Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar are the 12 zodiac animals of Japan, in order.
The Chinese zodiac signs were directly influenced by Japan’s. The only variation is that in Japan, the last animal is a Boar, while in China, it is a Pig. Since the lunar calendar was abandoned in 1872, the Chinese zodiac is based on the Chinese lunar calendar, but Japan’s is based on the solar calendar.
In This Article...
Is there a horoscope in Japan?
Japan follows the Chinese zodiac system, which is divided into twelve signs (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig). The Jupiter cycle about the Sun, which lasts around 12 years, is linked to this divide. Each year is symbolized by a distinct zodiac sign and its associated traits. There are also five elements known as Celestial Stems (water, earth, wood, fire, and metal) that change every year, giving each sign a different spiritual color.
What Japanese zodiac do you belong to this year?
Around the fourth century, the Chinese zodiac calendar was adopted to Japan. Each year is symbolized by one of twelve animal signs, with 2022 being the Year of the Tiger. In Japanese, this system is known as “eto” or “junishi.”
What is the significance of blood type in Japan?
The fascination with blood types in Japan stems from the belief that a person’s blood type influences their personality. Each blood type has its own personality qualities. When someone acts inappropriately, Japanese people like to mock them by saying things such, “Of course you’d do that, you’re B,” and so on. It improves communication and encourages people to be more open to one another.
Blood kinds can also assist Japanese individuals decide if they’re a good romantic or non-romantic match. According to popular belief, certain blood types complement one other and foster healthier relationships.
As a result, when a Japanese person inquires:
What is your blood type?
Don’t be alarmed! No one is pleading with you to give blood. The question is just inquisitive about you as a person. It’s the same concept as being asked, “What’s your sign?” in English.
Now it’s time to have some fun! Do you want to know if your personality and blood type are compatible? To discover out, check at the graph below. And it doesn’t matter if you’re optimistic or negative. This is important in medical settings, but it has no bearing on you here.
Here’s an image from Twitter that depicts how various blood type personalities play out.
Is the Japanese Zodiac popular?
Horoscope reading is a popular pastime around the world. It is no different in Japan. Horoscope fortune telling is often found in magazines, television shows, and even daily news broadcasts. In fact, the Japanese enjoy fortune telling in various forms, including horoscopes, tarot, Omikuji (), Dobutsu Uranai, and so on. They believe that fortune telling outcomes will assist them in predicting the future, avoiding mistakes, and assisting them in making the best decision possible. They believe that the features of fortune telling can establish one’s personality and compatibility with others, in addition to future prediction. Blood type and horoscopes are the most prevalent factors used.
What are your thoughts on horoscopes? Do you honestly believe it can tell you if two people are a good match? By clicking this tag (#horoscope), you may view more details and the background of each horoscope. Best of luck!
Do Japanese people believe in astrology?
Do you want to learn more about the Japanese zodiac? Or perhaps you want to learn more about Japan’s fascination with fortune-telling?
In Japan, fortune telling is a popular practice and hobby. The 12 zodiac animals, blood type, horoscopes, and tarot cards are all popular techniques to get a prediction.
There’s also (doubutsu uranai, animal fortune) and 3/4 (doubutsu uranai, animal fortune) (omikuji, fortunes written on strips of paper at shrines).
Horoscopes are popular all throughout the world, although they are a relatively new fortune-telling approach in Japan. For a long time, the animal zodiac and blood types have been the most prominent.
It is thought that persons born in the year of a zodiac animal possess some of the personality qualities associated with that animal. Some people believe that a romantic match’s compatibility can be determined by blood type, zodiac sign, and horoscope. (This is especially true if they employ a matchmaking service, which still happens.)
It’s a good idea to understand about the zodiac and blood types because they’re frequently utilized as small talk in discussion with new acquaintances. Even if fortune-telling isn’t really your thing.
Let’s have a look at some of the Japanese zodiac signs and learn more about them:
What is the Japanese zodiac for the year 2005?
Rooster (tori) was born on the following dates: 2005, 1981, 1969, 1957, 1945, 1933, 1921, and 1909. The Rooster is a deep thinker who is usually occupied and dedicated to their task.
What is the Japanese equivalent of my age?
One technique of calculating age is the traditional Japanese age system. When a child is born, he or she is counted as one year old, and every January 1st following that counts as another year older. Kazoedoshi, or simply Kazoe, is a way of determining a person’s age. This is in contrast to the Western tradition of expressing one’s age in completed years, which involves adding a year to one’s age at midnight the day before one’s birthday.
For example, if a baby is born on December 31, she will be one year old at the moment, and two years old the next day (January 1). On the other hand, if she is born on January 1, she will be two years old on January 1 of the following year.
