|
Japanese
Superstitions
The Japan of anime and
manga, high-tech and high-speed trains may not seem like a
superstitious place. But under the skin, Japan's is an ancient and
originally animist or pagan culture, in that sense much like my own
country of Ireland. The native religion of Shinto has had to give up
a lot of mindshare to Buddhism, Christianity, new religions and
cults, and of course modern consumerism. But it retains its strong
but subtle hold on the national psyche.
There is no clearly
defined border between superstition and religion, and they are
essentially cultural cousins. A definition of superstition, such as
"a belief in something not justified by reason or evidence" would
certainly be some people's definition of religion. Every day
Japanese people will observe one or more of the many superstitions
that are ingrained into their culture. Many relate to death and
funeral rites, others to major occasions like weddings, while others
are just little more than old wives' tales.
Death and the Number 4
As the words for the
number four and death are both pronounced "shi", the connection is
previous obvious, though we don't have any superstitions based on
such verbal similarities in English. In Japan, the number four is
simply considered unlucky. So elevators might not have a button for
the fourth floor (no they don't leave a big gap between the third
and fifth floors, they just skip the number!) or room numbers might
skip from three to five. This superstition is, for obvious reasons,
most commonly observed in hospitals! In a maternity ward, the number
43 would be a major faux-pas as it can be pronounced "shi-zan",
which also means still-birth. While the number four is associated
with death, the number nine is pronounced "ku", the same as the word
for pain or suffering. So this number is also considered unlucky.
Death of course means
funerals, and traditional Buddhist funerals have certain rites and
rituals. The night before the funeral itself, the dead body is laid
out with the head facing north. So at home many people will not
sleep this way, refreed to as "kita makura". One aspect of the
funeral ceremony is to stick chopsticks into a bowl of rice placed
on the altar. For this reason, people will never do this at the
dinner table. Another example is that bone fragments of the cremated
body are passed from person to person using chopsticks before being
placed in an urn. Again for this reason, when eating people never
pass food from one pair of chopsticks to another.
A Fortune to be Made
Fortune telling is big,
big business in Japan. These days it's almost impossible to switch
on the TV without seeing the face of Hosoki Kakuzo. This grandmother
is in the Guinness Book of Records for selling the most fortune
telling books in the world. Her brand of astrology has helped her
sell over 100 books and make billions of yen. The fact that she's a
mean-spirited, conservative old woman who's too caught up in her
personality cult doesn't seemed to have harmed her popularity,
particularly among young women.
On a smaller scale, if
you walk Japan's city streets, you might see the occasional line of
people waiting to consult with a somewhat less acid-tongued palm
reader. Horoscopes are often featured on morning TV shows popular
with housewives and any bookstore is sure to have a wide selection
of books on the subject.
If you feel that maybe
luck and good fortune are not on your side, your friendly
neighborhood shrine call help you set the balance straight. Just
cough up a few hundred yen and you'll have your very own "o-mamori",
an amulet or talisman. There are separate ones for safe childbirth,
safe driving, exam success and just about anything you can think of.
If you're inclined to take it a bit more seriously, it is said to be
connected with the particular powers of the "kami" or gods enshrined
within. Made of a small piece of cloth, they contain pieces of paper
or wood with prayers written on them that are said to protect you ("mamori"
literally means protection). Another racket at the shrine or temple
(remember, they don't pay taxes) is "omikuji". You pay your fee and
pull a stick out of a box. Depending on what you select, you get a
piece of paper that ranks from "daikichi" (great fortune) to "daikyo"
(really bad fortune). Seal the deal by tying your paper round a tree
in the grounds and your good luck will ensured or your bad luck
averted.
Men and women of certain
ages also go to a shrine or temple to make sure they don't suffer
the worst of "yakudoshi". The term refers to the ages 25 and 42 for
men, 19 and 33 for women. The word "yaku" means calamity and it's
thought that failure to ward off the bad luck can lead to disaster.
Wearing red is also thought to help. Red is also worn at an event to
celebrate a man's 60th year. Called "kanreki", it marks the fifth
completion of the traditional 12-year cycle and is referred to as a
kind of return to childhood or second infancy.
Weddings are another
major business in Japan, and often cost millions of yen to put on.
If you're not even remotely superstitious, you should be able to get
a serious discount on a wedding hall if you go for a "butsumetsu"
day. Named after the day that the Buddha died, it is the unluckiest
in the traditional six-day cycle known as "rokuyo". "Taian" are the
luckiest days and most popular choice for weddings. Other days in
the cycle are more complicated, with things like good luck in the
morning but bad luck after that. These days are marked on most
non-western style calendars. Dates where the numbers align, such as
the 7th day of the seventh month of the seventh year (July 7, 2007)
are considered very auspicious. If that particular date had fallen
on a taian day, wedding halls would have been booked out years in
advance! Actually, it's a sakimake - bad luck in the morning, good
luck in the afternoon - so you might still be able to get an early
spot.
|
