Another year older... or what to expect during the Yakudoshi year...

That time of the year has come and gone and this year is not one that I am looking forward to. You see, the Japanese call it Yakudoshi.

On About.com they had this:

Yakudoshi are the years of calamity. This is a Japanese belief that people at the ages of yakudoshi are likely to experience misfortunes or illness. It is generally believed that men's yakudoshi are the ages 25, 42 and 61, and for women 19, 33 and 37, though there are local and historical variations. One's yakudoshi is measured by adding one to the actual age.

The ages of 42 for men and 33 for women are considered to be particularly bad years, honyaku (great calamity). This is probably because the numbers 42 and 33 are phonetically unlucky numbers. 42 can be pronounced "shi-ni" which is homophonous with the word "to death," and 33, when pronounced as "sanzan" means "hard", "terrible", or "disastrous". When reaching yakudoshi, many people go to Shinto shrines for exorcism (yakubarai). Although this is just a superstition, it may not be improbable because people seem to go through hard times with their health or jobs around these ages.

Many people are also aware that the years preceding and following a major yakudoshi are yakudoshi years too. The year before yakudoshi is called maeyaku, while the year after is called atoyaku.

So I guess I was supposed to have this party to ward off the bad luck, but being by myself, I really don't have anyone that would. Usually this would be with family that would celebrate (so to speak). However, I believe that I maybe in the clear because the Japanese believe your age starts from the time of conception. This way, at the time of your birth, your already considered 1 year old, where I believe in the American culture, your considered 1 year old on your first birthday.

つづく ( To be continued... )