Originally posted by boriscleto The 4th floor thing is mostly in Japan I believe. The Japanese character for the number 4 is the same as the character for death (Shi), therefore it is considered unlucky.
No, the Japanese character for 4: 四 is not the same as death: 死 (these are the same characters as Chinese as well). However, one of the ways to read 4 is indeed "shi" which is the same pronunciation as death. In Chinese, the two characters are also pronounced very similar to each other "si" (different tones though), and disliked for the same reason.
When I lived in Hong Kong, my apartment high-rise not only lacked a 4th floor, it did not have a 13th or 14th floor either!