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.
Around February 15th in the city of Kuromori (くろもり) in Yamagata (
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.
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.