Superstitions of the Body

This post has been a long time in the making. As in, I have been putting off finishing it for about 2 months because I was too lazy to finish my research. That means that all of this is information is dated, but that doesn't matter so much. Anyways, I am not sure if I have brought this topic up before or not, but it's a good story.

You know how in America it is pretty rude to comment on someone's acne or to point it out especially in an over-animated way? Well one day I woke up with an unfortunately large, red, unpoppable (TMI?) pimple in the middle of my forehead. I did my best to cover it up, but there is only so much a rushed concealer job can accomplish. So I walked in to work and it didn't take long for my more outspoken Japanese coworker to look at my face, get super wide-eyed, point at my forehead, point at her own, and then cover her mouth and start whisper-talking in Japanese. I did my usual "I'm going to be playfully annoying until you speak English" act, and she said Vanessa, you are in love with someone! This had happened a few months back, but I had forgotten about the rules. What followed were questions about who it was, if we would have a joined wedding with my other coworker who is getting married next month... you know, the usual. I deflected the questions pretty well and managed to change the subject to figure out what a pimple means on other parts of the face. Here is the response I got:

Pimple on the forehead: you have a crush on or are in love with someone.
Pimple on the chin: someone has a crush on you or is in love with you.
Pimple on the right cheek: your partner will end the relationship
Pimple on the left cheek: you will end the relationship

Makes you think twice about using that face cream.

I tried to look this up online. I only tried for about 45 seconds, but I didn't really find anything. Maybe it's regional.

Then that made me curious to talk more about the idea of personality type based on blood type. I have been told over and over that my blood type must be A because I am organized and can understand feelings well. I don't know my blood type, but when I do learn it, you know the first thing I will do is to check out what the Japanese say my personality is like based on that. If you are curious about what your blood type says about you, this article tells a lot of cool information.

I was talking with my Japanese coworkers about things I have heard about superstitions of the body in western culture. What I can think of right now is if your ears are burning, someone is thinking about you. Can anyone else think of more? It would be cool if someone actually responded so that's not a rhetorical question. No pressure though.


On another note, something I have to compliment Japan on is its cleanliness. While sitting here at the front desk of my work, I just watched a man walk by with what looked like plastic kitchen tongs, which I say because they weren't very long which made him bend over, picking up all kinds of trash. There really aren't many cigarette butts here. When I see a big piece of trash outside, I am pretty surprised. Which brings me to my next cultural compliment to Japanese culture. All jobs, from presidents of major companies to the guys who stand next to a cross walk all day waiting for someone who has the need to cross to the grocery store clerks are respected as integral parts of society. Everyone has their job and everyone contributes to the running of the country. Not everyone can have that high-paying managerial career, but you can bet most people take pride in the work they do. If that person in the lower-paying, mindless job did not do that job, who would? Of course this is a generalization, I'm sure there are some Japanese people who feel very differently. It is just much moreso a practiced belief than in the states.