Notes

Fire Horse

Most Westerners consider astrology an interesting curiosity, but few people (excluding Ronald Reagan) would make any life-changing decisions based on what it tells us. The Japanese culture, especially 97 years ago, when Mitsue was born, was very different. The superstitions around astrology were something to be feared and respected.  Mitsue was born on February 26, 1906 but her birth was not registered until February, 1907 to try to avoid the stigma of being a Fire Horse (this sign ended on 2/12/1907).  She never told her own family of this and they all thought she was born in February, 1907 until questioned in April, 2004 as a result of this article.  Her husband, Torayoshi, was born in the year of the Water Tiger.  His name means “Lucky Tiger”.

The astrology in Japan (and China) is based on the year instead of the month, with 12 different animals. Each animal represents a set of characteristics that the person born in that year will have. In addition, there are 5 different elements, which further define the person's character. So, there is a 60 year cycle of signs. Mitsue was very unfortunate to have been born in the year of the Fire Horse, 1906. This was especially bad for women, with many of them dying unmarried and in poverty.

FIRE HORSE - 1906, 1966, 2026

Mitsue was born in the year of the horse. Other years are dogs, goats, tigers, dragons, and other animals.  What you may not know is that there are special personalities associated with each of these signs.  1906 was a Horse year, and it was a special kind of horse -- a Fire Horse, called "hinoe-uma" in Japanese.  (The Chinese astrological system is also in use in Japan and Korea as well, although each country puts a slightly different spin on it.)

Japanese women who were born that year (and the following Fire Horse year, 1966) battle superstitions about themselves all the time.  Fire Horse women are called dangerous, headstrong, and are seen as deadly to men.  This may sound quaint to western ears, but the 1906 Japanese herd was subjected to poverty and starvation because they could not marry.  The 1966 herd has it a bit easier, but they still fight superstitions.  Chinese tradition also sees the Fire Horse as a special sign entailing either spectacular good luck, or terrible bad luck; they consider that nothing about the Fire Horse occurs in moderation.  However, I've never heard of any particular problem encountered by Fire Horses in China, much less Fire Horse women.

According to the Chinese zodiac, also in use in Japan, horses are seen as outgoing, people-loving, ambitious, rebellious, and independent.  They are supposedly freedom-loving and impossible to contain.  Since fire is already voracious and powerful, the combination of the fire and the power of the horse is seen as an almost uncontrollably independent mixture by believers in Japanese astrology.

These all sound like perfectly fine qualities to the westerner, especially to Americans, since our culture prizes individualism -- but in other societies, these are not necessarily good qualities.  They are especially disliked in women -- wives are supposed to be submissive and dependent, not ambitious or headstrong.  Hell, western cultures think that, too!

And again, while this all seems like a charming and slightly silly belief system now, particularly to other skeptics, it's very important to many people. Although it sounds silly to say that a person born in 1906 would become headstrong, ambitious, and independent to extreme degrees simply because of the year they were born, to the Japanese women with the dubious fortune to have been born in 1906, it is a very real superstition that impedes their lives.

While ambition and independence are prized as ingredients for success nowadays, they were never seen as ideal female qualities.  The proper woman was seen as submissive, quiet, and dependent, not rebellious and strong.  This prejudice against fire horse women kept the 1906 herd wracked by poverty in Japan, since no one would risk marrying a woman with these qualities.  Now almost 100 years old, many of the surviving hinoe-uma women are poor and homeless.  While the 1966 herd isn't quite this disadvantaged, they do battle these stereotypes every day.

Thankfully, the attitudes are changing somewhat.  The Japan Hinoe-uma Association, formed by six courageous fire horse women, is an organization dedicated to bettering the fate of the roughly 1,300,000 fire horse women who were born in Japan in 1966.  It's interesting to note that the birth rate for that year is down a half million as compared to the previous and succeeding years.  Such was the prejudice against the fire horse women that parents who had girls that year often delayed registering their births to keep them from having to deal with the stereotypes.

The six decades spanning the gaps between the years of the Fire Horse mean that this rare sign occurs only in the years 1846, 1906, 1966, 2026, etc. These years are bad for Horses themselves and bad for families who have a Horse in the house.  This is because the Fire Horse's influence can change from beneficial to malignant, and during these years all Horse families will become subject to illness, accidents and bad luck in general.

Men and women actually born in the year of the Fire Horse will have the same characteristics as the ordinary Horse -- but they will be more accentuated, in the good qualities as well as in the bad. The Fire Horse will thus be a harder worker, a more cunning individual, more independent, more gifted ... and alas, far more selfish. His passionate nature and the frantic egotism which seizes him will lead him to commit his worst excesses when he is in love.  There are those who say that the Fire Horse can be a good influence in the heart of his own family. But popular belief asserts that he will make trouble in the home he was born in just as he does in the one he himself has built.

