Setsubun night at home, at kindergarten or at the shrine. Five reuse words from earlier lessons.
Setsubun night, step by step
What a family usually does, in order. Details vary from home to home.
| Step | What you do | Say it |
|---|
- Your age, or one more. Many people eat one bean more than their age, for luck in the year ahead.
- Which way? The lucky direction changes every year. Shops and the news tell you, and people often check it with a compass app.
- is a u-verb. It looks like a る-verb, but it goes , .
Four patterns to use today
Say it in Japanese
Say each one out loud before you reveal the answer. Getting close counts.