Top 21 Wacky Japanese Superstitions
Forget ladders and rabbits' feet, here is a list of superstitions commonly recognized in Japan.
- If you whistle in the night, you will be visited by a snake or ghost.
- Your flu is cured once you contaminate somebody else.
- If you hiccup 100 times consecutively, you will die.
- If you file your nails at night, you will not be able to see your parents when they are dying, or alternatively, you will die early.
- When you see a funeral car, hide your thumb or a family member will die soon.
- Girls who were born in the year of Hinoe-Uma, (according to the Chinese zodiac) will be evil.
- Don’t lay down right after you eat. You will be turned into a cow.
- When you urinate on a worm, your "parts" will become swollen.
- Some combinations of food make you sick. For example fresh-water eel and sour plum.
- When you see a spider in the morning, it means good luck. On the other hand, it is bad luck to see a spider at night.
- If you hear thunder hide your belly button, otherwise the god of thunder will eat it.
- You have to wear new shoes in the morning.
- Don’t sleep with your head pointing North.
- You'll stop growing if you wear a basket on your head.
- Wish on a shooting star three times and your wish comes true.
- If you don’t finish your rice during every meal, you will go blind.
- If you wear new shoes on tatami (traditional Japanese flooring) and go outside, your career will not be successful.
- If you have a fan on all night, you will die.
- When you swim during the Obon season (August), the returning dead will take you away with them.
- If you keep shed snake-skin in your wallet, you will be rich.
- When you are pregnant, clean the toilet bowl to ensure you have a good looking baby.
So there you have it, hope this helps you turn your luck around if you need it.
