Ancient Greeks speculated that female fetuses gestated in one side of the womb because the temperature was more suitable. I’m glad we’ve held on to a lot of Greek philosophy, but happier still that we’ve ditched their beliefs about biology.

And while not quite as weird as lefty-fetuses, I recently learned about a strange Japanese superstition about the human body. It’s called sanpaku (三白), and it will tell you your fate based on your eyes.

What is sanpaku? Literally translated, it means “three whites,” which refers to how you can divide up an eye into pieces, with the whites taking up three of the four segments. Sanpaku is when you can see the white of somebody’s eye either above or below the iris.

Normally, that’s a pretty unremarkable thing that you might not even be able to pick up on. But according to one Japanese superstition, sanpaku might be a good indicator of your fate.

This superstition really took off in the west during the 60s when Japanese author George Osawa began predicting the deaths of famous American figures (Marilyn Monroe, JFK) based on their eyes. Since then, people have speculated about the connection between sanpaku and one’s fate.

If you buy into the superstition, then it really depend whether the whites of the eye are visible above or below.

Below

If you have white visible at the bottom of your eyes, then look out — the world is out to get you. This condition, supposedly means that you’re in danger from the outside world.

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at examples from a small sampling of celebrities!

Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson sports whites below his irises, and was recently jilted by his girlfriend and co-star, Kristen Stewart. JFK also had sanpaku at the bottom of his eyes and, well . . . let’s just say that Robert Pattinson got off easy.

Above

Conversely, if you can see whites at the top of your eyes, then you might want to take a deep breath and calm down a bit. While whites below the eyes supposedly means that the outside world is a danger to you, above the eyes means that the inside world is a danger to you — i.e., you’re unable to control your emotions and it leads you to do terrible, terrible things.

Cult leader Charles Manson has sanpaku above his eyes, and I think that it’s safe to say that he does not exhibit the best self-control. (Although I suppose that it take incredible self-control to carve a swastika into your forehead.)

The Critics

Skeptical? Understandable; after all, can’t your eyes look sanpaku depending on how you tilt your head or roll your eyes? It doesn’t help that this sort of fortune-telling seems to be more popular in the west than in its culture of origin.

Not to mention that people seem to disagree what sanpaku actually means — the symptoms I gave above are only a sampling of the alleged symptoms and results of sanpaku.

Regardless of its basis in fact, like horoscopes, blood types, and other superstitions, people still enjoy reading other’s fortunes. Next time you find yourself drifting while somebody is talking, gaze into their eyes and figure out if they’re destined for an early demise or a potential psychopath.

Thanks to David for emailing this in!

Header photo by jim simonson

Unfortunately, I’m not here to talk about yaeba. That is a future topic to be covered by one of our esteemed authors. What I’ll be covering today is another trait that many Western cultures would not consider an attractive quality: lucky ears or 福耳ふくみみ fukumimi (very straight forward translation!).

Just by reading the term, lucky ears, one might ask oneself how is lucky a physical description for ears. It’s actually what the person is blessed with if they carried the defining feature. A person with large earlobes is considered to be blessed with luck and wealth in his or her life. If you are fortunate enough to be adorned with large ear lobes, you may have received compliments for them by your Japanese friend or an Asian acquaintance. Why is that?

Origins of the Ear Phenomenon

The origins of this wealth-earlobe relationship seems to be a bit of a fuzz, but the common origin story is the OG Buddhist man himself, Siddhartha.

Before situating himself to a frugal lifestyle, Siddhartha was born and raised in a royal and subsequently wealthy family. As part of the wealthy wardrobe, heavy earrings were worn. You may have guessed, wearing heavy accessories on the ears takes a toll on fatty tissue and stretches out the lobe. Being quite the celebrity in Asia, everyone thought if they had earlobes like him they would run into some wealth. Nevermind the qualities needed to achieve nirvana, it’s all about achieving wealth!

I digress.

