Question
of the Week
Vol. 7
Q. Are there any unlucky numbers in Japan?
A. The Japanese don't like the number 4 and 9 because of their pronunciation. Four is pronounced "shi" which is the same pronunciation as death. Nine is pronounced "ku" which has the same pronunciation as agony or torture.
There are many hospitals that don't have these numbers as the room number or even the floor number. The Japanese also dislike Friday the13th, though many of them are not Christians. There are no seats with numbers 4, 9 and 13 on passenger planes of the All Nippon Airways.
On the other hand, the number 8 is considered a lucky number. This is because of the shape of the kanji character for eight. The two strokes are wider at the bottom, suggesting a better time or better things to come in the future.
Click here for Japanese Numbers.
