六曜 ROKUYO – Lucky And Unlucky Days in Japan

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The Days of 六曜 (Rokuyo)

From the 14th to 19th century, Japan used a lunar calendar with six days. These six days were known as 六曜 (Rokuyo). Each day had a name and an associated meaning, shown in the following table:

Better Safe than Sorry

In 1873, Japan changed to the solar (Gregorian) calendar system, but the superstition remained. Few Japanese would admit to serious belief of the system now, but the ‘better be safe than sorry’ attitude is common when arranging a ceremony. Perhaps the most significant effect is on the wedding ceremony.

Weddings

Traditionally, Taian is the most popular day to tie the knot, and Butsumetsu is the least popular. However, in the current uncertain economy, money has become a significant factor in deciding the best day for a wedding.

Due to the passing of the baby boom of 25-30 years ago, fewer people will reach the marrying age in the foreseeable future. Therefore, wedding companies face the double problem of a shrinking market and an economy that has been weak since the 90s. In response, many companies today are offering a special discount to people who use their services on a Butsumetsu day. This incentive has had the effect that the peaks and troughs seen in a typical wedding week a few years ago are now leveling off. The cost of offering the incentive is more than made up by the efficiency gained in the more balanced use of resources throughout the week.

Those marrying on a Butsumetsu that is also Friday the 13th, are more likely interested in saving money, rather than being superstitious.

Funerals

Tomobiki is bad news for funerals. Tomobiki signifies good luck except at noon, but it also translates as ‘pulling a friend’. It conjures the image of being pulled into death to go with your friend.

Sickness

People also consider Rokuyo, when being discharged from a hospital1. The unlucky day Butsumetsu often precedes the lucky day Taian. Rather than risk discharge on an unlucky day, patients extend their stay by an extra day to be discharged on a lucky day. This may sound quaint, but a consequence is an increased cost of medical care in Japan. A relatively small increase of course, but given the mega-billion yen cost of medical care in Japan, this extra astrological inspired cost has astronomical proportions.

A similar phenomenon affects Western hospitals, with patients avoiding surgery on Friday the 13th.

The financial cost of such delays and extended stays is calculable. Not so calculable are the psychological costs suffered if hospitals try to persuade patients to ignore a superstition.

1 Acknowledgement to Hira K, Fukui T, Endoh A, Rahman M, Maekawa M. ‘Influence of superstition on the date of hospital discharge and medical cost in Japan: retrospective and descriptive study.’ British Medical Journal 1998; 317:1680-3.

Doing Business in Japan

Should the days of Rokuyo concern the western businessman trying to conduct business in Japan? We can examine how Japanese businesses behave and use this information to model our behavior.

Japanese commercial and domestic construction projects often do start on Taian. A company may delay opening a new or refurbished branch office until Taian and will often schedule an office move on such a day. They will also avoid launching a new product on Butsumetsu. However these examples are about as far as it goes.

If you are about to do business with a Japanese company, don’t fret about lunar calendars at the expense of improving the quality of the product or service you are trying to sell! Our overall recommendation is to not worry about Rokuyo. As with the weddings taking place on Butsumetsu, business is about money, and the opportunity for profit tends to be a much more powerful influence than superstition.

丙午 Hinoe-Uma (the "Fire Horse") and the Baby Boom

丙午 Fire Horse Years include 1906, 1966, 2026

The end of the baby boom could itself be the result of a superstition. Hinoe-Uma is a calendar event that occurs every 60 years.

As with the astrological birth signs of the West, the Japanese use a modified Chinese astrology. 1966 was the Year of the Horse, but it was a special kind of rather nasty horse; a Fire Horse, or 丙午 Hinoe-Uma in Japanese.

Girls born in that year grow up to be known as "Fire Horse Women" and are reputed to be dangerous, headstrong and generally bad luck for any husband. In 1966, a baby’s sex could not be reliably detected before birth, hence there was a large increase of induced abortions and a sharp decrease in the birthrate in 1966.

Why did the birth rate not fully recover in the following years? The fertility rate did have a massive surge in 1967. Since few women had babies in 1966, fewer women left work that year for maternity. This significantly increased the proportion of working women in 1966 and may have triggered a general trend of more working women, leading to a reduction in the fertility rate and fewer babies.

There are alternative theories as to why the birth rate declined, but the superstition explanation is more fun! Stay tuned for the next Fire Horse year in 2026!

Other Sources

Tom Gally's Rokuyo page
The Western Fire Horse Home Page

六曜 (Rokuyo) Calendar Showing The Six Days

Legend: sg = sakigachi 先勝, to = tomobiki 友引, sm = sakimake 先負, bu = butsumetsu 仏滅, ta = taian 大安, sk = shakku 赤口