It is also said in Buddism that having large ear lobes is the required vessel to hear the voice of god as well as natural revelations. Due to the developed relationship between having big ear lobes and wealth/luck, the imagery is prevalent in many Buddhist statues and Asian literature & art.

One specific example of big ear lobes found in Japanese mythology is the Seven Gods of Fortune or 七福神しちふくじん shichifukujin. You can find representations of the auspicious gods throughout a Japanese city in forms of carvings. Each god has their own special fortune attribute.

• Benzaiten, goddess of knowledge, art, and beauty.
• Bishamonten, god of warriors.
• Daikokuten, god of wealth, commerce, and trade.
• Ebisu, god of fishers and merchants. Said to be often depicted as a sea bream, but also has been sighted as a beer brand produced by Sapporo Brewery.
• Fukurokuju, god of happiness, wealth, and longevity.
• Hotei, god of abundance and good health
• Jurōjin, god of longevity

Can you point out each god in the image above? One common feature that is shared among these gods are each possess large ear lobes. Popular folklore, like the one above, reinforces the idea that individuals with large ears will be favored by luck and fortune.

The importance of the ear can also be seen in a few favorable kanji where the ear radical can be spotted.

As you can see, the ear radical can be found in words that closely relate to luck and wealth. Wealth in itself isn’t necessarily restricted to monetary and materialistic value, but also pertains to knowledge. Although, there is also the strong belief in Asian culture that knowledge is proportional to monetary wealth and power. Hence, the earned stereotype of Asians having their noses in books all the time.

Ok, I’ll be honest. The sole reason of the generalization is because we are just scared of our tiger moms.

This is probably more than what you were expecting to read about on the topic of ears, but there you have it. Are you a carrier of the lucky ears? Have you run into some wealth and luck recently?

And no, ear gauging doesn’t count. That’s cheating!

I saw the giant dip in birth rates in 1966 and was confused. I flipped around a couple of pages and didn’t see any explanation. Was it some sort of error? Was there a big natural disaster that I didn’t know about? What exactly happened in 1966? Turns out that the explanation was stranger than I could even imagine.

The Other Chinese Zodiac

In Western society, we don’t have too many superstitions associated with dates; there’s Friday the 13, but that’s about it. In East Asian societies, there’s a whole lot more superstitious dates.

Last week, Viet wrote about the six-day calendar, but date-based superstitions dosn’t stop there. The Chinese Zodiac still holds more sway over the Japanese mindset than people realize.

Most people know about the Chinese Zodiac calendar and the 12 animals that comprise it; most people probably even know which animal they are (for the record, I’m a snake). East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia observe the Chinese Zodiac, at least on some level.

What lots of people don’t know is that there is another cycle that goes along with the Chinese zodiac. This second cycle goes through five elements: fire, wood, earth, metal, and water, and combines with the first cycle to make combinations like earth snake or metal dragon. Each of these combinations occurs once ever sixty years.

Some combinations have great associations, but others have very negative connotations. The most infamous of all being the Fire Horse (丙午/hinoeuma).

The Infamous Fire Horse

People born during the year of the Fire Horse are notorious for being bad luck. People born during a Fire Horse years are said to be irresponsible, rebellious, and overall bad news.

And for some reason, women are said to be especially dangerous Fire Horses. They supposedly sap their family’s finances, neglect their children, and drive their father and husband to an early grave.

This myth is so powerful that it seriously affects how people behave. Men might avoid marrying a Fire Horse, and families avoid giving birth to Fire Horse children.

In 1966, the year of the Fire Horse, people in Japan (and elsewhere in Asia) really, really tried not to have kids, either because they thought that the Fire Horse myth was true, or because they were worried that others would treat their kids differently because of the Fire Horse myth. Japanese people practiced birth control, and used abortion all in an effort to not have children during the year of the Fire Horse.

Pokémon, or Chinese Zodiac sign?

