Superstitions in Japan
Well, hello again dear readers. We do hope this lovely fall week finds you well. We’re delighted to have you join us again today and apologize for not getting this to you before the end of Halloween. However, for a change from the scary, we are going to look at something … “very superstitious…”. (If you do not know what this song is, you live under a rock and there isn’t much we can do to pull you out from underneath it). Anyhoo. We thought today would be a good time to look at some lesser-known superstitions in Japan.
Now, superstition is an interesting thing, dear readers as it is something that we believe holds power over us and our realm, like believing that you’ll get seven years bad luck for breaking a mirror or that a black cat is bad luck. Absolute nonsense on that last one. Much worse things happen when you break a mirror, silly readers, and cats are lovely fuzzy creatures that spread nothing but joy…. excuse us…but it is interesting because it is us who give a superstition its power. If you don’t believe in a thing, it can’t hurt you right?
Japan is quite a superstitious country. Their long and interconnected history saw that they developed quite a plethora of superstitions, some mundane and rather obvious and others, well…you’d be quite surprised. Now please remember that very few things short of gravity or that airline food is terrible hold universally true, and some people may find all of these things to be silly. We simply found these too interesting not to share. So, let’s go through some of Japan’s superstitions together, shall we? Be careful with your mirrors and make sure to cover your thumbs (we will explain later), and let’s get started.
One interesting superstition from the land of kawaii and cute kitties states that if you sleep with your pillow facing north, you’re sure to die early¹. Time to get out your compasses, one can never be too careful as to whether or not their head is pole facing. Now why on earth would that be the case? You see, during funerals in Japan, a person’s corpse is positioned facing to the north². So, by pointing your own fleshy sack in that particular direction, you may be accidentally inviting Death over for a Netflix date. Double check that when you get home, okay?
Now this next one is for all you photo buffs and photography cats. Although this superstition is waning in its hold over the masses, it was believed that you should never take a picture as a group of three because the person in the middle would be doomed to die early³. The reasoning behind is linked to when cameras were first introduced in Japan. Back then, people believed that a camera could capture a person’s soul causing them to die, and since old cameras heavily focused on the person in the middle it follows that the person in the middle was the primary target, sure to die before the two around them. Snap-chatters and Instagram influencers beware, hm?
Now if you’re like us dear readers, sometimes it’s hard to push our half dead bodies to be motivated to do laundry, especially after work. However, our next superstition would caution you not to put out your laundry to dry at night⁴. The belief is that spirits of the dead attach themselves to the clothing and could, by extension, cause not only you but also anyone you give the clothing to, problems. Sometimes when you see the jacket of your dreams you gotta go for it, it’s not their fault it already happens to be someone else’s. Now we know you must all be thinking, I have definitely seen laundry outside at night. Think of these little superstitions more as guidelines rather than actual rules. It’s okay for the brave souls to test their own mortality and luck, as long as they aren’t testing ours as well in the process. So, remember: to keep a ghost out of your hair, don’t wait until dark to put your laundry out to air.
Out of consideration for our arachnophobic readers, we will give a little warning. If you aren’t enthused by the eight-legged house demons, we advise you skip this section. Seeing a spider at night is bad luck, we are afraid, and not ‘cuz your night just got ruined because you now have to fight off a hell demon⁵. You will have to get rid of it though since a spider seen at night can spell disaster because it’s tied to the imagery of a thief slipping into your home. So, crack out the can of bug killer and muster up your courage dear readers, because this is a fight you must win. We of course will cheer for you…from the next prefecture over.
This next one is rather interesting. It is believed that you shouldn’t cut your nails at night, or you will die before your parents do⁶. Now, this may sound unusual, and you may question why that would even be the case. However, there is a little poetic phrase that may help make this a bit more clear, dear readers:
”Yonaka ni tsume wo kiru to
oya no shinime ni aenai.”
“If you cut your nails at night,
you won’t see the death of your parents.”
The first part of yoru ni tsume wo kiru “cut your nails at night” is yoru ni tsume wo, which sounds like yo wo tsumeru, which essentially translates to…cutting your own life short. Oops. Must be using the wrong type of clippers hm? The belief is said to have started in a time in which getting nicked was the same as signing your own death warrant, things being not as sterile as they could have been, you see. So, by cutting your nails you risked a nick, and by extension, death. You get the idea. Dirty clippers mean a one-way ticket to pushing daisies and testing out rigor mortis, so make sure to clean them. Should keep you from entering an eternal slumber, we think.
Now remember that anecdote where we told you to cover your thumbs? We had our reasons and no it was not just to mess with you…mostly. No, no you see dear readers it is believed in Japan that if a funeral hearse drives past you, and you can see and or hear it, you must hide your thumbs quickly in a fist If you do not your parents will die⁷. The Japanese word for thumb, oyayubi, translates to “parent-finger.” By hiding them you are protecting your parents from certain doom, as spirits of the dead can supposedly enter your body from underneath your thumbnails. Who would have known? The spirits of Japan are nothing if not tenacious.
Now we saved this one for last as it ties closely to the last one. It is believed that by cutting your nails, you made an opening through which evil or wayward spirits can enter your body and, by extension, could cause calamity and ruin to your whole family⁸. Neat right? The things you learn.
That’s all for today, dear readers. We hoped you enjoyed this little peek into some of the lesser-known superstitions in Japan. There were so many to choose from and we wished we could recount them all to you but alas, time is not on our side. We highly suggest you research some of the more positive superstitions on your own. Be careful with your laundry and stay prepared for epic spider battles.
Until the next time,
The Witches of Wide Island
We will return to our regular witchy content, now that All Hallow’s Eve has ended and the veil between worlds has gotten a bit stronger. Until then stay tuned for the next articles: Winter Ghouls in Japan and Practitioners of Witchcraft: Abroad and in Japan.
Works Cited
- Asano, J. (2016, August 8). 10 Scary Superstitions & Taboos in Japan. All About Japan. https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/3814/
2. ibid
3. ibid
4. Yoririn. (2020, September 9). 17 Interesting Japanese Superstitions. Tsunagu Japan. https://www.tsunagujapan.com/17-interesting-japanese-superstitions/
5. Snakes, Combs, and Spiders: 10 Eerie Japanese Superstitions for the Curious | LIVE JAPAN travel guide. (n.d.). LIVE JAPAN. https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001290/
6.Asano, J. (2016, August 8). 10 Scary Superstitions & Taboos in Japan. All About Japan. https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/3814/
7.ibid
8. ibid
Interesting Reads on Superstition in Japan:
Hearn, L. (2011). Glimpses of unfamiliar Japan. Tuttle Publishing.
Hori, I., & Hori, I. (1994). Folk religion in Japan: Continuity and change (№1). University of Chicago Press.
