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Since at least the 12th century, the number 13 was considered unlucky in Japan. However, yet the reason for its unluckiness changed in the 19th century when the Americans brought the European superstition to Japan, thereby making the number 13 the unluckiest number all around the world.
The numbers 4 and 9 have long been unlucky numbers in Japan, and since 4 + 9 = 13, the number 13 must be doubly unlucky.
In Japanese, the number 4 is pronounced shi, which also means 'death'. The number 9 is pronounced ku which also means 'pain'. Therefore 49, pronounced shiku (painful death) is often avoided. Similarly kushi, the Japanese for 'comb', is seldom given as a present. The number 94 also is pronounced the same as painful death.
Actually the number 13 was especially unlucky in Japan long before the 19th century, but the original jinx has now been largely overtaken by the imported jinx.
Old Japanese tradition includes something called Yakudoshi, which means 'calamitous ages'; that is, the ages at which a person is going to be most unlucky. And the first age for calamity is, yes, you've guessed it, thirteen.
But confusingly, that's not the year between the 13th and 14th birthdays. In Yakudoshi, babies are aged 1 when they are born, and their Yakudoshi age increments every New Year's Day. So somebody born on 31 December will be aged two a couple of days later.
Subsequent unlucky years follow every 12 astrological years, though that dozen-year jump was not applied as one got older.
| Period | Century | Yakudoshi |
| Heian | 12th | 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 73, 85, 97 |
| Kamakura | 12-14th | 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 73, 99 |
| Tokugawa | 16th | 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 85, 99 |
However... Since then, the Yakudoshi has changed.
The 12-year intervals have gone, and so has gender diversity. Now, there are different unlucky ages for males and females, and significantly, the unlucky age 13 has gone!