And if you’ll notice on the graph, there was a bit of a spike in births during 1965 and 67, another result of people avoiding the year of the Fire Horse.

Why wasn’t there such a dramatic dip in 1906, the previous year of the Fire Horse? There are a couple of reasons.

The Japanese census wasn’t as accurate nor thorough in 1906, so people could have kids, hide them from the official record, and pretend that they were born a different year, completely sidestepping the curse of the Fire Horse. Not to mention that birth control and abortion wasn’t as advanced or widely available in 1906.

Fire Horses Of The Future

The next year of the Fire Horse won’t happen for another 14 years, in 2026. Japan has definitely come a long way since 1966, but does the Fire Horse superstition still hold sway over Japanese culture? Only time will tell.

Header Image Source: My Little Koichi

Have you ever given thought about the names given to the days of the week? The naming scheme comes from the combination of the Chinese philosophies of yin-yang and the five Taoist elements.

Very algebraic, eh? Now you can go around and impress your peers with this newfound knowledge.

But wait! Did you know that alongside the seven-day calendar systems used in the last 1400 years, there was another system used by the Japanese (and other parts of Asia)?

This secondary calendar system has a profound impact in many Japanese lives. If you have seen an Asian calendar, you may have noticed kanji under the numerals. These are the names of the days under the six-day calendar system known as the Rokuyō (六曜, literal translation roku = six and yo = weekday. The kanji combination makes sense!).

So, what is the the Rokuyō and how does it impact Japanese lives?

Want to learn about Rokuyo? Today is your lucky day!

The Rokuyō is a variation of the original that came from China around the 14th century. As mentioned earlier, Rokuyō comprised six cycling days that are based on astrology. Each day determines the level of auspiciousness. In other words, it’s a fortune telling calendar system. Oh, Japanese, you are so superstitious (If you haven’t yet, check out the superstition article I wrote a while back!).

The following are the six Rokuyō days in cycling order.

These days cycle in order through each Gregorian month. For example, January 1st starts out as Senshō, January 2nd is Tomobiki, January 3rd is Senbu, and etcetera.

One variation of the Rokuyō has the first day of each month starting on a certain day depending on the month. January 1 starts out as Senshō, February 1 starts out as Tomobiki. March 1 starts out as Senbu. Are you starting to see the pattern? On the 7th month, the first day resets back to Senshō. Another version has Senshō  starting on January 1st and cycle through the six days until a new year begins.

How serious do some of the Japanese take into account the Rokuyō in their daily lives? Although the newer generation seem indifferent about it, the more mature group take the system into heavy consideration.

For example, about three times as many weddings are held on Taian than on Butsumetsu. Due to this huge difference in planning, rates for weddings held on Butsumetsu days are discounted heavily. Many major events other than weddings favor Taian over Butsumetsu.

Child birth on a Taian day is highly desirable. With the advances in modern medicine, many parents opt to induce labor if a desirable day is near or to delay the birth if the day falls under Butsumetsu. I’ll let you decide if this is a healthy, sane decision. I couldn’t find numbers relating to the Japanese, but in 2003 a study done in Taiwan saw a significant increased in scheduled births on auspicious days versus non-auspicious days¹.

Just from glancing at the list, one would deduce that you wouldn’t want to plan anything important on Butsumetsu. That’s not always the case.

The kanji for Tomobiki literally translates to “pulling a friend.” Due to it’s name, it is considered bad luck to schedule any funerals on these days. What kind of dead friend would pull you to the death realm, anyway? Crematoriums are typically closed on this day. Good to know.

Also another good thing to know: some Shinto shrines close on Butsumetsu. If you ever plan on visiting one, be sure they are open on the day you are visiting!

Before the next time you decide to munch on some of that delicious mochi or perhaps a quick bite of eel and watermelon (great pairing of food items, I’m told), take a quick glance at this version of the Rokuyō calendar to make sure the day and time of day is aligned in your favor. According to this, yesterday was 4-4 and butsumetsu. How bad was your day, yesterday?

