Lucky 8s today in Japan

For those of us foreign residents from communities with strong Chinese representation (I'm thinking of my native Vancouver, Canada), we know eight is a lucky number. In Chinese culture, the word for eight sounds like the word for happiness. 

It's an auspicious number in Japan, too. The kanji for eight, 八, widens at the bottom and is associated with the future and prosperity. You'll hear the word in expressions like 八百万の神, yaorozu no kami, the multitude of gods in Shinto. You might hear 八方, happo, which means all directions, not merely the eight compass directions. This afternoon, when you bit into a snack, you had おやつ, oyatsu, which gets its name from the eighth hour, today about 2 p.m., on the traditional 12-hour Japanese clock.

Today is the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the Reiwa era

BigfamJapan shared that the lucky eights draw droves of couples who tie the knot on this auspicious day. Today is a triple eight - the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the Reiwa era. And sure enough, in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, the city office reported an eightfold increase in marriage registrations. 

I hope you have had an auspicious eight-laden day!