Setsubun

Setsubun marks the end of the lunar year and the coming of spring. It is marked by a cleansing ritual of oni harai that's performed in houses and elementary schools all over Japan.

You can pick up your Setsubun set - an oni mask and a pack of soya beans - at any convenience store or supermarket. Families take a handful of the beans and throw them outside while shouting Oni wa soto! (Demons, get out!); and then throw a handful inside, shouting Fuku wa uchi! (Good luck, come in!). Many families get someone to play the part of the oni (ogre or demon), who runs outside covering his head and cowering while being bombarded by beans. Finally, you pick up and eat the beans which are scattered around inside the house - traditionally, the same number of beans as your age plus one.

The really hardcore - or perhaps those with plenty of bad stuff to ward off - hang up grilled sardine heads in their doorways! That should keep the NHK fee collectors away as well as the oni.

The ritual is also performed at temples and shrines to wish for luck and health during the new year. Men and women born in the same Chinese zodiac year as the coming lunar year, known as Toshi-otoko and Toshi-onna, throw beans from the temple stage to the gathered crowds.

Every year a few thousand people crowd into the precinct in front of Daishoin Temple on Miyajima to try and grab the lucky beans, mochi and momiji manju.

Schedule:

• 11:00 Buddhist ritual
• 12:30 Miyajima Taiko performance
• 13:00 Bean-throwing (mamekaki)