Get Fired Up with Setsubun Quizzes! A Collection of Fun Questions to Enjoy with Kids

holly

For warding off evil during Setsubun, people use sardines and holly. People in the past believed that demons disliked holly leaves because their tips are sharp. The smell of sardines was also thought to repel demons, so they would stick a sardine head onto a holly branch and display it at the entrance of the house. This practice is a way to keep demons and bad things from entering the home and to ensure everyone stays healthy.

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Depending on their color, they carry different weapons—for example, the red oni has a kanabō, the blue oni has a sasumata, and the black oni has an axe.

Open windows and doors

To drive the oni out of the house, open the windows and doors. After scattering the beans, close both the windows and doors right away so the good fortune you invited in doesn’t escape.

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There are also regions where people say “Oni come in” for reasons such as inviting good oni into the home or encouraging oni who were driven out of other houses to change their ways.

soybean

We use roasted soybeans. By the way, these beans prepared by roasting are called “fukumame.”

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The correct answer is to eat a number of beans equal to your age plus one.

Cow horns and tiger fangs

The Ox-Tiger direction of the twelve zodiac signs is the northeast, which is said to be where ogres come from, so it’s said to have the ox’s horns and the tiger’s fangs.