In Japan, there is a saying called “Yaoyorozu-no-kami," meaning “eight million gods.” It is believed that there are eight million deities in Japan. Among them is the God of Poverty.
There is a traditional Japanese folktale that goes like this: A farming couple worked hard everyday, but no matter how much they worked, they remained poor. Still, they had enough to eat and were happy without complaints. One day at the end of the year, they heard the sound of quiet sobbing coming from their closet, so they opened the door to see what was going on. Inside was the God of Poverty. The God of Poverty explained that he had to give way to the God of Fortune the following year, but he was so sad because he didn’t want to leave—he felt so at home there—that he had been crying.
Hearing this, the couple felt great sympathy for him. They decided to prevent the God of Fortune from entering their home and let the God of Poverty stay with them. The God of Fortune was so surprised because every single person except this spouses welcomed the wealth. Anyway, he noticed that he was not welcome, so he left there wondering why this happened.
The couple remained poor for the rest of their lives, but they lived happily ever after with the God of Poverty.
When I was a kid, if we heard about self-made millionaires, we talked each other like this: He must have committed something criminal, something bad at least! We called such persons "nari-kin" with disgrace. Nari-kin is originally one of the shogi pieces which turns from "fu," 歩, infantry to "kin," 金, gold.
Japan is part of the global economy, however, still independent and less affected by the recent oil-shock. One reason is that we somewhat respect poverty, which contradicts the global economy's seduction.
Be free from the trap of wealth! May god"s" bless you.
There are variations, by the way.
