In Japan, there is an old saying that you should not kill a spider you see in the morning. A morning spider has traditionally been regarded as a good sign, sometimes associated with good luck or the arrival of a welcome guest.
However, this is not a superstition that everyone in Japan knows today.
Some people grow up hearing from their parents or grandparents that morning spiders should be left alone. Others can reach adulthood without ever hearing the saying at all. It is an old Japanese folk belief, but it is not something that is equally familiar across the country.
Spiders are not always considered lucky, either. The details vary by region, but there are sayings in which a spider seen in the morning is considered fortunate while one seen at night is considered unlucky. In other words, even the same animal can be given a different meaning depending on when it appears.
There is no single clear explanation for why morning spiders came to be seen as lucky. Folk beliefs like this developed differently from place to place, so their meanings and explanations can also vary.
So if a Japanese person sees a spider in the morning today, do they actually think, “Something good is going to happen”?
Not necessarily.
Some people do not know the superstition at all. Even among those who do, many do not take it seriously as a sign of good fortune. If they see a small spider inside the house, they may simply think of it as a bug and attach no special meaning to it.
So “a morning spider is lucky” is an old Japanese folk belief, but it is not a feeling shared by all Japanese people today.
Some people may still think twice before killing a spider they see in the morning. Others will feel nothing special at all. Today, the belief survives more as something some people remember or follow than as a rule that Japanese people generally believe.
