追儺（ついな）
Tsuina
The year-end rite of driving out demons, which became the bean-throwing of Setsubun.
Tsuina came from China as a court rite: on the last night of the year an officer in a four-eyed golden mask, the hōsōshi, led a procession through the palace to chase out the demons of sickness and bad luck, with bows, staves and shouting. It was performed at the Heian court and kept by the great shrines and temples after the court let it lapse.
Its descendant is Setsubun, the evening before the first day of spring in the old calendar, when households throw roasted soybeans at a family member in an oni mask and shout oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi: demons out, good fortune in. Temples do the same with crowds and celebrities. The oni in the mask, red, horned and hairy, is the Edo image, and the beans are older than it.
Related yokai
Oni
鬼（おに）
The horned, red-skinned oni with a club is a late composite. The word first named an invisible spirit of the dead, then hell's wardens, mountain monsters, outsiders — and even the figure who once chased oni away.
Namahage
なまはげ
On New Year's Eve in Oga, Akita, young men in fierce masks and straw capes go from house to house as Namahage — visiting deities who rebuke idleness and bring blessings for the year. Each household receives them with food and sake.