Yakudoshi: unlucky age　

Yakudoshi, which literally means “unlucky age,” refers to particular ages when a number of disasters are believed to strike.

厄年（文字通りには「不運の年齢」）は、厄災が多く降りかかるとされる特定の年齢を指します。

For men, these ages are 25, 42, and 61, and for women, 19, 33, and 37, using the traditional Japanese way of counting age, where newborn babies are considered to be one year old at birth.

男性の厄年は、数え年（新生児は出生時に1歳とみなされる）で２５歳、４２歳、６１歳、女性の厄年は１９歳、３３歳、３７歳。

In particular, 42 for men and 33 for women are said to be the unluckiest ages, when one may experience the worst misfortune.

中でも、男性で42歳、女性で33歳は大厄とされ、最も大きな災厄が訪れるといわれています。

In addition, the years before and after one’s unlucky age are called maeyaku and atoyaku respectively. You need to be careful of illness or accidents during both yakudoshi and in the year before and after.

また、厄年の前後一年は順に「前厄」と「後厄」と言われます。厄年とその前後の年は、病気や事故に注意する必要があります。

People in yakudoshi often visit a shrine for yakubarai, which means to “remove the bad luck.”

厄年の人は「厄払い」のためにしばしば神社を訪れます。

【重要なフレーズ】
～を指す：… refer to …
数え年： the traditional Japanese way of counting age
順に：respectively
厄払い：remove the bad luck