Why Some Watanabe Families Skip the Bean-Throwing at Setsubun

Have you ever heard that "Watanabe families don't throw beans at Setsubun"? Many people are surprised when they first hear it. It is not true of every Watanabe family in Japan. But there are indeed households that, to this day, do not call out "oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" (demons out, fortune in) and do not throw beans on Setsubun.

To find out why, we have to go back a thousand years to a single warrior.

01Who was Watanabe no Tsuna?

The best-known line of Watanabe is the Watanabe-tō, a warrior clan that took its name from the place called Watanabe in Settsu Province. The clan traced its descent from the Saga Genji, the branch of the Minamoto family descended from Emperor Saga, and its founder is held to be Watanabe no Tsuna. A warrior of the mid-Heian period, he is said to have been born in 953 and to have died in 1025. He served Minamoto no Yorimitsu and has long been counted first among Yorimitsu's "Four Heavenly Kings."

Many stories celebrate Tsuna's valor, but the most famous is the demon of Ichijō Modoribashi. The Tsurugi no maki (Sword Chapter) of the Heike monogatari records the following legend¹. One night, as Tsuna reached the Ichijō Modoribashi bridge in Kyoto, a beautiful woman appeared and asked to accompany him. She suddenly transformed into a demon and attacked. Tsuna drew his famous sword Higekiri and cut off the demon's arm. In the Noh play Rashōmon the scene is moved to the Rashōmon gate, and the setting and details vary from teller to teller. It is a tale that spread in praise of Tsuna's bravery rather than a verified historical event.

02Why no beans?

The story became so famous that people began to say, "Demons cannot approach anyone who bears the name Watanabe." Since the ancestor drove off a demon, no demon will come to his descendants' homes, and so there is no need to throw beans at Setsubun to chase them away. Watanabe families who think this way are said to exist in various parts of Japan to this day.

The bean-throwing at Setsubun is a piece of Japanese household wisdom: the misfortunes that slip in at the turn of the seasons are pictured as "demons" and driven out. To be able to say "our house doesn't need it" is possible only because an ancestor's story is still alive inside the home. One ancestor's deed from a thousand years ago survives this concretely in the daily lives of descendants. I see in this a beautiful sign that our ancestors still live within our blood.

03Are 渡辺, 渡邊 and 渡邉 different families?

The name Watanabe is written in many ways. Some write 渡辺, some use the older form 渡邊, and others write 渡邉. People sometimes wonder, "We write 渡邊, so are we a different family from the 渡辺 next door?"

The character 邊 has many strokes, and from the age of handwriting it was written in several ways depending on the movement of the brush. These variations existed before the first family registers were created in the early Meiji period. When the registers were compiled, officials copied each household by hand, and in many cases whatever form happened to be written became the legally fixed spelling. So the difference between 渡辺, 渡邊 and 渡邉 is not a difference of family rank, nor of main line versus branch line. Relatives descended from the same house often write the name differently.

That said, sharing the same or a similar character does not mean everyone belongs to one clan. Besides the Watanabe-tō, there are families that took the name from other places called Watanabe, and Watanabe families of different descent. The name 渡部 is read both Watanabe and Watabe; some of these families share the Watanabe origin, while others come from different lines. Which line your own family belongs to becomes clearer, step by step, as you trace the family registers and follow clues such as the registered domicile and the family temple.

04Your family has its stories too

If you are a Watanabe, the way your family spends Setsubun may quietly carry a thousand-year-old legend. And even if you are not, every family has small customs and stories that linger in daily life. When you stop and ask "why do we do it this way?" and follow the thread, your ancestors' faces begin to come into view. Rather than worrying over a single different character in the name, try looking at the lives of the people who kept writing that character for you. I believe that is one step toward a stronger bond with your ancestors.