This year is the year of the ox. Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar － these twelve animals refer to ETO. (Actually the dragon is a mystical beast, not an animal.) The ETO sign represents years in Japan.
I was born in the year of the rooster. When we, Japanese meet someone who is 12 years older or younger, we usually say “There is a round difference in age between us.” If they are more than 12 years younger or older, we say “There is more than a round difference in age between us.” (A round = hitomawari)
I don’t know why those particular animals were chosen from the many possibilities, but I had an experience making excuses using the ETO sign with my friends. “I’m sorry. My birth year is the rooster so I forgot about it like the roosters which forget everything after they walked 3 steps.” My friends were kind and forgave me but it was such a ridiculous excuse at that time.
Many Japanese use the ETO sign when they write New Year’s Cards. Next year is the year of the tiger, so you will see many illustrations of tigers which are printed on New Year’s Cards at stationery stores in Japan. If you have a chance to use the ETO sign, I want you to use it for anything but making an excuse.
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