Hatsuyume
Hatsuyume ( Japanese 初 夢 'first dream' ) is a Japanese superstition about the first dream of the new year. Since people only return to normal everyday life after the Japanese New Year celebrations on January 1st, it is the dream on the night of January 2nd. However, due to the different Japanese calendars , this has shifted over the course of history.
The dream is supposed to predict which expectations the dreaming can put on the new year. Since the feudal period there have been various customs and efforts which should help that a happy dream is dreamed. In the Muromachi period, people from all walks of life put an image of a sailing ship ( Takarabune ) with the word "treasure" on the sails under their pillows.
It is said to bring good luck to dream first of Mount Fuji , second of a falcon (Taka) and finally third of an eggplant ( 一 富士 二 鷹 三 茄子 ichi fuji, ni taka, san nasubi ). This belief has been found again since the Edo period . The exact origin of this superstition is not clear. One theory is that these are tall objects. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, a mountain nearby and about half as high is Ashitaka . Eggplants may have been chosen because they had a high price in ancient Japan.
Occasionally this triple is continued by fans, tobacco and blind monk ( 四扇 五 多 波 姑 六座 頭 shi ōgi , go tabako, roku zatō ).
See also
- Hatsuhinode (contemplation of the first sunrise)
- Hatsumōde (first visit to the shrine at New Year)
Web links
- Hatsuyume . In: Japanlexikon , Embassy of Japan
Individual evidence
- ↑ “一 富士 二 鷹 三 茄子” の 続 き を 知 り た い. . Nashi Prefectural Library, March 16, 2008, accessed December 18, 2009 (Japanese).