Setsubun

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Setsubun (Jap.), the day before the beginning of spring, now celebrated on the 3 or 4 February. Setsubun, which means ‘seasonal division’, originally referred to the day before the beginning of the 24 divisions of the calendrical year, but it has become synonymous with the last day of the last division called daikan (great cold) which starts on the 20 or 21 January. On the eve of the beginning of spring (risshun) the evil spirits are expelled by the bean-throwing rite. This exorcism is called tsuina (Chinese, chui-no).

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Setsubun

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