Fire Horse Years Reduced Births

The Fire Horse appears once every 60 years in Japan's sexagenary cycle, and superstition says girls born during that year will grow up to ruin or even kill their husbands. Fear of the belief led many Japanese couples to avoid childbirth in 1966, while some chose abortions, causing the birth rate to fall 25% from 1965. The Yamagata District Legal Affairs Bureau even organized a Fire Horse Banishment Campaign in November 1965 to challenge the superstition. The Fire Horse returned in 2026, although experts predicted that it would have little effect on modern birth rates.

Previous Fact Next Fact