Don’t worry, be lucky

Feature : For such an advanced, secular nation, the people of Japan have a very active dialogue with the fates and the mysterious, invisible forces that govern our lives, luck and health. Fortune tellers are near ubiquitous on the streets and you can’t move home, get married, buy a new car, have a baby, do an exam, go on holiday or sneeze without visiting a shrine to propitiate the relevant deity. Home life and a simple meal are similarly subject to more dos and don’ts to add to the already labyrinthine set of social mores. This month KS takes a brief a look into the obscure but influential business of fixing luck and divining fate.

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