Hatsuyume: Your First Dream of the New Year (Ep. 2)

Hello, Uncanny Japan is author Thersa Matsuura, that’s me, exploring all that is weird from old Japan. Strange superstitions and old wives’ tales, cultural oddities, and interesting language quirks. These are little treasures that I dig up when I do research for my writing. And I want to share them with you here on Uncanny Japan. I hope you like the show.

Hello, this is Thersa Matsuura, and you’re listening to Uncanny Japan. This is my second podcast. I am going to talk to you today about something that’s kind of related to New Year’s, New Year’s Day.

I’m a week or two into the new year, so this is a bit late. But it has been so windy, I haven’t been able to get out with the mics. Even my little fuzzy things don’t work. I do have the binaural mics on.

I am sitting at my open window. And what you can hear are like a gazillion birds in my tree. I have one tree in my yard. I don’t cut my tree down to the bones like all my neighbors do at the beginning of winter.

So the entire neighborhood, I have the only tree with actual foliage. And I think every bird in the city has come to roost and have a good time. So that’s what you’re hearing. I hope it’s not too annoying.

But until I can get to the beach or the harbor or the mountains on a nice, quiet day, you get my birds for now.

Understanding Hatsuyume: The First Dream Tradition

So what I want to talk to you about and I think is kind of interesting is a Japanese– it’s a saying, actually. And it’s called hatsuyume. Now, hatsu means the first, the first of something. At the beginning of the year, so the first day of the new year rolls around, hatsu is tagged on to a whole bunch of different words and phrases.

There’s hatsu hinode, which is the first sunrise of the new year. So on January 1, you go and you watch the sunrise. That’s hatsu hinode. Hatsu mōde would be the first visit to the temple or the shrine, because that’s important, too.

People go for their hatsu mōde and they pray. They give money. They pick what’s called an omikuji that shows them what their luck is going to be like in the coming year. And that’s kind of what hatsuyume is about.

What hatsuyume is– again, hatsu means the first, and yume is dream. So the first dream you have in the new year– and sometimes this is said to be the day one, January 1. Sometimes it’s the second. It depends.

The tradition varies. But basically, the first dream that you have– and as far as I’m concerned, that you remember in the new year– is your hatsuyume. Now, your hatsuyume will, as Japanese tradition says, it will predict how your year is going to turn out if you dream about one of three things.

Ichi Fuji, Ni Taka, San Nasubi: The Three Lucky Dream Symbols

The most common saying that everybody knows is ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi. Ichi, one, fuji, Mount Fuji. So if you dream about Mount Fuji as your first dream, that’s, wow, that’s fortuitous. That is a great dream.

And you’re going to have the best year ever. That makes sense. There’s no surprises there. The second, ni taka– taka is a hawk.

So if you dream about a hawk, that’s also a very prosperous dream. And it means you’re going to have a good year. Hawks fly high. They’re pretty cool.

And that makes sense as well. Three is kind of a mind boggler. Some people know what it means, and some people don’t. san nasubi.

San, three, nasubi or nasu is eggplant. Eggplant. Why would an eggplant in any way be a sign of fortune or good luck or prosperity? It’s a play on words is what it is.

Play on words is what it is. nasu is eggplant, of course, but another reading, another different characters, but the same pronunciation of Nasu means to achieve something great, to succeed. So it’s a play on words. If you dream of an eggplant, it means that in the coming year, this new year, you will achieve something great, and you will succeed, and blah, blah, blah, blah.

All your dreams will come true. So it’s a good thing to dream about. I don’t know how many– I probably can’t tell you how many times I’ve dreamt about an eggplant, or Mount Fuji, or a hawk for that matter. But if you remember your first dreams and had Mount Fuji, a hawk, or an eggplant been in those dreams, yay, yay you. You’re going to have a really good year.

The Extended Lucky Symbols: Four, Five, and Six

Now, those three, the ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi, are kind of the standard for Hatsu, Yume, the first dream. Everybody knows those. But there are also another grouping of three, four, five, and six, actually, which aren’t very well-known, even to Japanese people. And I think these are kind of fun, too.

