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?

2 comments

2 Comments

brianhernandez7d 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_elizabeth7d 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.