Posts from April 2009

Shoowa no Hi

Posted by Ginny 1 Comment
Apr 29 2009

Today is Shoowa no Hi (昭和の日) or Shoowa Day. The now deceased emperor was officially called Shoowa Tennoo (昭和天皇) or Emperor Shoowa. You may have known him as Emperor Hirohito (裕仁). Although the day is named after the Emperor, it’s more of a day to remember the people who died in the war.

Emperor Shoowa (昭和天皇) is a controvercial figure. Some people find him responsible for the war crimes committed during the war, while other scholars view him as taking a passive role in the war. Some find him a traitor to his country for his unconditional surrender to the U.S., while others support him and the royal family with unconditional support.

The Emperor’s reign is also controvercial as well. He lived in a time when Japan was suffering from a financial and political crisis. He himself was almost assassinated, and of course there was the issue of war. In addition to that, the post war era of Japan was an era of rapid industrialization and the rise of an economic power to be reckoned with. His reign combined both the highs and the lows.

On January 7th 1989, the Emperor passed away from cancer. At his funeral, leaders from all over the world paid their respects to the emperor. Love him or hate him, he was an important figure in Japanese history. Important enough to have a day named after him.

Stroke Order

Posted by Ginny 6 Comments
Apr 26 2009

By request, I’ll give you four basic rules on how to write kanji (かんじ) letters. Keep in mind that stroke order differs with each calligraphy school. One school my cultivate a certain style while another may reject that style. Really, what matters is how the letters look. I’ve seen people go against the basic rules and their characters came out just fine. On the same token I’ve seen people follow the rules, with awful looking charcters. Everyone has a certain writing preference. If you go against innate preference for the sake of following the rules, the characters may not turn out as you would have liked. As a result, there is no wrong way to write Japanese characters.

You should write in a way that makes the character readable. As long as it looks remotely something close to the character, it’s fine. There has been some debate among others as to how kanji (かんじ) should be written, but I am telling you that it’s pointless because it’s the end that matters, not the means. In the end, people don’t care how you write it, they just care that it’s legible and comprehensible. With that said, here are some basic guidelines:

1) Start from the left to the right. Here’s an example : the Japanese charcter for “one” is (一). It’s just a horizontal dash written from the left hand side to the right hand side.

2) Start from the top to the bottom. The Japanese character for “three” is (三). Start from the left top and create a straight line. Then skip a space and from the left draw another straight line. Do the same for the last line.

3) Horizontals are written first. After the horizontals, you can deal with the verticals. The Japanese character for “ten” (十) is drawn with the horizontal starting from the left hand side. Then finnish it off with a straight vertical line from the top to the bottom.

4) The outside strokes are written before the inside stroke. The Japanese character for “four” (四) is written with a box or square like character first, then the insides are drawn. I’ll use a metaphor for this character. Draw the “window” first (the square) and then draw the “curtains” (the two inside strokes).

Again, if you enroll in a particular school, the philosophy of the school will go into much more depth with complicated characters. Again, you don’t have to know all those rules to write Japanese characters. The fact that we no longer write with an ink brush and have computerized ways of transcribing Japanese characters have made some of the rules obsolete, so don’t worry too much about the stroke order.

(郷土料理)

Posted by Ginny 3 Comments
Apr 22 2009

It’s time for the monthly dose of Kyoodo Ryoori (郷土料理). If you don’t know what that is, look back at some old posts and it’ll be clear as day and night. Today we’re going to take a walk on the wild side to Nagano (長野市). Nagano (長野市) is located in central Japan. It’s the city that hosted the 1998 winter Olympics.

