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The number 17. Fear of the number 17 is known as heptadecaphobia and is prominent in Italian culture. [6] The number 39. Fear of the number 39 is known as the curse of 39, especially in Afghan culture. [7] The number 43. In Japanese culture, maternity wards numbered 43 are considered taboo, as the word for the number means "stillbirth". [8] The ...
There are six unlucky numbers in Japanese. Traditionally, 4 is unlucky because it is sometimes pronounced shi, which is the word for death. [5] Sometimes levels or rooms with 4 do not exist in hospitals or hotels. [7] Particularly in the maternity section of a hospital, the room number 43 is avoided because it can literally mean "stillbirth ...
The number 9 is also considered unlucky; when pronounced ku, it is a homophone for suffering (苦). The number 13 is sometimes considered unlucky, though this is a carryover from Western tradition. In contrast, 7 and sometimes 8 are considered lucky in Japanese. [2] In modern Japanese, cardinal numbers except 4 and 7 are generally given the on ...
Chinese is a tonal language with a comparatively small inventory of permitted syllables, resulting in an exceptionally large number of homophone words. Many of the numbers are homophones or near-homophones of other words and have therefore acquired superstitious meanings.
While other cultures have parallels to kotodama, such as mantra, yanling, mana, and logos, some Japanese people believe the "word spirit" is unique to the Japanese language. One of the classical names of Japan is kototama no sakiwau kuni ( 言霊の幸わう国 , "the land where the mysterious workings of language bring bliss") , [ 3 ] [ ISBN ...
Ryōgen (left), 18th chief abbot (zasu) of Enryaku-ji. The omikuji sequence historically commonly used in Japanese Buddhist temples, consisting of one hundred prophetic five-character quatrains, is traditionally attributed to the Heian period Tendai monk Ryōgen (912–985), posthumously known as Jie Daishi (慈恵大師) or more popularly, Ganzan Daishi (元三大師), and is thus called ...
Kodoku (蠱毒, 'curse poison'), also called kodō (蠱道, 'curse method'), kojutsu (蠱術, 'curse technique'), and fuko (巫蠱, 'sorcery curse') is a type of poisonous magic found in Japanese folklore. It is the Japanese derivative of the Chinese gu magic. It is said to have been widely used in ancient China.
Many Japanese believe that the bad luck associated with some ages derives from puns that it is possible to make with their numerals. The numeral 33, for example, can be pronounced sanzan , which may mean either "troublesome" or "birth difficulty," the numeral 42 can be pronounced shi ni , meaning "to death," and the number 19 can be pronounced ...