If you’re looking to celebrate Setsubun in the city centre, head to the Harajuku Jingu-mae shotengai shopping area to watch a yakuharai ritual. This traditional ceremony, held to ward off misfortunes, illnesses and other bad luck, was a popular practice during the Edo and Meiji periods.
The ceremony was usually conducted by ordinary citizens in cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, especially during New Year’s Eve and Setsubun. They would visit different houses chanting ‘Let’s ward off the evil spirits’ and in return they would receive 12 mon (around ¥500) and a bag of beans as a thank you.
This year, instructors and members of the Bimei no Kaijo Online organisation, which promotes Japanese culture, will parade along the Shibuya river path from 5pm and drive evil spirits out of each store along the way.
Check the website (in Japanese only) on the day of the event to see which shop will be the starting point of the parade. There's also a map on the website that shows the parade area.