白寿(はくじゅ)

はくじゅ
noun
99th birthday; 99th-birthday celebration
culture
1. 99th birthday; celebration of one's ninety-ninth year
A traditional celebration of a person's 99th birthday. The name plays on the fact that removing the top stroke from 百(ひゃく) (hundred) leaves 白(はく) (white), i.e., "hundred minus one."
白寿(はくじゅ)のお祝(いわ)い。
A 99th-birthday celebration.
曽祖母(そうそぼ)が白寿(はくじゅ)を迎(むか)えた。
My great-grandmother turned ninety-nine.
白寿(はくじゅ)を迎(むか)えた祖母(そぼ)は、まだ頭(あたま)がしっかりしている。
My grandmother, who has turned ninety-nine, is still mentally sharp.

白寿(はくじゅ) celebrates a person's 99th birthday, the last of the widely celebrated Japanese longevity milestones (長寿(ちょうじゅ)のお祝(いわ)い). The name plays on 百(ひゃく) (hundred): removing the top stroke of the character leaves 白(はく), giving "hundred minus one"; the traditional celebratory color is white.

Common collocations

Types

Part of a sequence of longevity milestones: 古希(こき) (70), 喜寿(きじゅ) (77), 傘寿(さんじゅ) (80), 米寿(べいじゅ) (88), 卒寿(そつじゅ) (90), 白寿(はくじゅ) (99).

general
Added 2026.9.20 13:23 · Revised 2026.9.20 13:27
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