Caution
Because the New Year’s Day is the base date in the traditional Japanese age system, caution should be exercised when using this method to calculate someone’s age because the New Year’s Day observed under the Gregorian calendar differs from that observed under the traditional Japanese calendar prior to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. Please consult the section below for further information on the traditional Japanese age calculation system.
Reasons for using the traditional Japanese age system
It is based on religious beliefs (such as Buddhism) that the unborn baby’s age is determined by the nine months she spends in her mother’s womb.
Problems with the rekiho (calendar-making method) (lunar calendar): A leap month is introduced once every three years (about seven times every nineteen years) in the lunisolar calendar, hence the length of the year varies from year to year in comparison to the solar calendar (the Gregorian calendar). Using this calendar to calculate age in the Western way has generated issues. Due to the fact that those born on a leap month do not have an exact birthday, the Western manner of calculating age cannot be utilized correctly.
Someone born on the first day of leap August in the 4th year of the Genroku era (1691), for example, would not have had a birthday the following year because the 5th year of the Genroku era had no leap month (1692). During the Genroku era, the Jokyo-reki (Jokyo calendar, a lunar-solar calendar used in Japan) was utilized.
For a better understanding of the traditional Japanese age system, read to the section about the Western manner of calculating age and ‘0.’
Method of calculating age by the traditional Japanese system
When a child is counted as one year old at birth and becomes one year older on New Year’s Day, according to the traditional Japanese system. This is in contrast to the Western method of counting, in which a newborn baby is counted as a year old at birth and becomes one year older at the stroke of midnight on the day before the birthday. As a result, the following is the relationship between the Western method of determining age and the traditional Japanese method.
Since the Japanese calendar now corresponds to the Christian calendar, the method of counting a person’s age in the traditional Japanese system will be as follows: ‘traditional Japanese system = your age + two’ from New Year’s Day to the day before birthday, and ‘traditional Japanese system = your age + one’ from birthday to birthday.
In nations where the lunisolar calendar is still in use, or when calculating the age of a deceased person who lived during the time when the lunisolar calendar (the old lunisolar calendar) was in use, age is calculated using New Year’s Day as the base date of the calendar in use at the time.
Tempo-reki was used in Japan until December 2, Meiji 5 (December 31, 1872), thus the Gregorian calendar’s New Year’s Day differs from the traditional Japanese calendar. As a result, if a person’s age is estimated using the traditional Japanese system, it may be wrong; to avoid this, when determining a person’s date of birth and death, the Christian era year derived from January 1st on the Japanese calendar should be used.
The following is a list of dates that differ according to the calendar method: The Gregorian Calendar dates the first year of Genroku (January 1, 1688) to February 2, 1688.
Converted from the Japanese calendar, the year of the Christian era is: The first year of Genroku was a difficult one. In the Gregorian Calendar, December 10 is January 1, 1689. A new year had begun according to the Gregorian calendar. If the Gregorian calendar is used as the basis, one year must be added to each of the years calculated using the old Japanese system, which will result in dates that do not match those found in literature from the time period. As a result, the first year of Genroku (1688) should be considered the Christian era’s year 1688, which runs from January 1 to December 29. (January 20, 1689 in the Gregorian Calendar). Because the first year of Genroku ended on December 29, there are no December 30 and 31.
The example of the calculation method of the age based on the traditional Japanese system (people who died before the new calendar was introduced)
Although the date of death in the example differs by one day, the Christian calendar had begun a new year. As a result, when calculating a person’s age based on the traditional Japanese method before the new calendar was established, care must be used.
Calculating a year from the Japanese calendar to the Christian calendar is an example.
In 1629, on the 11th day of the leap year, he was born (April 4, 1629 in the Gregorian Calendar).
On the Gregorian calendar, he died on December 10, 1688 (January 1, 1689). The year 1688 is used instead of 1689 as the first year of Genroku.
Correct: at death (59), 1688-162959+1= 60: adding 1 is for the first year of life.
An example where the age of death under the traditional Japanese age system differs by two years from the age at death under the Western-style system
1688-162959+1= 60 at death (58): This person died before her birthday, hence she was 58 years old at the time of her death.
Calculating methods in other countries
In the past, East Asian countries like Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam did not utilize the Western method of measuring age; instead, they used the Kazoedoshi method (the age by the traditional Japanese system). Only the Republic of Korea uses the old methodology officially and privately, despite the fact that most countries have shifted to the Western method of determining age. Even after it was officially outlawed in Japan and China, it was still used privately. However, following World War II in Japan, the Cultural Revolution in China, and North Korean independence, kazoedoshi was no longer employed. While France controlled Indochina, its use in Vietnam decreased.
