Another Meishin.

[The Frankensteiner]

Here's one more Japanese superstition that I've heard of but was not mentioned in your culture class on meishin.

When you sneeze, it's because someone somewhere is talking about you.

I don't know if this is an actual superstition or not, but it's what I've heard.
Can anyone confirm it? I'm pretty sure I've seen it happen in anime before. Some one says something disparaging about someone, and a short clip of them sneezing is shown.

[Peter]

Frankensteiner ・フランケンシュタイナー,
Very cool, but long, kana name! Haven't heard about this one, and usually when someone sneezes there is no reaction by anyone, except me ducking the incoming germs, but I will look into this.

[The Frankensteiner]

Thanks for looking into it. I'm sure some of the Japanese staff would know.
Well there's probably no reaction because it's one of those old silly superstitions that no one believes in any more. That is, if it's even a superstition at all.

Hey was that my name in kana?
Cool!

[The Frankensteiner]

Hey Peter I just found this on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneeze

In the "beliefs about sneezing" section they mention the superstition.
Although wikipedia has a tendency to be wrong sometimes due to the fact that it is user created info. Any luck finding out about this from the gang?

[Peter]

フランケンシュタイナー

This one was just verified by the Nagasaki Connection. Apparently when you sneeze a 噂・うわさ・uwasa (rumor) is being spoken about you. However, this word does not always have a negative meaning according to them, so the accurate translation would indeed be someone is talking about you.
Thanks for pointing that out! Anymore we missed?

[The Frankensteiner]

Well my Japanese friend said that for a long while she didn't sleep facing north because that's the way they lay dead people down. She was afraid she'd die. But maybe that was just a thing only she believed.

[ali17]

I heard that you are not suposed to sleep with your feet facing the door to the room because that is the way dead people are brought out of a room and it is like you are waiting to die.

[seanolan]

I'm doing a lesson in my English class on western superstitions, and asked students and teachers for some Japanese superstitions. Here are the ones that 3 or more people mentioned that haven't been mentioned here or on the culture class podcast (I think):

Lie down after eating and you become a cow (I swear, over half my students and teachers told me this one!)
New shoes must be worn first in the morning to avoid bad luck; never in the afternoon or evening.
Not only are 4 and 9 bad luck, but 43 is especially bad for pregnant women as it sound like shizan, the word for stillbirth.
Sewing just before leaving the house is very bad luck.

I got a lot of miscellaneous info on naming children...apparently kanji-stroke numbers (with namae and myouji) is so important, that there are naming specialists to consult to make sure that the number of strokes in your child's name are fortunate.

Also, I had a few comments on words that sound like other words being bad-luck, which seems to be pretty common in Japanese, I think.

Some of them mentioned religious rituals, but I don't classify those as superstitions because they are actual beliefs based on faith rather than on folktales. But to western eyes, perhaps, cleansing building sites and purifying a fishing boat before sending it out might be seen as superstition (then again, try explaining communion to a non-Christian without sounding REALLY creepy..."Christians believe that they are symbollically eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ..." Tell me that doesn't sound like some freaky cannibalism stuff there!?)

Sean

[chickie]

Sorry it's kind of late to reply...

Sometimes people do say "Hmm, somebody's talking about me!" when they sneeze.
And I think most of the Japanese people know the similar lines to these ones below:
一　ほめられて　(ichi horerarete)
二　けなされて　(ni kenasarete)
三　惚れられて　(san horerarete)
四　風邪をひく　(yon kaze wo hiku)

When you sneeze once, somebody's saying good things about you.
When you sneeze twice, somebody's speaking badly of you.
When you sneeze three times, somebody's fallen in love with you.
When you sneeze four times, you've caught a cold.

And I know some of the superstitions mentioned above!
The cow one was what my mother used to say after meals when I was a
child..."Get up! You'll become a cow!"

[Ulver_684]

Sorry it's kind of late to reply...

Sometimes people do say "Hmm, somebody's talking about me!" when they sneeze.
And I think most of the Japanese people know the similar lines to these ones below:
一　ほめられて　(ichi horerarete)
二　けなされて　(ni kenasarete)
三　惚れられて　(san horerarete)
四　風邪をひく　(yon kaze wo hiku)

When you sneeze once, somebody's saying good things about you.
When you sneeze twice, somebody's speaking badly of you.
When you sneeze three times, somebody's fallen in love with you.
When you sneeze four times, you've caught a cold.

And I know some of the superstitions mentioned above!
The cow one was what my mother used to say after meals when I was a
child..."Get up! You'll become a cow!"

Chick-san!

It was very interest what you said about the sneezes! I have experience all of the above. Now my question is who has fall in love with me

Please let me know JP101 Listeners and I might consider it BUT I have to see your picture first!