01: Kazuko Hosaki has become Japan’s “lifestyle guru” who blends self-help advice with a spiritual system of divination with ancestor worship. Hosaki has become a well-known presence on Japanese TV and tabloids mainly through her fortune telling for celebrities, but lately has branched out to giving advice on Japanese mores and morals—from disrespect for elders to proper dress.
Her system draws on Chinese divination teachings claiming that people’s lives operate in 12-year cycles, while adding traditional Japanese ancestor worship concepts. Although criticized for selling amulets and other spiritual goods and having a luxuriant lifestyle, observers say that Hosaki’s approach is appealing to many after economic downturns and such disasters as the gas attacks by the new religion Aum (Religion in the News, Winter)