Contemporary Japan remains a complex blend of the new and the old. While rapidly absorbing the most advanced scientific and technological knowledge, Japan simultaneously retains a multitude of ancient folk faiths and beliefs. In daily life, for example, the average Japanese still refers to the koyomi (zodiac almanac) in making many important decisions, even among the well educated groups. The folk superstition which concerns us here is the belief based on the zodiac almanac that females born in the Year of Hinoe-Uma (Elder Fire-Horse) possess undesirable characteristics and should be avoided as marriage partners. A female born in this year, which occurs every 60 years, is believed to be fiery and impulsive, anger quickly, and destroy her husband if she marries. This myth became a strong superstition in 1682 when it was combined with the tale of Yaoya-Oshichi, a young maiden born in the Year of Hinoe-Uma, who because of her love for a young priest started a fire which spread and almost destroyed the entire city of Edo, present day Tokyo. She was executed for arson. Kabuki plays and odori dances based on this episode have helped to perpetuate the belief down through the centuries. In more modern times, a startling news story in the mid-1930s concerned a deranged woman who had murdered her lover, cut off his penis, and carried it about in her bosom, with the added detail that she was born in the Year of Hinoe-Uma. Such incidents have reinforced the superstition. The strength of this belief has been clearly documented in the crude birth rate in Japan for 1966, which was the Year of Elder Fire-Horse. Since 1955, the crude birth rate has generally fluctuated between 17 and 18 per thousand population. However, in 1966 the rate fell to an amazing low of 13.7 per thousand, and then resumed its normal trend the following year. Many couples apparently tried not having children at all in that year, and hence there was a decrease of about 460,000 births from the 1965 record.