What we do know is that the Fire Horse will have a career that is more varied, more exceptional, more interesting than that of the ordinary Horse. The Fire Horse carries within himself the seeds of fame ... or of notoriety!

The Fire Horse is a flamboyant and itinerant Horse with a superb intellect and great personal magnetism.  He tries to bring about the changes he desires through force and sheer willpower. This is a double Fire sign (Fire also being the Horse's fixed element), and it will produce a native who is highly excitable and hot-blooded.

The Fire Horse is easily distracted and is too inconsistent to stick to repetitive tasks.  He has flair, wit and charm but his continuous stream of bright ideas makes him extremely volatile.  His personality is many-faceted and he requires a great deal of spice and variety in his life.  He is happiest leading a double or triple life or having several professions to his credit.

He will love to travel, anticipates action and change and works most efficiently when put in charge.  He rarely accepts supervision from others, even his superiors. The Fire Horse is a thrill-seeker.  He can sort out and deal with all kinds of people and situations within a minute's notice.  He is skillful at resolving sticky affairs but is not above being argumentative. This type of Horse will have the gifts of ingenuity and resourcefulness but not perseverance.

WATER TIGER - 1902, 1962, 2022

Torayoshi was born in the year of the Water Tiger. The tiger is the most compatible sign for a horse, so the marriage of Torayoshi and Mitsue would have been viewed positively from this point of view. Despite the strongly negative characteristics of the Fire Horse noted above, the only element capable of taming and controlling fire is water. So the Water Tiger astrological sign was a fortuitous combination for the husband of a Fire Horse.

The Water Tiger is an open-minded Tiger who is always inclined toward new ideas and experiences.  He also has a gift for seeing things objectively, because the Water element combined with his lunar sign gives him a calmer nature.  He is humane and an excellent judge of the truth, as he can relate to the way others feel.  He is intuitive and has a well-developed faculty for communicating with people.

This more realistic type of Tiger has his finger on the pulse of the people and knows the things he deals with.  He makes few errors in his assessments.  His mental abilities are above par, but like all Tigers, he sometimes waste precious time procrastinating.  Still, he is rated as less temperamental than the other Tigers, as he can control his emotional urges.

Japanese Astrology Chart 1900-2020

 

