JA*Net Ties Talk
"Shi" Superstition

> Japanese Americans with heart disease appear to
> be at greater risk of dying of a heart attack on the
> 4th day of the month, a number that is deemed
> "unlucky" in Japan, UCSD researchers report.

Shi-kataganai.

> 4th day of the month, a number that is deemed
> "unlucky" in Japan [because the spoken word
> for "four", "shi", also sounds like "death"]

There is a Japanese penchant for puns. My fiancee (a sansei) points ot how she grew up with the numerical pun "544" -- go shi shi -- as a funny code for "having to pee". Any others that you can suggest? Numerical or otherwise, and they don't have to be toilet-talk.

> > 4th day of the month, a number that is deemed
> > "unlucky" in Japan

To prove that the "shi" superstition exists among Japanese and Chinese Americans, the investigators examined the last four digits of phone numbers (a user can choose these when getting a phone line). They found slightly fewer Chinese and Japanese people with "4" in those last four digits than would be expected if the numbers were randomly assigned.

Have you ever refused the number "4" in a phone number, address, license plate, etc.?

I come from a household where reason and science rule, so I wasn't told about the "shi" superstition. Do you know of other Japanese superstitions?

> Have you ever refused the number "4" in a
> phone number, address, license plate, etc.?

I (a sansei) once bought a set of chawan bowls as a gift from the local Japanese grocery, and I picked out four of them. I was reminded later by my fiancee (a sansei) that I should have gotten five because four means death. We still use 'em ... but I'm much more careful now and think in terms of five or six when I think of gifts that come in sets.

There's a very popular anecdote in international business circle, about an American golf equipment company (I don't remember the brand) that came up with a big promotional launch for its equipment in Japan -- it gave away sets of four golf balls with the purchase of a piece of equipment (or some similar concept). The promotion would have gone great in the US but of course flopped in Japan, and the company was left scratching its collective head. They should have consulted with a Japanese marketing expert or business consultant first!

I'll try to find out the exact details of this story; has anyone else heard it?

> Have you ever refused the number "4" in a
> phone number, address, license plate, etc.?

Last year I was doing the seating for our annual award dinner. My boss, who is Latino, seated a prominent JA, who shall remain nameless, at table 44. I hesitated but since it was last minute didn't change it, sure enough he came up to me and said "I need to talk to you about this" and held up the table number. Fortunately he's a friend and it was all in good fun but the ribbing about "double death" and "shi shi" isn't going away soon.

I've also heard that 9, ku, is considered unlucky because it is related to the word "kurushii," suffering.

I can't say that I'm uncomfortable about the numbers 4 and 9 but if I can choose numbers, like in lotto, they usually aren't in the mix.

> < "shi" superstition >
>
> I've also heard that 9, ku, is considered unlucky
> because it is related to the word "kurushii," suffering.
>
> I can't say that I'm uncomfortable about the numbers
> 4 and 9 but if I can choose numbers, like in lotto,
> they usually aren'in the mix.

I was never taught anything about this, so when I played defence in peewee hockey (9- to 11-year-olds) I asked for number 4 (like the Boston Bruin's Bobby Orr). Lately as a forward in an adult recreational league, I have been wearing number 9 (like Anaheim's Paul Kariya).

I hope this doesn't affect our playoff chances... ;-)

P.S. Nikkei hockey player David Tanabe either doesn't know or doesn't care about the "shi" superstition: