I have to say that Japanese are superstitious.
I have a large stack of the lucky charms that my dear mother in Japan have sent me over the last 20 plus years.
We avoid numbers like 4 and 9 because 4 (四 shi) rhymes with death (死 shi) while 9 (九 ku) rhymes with suffering (苦 ku).
When I turned 44, my mum sent me heaps of lucky charms to ward off bad luck. I can predict that I’ll be bombarded with some more lucky charms when I turn 49 next year.
Having said that, I grew up more of a cynical sceptic, taking after my dad.
So I thought, but I recently realised that I am actually both sceptic and superstitious- just like the rest of Japan.
Most of us say that we are non-religious, but we love visiting shrines, temples, and even churches and vaguely believe in the unseen world. We are not atheists as some westerners say.
Since I started learning about the traditional Māori calendar called maramataka, I’ve got really curious about our own traditional calendar, and I’ve been learning about it for the last few months.
First, look at the Japanese calendar of this month (June 2024) below. Most of our calendars tell us the luck of each day.
For example, 24th June 2024 is a Taian (大安), one of the luckiest days, and many Japanese weddings are held on a Taian.
On the other hand, 17th June 2024 is a Butsumetsu (仏滅), and it’s the unluckiest day in Japanese calendar. Most couples avoid this day to get married.
As I grew up, I’d always thought Taian was the luckiest day, but I have recently learned that there are luckier days in the year.
It is called Tenshanichi (天赦日 てんしゃにち), which only happens 5-6 times a year. It is believed that all the gods rise up to the heavens and forgive all the sins of people on this day.
When Taian and Tenshanichi overlap, it is even more auspicious.
There is another lucky day called Ichiryumanbaibi (一粒万倍日 いちりゅうまんばいび), which literally means “the day one seed turns into 10,000 seeds”.
It is a good day to start a new project.
English Rakugo NZ 