Birthdays in Japan
Japan celebrates people's birthdays very similar to the way other western countries would, including a cake with candles for the celebration. Originally, the Japanese wouldn't celebrate their birthdays, or would celebrate it during the new year. It's become more common practice for some form of celebration on this day in the country. There are special holidays and events that commemorate certain yearly milestones, such as Shichi-Go-San and the 88th Birthday.
88th Birthday
One example of a special numbered birthday in Japan is the 88th birthday. The day is known as yone-no-iwai
and is special because when the characters for eighty-eight are written together in Japanese, the characters resemble the kanji for rice
. Rice plays a major role in the lifestyle of many Japanese, being a food consumed at nearly all ages. The numbers resemble rice and thus, the day is supposed to be filled with happiness and joy. Other important birthdays include the 60th, 70th, 77th, 80th, 90th, and 99th.