I bought a $150 book on funeral rites in rural Japan and customs here won't let me show it

I found this detailed book online about Japanese burial practices, like the taboo of pointing chopsticks at graveside food. I thought it would be a good resource for a project. When it arrived, my family saw it and got really upset, saying it's bad luck to have that topic in our house. Now the book just sits in a box in my closet because I can't even put it on a shelf without causing a fuss. Has anyone else bought something for study that their own culture's rules made you hide?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianhernandez1mo ago

Got a whole shelf of books my grandma would side-eye into another dimension. Bought a used copy of a book on Appalachian folk magic for a college paper once. She visited, spotted it next to my history textbooks, and straight up tucked it in a drawer wrapped in a kitchen towel. Said it was "inviting trouble." Now my serious academic stuff is chilling next to a hidden library of "bad vibe" books she's banished over the years.

the_elizabeth1mo ago

Found a book on old lock picking methods at a yard sale once. My mom saw it and buried it in the backyard "for safety.

the_riley13d ago

I read about old schools of lock picking that used to just pass down techniques through family trades before locksmithing got standardized. Always wondered if the old ways actually work better or if it's just romanticizing the past. Your mom sounds like she knows exactly what kind of trouble that knowledge can get you into lol.

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