【Japanese Superstition】When You See A Hearse Or Funerals

I think especially children tend to follow this practice, but when seeing hearses or passing houses holding funerals, some Japanese tend to hide their thumbs. Actually,when I was a child, so did I. It is because there is a superstition that if you don't do this, your parents would die young.


In Japanese, we call our thumbs "Oyayubi", "oya" means parents, "yubi" represents fingers or thumbs. Hence, this custom is derive from the concept "protecting our parents". 

【Japanese Taboo】You Shouldn't Visit Peole In Hopital With Potted Flowers

It may be very common all over the world to bring flowers to people who are confined to hospitals. However, here in Japan, bouquets are okay, but you shouldn't visit them with potted flowers. Why?

Potted flowers can give us the image "taking root", which is called "Nezuku" in Japanese. Then the word "Nezuku" has the same meaning as"being sick in bed" in Japanese. 

Hence bringing potted flowers might be considered like saying "Please be ill in bed." or "Please keep being hospitalized for a long time". Therefore if you bring them, people might regard you as foolish.    

【Japanese Taboo】Don't Sleep With Your Head Facing North

We think sleeping with our head facing north is ominous. We call this manner "Kita-Makura", "kita" means "north", "Makura" represents "pillow". So when laying out our futons or deciding how we put our beds on our bedrooms just after moving in, we always try to avoid the north direction for our heads.


Actually this taboo derives from the manner of Buddhism, about 2500 years ago. It is said that when the Buddha died under a sal tree, his head faced north. Since then, in Buddhism, we lay dead people down with their head facing north and that's why Kita-Makura is considered sinister.

【Japanese Customs】2.The Dog Day For Pregnant Women

We have so called "Dog day". It is from "Eto", the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, which allots 12 kinds animals(signs) like the tiger and the mouse etc. to each year and each day. For example, this year 2012 is the year of the dragon and it comes around every 12 years, and today May 23rd is the day of the monkey and it rolls around every 12 days. Generally we aren't attentive to signs allotted to days.


However, the day of the dog has great meaning to pregnant women. It is a kind of ritual that pregnant women who just have reached their 5 months bind obstetrical binders around their belly, go to shrines that are especially famous for its effect on easy childbirth, and let the Shinto priests pray for that on this day. I believe most Japanese women tend to follow this ritual.


However, I didn't do this, because it costs a lot. Normally, obstetrical binders cost around 3,000 yen, and the fee for praying is more than 5,000 yen. What's more, it is said that this ritual is conducted only in Japan and no one is sure whether it is effective or not. Actually, my sister experienced very difficult delivery even though she had followed this. Hence, though my mother and my husband tried to force me to do this, because it was a traditional custom, I assertively refused by saying  why I should pay such amount of money for an uncertain ritual.  

【Japanese Customs】1.Returning Half Of A Celebratory Gift

When we receive celebratory gift, like celebrations of a birth or wedding presents, we have to return half of them. For instance, if we get a present worth 20,000yen, we should return a gift worth 10,000yen. Of course mostly, we don't know how much the gift we receive is, so we should assume the price. 


This custom is called "Hangaeshi" in Japanese, "han" represents "half" and "gaeshi" means return. This custom is practiced in the case of mourning as well. In Japan, if you don't go with this custom, especially in the case that you don't return anything to gifts, you might be considered senseless. 

Personality Profiling By Blood Group

Of course it depends on the person, but Japanese, especially girls, are interested in personality profiling by blood group.

Most people tend to classify our personalities like below.

blood type A:punctual/attentive/nervous　

blood type B:self-centered/moody/insensitive

blood type O:friendly/realistic/rough

blood type AB:smart/cool/split personality

As you can tell from the above, type B people tend to be considered they don't have strong points. Actually, we are not likely to like blood type B people. 

I know it sounds very ridiculous to categorize people by their blood types, but I don't know why, we like it. Hence, we want to ask our new friends about their blood types, and almost all Japanese do correctly know our blood types.  

Stupid Pigeons

I hate pigeons. In Japan, there are loads of pigeons. We can see them everywhere, not only in parks but also even in stations. 


When it comes to the problems made by them, a lot of people may come up with only their smell, their dirtiness, and their noise. However, there are some people who are suffering from more serious harm, like allergy caused by their feather.


Before, in my case, I was annoyed by their stopping at my balcony, which left a lot of droppings. They tend to stop everywhere, so there were always a few pigeons at my balcony. So to handle it, I pitched a net over my balcony, which is working well now.

Tamago Kake Gohan--egg source over rice--

Japanese people love raw food. This Tamago Kake Gohan is the good example of it.


Tamago Kake Gohan, which is sometimes called "Neko manma" meaning food for cat, is very popular in Japan and has been eaten by people since the Meiji era.


The recipe for it is very easy. After serving rice on a bowl, pour a beaten egg on it. Then add little soy source and stir them up. That's all.


Since I love it, before I ate it almost every day. However, eggs　occasionally have salmonella, so there are a few people who think it is not good for our health, like my mother. 

Maternity Mark

I'm not sure, but it's been at least five years since pregnant women started to wear luggage tag like charms,  to be called "maternity mark",  while they are outside in Japan. 


When we get pregnant, we have the obligation to inform the city offices of our pregnancy. Then all of us get the maternity mark along with mother and baby notebooks . 


According to the authority, the mark, which says "A baby in my belly" on its surface, was devised in a bid to call people's consideration toward pregnant women, for example, in trains or in the case that we feel sick outside. Actually the mark is useful especially when our bellies are not so big.


To some people, however, the mark is unpopular. Such people feel as if the mark compelled them to give up their seat in trains or because of it, pregnant women got impudent. 


Since I know such negative opinions, I hesitated to hang the mark on my bag before. However, my midwife asked me to do so, now I am always carrying it.

Notebooks Of Lectures For College Students

It is often said that enrolling in colleges is hard, but graduating from them is very easy in Japan. 


Actually it is true. To enroll in colleges or universities, high school students have to study very hard. However, after they pass the entrance examinations and enroll in, their campus lives except science and technological departments would be like a paradise. Sometimes students can graduate from their colleges with almost only 1 year attendance. 

One of causes that plays a part for it might be attribute to the notebooks of lectures. In some colleges, this "cheating" notebooks exist. The notebooks are written by students who attend the classes perfectly and take notebooks properly. 1month or so before the examinations, such students bring their notebooks to a print shops near the colleges. The print shops well examine them, choose one notebook per a subject, and sell them. Although it depends on the subject, generally the notebooks are sold by around 700yen. The students whose notes are recruited can earn around 10,000yen by that.

Of course this business is not good and maybe colleges have warned the shops. However, there are a lot of demands, the shops have been keeping selling them.