ROKUYO
What is Rokuyo (Six-Day Fortune Cycle)?
Rokuyo is a calendar notation that mechanically assigns one of six categories—Senshō, Tomobiki, Senbu, Butsumetsu, Taian, and Shakkō—to each date based on the old lunar calendar, reading that day’s fortune from the result. Originating in a Chinese system of calendar reckoning that took root in Japan, it remains in use today as a custom for choosing auspicious dates for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonial occasions.
Overview
- System
- Fate Reading (mechanically calculates Rokuyo from the lunar calendar date and reads the result)
- Origin
- Japan (originally from China)
- What You Need
- The date to be read
- Best For
- Timing
- Time Frame
- Today / the near future
Origins & History
Rokuyo is a calendar notation that mechanically assigns one of six categories—Senshō, Tomobiki, Senbu, Butsumetsu, Taian, and Shakkō—to each date on the old lunar calendar, using the result to judge that day’s fortune. It is thought to originate in a Chinese system of calendar reckoning grounded in yin-yang and the Five Elements, and is believed to have reached Japan sometime between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.
It is said to have taken root widely among the general public from the late Edo period into the years following the shogunate’s fall, and today it is common enough that Rokuyo notations still appear on ordinary calendars and planners. In practices such as holding a wedding on a Taian day or avoiding funerals on a Tomobiki day, it remains an active custom in Japan for choosing dates for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonial occasions.
How It Works
- 01Determine the lunar-calendar month and day for the date you want to check.
- 02Starting from the first day of the lunar month, mechanically assign the six categories (Senshō, Tomobiki, Senbu, Butsumetsu, Taian, and Shakkō) in a fixed, repeating order.
- 03Identify which category has been assigned to the date in question.
- 04Read that day’s fortune from the meaning associated with the category—for example, Taian is auspicious for everything, while Butsumetsu is considered an inauspicious day.
What It Reveals
Rokuyo is well suited to quickly checking whether a specific date is auspicious for events such as weddings, funerals, or moving house. However, because it is simply a mechanical assignment of six fixed categories, it does not read an individual’s personality or overall life fortune; it functions instead as one piece of reference information for choosing a date.
Related Methods
References
- 六曜 - Wikipedia (https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AD%E6%9B%9C)