thumb|right|Celebrities throw roasted beans in [[Ikuta Shrine, Kobe]]
thumb|Mamemaki in [[Samukawa Shrine, Kanagawa]]
thumb|[[Kimpusen-ji]]
is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan. with the day after – the first day of spring in the old calendar – known as . Both and are celebrated yearly as part of the Spring Festival () in Japan. 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. It was quite different from the known today. According to the Japanese history book , 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, 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.
The custom of 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 , a dictionary compiled during the Muromachi period, states that the practice of bean-throwing during originated from a legend in the 10th century, during the reign of Emperor Uda, that a monk on Mt. Kurama escaped misfortune by blinding with roasted beans. The Japanese word for bean, , is pronounced , which can be written as , and some believe that the pronunciation is similar to that of , meaning 'to destroy the devil', which is why people began throwing beans during .
The custom of eating on began in the geisha districts from the Edo period to the Meiji period. is a special (sushi roll) eaten on . On , people face the most auspicious direction of the year and eat the whole , an uncut sushi roll, to pray for prosperity and happiness for the year. It is believed that it was originally called simply or . The name may have spread throughout Japan in 1989, when a Japanese convenience store chain renamed it and began selling it.
Traditions
The main ritual associated with the observance of is ; this ritual sees roasted soybeans (known as ) either thrown out of the front door, or at a member of the family wearing an (demon or ogre) mask while shouting , 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 (), plus one more for bringing good luck for the year.
The custom of first appeared in the Muromachi period,
Because Watanabe no Tsuna, a retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu during the Heian period (794–1185), is associated with the legend that he vanquished historically considered to be the strongest, such as Shuten-doji and Ibaraki-doji, there is a tradition that 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. 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 .
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 is performed; At Sensō-ji in the Asakusa neighborhood of Tokyo, crowds of nearly 100,000 people attend the annual festivities.
Other practices
thumb|Sardine head talisman on house entrance to keep bad spirits away
A number of other, in some cases more esoteric practices exist surrounding the celebration and observance of ; some are regional, such as the Kansai area tradition of eating uncut rolls, known as , in silence whilst facing the year's lucky compass direction as determined by the zodiac symbol of that year. Though the custom originated in Osaka, it has since spread, due largely to marketing efforts by grocery and convenience stores.
Other practices include the putting up of small decorations of sardine heads and at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits.
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 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. Peanuts (either raw or coated in a sweet, crunchy batter) are sometimes used in place of soybeans.
There are many variations on the famous chant. For example, in the city of Aizuwakamatsu, people chant