Don't be surprised if you've noticed an unusual proliferation of rodents lately. Today marks the start of a nezumi-doshi, or Year of the Rat, the first in the order of 12 celestial animals of the Chinese zodiac.
In 2008, toshi-otoko and toshi-onna, men and women who were born in the year of the rat, will be turning age 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and so on.
When marking the occasion, however, nezumi is never written using the Chinese character for rat, but instead with the same kanji as ko (as in kodomo, child), which in this case is pronounced "ne."
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.