Setsubun (節分): a Japanese celebration held the day before the start of a new season of the year. The name literally means "separation of seasons", but in general the term refers to the spring setsubun, correctly called risshun (立春), celebrated annually on February 3. In association with the Chinese New Year, the spring setsubun can be considered a type of New Year's Eve, and is also accompanied by a special ritual to cast out all the evil of the previous year and drive away the demons in the new year. This ritual is known as mamemaki, literally scattering beans.
According to the ancien Japanese calendar, February was called kisaragi, the "month where you have to wear a lot of warm clothes", coinciding with the period on winter when all its harshness appears. Other names that this month received are kusakiharizuki, the "month in which the buds of the plants sprout" or umemizuki, the "month of the contemplation of the plum trees".
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