When a yakuza sees a hearse (霊柩車/reikyusha) coming towards him in traffic, he’ll often put down the cell-phone which he has semi-permanently attached to his ear, and hides his thumb in his fist to avoid bad luck. (親指を隠す). The thumb, called the oyayubi 親指 in Japanese, means “parent finger.” It represents to the yakuza, the oyabun (father-figure) who is their boss in the organization. The Godfather so to speak. The idea is that by hiding the thumb from the hearse they are protecting their boss and themselves from death or misfortune.
Conversely, if you’re a tattooed man, finding yourself in traffic riding behind a hearse is considered lucky and it means that you are going to have especially good luck gambling.
No one is really sure what it means to crash into a hearse but this is probably not a good thing.
Yakuza love kewpies. They bring good luck, especially when they have tattoos. Maybe.
The PR manager of a well-known celeb management office was arrested and a warrant put out for the company representative on July 26 on charges of attempted fraud in connection(…)
A member of the Inagawa-kai was arrested for possession of stimulants and cannabis after being discovered carrying 19.5 grams of stimulants and 29 grams of marijuana on his person July(…)
It was announced that a kindergarten teacher has been arrested in Higashi-Murayama city for indecent assault and creating child pornography. The 28-year-old male teacher reportedly molested a fourth-year student in(…)
Voice actor for the popular anime One Piece, Norio Imamura, was arrested July 12 for displaying photos of the lower half of his body on his blog. According to police,(…)
A traditional tattoo artist, or horishi, was arrested July 10 for accepting money for tattoos without the proper medical license under violation of the medical practitioner’s law. The 36-year-old Hyogo-based(…)
Yakuza Superstitions #1
When a yakuza sees a hearse (霊柩車/reikyusha) coming towards him in traffic, he’ll often put down the cell-phone which he has semi-permanently attached to his ear, and hides his thumb in his fist to avoid bad luck. (親指を隠す). The thumb, called the oyayubi 親指 in Japanese, means “parent finger.” It represents to the yakuza, the oyabun (father-figure) who is their boss in the organization. The Godfather so to speak. The idea is that by hiding the thumb from the hearse they are protecting their boss and themselves from death or misfortune.
Conversely, if you’re a tattooed man, finding yourself in traffic riding behind a hearse is considered lucky and it means that you are going to have especially good luck gambling.
No one is really sure what it means to crash into a hearse but this is probably not a good thing.
Yakuza love kewpies. They bring good luck, especially when they have tattoos. Maybe.