Apr 20 (Japanalysis) - Japan takes names very seriously. Parents not only have to consider the sound of their child's name, but the meanings of the characters in it as well.
Parents consult with experts in a field called the Seimei handan which is like special Japanese fortune telling based on names. The so-called expert considers things like how many strokes it takes to write the name which definitely shouldn't be four or nine as those are bad numbers.