Both Setsubun and Risshun are celebrated yearly as part of the Spring Festival (Haru matsuri (春祭)) in Japan.

At that time, tsuina 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 Ainōshō,[10] a dictionary compiled during the Muromachi period, states that the practice of bean-throwing during Setsubun originated from a legend in the 10th century, during the reign of Emperor Uda, that a monk on Mt.

[5][11][8] 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 Setsubun.

It was also during this period that the custom of tying roasted sardine heads to holly sprig to decorate the gates of houses during Setsubun began.

[13] The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them.

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.

[22] A number of other, in some cases more esoteric practices exist surrounding the celebration and observance of Setsubun; some are regional, such as the Kansai area tradition of eating uncut makizushi rolls, known as ehō-maki (恵方巻, 'lucky direction roll'), in silence whilst facing the year's lucky compass direction as determined by the zodiac symbol of that year.

[24] Other practices include the putting up of small decorations of sardine heads and holly leaves (柊鰯, hiiragi iwashi) at the entrance to a house to ward off evil spirits.

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.

[3] Traveling entertainers (旅芸人, tabi geinin), who were normally shunned during the year because they were considered vagrants, were welcomed on Setsubun to perform morality plays.