Six Japanese New Year Rules: Ancient Oshōgatsu Taboos (Ep. 115)
What You Weren't Allowed to Do During the First Three Days of the Year in Old Japan
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Show Notes
No cleaning for three days straight. No knives. No fire. And definitely no fighting with your family. Sound impossible?
There were the six strict rules Japanese people followed during oshōgatsu—the New Year holidays—to avoid angering the toshigami, a visiting deity who decided your luck for the entire year. Break one rule, and you might wash your fortune down the drain. Literally.
From the aku (scum) that made boiling food taboo, to the fire god kōjin who needed three days of rest, to the practical reasons behind eating cold osechi ryōri for days—Thersa explains why these traditions existed and how modern Japanese people creatively bend the rules with IH stoves and digital money.
How many of the six can you follow?
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Credits
Music by Julyan Ray Matsuura
About SpectreVision Radio
SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We're a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions.
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