If you want to get married on the cheap in Japan, I suggest you do it on Butsumetsu (“Buddha’s Death”), the unlucky day according to a 6-day cycle that can supposedly affect a person’s luck, including cause you to get divorced if you aren’t careful. This is one of the more prevalent Japanese superstitions, and it’s common for people to consult a special calendar that indicates these Buddhist days before making big plans like getting married, starting construction of a house or taking delivery of a new car. People will always aim for the luckiest day (Taian, “Big Peace”), and avoid at all costs the unlucky day of Butsumetsu, and in certain industries, this can affect the cost of services provided, e.g. weddings get more expensive on Taian, but drop in price on Butsumetsu. Today (Saturday) is Sensho (“Early Victory”), when it’s lucky to make important decisions in the morning but not at other times of the day. The other five days, which cycle in order, are Tomobiki (“Taking Away Together”) when you must not have a funeral or the dead will take you away with them; Senpu (“Early Defeat”) when the morning is considered unlucky; the all-around unlucky day Butsumetsu; lucky Taian; and Sekko (“Red Mouth”) when the 12 o’clock hour only is considered a time of good luck.
Yesterday a Buddhist funeral was held for one of the most awesome fictional villains in Japan, Raoh, the ultra-strong oldest brother of Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star. One of the most popular (and violent) manga and anime series from the 1980s, Fist of the North Star is the tale of a post-Armageddon world in which all cities and technology have been destroyed and only those who can wield raw strength can survive. Amid all the destruction, four brothers battle each other using ancient Chinese martial arts techniques. The coolest of the bad guys of the series, Raoh has always been the most popular character, and his funeral came complete with a statue of Raoh on his horse, Kokuoh. The funeral was held at the Koyasan Temple in Tokyo and featured all the trimmings, from chanting Buddhist priests and incense and hundreds of fans who had gathered in the rain to pay their respects. It was part PR gimmick, of course, promoting the upcoming animated film that focuses on the death of Raoh. If you’re a Fist of the North Star fan, whatever you do, don’t watch The Road Warrior starring Mel Gibson or contemplate that the entire series is one big tribute/parody of the film, with various famous personas from the 80s (Stallone, Bruce Springstein, Boy George) added in for story content.
Has a Japanese person ever told you are “good head”? If so, it’s a complement, although it might not sound like one. In Japanese, the phrase for “smart” (intelligent) is good head (atama ga ii), which sometimes gets carried over into English by Japanese who are still learning the language. The English word “smart” (sumaato) is used in Japanese to mean slender, well proportioned (as in, “That girl is very smart and stylish”). If someone says you have a bad head (atama ga warui), they’re saying that you’re stupid, the same meaning as that ubiquitous Japanese insult, baka. Some other phrases that make use of the word head include atama ga katai (hard-headed, stubborn), atama ga yawarakai (“head is soft” which means someone who is flexible and open-minded), and atama ga furui (“head is old,” i.e. someone whose thinking is old-fashioned).
We’ve got a happy announcement for fans of Hirameki International’s excellent visual novels and interactactive anime games. All games have been marked down in price by $10 or more, from the outstanding Ever 17 – Out of Infinity to the gorgeous gothic vampire tale Animamundi to the fantastic Ai Yori Aoshi double game and more. The interactive DVD games like Hourglass of Summer and Tea Society of a Witch are marked down too, to just $14.95. Why not pick up some of these great Hirameki titles today?
