Key Points

- One of the earliest and most famous Samurai 

- Oni hunter and first to have the Watanabe name (Now most common last name in Japan) 

- Oni will avoid those who have his name. 

Brief Bio 

Watanabe no Tsuna (渡辺 綱) (953–1025) was a Japanese samurai of the Heian period and a companion in arms of Minamoto no Yorimitsu (also known as Raikō), one of the earliest samurai to be famed for his military exploits in a number of tales and legends.

Watanabe no Tsuna was the first person to take the surname Watanabe, and Watanabe is the fifth most common surname in Japan, with approximately 1.08 million people as of 2017.

Because Watanabe no Tsuna is believed to be a hero associated with the legend that he vanquished oni historically considered to be the strongest, such as Shuten-doji and Ibaraki-doji, there is a tradition that oni stay away from people named Watanabe and their houses. For this reason, some families with the surname Watanabe have not practiced the custom of throwing beans on Setsubun for generations.