Bad Luck

My fortieth entry, and still going strong.

Today's lesson concerns superstition and luck. In Japan, the numbers four and nine are considered unlucky. The Japanese for 4 is 'shi' which means death, and 9 is 'ku' which begins the word for suffering. In fact, the worst number plate you can have is:

4 . 2 1 9
shi ni i ku
"going to die"(roughly translating as)

Just as some buildings in the West miss out the thirteenth floor, many Japanese hospitals and hotels don't have a fourth floor.

Curiously, the numbers nine and four added together make thirteen. Hmm, imagine if your birthday was 13/9/04. And it was a Friday.