Japanese Tradition - The 88th Birthday

When my grandma had her 88th birthday party a few years ago, it was the first time I knew the 88th birthday was special in Japanese tradition.  Unfortunately, I didn't grow up knowing much about that side of my culture/traditions.  Back then, I wasn't interested in making an effort to learn about it.  But now that my Uncle Bob is having his 88th birthday party in just a few hours, I decided to learn what it was all about!

                           

(The japanese symbol for 88)

In Japanese tradition, the 88th birthday is known as "beiju" or "yone-no-iwai".  The celebration of this specific birthday became popular because when the Japanese symbols for 88 are written together, they resemble the symbol for rice.  Rice is respected by the Japanese people because of how important it is in their lives.  This birthday is celebrated as a happy and joyous occasion.

I am so excited to get to celebrate with my Uncle Bob and my whole family.  I loved visiting and being visited by my Uncle Bob as a kid.  He was so much fun to play with and so nice!  I have to say...he also gave really cool presents.  Each year he would eat all the candy from a Tootsie Roll bank and then fill it with pennies (and maybe a few other coins) for all of us!  Maybe he saw my cousins and I like grandkids since he never had his own?

My family is "weird", so we are going out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant to celebrate!  Works for me tho since I am not a huge fan of Japanese food ;)

I hope to have some pics to put up after the party!