In Japan, Setsubun is celebrated on the 3rd of February. It’s a celebration of the division of seasons but it usually refers to the spring division. Spring setsubun is around the same time as the Lunar New Year and in the past it was thought of as a new year celebration. The practice of cleansing the evils of the past year and scaring off the evils of the coming year is still done today, especially with school children. Beans are thrown (mamemaki) to symbolize this.

Usually they are thrown at a person wearing an “oni” (demon) mask. At school, often a staff member will wear a mask and visit each of the rooms and the children will throw beans at them.

At Knock Knock English, we have our own version of Setsubun we do in class every year leading up to the holiday. Ed Emberley’s “Go Away Big Green Monster” works great for this. We tried beans once but it was all a bit too messy! So, in recent years we’ve settled on these cute little fluffy pompom balls.

They’re great to review some counting, colors, etc before you begin the activity.

The kids throw the pompoms at the monster in the book after the second half when he is slowly disappearing. In real Setsubun activities, “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” is shouted. It means something like, “demons out! luck in!” We opt for “Go Away Monster” and it works great. Then we leave the room and come back in with a real Oni mask.

It’s nice to see little light bulbs go off as the students make the connection between this fun English activity and the traditional Setsubun activities they do in kindergarten/school.

If you’re not in Japan, celebrate Setsubun anyway! It’s a fun introduction to Japanese culture for young children. Or a great way to get over the fear of monsters under the bed! A quick google search on “Setsubun” will get you all the information you need.

So Happy Setsubun everyone. May your new year be full of luck…not demons!