Why should you check this, though? Because Tofugu cares about each and every one of you!

…

Ahhhhhh ♥

[1] “Patients’ attitudes vs. physicians’ determination: implications for cesarean sections.” Soc Sci Med. 2003 Jul;57(1):91-6.

Thirteen on the other hand? Not a problem. Add in a Friday to the mix? Who cares. So why all the hating on the number four?

Japanese Superstitions About The Number 4

Is he the answer to Life, The Universe, And Everything?

Maybe you’ve learned about the Japanese superstition about the number four. If you’ve already read Viet’s article on Foureign (har har har!) superstitions, hopefully this section doesn’t bore you to death (har har har har har!).

The quick version of why the number four is unlucky is that it sounds just like the word for death (死/し/shi). Sometime a really, really long time ago, someone figured this out and probably had his goats die on April 4th (I’m just making stuff up here). Then, he started telling everyone how four = death and that they all need to watch out because nasty things will happen. Some people believed him, it spread, and the rest is history.

It doesn’t end there, though. If you read my post Goroawase: Japanese Numbers Wordplay, you’ll not only know how to remember the phone numbers that show up at the end of Japanese commercials, but you’ll also probably notice that there’s even more potential for unlucky sounding numbers. For example:

• 24 can become nishi, aka double death (ニ死)
• 42 (the answer to life, the universe, and everything!) can become shini, aka “death” or “to death” (死に)
• 43 can become shisan which sounds like shizan, aka stillbirth (死産)
• 45 can be shigo, or “after death” (死後)
• 49 (though a bit of a stretch) can become shinu made kurushimu, aka “To suffer until death.”

I’m sure there are plenty of other unlucky four-related unlucky numbers out there (444, omg!), but these are the main ones. Obviously 42 is a bad age to be, according to the above list, not to mention 45 foreshadowing your death a couple years later.

Basically, though, some Chinese dude who likes puns noticed the similarities in these words and started telling anyone who’d listen. Then, it spread around and fermented for a few thousands years, resulting in superstitions, missing floors in buildings, psychological disorders, and more. How fun!

Where Did It Come From?

Four little stars? REALLY?

Everything from Japan seems to have come from China in one way or another, and unlucky number four is no exception. In fact, China spread this superstition around to many other Asian countries as well… basically any Asian country who borrowed kanji or created their own language with Chinese as a base. It’s quite fascinating.

Source: Wikipedia

You don’t have to speak any of these languages to see the similarities here. Even in cases like with Vietnamese (where the pronunciation is nothing like the Chinese “original”), both the words for four and death are very similar (coincidence? I think not). In the chart above, the languages with the biggest differences between the two words are Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. What’s the difference? Just the tone.

China has always been one of the most influential countries in Asia, especially way back in the day. They spread products, ideas, religion, and culture. Although there’s no way of really knowing, I’d say it’s pretty safe to assume that China spread this superstition around Asia as well. So, turns out I can blame my irrational fear of four on the Chinese. Way to go China. Way to go.

What This Means

Because the number four is considered unlucky on such a broad scale, you’ll see many examples of this fear in daily life across almost all East-Asian cultures.

• You never want to give four of something (try three or five instead).
• Elevators will often be missing a fourth floor. In extreme cases, floors 40-49 (and sometimes any floor with a four in it) will also be missing. This is similar to how some buildings will skip the 13th floor in Western cultures.
• In China, military aircrafts start with the number 5, as in the “Shenyang J-5).
• Taiwanese and South Korean Navies don’t use the number 4 for their pendant numbers.
• Sometimes in Korea the fourth floor will be labeled “F” instead of 4.
• Korail (Korea’s national railroad company) skipped locomotive number 4444.

Even though this is just a superstition (at least that’s why I tell myself) it really does affect how people act (you don’t do things in fours… you don’t give gifts in fours… etc.). Not only that, but it affects the environment as well (elevators, numbering things, etc.). Obviously the fear of the number four is a big deal – but can it ever be too much?

