Health and Beauty

A Japanese proverb says, of the futility of trying to predict the future, ‘when you talk about the future, demons laugh.’ And yet, much of the population believe that the future is already ordained, mapped out in the stars and that if we look to them with just the right eyes, we can discover what our future holds. Sometimes those eyes come from the most unlikely of places. Looking for luck Japan, to paint the nation with a broad cultural brush, is a superstitious country, and whether they are religious or not, most Japanese will pay some lip service to the gods in the hope of channeling luck into their daily lives, This often comes in the form of talismans, and perhaps the best known of these is the Maneki-neko [beckoning cat]. Originating from a story in which a cat rescued a samurai lord from potential death by lightening by waving him into a shrine, these feline statues, a gold coin around their neck and a raised paw beckoning inwards, are intended to encourage good fortune and health as well as improve business for restaurants, stores, and pachinko parlors. Shrines and temples, too, are places where good fortune is sought.…