Imagine if everyday was Friday the 13th… for a year! It’s believed that at a certain age of life, people will experience their unluckiest years. The unlucky years called yakudoshi (厄年/やくどし) vary between men and women. Today the main unlucky years known as honyaku (本厄/ほんやく) that a person experiences are the ages of 25, 42, and 61 for men, and 19, 33, and 37 for women. The year before (maeyaku 前厄/まえやき) and after (atoyaku 後厄/あとやき) the main unlucky years are also considered unlucky. To prevent three years of misfortune, those entering their unlucky years will get purified at a temple or shrine.
Besides unlucky years, there are also numbers that are considered unlucky in Japan. The number four is considered to be unlucky because the word for four is shi (四/し) closely resembles the word for death shi (死/し). Likewise, the word for nine ku (九/く) sounds similar to the word for pain and suffering ku (苦/く). This is why gifts should never be presented in fours, but rather in sets of three or five.