Tetraphobia: The Fear Of The Number Four

The word tetraphobia comes from the Greek words tetras (four) and phobos (fear). Put those together and you have a “four fear.” Tetraphobiacs are afraid of the number four so much that they can’t lead normal lives. Like most disorders, there’s no specific reason for it (other than ones own past experiences), though some people think extreme tetraphobia has to do with bipolar disorder.

I am, thankfully, not at this stage (get away from me! You’re the crazy one!), but it’s interesting to see how much a single number can mess up somebody’s life.

But, how many people really get screwed over by the number four? Can it actually cause death, like the reading of the number suggests? Well… yes, actually.

The British Medical Journal reported on a study that looked at mortality statistics in the United States over a twenty-five year period. They found that on the fourth day of the month, Chinese and Japanese people were thirteen percent more likely to die of heart failure on that day. In California alone, Chinese and Japanese were twenty-seven percent more likely to die of a heart attack on the fourth day of the month.

This study was done to try and see if outside psychological stress could indeed trigger deadly heart attacks. According to this data, it seems like it could be entirely possible… either that, or the number four really is unlucky.

Hopefully you don’t all start thinking about this study on the fourth day of the month and get a heart attack :(

So who else is terrified of the number four? I avoid it when I can, for sure, but I at least know that it’s irrational, and knowing is half the battle, right kids? I’m also lucky that I usually have no idea what day it is. That means I should be safe from the fourth-day-of-the-month heart attack syndrome, I hope.

If you’re interested in silly superstitions like this one, be sure to read Viet’s post covering many different kinds of superstitions. It’s not just the number four that you should be afraid of.

Superstitions are strongly integrated in Japanese society. If anything, I would say Japanese superstitions almost share the same borders with religion. A lot of it has been developed from historic events in the past, many is from play on words, and a few are imports from outside cultures. Many are just outright, straight-up superstitions, while others are meant to be given as advice or lessons, somewhat like the fictitious Fable stories of the West. I remember my old high school Japanese language teacher having a few superstitions of her own, some of them quite unique, such as her alien superstitions.

Needless to say, the Japanese are fairly zealous in their superstitions.

So what better way to get to know some Japanese superstitions than to read off a list of some of them!

Enemy numbers 4, 9, and any variations of thereof

In Western cultures, the number 13 is considered unlucky. In Japan, there are a few numbers that are considered bad luck. Why is that? It’s due to their pronunciation related to other unfavorable words.

The number 4 can be pronounced as shi, which is the same word for death. There are a few variations of the number 4 that are also considered “bad”. Twenty-four can be read as nishi, which translates to double death. Forty-two or shini also translates to death. Forty-three, or shisan sounds similar to shizan or stillbirth. And everyones favorite number, 420, or shinirei sounds similar to shinrei or dead spirit.

The number 9 is also considered bad, since its pronunciation ku can also mean pain and suffering.

Due to the unfortunate associations between the numbers and death words, building floors or rooms with these numbers simply don’t exist. A lot of buildings will simply not have a floor numbered with 4. In hospitals, floors and rooms with the aforementioned numbers do not exist. It is also considered bad form to give sets of gifts in numbers of 4, such as four sets of dining dish ware. Proper etiquette is to give in sets of 3 or 5.

There are also ages that are considered bad luck. For males, it’s the ages 25 and 42, while for females 19 and 33. If you are going to be hitting those ages anytime soon, it’s best you pay some protection money to the temple and shrines, and stock up on some charms!

More death related superstitions

A lot of of Japanese superstitions tend to be concern with death. This isn’t uncommon. In the United States, there is the superstition of walking under the ladder, opening an umbrella indoors, or crossing paths with a black cat.

Here are the Japanese take on death superstitions:

When entering a funeral, toss salt over one’s shoulder

Tossing salt over your shoulder cleanses the death and spirits off of you.

