Visiting a Local Fortune Teller in Okinawa, Japan

Photo: Andrea Schaffer, Feature Photo: Mitch Lorens

Expat Mary Richardsons visit with Mr. Furuda does not spin out as expected.

Garfield the Cat greeted me during the door. He was suction-cupped to the glass, as well as we checked the pointer again to be sure we was during the right place.

San Francisco Caf.

Yes, this was it. we entered looking for Mr. Furuda, the fortune-teller.

A host urged me to lay down as well as forced the menu in to my hands. Several people sat during pick booths. At the nearby table, Mr. Furuda spoke kindly to the young lady who was dotting her eyes with the handkerchief.

I browsed the menu, but food seemed irrelevant.

I was during the San Francisco Caf to knowledge an Okinawan pasttime- visiting an urenai. we had my pick of several clairvoyants, human as well as electronic, within easy upon foot distance. There was the palm reader around the corner, an arcade where we could get the computerized printout, as well as the posh investiture called Mystic Rose inside the department store. Mr. Furuda had come rarely endorsed though, as well as he spoke English.

Japanese multitude is rarely receptive to counts of divination. People line up in scores to receive New Years Day fortunes. Some companies have shrines as well as deliberate feng shui decorating experts. Recently small shops offering inexpensive 1000 yen readings have proliferated.

San Francisco Cafe, Photo: Mary Richardson

I looked during the pick congregation inside the caf, as well as then again during the great girl.

I wouldnt cry, would I?

Of course not. we was usually there for perfect informative entertainment, or so we reminded myself.

Then again, years before during the San Diego County Fa! ir, the clairvoyant took my exhale away. At which time, we was ripped between two loves. One was the long-distance relationship Id had for years, the pick the intensity new romance. Id usually had fun in mind when we handed over my $20, but my mouth fell open when the penetrating knew my predicament.

Right right away in Okinawa, though, we wasnt looking for superintendence about boyfriends. we was looking for the unique afternoon.

But if we had been looking advice, we rationalized there was the chronological precedent for it. From the beginning of time, people have looked to mystics for conversing as well as remedies. Even now, superstition plays the distinguished role around the world. In China, people use fortune-tellers similar to monetary advisors, asking for investing tips. The tradition of throwing bones supplements modern medicine as well as religious beliefs in tools of Africa. And states similar to Michigan as well as New York, in the surrounded by of tide economic woes, have enacted laws to regulate the burgeoning happening revelation industry.

Waiting for my turn, we satisfied we was the single of many women in the cafe. There were college girls, comparison matrons, as well as others in mid-thirties similar to me. In fact, the steady tide of women poured in.

I wondered if Mr. Furuda recycled the phenomenon of the same happening for all of us. Did he look for crinkles around the eyes as well as place us in to the demographic, guessing during the regretful worries?

Fortunes during Sensoji, Photo: quatro.sinko

Researchers report which central European women during the late 19th century often turned to fortune-tellers for pick treatment. Health models during the time were male-centric as well as remote from feminine psychological ailments deriving from womens narrow social domain. In particular, they sought mystics to inquire whom they should marry,! if husb ands were faithful, as well as how to get pregnant.

In present times upon the pick side of the world, were the 21st century modern womans questions the same? Did the need for reassurance about counts of adore as well as relations transcend era as well as culture?

Mr. Furuda sat conflicting me as well as took my hand. Unlike the San Diego penetrating who conformed to my hobo seer stereotype, Mr. Furuda wore the crisply ironed symbol up Oxford shirt as well as trousers, only similar to an accountant.

He had the comforting face, but we immediately felt self-conscious. Minutes before, Id observed anxiety, relief, consternation, as well as repose upon pick peoples faces. Now it was my turn.

You will have prolonged life, My Furuda pronounced indicating the orderly filed fingernail during the crease upon my palm.

But the many important thing is

He paused delicately as well as looked in to my eyes.

You have to have the baby subsequent year.

Walking out of the caf, we stepped around the trio of giggling girls. we peered behind in through the potion door as well as saw which Mr. Furuda had already moved upon to the subsequent patron.

I was annoyed. Despite my self-talk about not receiving it seriously, Mr. Furuda had touched the nerve. As the 35-year aged woman, we didnt need him to levy the reproductive timeline upon me. we had Japanese as well as American society, doctors, as well as my own mother for that.

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To learn more about expat life as well as transport in Japan, check out Matdors Japan Focus Page.