The Japanese word for the number four has two pronunciations, 'yon' and 'shi'. 'Shi' can also mean 'death'; 'shinu' is the verb 'to die'. As a result, the number four is considered unlucky, so they'll sometimes skip it when numbering hotel and hospital floors.
Unlucky numbers
Traditionally, 4 is unlucky because it is sometimes pronounced shi, which is the word for death. Sometimes levels or rooms with 4 don't exist in hospitals or hotels. Particularly in the maternity section of a hospital, the room number 43 is avoided because it can literally mean "stillbirth".
Yes. Rather than skip the unlucky number 4 (shi which means death) as was done for the number 13 in some western countries, they simply use their alternate word for four, yon, which has no such unlucky connotation. The phrase yon kai is now used to refer to the 4th floor.
Hospitals in Japan omit floors four and nine for an understandable reason. The Japanese word for four sounds like the word for death, while 'nine' sounds like 'pain'. Neither a pleasant thought during a hospital visit.
But the number four is considered unlucky because it sounds a lot like the word for “death,” and as a result Chinese buildings often lack a fourth floor (just as American buildings sometimes skip the 13th). Likewise, Chinese drivers avoid license plates ending in four.
In South Korea, it's four. The reason behind the fear of the number four, known as tetraphobia, lies in the way it sounds. The Korean word for "four" sounds much like their word for "death." Some elevators in South Korea do not have the number 4.
In South Korea
The number 4 sounds like the hanja for "death" (사) (although Korean has no tones), so the floor number 4 or room number 4 is almost always skipped in hospitals, funeral halls, and similar public buildings.
The Japanese counter 階 (かい/kai) is a simple but useful one. On its own, it's used to count floors in a building—i.e., the "third floor" would be ３階. When you add 建て (だて) to it, you're indicating that the building is x stories tall—a three-story building, for example, would be ３階建て.
Japan is home to some of the most resilient buildings in the world - and their secret lies in their capacity to dance as the ground moves beneath them.
4. 四 shi / し yon, yot(tsu) / よん、よっ・つ yon.
Many older buildings don't have a 13th floor because of superstition. Since many people consider the number unlucky, they won't want to live or work on the 13th floor, and landlords and developers will often skip the floor as they know it will be harder to sell and rent apartments on the floor.
There are several reasons why "abandoned homes" or Akiya has been on the rise in Japan over the years. One of the most influential factors, however, is largely due to the aging population of Japanese nationals. Japan is considered one of the countries with the lowest fertility rates in the world.
Sitting upright on the floor is common in many situations in Japan. For example, meals are traditionally held on a tatami floor around a low table. Sitting on the floor is also customary during the tea ceremony and other traditional events.
Many Chinese people do not want the number FOUR in their house number or phone number. But: FOUR is a lucky number in Europe, North America and Australia. The FOUR-leaf clover is a symbol of luck.
In Japan, four and nine are considered unlucky numbers because of their pronunciation. Four is pronounced "shi," which is the same pronunciation as death. Nine is pronounced "ku," which has the same pronunciation as agony or torture. In fact, some hospitals and apartments don't have rooms numbered "4" or "9".
Seven is a lucky number in Japan largely because of its significance in Buddhism. Additionally, seven is used with the Seven Gods of Luck (七福神). Eight is a less popular yet still lucky number. In Japan, fans are a sign of wealth and prosperity, because it spreads from narrow to broad, meant to reflect wealth.
Japan is located in a seismically active region and is prone to earthquakes. Despite this, the country has developed a robust building code that requires all buildings to be built to withstand earthquakes. This has resulted in the construction of some of the most earthquake-resistant buildings in the world.
Common earthquake-proof features in Japanese buildings
Pendulums in the core or on the roof of the building. Dampers installed between the levels of the building. Mesh structures to help to fortify the building.
The actual lifespan will be affected by construction methods and maintenance. Some buildings last for less than 20 years before being demolished, while others might be around for 500 years before being redeveloped (yes, there was a case of that in Kyoto recently).
Traditionally, Japanese houses and buildings have soft mat floors known as tatami.
tatami, plural tatami, or tatamis, rectangular mat used as a floor covering in Japanese houses. It consists of a thick straw base and a soft, finely woven rush cover with cloth borders. A tatami measures approximately 180 by 90 cm (6 by 3 feet) and is about 5 cm (2 inches) thick.
Since the Japanese alphabets are made up almost entirely of syllables (with the exception of the consonant “N”), “ji” is the closest phonetic representation of the letter “J” in John.
Many skyscrapers are built without a 13th floor, primarily due to superstition.
While the practice may not be as popular, some Korean households still haven't changed their sleeping habit. Sleeping on the floor became common when ondol floor heating was introduced to the Koreans. When HVAC systems were not a thing, households had to find ways to keep warm and remain cool.
8 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture because his pronunciation “Ba” sounds similar to the word “fa”, which means to make fortune. The number 8 is associated with wealth, prosperity, success and status and for this reason business men favor it very much.