Setsubun is the day before the beginning of each season, but the term is generally used mainly for the spring Setsubun, celebrated at the start of February.
Interestingly, in his book The New Year in Japan. Meiji-era photographer Kozaburo Tamamura included a photo of Setsubun as part of the New Year celebrations.
The following is the original text accompanying this photograph1:
On the fourth of February another celebration takes place; this being a sport for children, in the form of scrambling for bean, thrown by a man wearing a mask, the latter representing the “God of Fortune.” The beans are thrown high and low in all directions, the “God” exclaiming: “The God of Fortune shall stay;
The devil shall be driven away!”
This image is part of The New Year in Japan, a book published by Kobe-based photographer Kozaburo Tamamura in 1906. See all New Year images on Old Photos of Japan.
Notes
1 Tamamura, Kozaburo (1906). The New Year in Japan. Tamamura Shashinkan.
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Old Photos of Japan aims to be your personal museum for Japan's visual heritage and to bring the experiences of everyday life in old Japan to you.
To enhance our understanding of Japanese culture and society I track down, acquire, archive, and research images of everyday life, and give them context.
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Kjeld Duits
Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld (). Kobe, 1906: Setsubun, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on May 7, 2026 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/659/setsubun
Gavin Frew
The reason why a photo of setsubun was included as part of the new year celebrations is that New Year’s Day marked the first day of spring according to the old calendar
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Kjeld Duits (Author)
Thanks, Gavin!
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