Posted by Ginny
This is going to be a great post for beginners of Japanese. Today I’m going to show you how to construct simple sentences. Let’s start with a simple sentece such as, “I am Takeshi”. To say “I” you would use the word “watashi” (わたし). For the verb “am” you would use “des” (です). In Japanese the entire sentence would be, “Watashi wa Takeshi des” (わたしは たけしです). The “wa” is a particle marking the topic of a sentence. In this case “watashi” is the topic of the sentence and “wa” is attached indicate this. So if we were to mimic this grammatical structure in English, it would be: “I-topic marking particle-Takeshi-des”. Notice how the verb comes last in Japanese. This contrasts with the English sentence “I am Takeshi” where the noun comes last.
One thing to note is that certain subjects can be dropped in Japanese. In English, you wouldn’t be able to say “Am Takeshi”. That would not be a good sentence in English, while in Japanese it’s perfectly fine to just say “Takeshi des” (たけしです). One more thing to note is that the particle は is pronounced as “wa” instead of “ha”. Normally は is pronounced as “ha” but for our sentences for today, it’ll be pronounced as “wa”.
Let’s construct a different senctence. This is a useful phrase to know: “Namae wa nan des ka” (なまえは なん ですか). It means, “What is your name” in Japanese. Namae (なまえ) means name. Nan (なん) = the word “what” and ka (か) is a particle indicating that a sentence is a question. In Japanese, it’s not customary to write a question mark. It’s actually kind of redundant to put a question mark, because the ka (か) particle already indicates that the sentence is a question. One thing I’d like you to note is the placement of the interrogative word “nan” (なん).
In English the interrogative word comes in front, at the beginning of a sentence. For example the question “What is your name” clearly demonstrates that the word “what” is at the beginning of a sentence. In Japanese, this is not so. The grammatical construction “What is your name” would be: name-wa particle-interrogative word-is-ka particle. In the last sentence above with “I am Takeshi”, the des (です) meant “am”. In the case of “what is your name” the des (です) takes on the meaning of “is”. The des (です) verb is very flexible in Japanese. In English you wouldn’t be able to use the verb “to be” in such a flexible way. The sentence “I am” changes to “She/He is” depending on the subject.
Ok, I’m going to wrap this up. Grammar is always an unpleasant, complicated matter in learning a language, but it’s absolutely necessary. Thank you everyone, for sitting through this post.
Posted by Ginny
Around February 15th in the city of Kuromori (くろもり) in Yamagata (山形) prefecture, the local people of Kuromori (くろもり) perform a kabuki (かぶき) play. The play is performed at the Hie jinja (日枝神社) or the Hie Shrine. It’s performed to honor the god that resides on Mount Hie (日枝). I always find these plays amusing because unlike the noh (能) festival, the actors have no professional training. Anything can go wrong. I’ve had some good times trying not to laugh when the actors mess up their lines. For those of you who are unfamilar with kabuki (かぶき), it’s a play where actors wear heavy makeup and elaborate costumes while singing and acting.
Everything about the Kuromori Kabuki (くろもりかぶき) festival depends on teamwork. The plays are performed outside with a stage constructed by the local residents of the town. These makeshift plays always have a hanamichi (花道). A hanamichi (花道) is a walkway that allows the actors to move through the audience. You can get a close up view of the actors and at the same time see their facial expressions. It allows the audience to connect with the actors that much more.
The coolest part of the stage for me, is the mawari butai (まわりぶたい). A mawari butai (まわりぶたい) is a revolving stage that allows the scene of the play to change in an instant. From time to time I can see the stage hands move some props, but other than that, the mawari butai (まわりぶたい) allows scenes to change flawlessly. Another cool aspect: the seri (せり). The seri (せり) is a trap door where actors can magically reappear before the crowd.
Besides the feat of engineering required to pull off a kabuki (かぶき) play, the cooperation and sweat involved to put this together is what makes the festival enjoyable to watch. It’s just nice to see how working together can create an awesome result!
Posted by Ginny
Barentaindee (バレンタインデー) is the way Japanese people pronounce ‘Valentine’s Day’. It’s customary for Japanese people to give chocolates as a present on Valentine’s Day. In fact, it’s not only customary, in some ways it’s obligatory. Among co-workers, chocolates called giri choco (義理チョコ) are commonly distributed be female OLs (オーエル) to male co-workers. At this point you’re probably thinking two things: 1) What’s an OL (オーエル)? Answer: OL (オーエル) stands for ‘office lady’ and is pronounced as oo-e-ru. 2) That’s sexist! How come girls don’t get chocolates? Answer: girls get chocolates, but not on Valentine’s Day. (I’ll write about it in a future post). Only boys get chocolates on Valentine’s Day.
As I’ve said before, Valentine’s Day is observed a bit differently than the States. In the States, men are the ones who give chocolates to women. Secondly, men give chocolates to women they are romantically interested in. In Japan, giving chocolates to a male co-worker is somewhat obligatory. A female co-worker giving chocolates to a male co-worker doesn’t necessarily imply that she’s interested in him. The word giri choco contains the word giri (義理) which means duty or obligation and choco (チョコ) the Japanese word for chocolate.
