Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Japanese term or phrase:
４月吉日
English translation:
a lucky/auspicious day (yet unspecified day) in April
Added to glossary by
Katalin Horváth McClure
Apr 16, 2012 15:41
12 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Japanese term
４月吉日
Japanese to English
Art/Literary
History
Old calendar
I'm not very familiar with the old calendar. This is from a wedding invitation, and this the date given: 平成２４年４月吉日. I can't find a good explanation online, so if you're familiar with this, please let me know. Thanks.
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
Apr 19, 2012 17:42: Katalin Horváth McClure Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
23 mins
Katalin Horváth McClure
United States
United States
United States
Expert: high-tech, software, engineering
Native in: Hungarian 
Works in: English to Hungarian, Japanese to English, Hungarian to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
a lucky day (yet unspecified day) in April
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q121...
According to the explanation given at the above URL, they use it on wedding invitations when they do not want to specify the exact day yet. You can expect another follow-up when they tell you the exact date.
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Note added at 27 perc (2012-04-16 16:09:05 GMT)
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One thing is interesting though, if it is 平成２４年４月吉日, then it is this year, this April.
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Note added at 32 perc (2012-04-16 16:13:42 GMT)
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I investigated this a bit further.
Out of the 6 lunar days, "taian" is considered the most auspicious, the best for weddings.
In 2012 April, the following days are "taian":
April 5, 11, 17, 23 and 29.
http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/rokuyo.html
I hope this helps.
According to the explanation given at the above URL, they use it on wedding invitations when they do not want to specify the exact day yet. You can expect another follow-up when they tell you the exact date.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 27 perc (2012-04-16 16:09:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
One thing is interesting though, if it is 平成２４年４月吉日, then it is this year, this April.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 32 perc (2012-04-16 16:13:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I investigated this a bit further.
Out of the 6 lunar days, "taian" is considered the most auspicious, the best for weddings.
In 2012 April, the following days are "taian":
April 5, 11, 17, 23 and 29.
http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/rokuyo.html
I hope this helps.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks!"
+4
21 mins
Jason Kang
Canada
Canada
Canada
M.D. certified both from Korea and UK
Native in: Korean
Works in: English to Korean, Korean to English, Japanese to English, and 3 more.
a(n) auspicious (lucky) day for the month of April
A typical expression in wedding invitation. You can see several pages in Google.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
MariyaN (X)
: http://tinyurl.com/6tb8lc3
30 mins
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Thanks
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| agree |
yumom
11 hrs
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Thanks!
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| agree |
MalteLaurids
12 hrs
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Thanks!
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| agree |
Vladyslav Golovaty
: an auspicious occasion! おめでとう
19 hrs
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Thanks!
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39 mins
Daisaburo Takada
Japan
Japan
Native in Japanese
Works in field
Japan
17 year in legal documents
Native in: Japanese
Works in: English to Japanese, Japanese to English, French to English
English
I agree with "an auspcious day" in April.
-1
1 hr
April 29, 2012 (for example)
To translate it as "lucky day" would be perfectly correct, but since there is an actual date behind it, it may also be necessary to include that actual date in the English version of the invitation - otherwise it may look a little weird to an English reader and would not actually inform the addressee about the date of the event.
Here is a calendar for 2012 with all lucky days (大安 being the luckiest): http://wedding.yahoo.co.jp/manual/manual/rokki/2012.html
Here is a good (in my opinion) explanation regarding lucky days: http://kaishain.jp/dictionary/calender.html
And here is one more: http://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/210049/
Note the 「大安が休日と重なる日ともなると、結婚式のラッシュ。 」 - this is why I presume the date in the invitation you translate may be April 29 - in case the ceremony is going to take place in April 2012（平成24年） - since it's going to be the only 吉日 in April that will also be a day off (Sunday).
Here is a calendar for 2012 with all lucky days (大安 being the luckiest): http://wedding.yahoo.co.jp/manual/manual/rokki/2012.html
Here is a good (in my opinion) explanation regarding lucky days: http://kaishain.jp/dictionary/calender.html
And here is one more: http://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/210049/
Note the 「大安が休日と重なる日ともなると、結婚式のラッシュ。 」 - this is why I presume the date in the invitation you translate may be April 29 - in case the ceremony is going to take place in April 2012（平成24年） - since it's going to be the only 吉日 in April that will also be a day off (Sunday).
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Maynard Hogg
: You're introducing information that is not in the original text.
1 day 5 hrs
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Please, see my explanation. Also, please note the "(for example)" part in my answer.
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1 day 7 hrs
April 2012
Since the exact date is deliberately left unspecified in the original Japanese, the safest way to leave out the day part in English.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Katalin Horváth McClure
: At my answer, you said "the date of the wedding/reception ... is specified right down to the time", and now you are saying it is "left unspecified". So which one is it?
1 hr
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