Superstition in Japan: Source of Social Sensitivity or Mental Strength?
Turn on any Japanese morning news show, the horoscopes of the day is just as routinely reported as the weather. Just as knowing the weather gives the audience ideas on what to wear and bring physically, the horoscopes play exactly the same role "mentally." That is, knowing one's "fortunes" before the day starts may somehow give one the ability to avoid the social "traps" that may bring the person very much socially-based and highly personal "disasters," whether it be demotion, break-ups, or public embarrassment.
The nature of the negative consequences of "bad luck" reported on these televised horoscopes goes a long way to imply just how much Japanese people care about their "public images." In a country where for women going to local convenience store without make-up on is widely considered not socially acceptable (and Go forbid, if women actually try that one at work...), hearing "today, you have high possibility of screwing up in front of your boss" must be a real shocker.
And of course, the "fortunes" do not just stop at the superficial and the ambiguous. Both the printed media, and more popularly, websites (even Yahoo! Japan has a large designated fortune-telling page) has divided a person's fortune into very detailed and specific categories, allowing a person to go through a complete Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis on him or herself before going out to face the big, bad world.
But perhaps whats more ridiculous than the told fortunes themselves are the remedies subscribed to counter the bad ones. Examples include write down your thoughts in a blue notebook to avoid conflicts with coworkers (emphasis on the "blue" of course) and carry around red pens to avoid train delays (again, emphasis on the "red"). Somehow, all of these randomly-generated (or at least, thats how they sound) "remedies" find serious and loyal following among a large audience (as evidenced by females discussing their horoscopes even at work).
No doubt, the sensitivity of the Japanese to social effects of "bad luck" is at the same time a sign of desire to obtain a certain degree of mental ease with which they can tackle everyday uncertainties. Being surrounded by the serenity of a Shinto shrine (ironically, a good remedy for "bad luck" in Western horoscopes here in Japan), whether or not an effective remedy, does indeed bring about inner reflection and a peace of mind amid predicted social and mental "chaos."
And perhaps this is one reason why the Japanese showed so much calm, both at the personal and collective level, after the Quake. Because they are so used to hearing exaggeratedly bad predictions of personal "fortunes," but always absorbed the shocks (as if nothing) after using whatever "remedies," they can use the exact same mentality when the "bad luck" becomes very real and damaging. Surely, they would be "remedies" for potential nuclear meltdowns...not a matter of worry for the Japanese carrying whatever luck-boosting knick-knacks.
Superstition is not a Japanese phenomenon, but a global one. People everywhere feel uncertain about their futures and would like to prevent "the bad" from occurring. Horoscope sites abound in America, and people in China buy up and carry around whatever lucky-sounding goods they can find. But only in Japan, where superstition of all forms and all origins seem to find enormous popularity, that superstition somehow become an integral part of both the traditional and the modern popular culture.
And it is this border-less all-inclusive superstitious nature of the Japanese that is perhaps helping the nation through the biggest crisis since World War II. As threats of power cuts and nuclear radiations continue disrupt everyday life, the Japanese, with their blue notebooks and red pens in hand, have so far overpowered the natural human tendency to panic and have continued to earn the respect of the world with their unusual inner peace. Maybe it is time we stop looking at "superstition" with mere negative connotation.
The nature of the negative consequences of "bad luck" reported on these televised horoscopes goes a long way to imply just how much Japanese people care about their "public images." In a country where for women going to local convenience store without make-up on is widely considered not socially acceptable (and Go forbid, if women actually try that one at work...), hearing "today, you have high possibility of screwing up in front of your boss" must be a real shocker.
And of course, the "fortunes" do not just stop at the superficial and the ambiguous. Both the printed media, and more popularly, websites (even Yahoo! Japan has a large designated fortune-telling page) has divided a person's fortune into very detailed and specific categories, allowing a person to go through a complete Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis on him or herself before going out to face the big, bad world.
But perhaps whats more ridiculous than the told fortunes themselves are the remedies subscribed to counter the bad ones. Examples include write down your thoughts in a blue notebook to avoid conflicts with coworkers (emphasis on the "blue" of course) and carry around red pens to avoid train delays (again, emphasis on the "red"). Somehow, all of these randomly-generated (or at least, thats how they sound) "remedies" find serious and loyal following among a large audience (as evidenced by females discussing their horoscopes even at work).
No doubt, the sensitivity of the Japanese to social effects of "bad luck" is at the same time a sign of desire to obtain a certain degree of mental ease with which they can tackle everyday uncertainties. Being surrounded by the serenity of a Shinto shrine (ironically, a good remedy for "bad luck" in Western horoscopes here in Japan), whether or not an effective remedy, does indeed bring about inner reflection and a peace of mind amid predicted social and mental "chaos."
And perhaps this is one reason why the Japanese showed so much calm, both at the personal and collective level, after the Quake. Because they are so used to hearing exaggeratedly bad predictions of personal "fortunes," but always absorbed the shocks (as if nothing) after using whatever "remedies," they can use the exact same mentality when the "bad luck" becomes very real and damaging. Surely, they would be "remedies" for potential nuclear meltdowns...not a matter of worry for the Japanese carrying whatever luck-boosting knick-knacks.
Superstition is not a Japanese phenomenon, but a global one. People everywhere feel uncertain about their futures and would like to prevent "the bad" from occurring. Horoscope sites abound in America, and people in China buy up and carry around whatever lucky-sounding goods they can find. But only in Japan, where superstition of all forms and all origins seem to find enormous popularity, that superstition somehow become an integral part of both the traditional and the modern popular culture.
And it is this border-less all-inclusive superstitious nature of the Japanese that is perhaps helping the nation through the biggest crisis since World War II. As threats of power cuts and nuclear radiations continue disrupt everyday life, the Japanese, with their blue notebooks and red pens in hand, have so far overpowered the natural human tendency to panic and have continued to earn the respect of the world with their unusual inner peace. Maybe it is time we stop looking at "superstition" with mere negative connotation.
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