While it’s true that people give out chocolates to be nice to their co-workers, there’s also a calculated reason behind this gift-giving tradition. Giving chocolates to your co-worker can strengthen cooperative ties in the future. In the business world, having someone that can back you up or carry the slack when you most need it is helpful to have. Sometimes, it’s a burden to receive chocolates from a co-worker. When you receive something, it’s only polite that you give something in return. This is exactly what happens a month later when male co-workers are forced, rather, obliged to give chocolates to women.
Not all chocolate-giving is obligatory though. For example, honmei choko (本命チョコ) is a type of chocolate-giving amongst family members or for a significant other, while tomo choko (友チョコ) is a type of chocolate-giving amongst best friends. One thing is for sure though, the chocolate industries in Japan make loads of money on Valentine’s Day. You may be thinking that it’s wrong to combine commericial interests with a day like Valentine’s Day, but I’d rather get something than nothing, even if it’s forced. In other words, I’m glad to get chocolates from someone, even if they’re just doing out of a societal responsibility. So for me, I don’t care that Valentine’s Day is a total marketing venture to sell chocolates, because the chocolates are well worth it. Ok everyone! Time for me to go give out chocolates!
Posted by Ginny
Kenkoku kinen no hi (建国記念の日) is a national holiday celebrated every year in February. When translated into English, kenkoku kinen no hi (建国記念の日) means ‘National Foundation Day’. Kenkoku kinen no hi (建国記念の日) is a day celebrating the creation of Japan as a nation under the emperor Jimmu (神武天皇). It’s a day of patriotism for many Japanese citizens; the funny thing being that it’s a day that may be based on legend than actual fact. Although Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇) is considered to be the first emperor of Japan by the Japanese people, there are doubts among Japanese scholars as to whether Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇) really existed.
Before the unification of Japan as a nation under the supposed Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇), the Japanese people identified themselves by their clans. The tradition of identity through clan membership continues to this day, but not to the degree that it used to. On kenkoku kinen no hi (建国記念の日), the Japanese people proudly raise the hinomaru (日の丸) to show that they are one nation rather than a group of clans.
The hinomaru (日の丸) is a Japanese flag. It’s one of the simplest flags I have ever encountered. A reddish cicle lies in the center of a white background, and there you go, that’s the hinomaru (日の丸). If only filing taxes were this simple! Although the design of the hinomaru (日の丸) is simple, the controversy surrounding the hinomaru (日の丸) is not quite so simple. To some nations, particularly the East and Southeast Asian ones, the hinomaru (日の丸) represents a militaristic time in Japan’s past.
Not wanting to offend these nations out of economic and political reasons, the Japanese government is taking pains to avoid any further controversy. You’ll find that the kenkoku kinen no hi (建国記念の日) ceremonies are somewhat low key to avoid controversy. Despite this, it’s still celebrated every year.
This gives you more of an idea of what goes on for this holiday:
Posted by Ginny
Sometimes when I throw a get together with friends and aquaintances, I have guests who arrive earlier than the others. To kill the time and be hospitable as well, I often place a bowl full of senbei (せんべい) with some tea. Senbei (せんべい) crackers can really make your throat dry, so it’s good to serve some tea to go with it. Here are two teas that I serve depending on the guest:
The first tea is called bancha (番茶). Bancha (番茶) is cheaper than most teas and easily available in Japan. It’s leaves are considered of low grade, so it’s sort like a ‘disposable tea.’ ‘Disposable’ meaning that you can drink and serve it all you want without having to worry about not finnishing it. Also, the term ‘leaves’ is misleading when it comes to bancha (番茶). Bancha (番茶) is mostly made out of the twigs of plants, although some leaves are used as well. The interesting thing about bancha (番茶) is that you shouldn’t let the leaves boil in hot water for more than 5 minutes. Anything longer than 5 mintues tends to give the tea an adverse, metallic taste, which is really unpleasant to the drinker. For some reason drinking bancha (番茶) reminds me of being on a farm. Maybe it’s because it has a strong straw (no, not manure, it’s not that kind of a farm smell) smell to it!
The next tea is what I would serve more distinguised guests or people who would know the difference between low and high quality teas. This tea is called gyokuro (玉露). Gyokuro (玉露) is expensive because it’s a high quality tea made from rare leaves. Also, gyokuro (玉露) takes a longer time to prepare than bancha (番茶) teas. Gyokuro (玉露) is made from water that has been heated with low heat. You might keep your guests waiting, so it’s best to prepare the gyokuro (玉露) ahead of time if you plan on serving it. I like gyokuro (玉露) because it’s sweeter than most teas. The sweetness is due to the careful preparation process gyokuro (玉露) leaves undergo by tea leaf makers. It’s a delicate process and complicated as well; which is why it’s so expensive. Sometimes I have the tendency to forget and leave things on the stove, (to the point where I almost burn the house down) and if you’re the same way, gyokuro (玉露) may be too much to handle. It may be better to start off with bancha (番茶) tea and ease your way up from there.
Ok, everyone that’s it for today. Hope you enjoy some tea as well.
