TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
In Tsukuba`s Old Neighborhoods SETSUBUN can be just as lively as O-Shogatsu ( New Year`s) – or even MORE SO!
3 February, 2021
Most of the houses in my former neighborhood of Hojo, Tsukuba have put these talismans of thorny leaved holly and sardine heads on their doorposts on the occasion of SETSUBUN
By Avi Landau
Setsubun is Japan`s traditional celebration of the first day of spring as it is recognized according to the traditional Japanese calendar (which was imported from China). According to that system, the year is divided into 4 perfectly equal seasons ( of 90 days each) with the equinox days and solstices used as markers for determining the seasonal change days- which were all called SETSUBUN ( though now this term is only used to refer to the eve of the first day of SPRING). The four SETSUBUN, which were also believed to be spiritually unstable days in which the world ( and humanity) wa