Demons Out, Fortune In

At Setsubun, people throw beans and call out Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi: demons out, fortune in.

Some places change the words. The Kobe Shimbun reported in 2022 that in Sanda, in Hyōgo Prefecture, people are known to say oni wa uchi, demons in. They do so out of consideration for the Kuki family (九鬼), lords of the Sanda domain in the Edo period. The family name, 九鬼, contains the character 鬼, demon.

In the Tomatsu area of Amagasaki, the call ends with “the home of Ibaraki Dōji, demons in!” The demon Ibaraki Dōji is said to have been born there.

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