"Get goblins out of the house! Invite happiness into the home!" are the Setsubun phrases said on the day of the winter equinox. People eat roasted soy beans, one for each year of their age, and pray for happiness throughout the year. In the last ten years, however, I have noticed that there is a widespread custom of eating ehomaki, a long sushi roll, on the night of Setsubun.
Actually, ehomaki had long been eaten in the Kansai area but the reason why it spread throughout Japan was, surprisingly, due to a sales-promotion by convenience stores in the early '90s! Also, research shows that 60 percent of people in the Kanto area still don't eat ehomaki. That's why I barely knew of its existence when I was a kid, because I was brought up in the Kanto area. You'll even find jellyroll ehomaki at convenience stores these days, and ehomaki prepaired in a special style for Setsubun.