Begin	End	Begin	End	Element	Sign
1900 Jan 31	1901 Feb 18	1960 Jan 28	1961 Feb 14	Metal	Rat
1901 Feb 19	1902 Feb 07	1961 Feb 15	1962 Feb 04	Metal	Ox
1902 Feb 08	1903 Jan 28	1962 Feb 05	1963 Jan 24	Water	Tiger
1903 Jan 29	1904 Feb 15	1963 Jan 25	1964 Feb 12	Water	Rabbit
1904 Feb 16	1905 Feb 03	1964 Feb 13	1965 Feb 01	Wood	Dragon
1905 Feb 04	1906 Jan 24	1965 Feb 02	1966 Jan 20	Wood	Snake
1906 Jan 25	1907 Feb 12	1966 Jan 21	1967 Feb 08	Fire	Horse
1907 Feb 13	1908 Feb 01	1967 Feb 09	1968 Jan 29	Fire	Goat
1908 Feb 02	1909 Jan 21	1968 Jan 30	1969 Feb 16	Earth	Monkey
1909 Jan 22	1901 Feb 09	1969 Feb 17	1970 Feb 05	Earth	Rooster
1910 Feb 10	1911 Jan 29	1970 Feb 06	1971 Jan 26	Metal	Dog
1911 Jan 30	1912 Feb 17	1971 Jan 27	1972 Feb 14	Metal	Pig
1912 Feb 18	1913 Feb 05	1972 Feb 15	1973 Feb 02	Water	Rat
1913 Feb 06	1914 Jan 25	1973 Feb 03	1974 Jan 22	Water	Ox
1914 Jan 26	1915 Feb 13	1974 Jan 23	1975 Feb 10	Wood	Tiger
1915 Feb 14	1916 Feb 02	1975 Feb 11	1976 Jan 30	Wood	Rabbit
1916 Feb 03	1917 Jan 22	1976 Jan 31	1977 Feb 17	Fire	Dragon
1917 Jan 23	1918 Feb 10	1977 Feb 18	1978 Feb 06	Fire	Snake
1918 Feb 11	1919 Jan 31	1978 Feb 07	1979 Jan 27	Earth	Horse
1919 Feb 01	1920 Feb 19	1979 Jan 28	1980 Feb 15	Earth	Goat
1920 Feb 20	1921 Feb 07	1980 Feb 16	1981 Feb 04	Metal	Monkey
1921 Feb 08	1922 Jan 27	1981 Feb 05	1982 Jan 24	Metal	Rooster
1922 Jan 28	1923 Feb 15	1982 Jan 25	1983 Feb 12	Water	Dog
1923 Feb 16	1924 Feb 04	1983 Feb 13	1984 Feb 01	Water	Pig
1924 Feb 05	1925 Jan 24	1984 Feb 02	1985 Feb 19	Wood	Rat
1925 Jan 25	1926 Feb 12	1985 Feb 20	1986 Feb 08	Wood	Ox
1926 Feb 13	1927 Feb 01	1986 Feb 09	1987 Jan 28	Fire	Tiger
1927 Feb 02	1928 Jan 22	1987 Jan 29	1988 Feb 16	Fire	Rabbit
1928 Jan 23	1929 Feb 09	1988 Feb 17	1989 Feb 05	Earth	Dragon
1929 Feb 10	1930 Jan 29	1989 Feb 06	1990 Jan 26	Earth	Snake
1930 Jan 30	1931 Feb 16	1990 Jan 27	1991 Feb 14	Metal	Horse
1931 Feb 17	1932 Feb 05	1991 Feb 15	1992 Feb 03	Metal	Goat
1932 Feb 06	1933 Jan 25	1992 Feb 04	1993 Jan 22	Water	Monkey
1933 Jan 26	1934 Feb 13	1993 Jan 23	1994 Feb 09	Water	Rooster
1934 Feb 14	1935 Feb 03	1994 Feb 10	1995 Jan 30	Wood	Dog
1935 Feb 04	1936 Jan 23	1995 Jan 31	1996 Feb 18	Wood	Pig
1936 Jan 24	1937 Feb 10	1996 Feb 19	1997 Feb 06	Fire	Rat
1937 Feb 11	1938 Jan 30	1997 Feb 07	1998 Jan 27	Fire	Ox
1938 Jan 31	1939 Feb 18	1998 Jan 28	1999 Feb 15	Earth	Tiger
1939 Feb 19	1940 Feb 07	1999 Feb 16	2000 Feb 04	Earth	Rabbit
1940 Feb 08	1941 Jan 26	2000 Feb 05	2001 Jan 23	Metal	Dragon
1941 Jan 27	1942 Feb 14	2001 Jan 24	2002 Feb 11	Metal	Snake
1942 Feb 15	1943 Feb 04	2002 Feb 12	2003 Jan 31	Water	Horse
1943 Feb 05	1944 Jan 24	2003 Feb 01	2004 Jan 21	Water	Goat
1944 Jan 25	1945 Feb 12	2004 Jan 22	2005 Feb 8	Wood	Monkey
1945 Feb 13	1946 Feb 01	2005 Feb 8	2006 Jan 28	Wood	Rooster
1946 Feb 02	1947 Jan 21	2006 Jan 29	2007 Feb 17	Fire	Dog
1947 Jan 22	1948 Feb 09	2007 Feb 18	2008 Feb 6	Fire	Pig
1948 Feb 10	1949 Jan 28	2008 Feb 7	2009 Jan 25	Earth	Rat
1949 Jan 29	1950 Feb 16	2009 Jan 26	2010 Feb 23	Earth	Ox
1950 Feb 17	1951 Feb 05	2010 Feb 24	2011 Feb 2	Metal	Tiger
1951 Feb 06	1952 Jan 26	2011 Feb 3	2012 Jan 22	Metal	Rabbit
1952 Jan 27	1953 Feb 13	2012 Jan 23	2013 Feb 9	Water	Dragon
1953 Feb 14	1954 Feb 02	2013 Feb 10	2014 Jan 30	Water	Snake
1954 Feb 03	1955 Jan 23	2014 Jan 31	2015 Feb 18	Wood	Horse
1955 Jan 24	1956 Feb 11	2015 Feb 19	2016 Feb 7	Wood	Goat
1956 Feb 12	1957 Jan 30	2016 Feb 8	2017 Jan 27	Fire	Monkey
1957 Jan 31	1958 Feb 17	2017 Jan 28	2018 Feb 15	Fire	Rooster
1958 Feb 18	1959 Feb 07	2018 Feb 16	2019 Feb 4	Earth	Dog
1959 Feb 08	1960 Jan 27	2019 Feb 5	2020 Jan 24	Earth	Pig