May 15, 2011

"Haku-jyu"

On May 4, my grandmother-in-law died at the age of 99 and the funeral was held on May 5, so my family members were busy for those two days.

She had lived with her son and his wife (my parents-in-law) by the end of last year. But, she checked in a hospital on December 31 because her condition became worse. She could not return home since that time.

Unfortunately, we could not celebrate for her long life, "Haku-jyu"(白寿) at home with our family members.

People in Japan celebrate a person who has reached to 99 years old. It is called the celebration of "Haku-jyu"(白寿). Why? A kanji character "百" that means one hundred becomes "白" after its one part has been removed. 100-1=99 !! Can you understand it?

1 comment:

ジョン said...

I'm sorry to hear about your family's loss. It seems she lived a good long life, though.

I didn't know about 白寿! Very interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing.