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 Bad Omens
In Western culture we have things such as breaking mirrors, walking under ladders and stepping on cracks. Japan has similar indicators that bad luck is just around the bend. These include snapping shoelaces and sandle straps, the destruction of a favorite bowl or chopsticks, as well as damage befalling the family altar. Animals such as crows also bear bad news. You will have bad luck if you break a comb. You should always throw salt where a beggar has just been. If you are the middle person in a picture with two others in it, you will soon die or suffer a hard tragedy. Relevance to Urusei Yatsura These images spring up from time to time, most significantly when extremely bad luck is just around the bend. Sakura broke her sandle strap just before the Earth was invaded by Rupa and Lum was kidnapped, for instance. The Mendo family was so worried about being photographed in the center of a photo that they forced their family goat to sit in the center, and later his spirit haunted their home. |
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