The Major Setsubun Celebrations 2025 (Fukuoka/Surrounding Areas) For All Your Setsubun Information Needs

Where to find information about Setsubun celebrations in Fukuoka and the surrounding area.

Held before what is the first day of spring in the traditional Japanese calendar (risshun), Setsubun marks the end of the winter and this year is being celebrated on February 2nd, 2025 (Sunday). Various temples and shrines will be holding their own celebrations of the holiday and information on them can be found here.

・Hakata’s main tutelary shrine, Kushida Shrine [The Great Setsubun Celebration]
・Tochoji Temple’s [Great Setsubun Celebration]
・Setsubun at Sumiyoshi Shrine
・Dazaifu Tenmangu Setsubun Festival

Hakata’s main tutelary shrine, Kushida Shrine
[The Great Setsubun Celebration]

Every year many celebrants and worshippers come to Kushida Shrine to enjoy the Setsubun Festivities. At the Roumon, Kitashinmon, and Minamishinmon, there are 3 roughly 5-meter tall Otafuku masks there waiting to greet visitors from January 15th (Wednesday) to February 16th (Sunday).

From the stage, men and women born in the current zodiac year and various famous celebrities from Hakata and Fukuoka will through beans as part of the mamemaki celebrations. On the day of the Great Setsubun Celebration, if one is caught by one of the red or blue oni that wander the shrine, that person is said to be purged of their bad luck.

For those interested in Kabuki theater, members of the play “The Demon that Dwells in Oboro” will be present on the stage around 10:00 on February 3rd (tentative).

▲2024年櫛田神社「節分大祭」撒豆儀式

[Setsubun Eve Festival]

February 2nd, 2025 (Sunday)
・11:00: Luck Welcoming Ceremony (Great Otafuku Mask Purification and passage allowed through the masks)
・17:00, 18:00: Setsubun Eve Ceremony (Onikagura dedication)

[Great Setsubun Ceremony]

February 3rd, 2025 (Monday)
・9:00: Ceremony begin
・10:00 ~ 16:00 (every 30 minutes): Mamemaki (bean throwing) *At 10:00 the Hakata-za actors will participate in the mame-maki.
・10:00 ~ 18:00 : Yaku-yoke Kaiun Prayer Festival: Prayer festival for general visitors to ward off bad luck (lucky beans, fukuyose, fuku-masu, and other lucky charms will be awarded *only for those who have undergone exorcisms to pray for good luck).

[Great Otafuku Masks]

Giant Otafuku masks will appear in three directions at the Roumon Gate, Kitashinmon Gate, and Minamishinmon Gate!
January 15th, 2025 (Wed) ~ February 16th, 2025 (Sun)

櫛田神社の大お多福面。 — ▲The Great Otafuku Mask of Kushida Shrine; it is placed in three locations and is said to bring good luck if you pass through their large mouths.

Tochoji Temple’s [Great Setsubun Celebration]

During the festive period of Setsubun, the hexagonal Rokkakudo hall and national treasure Thousand-Armed Kannon statue are unveiled to the public in a ceremony that regularly attracts many to Tochoji Temple.

At the mamemaki ceremony at Tochoji, not only beans but mochi and other sweets will be scattered about in little pouches as those throwing shout: “Fuku-ha-uchi, Oni-ha-soto!” meaning “Luck within, evil without!” from a stage set up for the occasion.

We hope you will come to witness this traditional ceremony at one of Fukuoka’s most venerated temples.
*The seven lucky gods will appear solely on the 3rd.

Setsubun Festival

February 2nd, 2025 (Sunday) 10:00 ~ 17:00
・Mamemaki (bean throwing): 10:00 ~ 16:00
・Fukubiki (fortune drawing): 10:00 ~ 17:00

Great Setsubun Ceremony

February 3rd, 2025 (Monday) 10:00 ~ 17:00
・Mamemaki (bean throwing): 10:00 ~ 16:00
・Fukubiki (fortune drawing): 10:00 ~ 17:00

What is fortune drawing?

