Extended definition

  Luck is everybody's best friend (Pascual,2011)
Luck- a force that brings good fortune or adversity (Online dictionary Merriam Webster, 2011)

     Luck is seen in many different ways. One of the main reasons for a person's idea of luck may come from cultural backgrounds or family sayings passed on from generations onwards. Some say that it just comes at random especially when least expected. It is also a belief that develops from random incidents that happen repeatedly with the same cause.

    For centuries, symbols or items of luck are found. The famous four leafed clover from Ireland is believed to bring good luck because according to the legends it is represented by the Holy Trinity of Saint Patrick who is a savior. In the US, Europe and Africa the "rabbit's foot" is considered a charm to bring good luck so many stores sell key chains of it, this legend was started by the Americans belief the a rabbit's hind foot brings good luck to life. Chinese are very superstitious especially when it comes to luck so there is a lot of lucky charms made in order to protect the user from evil forces.
Here are the most common lucky symbols for Chinese
Fu福- Good Fortune
Shou壽- Longevity
Lu昌- Prosperity
Cai財- Wealth
Ai愛- Love
He和- Harmony
De德- Moral
Ji祥- Auspicious
Mei美- Beautiful
Japanese believe that having a cat with one hand up in a store symbolizes wealth coming to the owner which is another form of luck also the Daruma doll is a lucky figure which is believed to bring hopes of optimism and good luck.
Source: (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/lucky-symbols.html)

     Opening umbrellas indoors, walking under ladders, coming across a black cat, does that seem familiar? Those are myths that people believe will bring misfortunes. There are stories behind those sayings that our ancestors created many years ago because of repeated incidents they experience happening from the same cause. Folklores can also be a cause of developing ideas for sources of bad luck because of beliefs of a certain god not being pleased or stories developed by a certain group.

     These days the youth have developed their own sources of luck. For example, if there is a test with exactly the same pen used, there is a good result after, as always it is caused by repeated incidents which cause the user to believe that the item has a supernatural force that brings good luck. Tossing coins is also a belief of luck since people believe that two sides of the coin has a meaning. The front also known as heads is believed to be the positive outcome while the back or tails is known to be the negative side. Wishing wells are also a part of lucky beliefs since most children believe that tossing coins into a fountain brings luck and grants wishes. Haunted houses in pop-culture are said to e places where everything bad occurs since teenagers these days create stories about what went on to be the cause of the houses negative aura. Beliefs of luck also comes from rumors that majority immediately believes like with internet messages that one persons posts and everyone's believes it.

     All this talk about luck gives us the outcomes in life whether good or bad. I choose to focus on the positive outcomes rather than the negative ones and I hope everyone does the same. we can always focus on the positive because as the saying goes positive thoughts gives a higher probability of a positive outcome. A cause of good luck can also be based on a persons aura,which reminds me of what my mother used to tell me that a positive attitude attracts positive forces while negative attracts negative forces. If it comes to tests and exams luck is actually a state of mind since there is a feeling of the effort used on studying paying off and the confidence gained.

Comparison of Chinese and Japanese Culture

         We have noticed that Chinese and Japanese have similar cultures. In fact the people look almost alike that we can mistake them for one another. The writing systems can also be confusing because Japan has a writing system called Kanji, which is the Chinese characters being used in their language. Now why is this? Hundreds of years ago China and Japan were in isolation meaning they "closed" themselves to the world not allowing to enter the country and forbidding people to immigrate. Finally, when those countries opened their doors to the world, that was when cultural influences occurred. Those two countries dealt with the cultural changes differently. The Chinese had a war with the Europeans due to the fear of losing their culture from foreign influences while the Japanese just cooperated and accepted the foreign contributions. During the war hundreds of years ago, the Chinese invaded Japan which drastically influenced their culture. I've once heard that Koreans and Japanese descended from the chinese which explains why the people have similar physical traits.

         Considering their culture now there is a big difference. China is still very traditional while Japan is very modernized that the traditional culture is no longer active among the youth. When it comes to feelings towards the opposite sex, the Chinese follow the traditional universal way which is the male should be the one to court while the female just waits. Unlike in Japan the female is the one to confess the feelings as well as doing the courting. As a matter of fact the traditional costume in China is frequently worn during celebrations while in Japan today the kimono is only worn by the elderly or some people who are getting married. With this, we can tell that Chinese are still very conservative while Japanese are not as conservative as before. Thus, China still focuses on it's cultural identity while Japanese partially follow their own culture but most of the time focuses on media culture.