Yaku-doshi means bad luck years or some specific age
when lots of troubles and bad things are
likely to strike by the the way of the thinking of yin and yang,.
Actually this is superstition.
But at these ages there are a lot of physical and mental changes, so
.some people have the bad luck exorcized or
join ceremonies or festivals at shrines
to avoid troubles
42 years old for men and 33 years for women are considered terribly bad luck years,
because Japanese sometimes read 42 as shi-ni (which also means death)
and 33 as sanzan (terrible)
These ages are counted by kazoe-doshi.
When a baby was born, he or she is 1- year-old.
Then gets old 1 year on New Year's Day every year.
