Driving Out Demons: Chichibu Shrine Believers Prepare for Setsubun

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:00 JST, January 30, 2026

About 20 believers and others dressed in demon masks and costumes gather at Chichibu Shrine in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, on Wednesday ahead of the annual setsubun festival to be held there on Feb. 3. Practicing for the annual ritual of “oniyarai” (“driving out demons”) they shouted and ran around the shrine grounds while wielding clubs, as men who were born in previous years of the horse, the Chinese zodiac symbol for this year, pelted them with beans. This bean-throwing ritual is scheduled to be held several times on the actual day of setsubun. In the evening, long-standing Shinto rituals will be held in a traditional style.