Longevity
🎉 Japanese Longevity Celebrations
Kanreki, Koki, Kiju and the rest are traditional Japanese milestones celebrating a long life. Here are the ages, readings, origins and customary colors of each.
Kanreki 還暦
The 60-year zodiac cycle completes and returns to one’s birth-year sign.
Traditional color: Red
Koki 古希
From Du Fu’s line: “a life of seventy years has been rare since old.”
Traditional color: Purple
Kiju 喜寿
The cursive form of 喜 (joy) resembles 七十七 (77).
Traditional color: Purple
Sanju 傘寿
The abbreviated form of 傘 (umbrella) resembles 八十 (80).
Traditional color: Gold
Beiju 米寿
The character 米 (rice) breaks down into 八十八 (88).
Traditional color: Gold
Sotsuju 卒寿
The abbreviated form 卆 of 卒 resembles 九十 (90).
Traditional color: White
Hakuju 白寿
Subtracting 一 (one) from 百 (hundred) leaves the character 白 (white).
Traditional color: White
When is each reached?
Pick a birth year to see the calendar year each celebration is reached (by full age).
👇 Showing the longevity celebrations for someone born in 1966 (turning 60 this year) as an example. Pick your birth year above to see yours.
About these celebrations
These longevity celebrations (gaju) are traditional age milestones, named after the shapes of kanji characters or classical references. The origins shown here are the widely known, standard explanations.
※ Ages are shown as full (man) age; some regions and families celebrate by the traditional kazoe count. Customary colors vary by region and source (one common version is shown). About our data