The lighter side of Y2K
09/03/99
Asia Awaits Nines on Calendar
Asia Awaits Nines on Calendar
By SHIHOKO GOTO=
Associated Press Writer=
TOKYO (AP) _ In Japan, nine is bad. Usually. In China, it's
good. Most of the time. In Myanmar next week, it could spell
trouble.
For computer specialists around the world, the string of nines
on the calendar next Thursday _ Sept. 9, 1999 _ is being watched as
a potential Y2K-style bug that could prompt some older programs to
shut down automatically.
But for many Asians, computers are hardly the concern. It's luck
_ or the potential lack of it.
Four Nines Day, 9-9-99, presents a bit of a paradox for the
superstitious in Asia.
Nine, pronounced ``ku' in Japanese, is a homonym with the word
for pain and suffering, and is thus a very inauspicious number,
especially at hospitals.
``Patients feel uncomfortable in rooms that end with the unlucky
numbers,' said Kenichi Muto, a spokesman for St. Luke's Hospital
in central Tokyo.
So St. Luke's, one of the most modern hospitals in Japan,
doesn't have a single room for patients that ends with a nine, or
for that matter, with a four (a homonym in Japanese for death) or a
13.
But despite the bad cache of a nine by itself, many
superstitious Japanese appear to see a string of nines as lucky _
and businesses are rushing to cash in.
Japan Travel Bureau, the country's largest travel agency, is
offering a package tour on Thursday to commemorate the date. The
package, limited to 99 people, includes airfare to New York or
Orlando for 99,999 yen (about $909).
``It's a great deal, and we've had a lot of interest,' said
Tsuyoshi Kurata, manager of corporate communications at JTB. He
said both tours have sold out.
Many Japanese couples are also planning to get married on Sept.
9, according to Marie Sakurai, an editor at Zeksy, a popular bridal
magazine.
``It's a unique date, and it's really not seen as a bad date at
all. Far from it,' she said.
Sakurai added that a similar, but bigger, nuptial rush occurred
Aug. 8, 1996, which was the year Heisei 8 _ or the eighth year of
the reign of the Heisei emperor, according to the traditional
Japanese calendar. The string of eights was seen as lucky since
eight on its side is the symbol for infinity.
In China, Sept. 9 is also seen as a good day for love. Or for
remembering the death of Mao Tse-tung, who died on Sept. 9, 1976.
The love connection in Chinese derives from the fact that nine,
``jiu,' has a homonym meaning long, and is considered auspicious
for couples wanting to stay together a long time. To send a woman
99 roses on Sept. 9 would be a tender sign of affection.
But not this year.
Next Thursday falls within the inauspicious ``ghost month,'
which is traditionally believed to be a time when dead ancestors
return to the world of the living for an annual visit. Sept. 9
isn't always part of ghost month because the month's observation is
based on the lunar calendar.
Despite offers of better services and more luxuriously decorated
dining rooms, all except a few superstition-snubbing foreigners in
Taiwan will shy away from getting married on Sept. 9, Taipei hotel
officials said.
``No one would risk having their marriage harmed by any
inauspicious elements,' said Liang Su-chia, a manager of Hotel
Grand Hyatt. Business at restaurants is also expected to be slow.
In Myanmar, meanwhile, rumors are brewing that activists might
be plotting a Four Nine Day uprising.
Sixteen pro-democracy activists have been detained there for
fear they will demonstrate against the ruling military regime on
Sept. 9.
The National League for Democracy said those detained included
nine of its members and has expressed concern there would be more
arrests. Myanmar exiles in Bangkok began a protest outside the
Myanmar Embassy on Wednesday linked to the date.
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