Japanese Superstitions

[Lanore Vandiore]

Funny thing is, I know in my classes, badgers were considered evil.  

[Lanore Vandiore]

Rule: When a funeral car passes, hide your thumb
Reason: Thumb in Japanese is 親指, which literally translates to “parent finger”, so hiding your thumb is a way of protecting your parents
Rule: Don’t cut your nails at night because it will cause death, some different versions are, your parents will die, you will die with parents, basically, death.
Reason: Again, the best reason I could find was, parents didn’t want their children handling sharp objects in the dark.  

[Shimakuwa]

Dillon The Tengu

i also believe one odd reason for saying mushi mushi on the phone is becuase its hard for foxes to pronence weird huh? blaugh

Mushi? I'm sorry but LMAO.

*Moshi Moshi  

[KitsukoTenbei]

Here are a few that I picked up from here:

-Do not stick chopsticks in your rice because they only do that at funerals when putting the rice on the alter.

-Do not sleep towards the North. That is how bodies are buried.

-Do not lie down after eating. You will become a cow.
Essentially to teach people not to be lazy....
-Do not whistle at night or a snake will come to you.

These are from Wikipedia, so I don't know how accurate they are:
-First dream of the New Year will come true.

-Cold mid-section will cause diarrhea.

-Breaking a comb or the strap of a geta will bring misfortune.

-Stepping on the cloth border of a tatami mat is bad luck.

OK, That's all I got....  

[xX Baby Ougi Xx]

You've got most right. Here in Japan white is worn to funerals hence the name Shiroi "white", Shinde "dead", Shinu, "to die", Shi, "4" (Also know that "si" means 4 in Chinese and "si" is pronounced as "shi" X3) but keeping on topic, yes thumbs are required to be hiden in the presence of the "death vehicle". Black here isn't necessarily good luck but it is thought to be of mischief. Rumors are said, "Those who wear black will never have your back". Though mainly children and ignorant citizens spread that around. That comes from the time of Ninja's and how they evolve to today wearing black to remain unseen in the dark. Though Ninja's never originally wore black as stealth in fact they wore casual clothing to blend in with their surroundings. And at that time they didn't carry many weapons, they were just used to collect intel or become "spies" which is mainly what they do and what they are known for. (STEALTH) Not the fancy makeup they show on t.v. to which the Ninja would evolved to. And yes, sticking your chopsticks in your rice signals a bad omen of future death coming near.  

[killerqueen121]

Jentern

-PuDdInG--luv you

isn't the color white bad luck and black good luck?
that's like reverse compared to our country.

I don't think so..I mean, black cats are considered bad luck over there. I could be wrong

Black cats and white cats are both considered lucky in japan. That 'black cats are evil' things are not in japan.  

[Ellembri]

Dillon The Tengu

i also believe one odd reason for saying mushi mushi on the phone is becuase its hard for foxes to pronence weird huh? blaugh

first of all they say "moshimoshi". Mushi is the word for bug. and they say this because when phone lines were on switch boards in Japan, the connection was sometimes unreliable and so they would answer the static with "moshi moshi" kinda like a 'testing 1, 2, 3.' A more modern example of the meaning of this phrase would be the Verizon wireless guy saying "Can you hear me now?" *^_^*  

[Hollow Dirge]

KitsukoTenbei

Here are a few that I picked up from here:

-Do not stick chopsticks in your rice because they only do that at funerals when putting the rice on the alter.

This is not really a superstition it's just being very rude and looked down upon. This is a similar 'rule':

-passing food between people using chopsticks is rude because it is also a funeral ritual to pass bones using chopsticks.  

[Ameha Pulir]

Jentern

-PuDdInG--luv you

isn't the color white bad luck and black good luck?
that's like reverse compared to our country.

I don't think so..I mean, black cats are considered bad luck over there. I could be wrong

Black cats are sign of bad luck here and Europe. Japan actually holds alot of respects for black cats and cats in general...though, if we were talking about nekomatta (two tailed cats), then they would be deemed as Youkai (demons of sorts) and tried to be exorcised. (Sorry)  

[White_crow2408]

Jentern

Ok um. Nothing on google about black being lucky in Japan. However, I did find this. I don't know how helpful it is though:

-In Japan, red and white are considered lucky....
-The color black is believed to contain all kinds of things and to have the power of protection

Its for dolls, however..
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/2022/03265/index.html

Oh, wow... I didn't know that.
Btw, I laughed when I saw your siggy. razz  

[Noodles The Neko]

Vocaloid Yume 13

Funny thing is, I know in my classes, badgers were considered evil.

your right, it's because like the tanuki and the fox, the Badger (mujina) of Japanese folklore is an avid shapeshifter and deceiver of humans. One of the forms the mujina is purported to take, as popularized in a story by Lafcadio Hearn, is that of a "faceless ghost". This particular sort of monster is sometimes referred to by English speakers as a mujina, but the Japanese know it as noppera-bō.  

[Mj Reid]

One superstiton I can think of in Japan is really simillar to our western superstition of ringing ears. when you sneeze, somebody's talking about you.
smile just putting it our there, dunno if it was said yet!  

[Kyoki DirzettE]

killerqueen121

Jentern

-PuDdInG--luv you

isn't the color white bad luck and black good luck?
that's like reverse compared to our country.

I don't think so..I mean, black cats are considered bad luck over there. I could be wrong

Black cats and white cats are both considered lucky in japan. That 'black cats are evil' things are not in japan.

Mm, isn't that because they believe cats ward off evil spirits (or was that the ancient egyptians DX ugh! I don't even know how I could confuse the two of them gonk BAKA! >_<)  

[Sweet Vi]

Kyoki DirzettE

killerqueen121

Jentern

-PuDdInG--luv you

isn't the color white bad luck and black good luck?
that's like reverse compared to our country.

I don't think so..I mean, black cats are considered bad luck over there. I could be wrong

Black cats and white cats are both considered lucky in japan. That 'black cats are evil' things are not in japan.

Mm, isn't that because they believe cats ward off evil spirits (or was that the ancient egyptians DX ugh! I don't even know how I could confuse the two of them gonk BAKA! >_<)

I think the ancient Egyptians worshiped cats. o_O.  

[oTrissa]

Yeah when I learned numbers in Japanese class they tought us that with number four. Don't know any others though.