But there's another point you forgot - Ranma wasn't in Japan when he
met that Death woman, and so the time would be off, totally. (Unless
she specifies Japanese time, but they weren't in Japan, ne?)

That's what I thought was wrong when Death showed up -- and do they
have  Daylight Savings Time in Japan?
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

As far as the time goes, it's not meant to be midnight at the temple, but
whenever its midnight where Ranma is.  

As far as DST, I don't know offhand whether Japan goes on it or not, but
I did say I would take a few liberties, didn't I?  It was thrown in,
admittedly, as a bit of humor.

Which leads me to a question:  did I insert too much humor for the story? 
Looking back at it, that's something I'm wondering about and am a little
uncertain on....

Oh, the myth you cited isn't the one I'm thinking of.  Congratulations are in
order, though, for rec5@cornell.edu, who correctly guessed the myth I
based the story on.  Unfortunately, most people have been guessing the
myth and not telling me how they liked it or suggestions for improvement 
:-(

tom