In Japan and Korea, a new year is added to the Gregorian calendar on January 1; nevertheless, the lunar New Year (old new year) is still honored in China. On the Jiken-reki (Chinese calendar), it is January 1, which differs from the traditional Japanese new year. However, in some Japanese regions or organizations, the previous New Year or the start of spring (the first day of spring according to the lunar calendar) is used. This is a novel approach to commemorate the previous New Year in a simple and straightforward manner at the start of spring.
In Chinese, it’s known as xusui (the Western-style age system is called zhousui, shisui and sokusui). In Korean, it’s known as hangunnai (the word “nai” meaning “age”) (the Western-style age system is called mannai).
Under English, it’s known as East Asian age reckoning, and being x years old in the traditional Japanese system is also known as being in one’s xth year. There is no word to describe the Western method of age calculation.
Japan
The traditional Japanese way of calculating age has been utilized in Japan from ancient times. However, on December 22, 1902, the ‘law regarding computing age’ (December 2, 1902, Law No. 50) went into effect, and the Western method of calculating age was adopted.
However, because the traditional Japanese system continued to be utilized privately, ‘the legislation of the method of the age’ (May 24, 1949, Law No. 96) went into effect on January 1, 1950.
The law declared that residents should no longer count a person’s age according to the old Japanese system, but rather should always count the years of age (the number of months when one’s age is less than one year) as specified in the law’s regulations on calculating age (1902, Law No. 50).
It further said that when the government or municipalities refer to a person’s age, they must use the years of age or the number of months specified in the preceding paragraph. However, if there is a strong reason to use the traditional Japanese system to define a person’s age, that effect must be mentioned ahead of time.
As previously stated, the government and municipalities were required to utilize the Western-style age system and to state so when an age based on the traditional Japanese system was required.
1. To make Japanese people feel younger by giving them the impression that they have aged. 2. Promotion of accurate birth registration. 3. Increased internationality. 4. Irrationalities in distribution systems must be resolved. The problem with distribution was the most important issue at the time. For example, if a child is born in December and receives candy in February of the following year, the youngster is considered two years old and receives candy through the distribution system. Of course, offering sweets to a two-month-old newborn is ridiculous. Someone in his fifties according to the Western-style age system was considered in his sixties according to the traditional Japanese system, and the amount of money he earned through distribution was reduced as a result of his age. Although the calories used to determine the amount of distribution were calculated using a Western-style age system, the actual distribution was done using a traditional Japanese age system, resulting in this dilemma.
(For further information, see the law of the method of age calculation item.)
The older generation continues to use the traditional Japanese age system. Other age groups employ the traditional Japanese age system only on rare occasions, such as fortune telling, traditional celebrations, or counting the years till death.
Traditional events such as Shichigosan Shichi-go-san (a day of prayer for the healthy growth of young children celebrated when they turn three, five, or seven years old) or Toshiiwai (celebrations for specific ages) (e.g. Koki (celebration of a person’s seventieth birthday), Kiju (celebration of a person’s seventy-seventh birthday), etc.) used the traditional Japanese As a result, in such events, both the traditional Japanese age system and the Western-style age system are permitted. Regardless of the age system utilized, celebrations are often held at the same times. When commemorating Kanreki (one’s sixtieth birthday), there is an exemption. According to the traditional Japanese age system, Kanreki is celebrated at the age of sixty-one, and at the age of sixty according to the Christian period. When counting unlucky years, however, only the traditional Japanese age system is employed, and it is uncommon to use the Western style of calculating age in such a circumstance. In addition, when counting one’s age at death that is engraved at ceremonial events, the traditional Japanese age system is employed during memorial ceremonies and in shinto. However, the Western-style method has recently become popular. With the exception of ‘isshuki’ (the first anniversary of one’s death), the traditional Japanese practice of ‘nenkaiki’ (memorial service held at specified years) follows age.
Furthermore, until recently, a racehorse’s age was determined using the traditional Japanese age system. However, since 2001, it has been decided to utilize the worldwide method of notation, in which a horse is born with a zero-year age and one year is added to its age on January 1 of each year (i.e., the age that is one year less than it used to be under the traditional Japanese age system).
As a result, January 1st remains the date on which a new year is added, and a horse’s age does not match “the age of the horse according to the Western-style system.”
Differences in the methods of counting under the traditional Japanese system, the Western-style system, and anniversaries
Example: fiftieth anniversary (according to the traditional Japanese calendar): 49th anniversary after 49 years.
The thirteenth anniversary of one’s death (according to Japanese tradition): the twelfth anniversary of one’s death.
The corresponding day (e.g. the date of entering a company, the date of entering a school, and the date of a person’s death) is usually used as the base date for counting anniversaries in the traditional Japanese age system (e.g. years of career, years since entering a company, grade in school, and after death).