When you’re married to a Japanese woman you should be prepared to hear some surprising observations every once in a while. The other day I was watching a TV show about Soichiro Honda, the enigmatic founder of the Honda Motor Company, on his meinichi (the anniversary of his death). Suddenly my wife said, “Look at those ears of his. No wonder he became rich, with ears like that. Money couldn’t help but fall into them.” Yes, Japanese commonly believe large ears (or to be more specific, large ear lobes) are found in people who will be financially successful, so if you’ve got big ears, lucky you! My wife is also thankful to our two dogs and two cats, since “pets die in place of family members in order to protect them.” This comes from Buddhist concept called 身代わり migawari meaning to sacrifice one’s self in order to save the life of another, and whenever a pet of ours passes away the family is saddened, but also thankful just in case. My wife also likes wondering aloud why there are no elderly people anywhere in CSI: Miami (“it’s very different from what I saw when I visited there”) and also telling the kids to finish their rice, “because there are 88 gods in each grain, and they’ll be mad if you caused them to die in vain.”
Behold the glorious ears of Soichiro Honda.
