In Japan, technology collides with superstition

    TOKYO – Japanese construction companies now roam the globe, tackling the most fearsome projects with the latest technologies and sparking trade disputes with their commercial success.

But that doesn’t mean Japan’s builders have lost their respect for the spirits that inhabit the mountains, the earth and the sea.

A joint venture of two Tokyo construction firms caused a stir recently when it asked female reporters not to attend a ceremony March 5 marking the completion of a 1,000-yard highway tunnel through a mountain west of Tokyo.  Workers feared the local goddess would become jealous and jinx them as they added the finishing touches.

After some negative publicity, and under pressure from the Tokyo government, the construction firms agreed to reconsider – “on the condition that (the female reporters) not wear womanly clothes,” a company official said.

The supernatural world has not been displanted by the worlds of industry and technology for which Japan has become famous.  In the minds of many Japanese, the spirits of nature and of ancestors live close to the tangible world, to be appeased or, at least, not trifled with…

Hundreds of small shrines nestle among the city’s glass and concrete towers.  Carpenters sometimes consult with spiritual experts before building a new house, to make sure the angels are propitious.

“This isn’t a question of discrimination against women,” said a construction official in the Tokyo municipal office who asked not to be named.  “Many Japanese, whether they live in the country or the city, still live according to these beliefs.”

Still, many of the most enduring beliefs have an anti-female cast.

“Anachronistic superstitions, in which the people involved in dangerous jobs regard women as ominous, are found throughout Japan,” Chizuko Ueno, a professor at Heian Gakuin Women’s Junior College, told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.  “For instance, fishermen will not have intercourse with their wives before they set sail.”

“Nonetheless,” she added, “I couldn’t believe that an official organization like the Tokyo metropolitan government would accept such superstitions.  I think female reporters should cover the event – in skirts and makeup.”

This is not the first time women have been barred from tunnels under construction.  In 1973, a female television reporter was refused entry to an unfinished undersea tunnel that Japan National Railways was building for its bullet train.

Workers feared that the spirit of the sea would take revenge if women entered while construction continued.  In that case, however, foreign women were allowed; it was felt the local spirit would not be jealous of them.

The ceremony two weeks ago celebrated the joining of tunnellers from two sides of a mountain west of Tokyo.  Workers feared that the yama no kami – the phrase means goddess of the mountain but can also refer to a domineering wife – would be angry if females entered.

An official with the national construction ministry said there was no clear policy on the issue.  “But I wonder whether it is proper to give any order, do this or that, and neglect the feelings of the workers who risk their lives on the front line,” he said.
When the tunnel dedication ceremony took place, five female reporters and photographers were present.  Some workers interviewed on Japanese television grumbled about their presence, but there were no disasters reported.  Mainichi Shimbun, which sent a woman reporter, headlined its story, “The Goddess of the Mountain Wasn’t Angry” – followed by an exclamation mark and a question mark.