Avoid sleeping with the head facing north

The deceased are buried with their heads facing north. Doing so suggests one will live a short life.

Fried eel and melon

Consuming both foods in the same sitting will cause death. Tried looking for the origins of this, but couldn’t find anything. Anyone know the story behind this?

Never write a living person’s name in red ink

Using red ink suggests the person’s life will be cut short soon. The origin stems from gravestones. When the gravestone is made, both spouses names are engraved even if one is still alive. The main reason for this is to save costs. In order to distinguish that the person is still living, the engraved name is painted in red. Once they are deceased, the red paint is removed.

Sticking chopsticks upright into rice or any food item

Don’t do it. This is only done during funerals at the deceased’s altar.

Food should never be passed between chopstick to chopstick

The same action is done at funeral ceremonies where the deceased is cremated and have their bones transferred to the urn.

Never cut your nails at night

Originally, the superstition was meant to scare away kids from injuring themselves while cutting their nails at night back in the Edo period days. The superstition now refers to death before your parents, or early death, if one cuts their nails at night.

The superstition comes from the play of words from the saying, 「夜に爪を切ると早死にする」 (yoru ni tsume wo kiru to hayaji ni suru), or “cut your nails during the evenings, and premature death happens”. The part, 「夜に爪を」 (yoru ni tsume wo) or the nouns, evening and nails, sounds similar to 「世を詰める」 (yo wo tsumeru), which translates to “to cut one’s life short.”

But what about superstitions you can’t really control? Things that are a part of you whether you like it or not? Let’s take a look at blood types.

Blood types

I won’t be going over blood types, since Hashi has already done a great job covering the subject. But here is some tl;dr information on it.

In the late 1800s, a Japanese doctor did some “research” on how blood types are connected with a person’s personality and character. He published this information, and the Japanese being the gullible people that they are with superstitions and divination, ate it up. Even though there has been no scientific backing on the correlation, a new industry was born. Now you can get your fortune predictions based on your blood type everyday when watching the morning news or reading the daily newspaper.

Other notable superstitions

There are certainly a whole lot more superstitions out there that I have not covered. Here are a few more that I thought were interesting.

Salt and beggars

If a beggar ever comes to your doorstep, it is bad luck to not salt your entry way. Failing to do so will bring financial misfortune to your household.

Lying down after eating

You will turn into a cow if you do so. The saying suggests you will become lazy. But really, whats wrong with living the life of a Wagyu cow? You get to watch TV, have massages, and all the beer you want.

Tatami mats

When you were a little kid, have you ever avoided stepping on the cement between bricks or tile flooring? If so, time to put that skill to use! Stepping on the cloth borders of tatami mats is considered bad luck.

Breaking certain objects

May the FSM help you if you break your comb or sandals.

Just like any culture though (especially Asian ones, I’m just sayin’), there are going to be a lot more than just these here. This should cover most of the main ones, though. What happens if you mess up? What happens if you’ve done one of these things? Answer is, probably nothing, but just in case…

I didn’t follow the list or I’m afraid of bad luck! What can I do to protect myself?

What can you do if you happened to run into some bad luck? Maybe you felt like being a rebel and ate the melon and fried eel together? Now you regret doing so, eh? Like anything Japanese convenient, there is a one-stop shop that may help with your problems. Just like how you can pay the Yakuza for protection, you can also use your yen to buy some protection to ward off bad juju and bring in some good luck.

Temples and shrines carry good luck charms or 御守 (omamori) for any current or future problems. Buying these charms and carrying it around with your will protect you from whatever problems the omamori was designed for.

A few popular forms of omamori:

• Yaku yoke — Protection from evil
• Gakugyou Jouju — Passing of examination
• En-musubi — Finding the ideal mate and marriage
• Kanai Anzen — Protection from bad health and illnesses

Make sure you stock up whenever you visit Japan! Who knows how many superstitions you will break unknowingly.