日本の迷信 (Nihon no Meishin)-Japanese superstition No.3

10th March – 弥生

<<<Scary Japanese superstition related to death>>>

In February, I shared some negative / positive superstitions that have been inherited over time. Seems like people like to learn those contents, so I would like to share more of them! Today’s topic is unlucky superstitions:

-北枕で寝るのは、縁起が悪い

Sleeping with head toward North is unlucky

At Japanese funerals, People lay dead person down with the pillow facing North, this is called 北枕 (Kitamakura). For Buddhism, Kitamakura is done to wish for the dead person who finished discipline rest in peace, so some countries think this is the symbol of good luck. However Japanese relate this to funeral and death = bad luck.

On the other hand, sleeping with head toward South is considered as good luck in Japan, 東枕 (Higashimakura). This is because South is where the sun rises so it will bring energy.

-靴下を履いたまま寝るのは、縁起が悪い

Sleeping with socks on brings bad luck

This has been told due to the Japanese funeral tradition: In Japan people put white socks for deceased, therefore imitating this habit was believed to make oneself closer to death. Actually wearing socks while sleeping makes blood circulation bad, so it is unhealthy to do it.

-箸から箸へ食べ物を運ぶのは、縁起が悪い

Carrying food with chopsticks continuously is unlucky

Japan only allows cremation after the death. After burning the body, people make pairs to carry the bones to the cinerary urn by using chopsticks, passing the bone to the pair in the air. Because of this tradition, doing it when dining is breaching manner and forbidden in Japan.

-茶碗のご飯に箸を立てるのは、縁起が悪い

Placing chopsticks on the top of the rice in bowl is bad luck

Again, this relates to the funerals in Japan. In Japanese funerals, family put plenty of rice in bowl the deceased used to use, and placing the chopsticks vertical on the top, this is called 枕飯 (Makurameshi). People see the relation with funerals and death by doing this, therefore parents tell kids not to do it.

-三人並んで写真を撮ると、真ん中の人が早死にする

When 3 people take photos, the middle person will die first

In the old time, people used to believe that taking picture would take the soul out. Plus the old cameras had low performances and only could put focus in the middle. The middle person was only in focus, so people thought the soul of the middle person were easier to be taken.

Also, in many cases the person who are in the middle of the picture are higher position than the side (like corporation photos, president is in the middle), consequently it is true that the middle person die before the others.

-４と９は、縁起が悪い数字

The numbers 4 and 9 is unlucky number

Some people might know about this, that 4 in Japanese is よん (Yon) or し (Shi), and ‘Shi’ is the same pronunciation as 死 (Shi) meaning death. Not only 4 but also 9 in Japanese is きゅう (Kyuu) or く (Ku), and ‘Ku’ can be written as 苦 meaning painful.

Some hotels and parking lots does not have the number including 4 or 9, as some people still get scared of those numbers, just like 13 in other countries.

In Japan, things which can be related to death are considered as bad luck. probably not many people have experienced funerals in Japan, so hope those information helps your knowledge. When you come to Japan, maybe you can look around to find if the places skip the numbers of 4 and 9!