Essay On Japanese Superstition

With less than 40% of the population claiming they believe in an organized religion, in Japan there is still a culture of superstition (NHK). In Japan’s case, there is an unusual pattern in Japanese religious attitudes; the rate of religious affiliation is very low, while the rate of religious participation is very high (Kisala). In addition, many Japanese claim that they simultaneously belong to two religious practises: Shintoism and Buddhism, despite seldom actually having religious beliefs. However, despite Japan being a heavily secularized society, people still tend to turn to religion and superstitious beliefs when they need help or guidance, since the current Shinto- and folk tradition focuses on the present and people’s practical problems in everyday life (Swanger). This suggests that superstition and religion play a big part in people’s lives, which can be

The superstition tells that at certain ages in life, people are susceptible to more bad luck than usual. The system is originally used with the traditional way of counting age, where life starts at one years old, and children turn one year older every new year’s (“(豆知識) 厄年は…”). This system is still in use in for example South Korea, but stopped being used in Japan in the 1950’s, when the government encouraged people to use the new system. In the old system of counting age, for females specifically, the yakudoshi years are at the ages of 19 and 33 (“厄年.”). For males specifically, it is at the ages of 25 and 42. One common year of yakudoshi is the age of 60. During these specific ages, it is said that the person will experience more unlucky events than usual, and every year between the 18th and the 19th of January, there are rituals held where people who are entering maeyaku (the year before a yakudoshi where the bad luck is starting) or yakudoshi, can attend Hachiman shrines in order to ward off unlucky