Fortune telling on Setsubun helps bring in good fortune for the remainder of your year, with all of the fortunes bringing good luck. A wide variety of prizes connected to the Japanese gods of luck will also be made available at the event. The special prize, Ebisu Prize, and Daikokuten Prize are on a fan-shaped board with an auspicious spread, while the Otafuku Prize is a wall decoration with a Hakata doll mask attached to a rake that beckons good fortune. Let the good luck of the gods bring you success in business, personal wealth, and fortune to your family!

On either day, the fortune drawing will be held from 10:00 ~17:00.
Fukubiki tickets: 2,000 yen *Advance tickets (1,500 yen) are also available. (Advance tickets will be available at the temple office from Monday, January 6, 2025 until Friday, January 31, 2025.

Setsubun at Sumiyoshi Shrine

This year on February 2nd (Sunday) Setsubun will be coming to the Sumiyoshi Shrine of Hakata in Fukuoka, said to be the first of approximately 2,129 shrines. Prayers for luck and avoidance of disasters, safety at sea, and success in sumo wrestling are made to the god that resides here.

A guardian figure with 4 golden eyes known as a housoushi comes wielding a shield and spear, and with the power to banish illness in the form of a “peach bow” and “reed arrow” chases away demons in a ritual called oniyarai (demon chasing). Following the demon-chasing ritual, mamemaki, or bean throwing, is carried out from 11:00 every hour or so until 16:00.

Sumiyoshi Shrine Setsubun Schedule

February 2, 2025 (Sunday) 11:00 - 16:30
Setsubun Festival (Ceremony of Oniyarai) 11:00 a.m.
Bean-throwing event (Kaguraden) 11:00 - 16:00 (every hour)

Lucky Lottery 11:00 - 16:30

Please receive a “Lucky Masu box” (800 yen for the first prize) if you wish to participate in the event. The event will end when all the lucky prizes are gone.

Dazaifu Tenmangu Setsubun Festival

For over 1,100 years, the god of learning, culture and arts, and warding off of evil has been enshrined and worshipped at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. For this reason, on Setsubun a ritual to ward off evil is carried out. On the day of Setsubun, a bean throwing ritual is held to drive away demons and invite in good fortune.

In conjunction with the Setsubun warding off of evil ceremony on February 2nd, from January 26th (Friday) until February 28 (Friday), lucky beans and lucky fans will be handed out.

The Setsubun Evil-Warding Ceremony

February 2nd (Sunday), 2025 at 10:30
Location: Temporary shrine
The general public is welcome to attend.

Mamemaki Ritual

The bean-throwing ritual will be held at Tenjin Square after the ceremony at 10:30 a.m. in the temporary hall. In the afternoon at 2:00 p.m. (Mamemaki ritual only)
Sunday, February 2, 2025, around 11:00 a.m. / 2:00 p.m.

Prayers to ward off bad luck during the Grand Setsubun Festival

During the period from Sunday, January 26, 2025 to Friday, February 28, 2025, we will be accepting prayers for the warding off of evil and awarding prizes associated with Setsubun.

*Prayers for warding off of evil are accepted from around 8:45 to 18:00. (Please note that you may have to wait for a while for prayers if there is a festival or other event).
*First fee: 8,000 yen / 6,000 yen
*Prayers for warding off evil are accepted throughout the year, even outside of the Grand Festival period.

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine is undergoing a major renovation of the main shrine, an important cultural property, for the first time in 124 years over a period of about three years starting from May 2023.

≫For details, please click here.

INFORMATION

Dates/Times of Setsubun Festivals

Kushida Shrine: February 2 (Sunday)- February 3, 2025 (Monday)
Tochoji Temple: February 2 (Sunday)- February 3, 2025 (Monday)
Sumiyoshi Shrine: February 2, 2025 (Sunday)
Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine: February 2, 2025 (Sunday)

Location

Kushida Shrine (1-41 Kamikawabatamachi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka)
Tochoji Temple (2-4 Gokushomachi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka)
Sumiyoshi Shrine (3-1-51 Sumiyoshi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka)
Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine (4-7-1 Zaifu, Dazaifu City, Fukuoka)