Sunday, December 13, 2009

双子の日(futago no hi): Day of twins

They say December 13 is the day of twins. On December 13, 1874 the declaration of the order of twins was announced. Before that the first-born was the younger brother or sister, and the latter-born was the older brother or sister. But by the declaration the first-born became the older brother or sister, and the latter-born became the younger brother or sister.
In Japanese the older brother is ani (兄), and the younger brother is ototo (弟). The older sister is ane (姉), and the younger sister is imoto (妹). Brothers are kyodai (兄弟), and sisters are shimai (姉妹).
The identical twins are ichiransei soseiji (一卵性双生児), and the fraternal twins are niransei soseiji (二卵性双生児).
The birth rate of Japanese twins used to be one in 150 to 160, but these days it is increasing to about one in 100.
I am very interested in twins (futago:双子).

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