So I did a bit of digging, and I came up with yon sen, or yon ōgi, depends on your sources, but yon sen, go tabako, and roku zatō. Now, Yon before, Sen or Ōgi is a fan, like one of those fold-out fans. And the idea here was, as you spread out a fan, your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, are also spreading out in the world. And they’re making their fortune, and they’re doing very well.

And this is a good thing. This is good for you. It’s good for them. And again, it’s a very fortuitous dream.

Now, go tabako is tobacco, a cigarette pipe, whatever, have, what have you. This, health-wise, is a little suspicious. However, again, it’s like the hawk, the taka. Tobacco smoke rises, you’re rising fortune, you’re rising what, health.

It’s also deemed to be a good luck dream, a good premonition. My favorite, however, is six, roku zatō. Now, zatō, there was a movie that came out. Actually, before the movie, gosh, way, way back in the black and white days of TV, there was a show called zatō Ichi, which I actually really like.

I don’t like a lot of Japanese TV, but I loved zatō Ichi. zatō is a blind masseur or masseuse, acupressurist, if you will, that would go around and travel and give massages to people for money. Because when you’re blind, especially in old Japan, you don’t have a whole lot of skills or a whole lot of ways to make money. Of course, people, I guess, believed or assumed that someone that was blind would be able to, whatever, give better massages for various reasons, I suppose.

So zatō Ichi, it was an old TV show. Later, there was a movie a couple years ago by Beat Takeshi. I don’t know if anyone saw it. I don’t even know if it’s in English.

I saw it in Japanese. Beat Takeshi, he’s not my favorite. Ooh, I know a lot of people really like him. But there was dancing.

There was singing. And boy, he sure was the hero of that show. And again, he was the main character. So this too, why would a dream about a blind acupressurist be a fortuitous dream?

And it’s also a play on words. zatō– not zatō so much as these old masseurs, masseuses, that would go around. I guess in order to add credibility to what they were doing, they would shave their heads. Monks are traditionally bald.

And monks are pretty respected in the community. And while these people weren’t monks, it looks cool, right? You don’t want some shaggy person to come in and give you a massage. You want someone that’s nice and shorn.

So these traveling or not traveling, wherever, they just hung around the same town. It doesn’t matter. They were bald, and they wore robes. Being bald, a way to say having no hair, is ke ga nai. ke is hair. ga nai means you don’t have. So ke ga nai. These people didn’t have hair.

ke ga nai, again, different words and a different reading. It’s pronounced the same, pretty much. kegai is injury or harm. nai is not.

It negates the harm. So not having harm or not being injured. And again, a play on words. It means that this year, you’re going to have a very healthy year.

You’re not going to get injured. You’re not going to be harmed. Roku zatō. So if you dreamed about a blind masseur or masseuse, also, it’s a very good dream.

I don’t know about you. I’m recording this, and I think it’s like the 15th, January 15th. And I’m going to put it up right away. But I can’t remember my first dreams.

Every year, I try to remember my first dreams, and I never quite do. Something to keep in mind for next year.

Wishing You Lucky Dreams

So what you want to dream about in any way possible, if you want to do this whole good luck thing the Japanese way, is ichi Fuji, ni taka, san nasubi. You can dream about fuji, a hawk, an eggplant, or yon sen, go tabako, roku zatō. You can dream about a folding fan, some kind of tobacco or cigarette products. Or roku zatō, you can dream about a blind acupressurist.

I guess, as tradition holds, that will guarantee you a fortuitous, a prosperous, and a healthy new year. And that’s what I wish for everybody out there. This is my thing this year. This is what I’m going to try to do.

For now, I’m going to wish you a very, very happy new year. Until we talk again, thanks for listening. Bye bye. Thank you so much for listening.

I’m Thersa Matsuura. And you can find me and Uncanny Japan in all the usual places on the internet– Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and of course, the two websites, uncannyjapan.com and theresamatsuura.com.

Now, Thersa Matsuura is spelled kind of funky. So let me do that for you. It is T-H-E-R-S-A M-A-T-S-U-U-R-A. Also, if you’d like, please visit my Patreon page.

And that would be theresamatsuura.patreon. And there I have some neat rewards to go with the free podcast, so give that a look. Thank you again so much.

And I will talk to you very, very soon. Bye bye.