In Japan, people believe in many different kinds of fortune telling, such as astrology zodiac horoscope, Japanese or Chinese animal zodiac, blood type, tarot, or Doubutsu Uranai (animal fortune). Western horoscopes did not become common until the Showa Era but it can be easily found in magazines or television programs nowadays. Let’s take a look at why western horoscope fortune telling became so popular within Japanese society.
What is a Horoscope? How does it Work?
Astrology is the belief that the alignment of stars and planets affects every individual's mood, personality, and environment, depending on when the person was born. Astrologers print horoscopes in newspapers that are personalized by birth date. These horoscopes make predictions in people's personal lives, describe their personalities, and give them advice; all according to the position of astronomical bodies.
List of Horoscopes and Date of Birth
People check their Zodiac sign according to their birthday. The corresponding Zodiac sign arranged by date of birth are as follows. You can also click the Zodiac sign to know more about the features and origin.
| Zodiac sign in English | Zodiac sign in Japanese | Date of Birth | Sign |
| Aries | 牡羊座 | 21 Mar – 19 Apr | ♈ |
| Taurus | 牡牛座/ 雄牛座 | 20 Apr – 20 May | ♉ |
| Gemini | 双子座 | 21 May – 20 Jun | ♊ |
| Cancer | 蟹座 | 21 Jun – 22 Jul | ♋ |
| Leo | 獅子座 | 23 Jul – 22 Aug | ♌ |
| Virgo | 乙女座 | 23 Aug – 22 Sep | ♍ |
| Libra | 天秤座 | 23 Sep – 22 Oct | ♎ |
| Scorpio | 蠍座 | 23 Oct – 21 Nov | ♏ |
| Sagittarius | 射手座 | 22 Nov – 21 Dec | ♐ |
| Capricorn | 山羊座 | 22 Dec – 19 Jan | ♑ |
| Aquarius | 水瓶座 | 20 Jan – 19 Feb | ♒ |
| Pisces | 魚座 | 19 Feb- 20 Mar | ♓ |
Click #Horoscope to check the whole list of horoscopes.
The corresponding date of each Zodiac sign may be different. This is because the earth goes around the sun for a year but there is slight error when going through a whole round. Due to this reason and taking the geography into consideration, even though they are assigned to 12 astrology signs, the dates that lie on the boundary of two signs can be different among different countries so it becomes slightly shifted. For example, if someone was born in Japan, it would be Pisces, while if another person was born in Europe at the same time, it might be Aries.
The Four Elements and Personality Traits of each Horoscope
In astrology, there are four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. The 12 horoscopes are divided among them and It is believed the element of the relative zodiac sign can impact people’s characteristics and personality so people find it is trustworthy to determine one’s personality traits as well.
The Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
People with fire signs are passionate, dynamic, temperamental and intuitive. Apart from their kindhearted nature, they are expressive people who are creative and charming. On the contrary, they are sometimes aggressive and act impulsively due to their quick-temper.
The Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
People with earth signs are grounded, practical, disciplined and judgmental. They like instructions, rules and a dependable routine. They are also super organized and always want to get the job done in their own way.
The Air Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
People with air signs are intelligent, curious, talkative and independent. Their major characteristics are their great social and communication skills. Besides this, they tend to develop new ideas when they are thinking logically rather than emotionally.
The Water Signs: Cancer, Scorpio Pisces
People with water signs are sensitive, emotional, imaginative and empathetic. They have an intuitive nature, living in their creative world they often have intense dreams. Water people care and connect with others, but can also sometimes be moody and highly suspicious of others.
Click #Horoscope to check the corresponding characteristics and personality of each horoscope.
History of Horoscopes in Japan
The history of Western horoscopes in Japan is not that long nor deep. People did not put emphasis on horoscopes until the Showa Era 40s. In 1966, the book “Western Astrological Sign – You Control of Universe Mysterious (西洋占星術)” written by Kanmei Monma was published, thanks to this people started to raise their interest in Western astrological sign. At the same time, the female magazines set up a horoscope fortune luck corner, so it was easily promoted into society. Since then, a boom of horoscope reading has been brought into Japan and become popular.
Horoscope Fortune Telling is Popular in Japan
Horoscope reading is common all over the world. It is no exception in Japan. We can commonly find the horoscope fortune telling in magazines, on television programs, or even in daily news sessions. Actually, the Japanese people like having fortune telling, no matter if it's horoscopes, tarot, Omikuji (御神籤), Dobutsu Uranai etc. They believe that fortune telling results will help them to predict the future and to avoid mistake or guide them to the right decision. Apart from future prediction, they think the characteristics of fortune telling can determine one’s personality and their compatibility with others. The most common one they base this on are blood type and horoscopes.
What do you think about horoscopes? Do you really believe it can indicate if some people are matched with each other? You can see more details and the background of each horoscope by clicking this tag (#horoscope). Good luck!
Comments