High Time For Some Crazy Superstitions

And to relax from farming for a bit

Half-Summer is typically the 11th day after the beginning of summer according to the ancient Chinese calendar. There are a lot of beliefs and superstitions about this time. However, the overall theme is about finishing up the farm work. During this time the planting has to be finished! Different places have different local customs and they differ quite widely. For example in Nara Prefecture the farmer who finishes planting first eats a special mixture of strawberries, wheat, and “yellow powder” while thanking the gods. In Yamanashi in places people are forbidden from entering leek fields and in Ogawa-mura, Nagano Prefecture, people have to eat soup on this day. Some places also believed that vegetables harvested during this time must not be eaten and that wells have to be protected from rain water as it is poisonous at this time. It is also customary to eat octopus on this day and to avoid entering a bamboo grove, because it might be flowering and seeing it will kill you, according to ancient beliefs.

The basic theme of this time is to get all your rice planting done, then relax for about four or five days.

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半夏生

References

In Japanese

https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/半夏生

http://www.i-nekko.jp/meguritokoyomi/zassetsu/hangeshou/

https://ii-nippon.net/%E4%BA%8C%E5%8D%81%E5%9B%9B%E7%AF%80%E6%B0%97%E3%83%BB%E9%9B%91%E7%AF%80/1718.html

Image thanks to Akira Deng @ Unsplash.com.

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