TOKYO (majirox news) — Her boyfriend left her for another
woman. Yukiko Goto felt lonely, angry, and humiliated. She couldn’t move on
with her life and was desperate to talk to someone about it. However, the
attractive 28-year-old cosmetics company worker, who lives in Tokyo, couldn’t
bring herself to open up to someone she knew. She decided to consult a
fortune-teller.
“I felt like I lost everything and didn’t know where I
wanted to go in my life,” she says. “The charm of fortune-telling is that you
can talk about your problems and do it anonymously.” Goto went to a
fortune-teller who specializes in names and blood types, but she could just as
easily have chosen one of many other types of fortune-telling: numerology,
astrology, palmistry, and tarot readings to name but a few.
According to Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies at
Temple University Japan and author of “Contemporary Japan.” People are anxious
about uncertainty and the future and go to fortune-tellers to seek some
clarification, a prediction from which they can gain some sort of solace.
“I think many people are driven by a need to control their
circumstances and getting a preview on the future feeds that need,” he says. In
his view, “it is not unique only to Japan, but rather shows how much Japanese
are like people everywhere.”
However, it is hard for young Japanese women to broach
serious subjects with their friends, and people tend to avoid close
relationships. Although there are communication opportunities like the Internet
and the mobile phone, many young people still want to consult with someone they
don’t know.
Yuriko Kiwa, a popular fortune-teller in Tokyo’s fashionable
Harajuku district says people also use fortune-telling as a tool to explore
life and discover who they are. “While some use fortune-telling for
entertainment, the majority wants to talk about their problems.” Most of her clients are women in their 20s and 30s, and some
teenagers, who usually talk about love and work. These days, men visit her as
well.
Kiwa says people also use fortune-telling as a tool to
explore life and discover who they are. “While some use fortune-telling for
entertainment, the majority wants to talk about their problems.”
Most of her clients are women in their 20s and 30s, and some
teenagers, who usually talk about love and work. These days, men visit her as
well.
According to Sakita Ayu, a fortune-teller who has worked for
the past 15 years in a booth in Tokyo, fortune-telling helps people, especially
with problems like money and relationships. “It’s a reflection of today’s
society that has become more complicated.”
(By Takeshi Watannabe and Catherine Makino)
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