What a sweet pleasure it is to unpack your bags at the hotel and have nothing more to think about except simply enjoying your vacation. But, when collecting your key at reception, don’t be surprised if you can’t find this room number on the floors…
While Airbnb is experiencing some difficulties in certain countries which have taken radical measures to limit access to travelers – such as in Amsterdam, Barcelona or New York – hotels are rubbing their hands again. And, in this country in particular, there are many tourists who arrive each year: 25 million visitors in 2023 and a target of 60 million by 2030! If you stay there, you probably won’t find this room number. And it’s not even number 13…
Indeed, in this country which has become an extremely popular destination in recent years, an ancestral superstition means that the vast majority of hotels do not have a precise room number. But where then? We’re talking about Japan. From Tokyo to Kyoto, from Nara to Osaka via the very charming island of Miyajima off the coast of Hiroshima, tourists no longer know where to turn. A stay that is breathtaking but can quickly become exhausting.
So nothing beats a little rest break at the hotel. But never in this room whose number is little appreciated and is often missing in the corridors…”And for good reason: it is pronounced ‘shi’, which also means ‘death’ in Japanese.“, specifies the site Japan Experience to justify his absence. In a country very attached to superstitions, you will very rarely find the number 4 “who doesn’t have a good press” adds the specialized site on the land of the rising sun. “So don’t be surprised to come across few cars registered with the number 4, or to find hotels without number 4 rooms.”
If everyone knows the old superstition around the number 13, mainly in the West for religious beliefs or ancient myths, there is also another number that we should be wary of. Thus, in Italy, the number 17 is little appreciated. In Roman numerals this is XVII and can be rearranged to form “VIXI”, meaning “I lived” in Latin, which can be interpreted as “I am dead“. We always come back to it.