The special cuisine that we’re going to take a look at is basashi (馬刺し). Basashi (馬刺し) is horse meat. It’s sometimes nicknamed as sakuraniku (桜肉). Sakura (桜) flowers are pinkish, and so is horse meat. Hence, sakuraniku (桜肉) means sakura meat or pink/red meat. The common assumption people make about why people eat horse meat stems around the issue of poverty. It’s assumed that only poor people would eat horse meat because they can’t afford beef or chicken. In reality, horse meat is more expensive than beef or chicken. It’s actually only middle class/rich people that afford such meat. In Japan, it’s not uncommon to find restaurants that serve horse meat. You certaintly don’t have to go to Nagano to get it, but that’s what Nagano is known for.

Basashi (馬刺し) can be served raw. The meat is thinly sliced and dipped into some soy sauce, ginger, onions and sake (さけ) mix. There’s also baniku (ばいにく) which is a horse barbecue. The meat is marinated and grilled on a burner. Sometimes the meat is consumed with a shiso (しそ) leaf. A shiso (しそ) leaf is a edible green leaf with jagged edges. Shiso (しそ) tastes like mint. The meat (and sometimes rice) is placed within the leaf and consumed like a leaf wrap. Then there’s also bagushi (ばぐし), which is skewered horse meat on a stick.

The last thing I want to add is that you should keep an open mind about basashi (ばさし). You may find it revolting to eat horses, but think about some of the foods in your own culture and how some cultures might find that particular cuisine despicable. It’s all relative.

Hanami (はなみ)

Posted by Ginny 6 Comments
Apr 19 2009

Hanami (花見) means “flower viewing” in Japanese.  The springtime is the prime season for viewing flowers, especially sakura (さくら) flowers.  Sakura (さくら) is a cherry blossom.  They are pinkish and grow on trees.  Every year, people all over Japan set out some time in their busy schedules to have an outdoor party amongst the sakura (さくら) flowers.  It’s a time for co-workers, romantic couples and families to gather together and enjoy the outdoors and the company of others.  Usually people bring some kind of blanket or mat to sit on, some sake, and some food.  It’s kind of like an American picnic.

You’re probably wondering, why is the sakura (さくら) so fascinating to Japanese people?  Sakura (さくら) flowers wither away almost as soon as they bloom.  For centuries, the sakura (さくら) flower has been the metaphor for life.  To the Japanese, life is considered transient, ephermal, or short lived.  It’s kind of depressing, but at the same time it makes you realize how precious life is.  Sometimes, the sakura (さくら) is used as a metaphor for youth as well.  To the Japanese, youth is fleeting and that’s what makes it so bitter sweet.

Speaking of youth, sometimes you’ll see a group of college students gathering under the sakura (さくら) trees at night.  When the gathering is at night it’s called yozakura (よざくら), which literally means “night sakura”. Colored lanterns are hung everywhere, which makes the atmosphere just as beautiful as the daytime.  The most popular hanami (花見) spot is Ueno park (上野公園).  Of course, any place with sakura (さくら) flowers will do.  Most people just want to socialize, but they do it under the pretense of viewing flowers.  There’s no exact day per say for hanami (花見), but it’s usually held when the weather is nice; sometime around March, April, or May.

If you live on the east coast of the U.S., you might be interested to know that Philadelphia hosts a cherry blossom festival every year.  That’s the only place in the U.S. that I’m aware of that hosts a sakura (さくら) festival.  Wherever you are in the world, if there’s a sakura (さくら) festival near you, write a comment in the comments section.  Thanks everyone, I’m heading out now.

Titles

Posted by Ginny 3 Comments
Apr 16 2009

I’m gonna go over some common titles that you might of heard people use when they refer to other people.  In addition to titles, I also describe them as suffixes that you attach to names.  These suffixes can do two things: 1) they identify the relationship you have with the speaker (intimate or formal) or 2) they identify who the speaker is (male/female, elder/junior).

The first suffix is さん.  This is the most common of the honorary suffixes.  It’s kind of like the title, ”Mr./Mrs./Ms.”.  This suffix is really flexible in that you can use it for both genders and it doesn’t matter whether the lady is married or not.  The important thing to remember is that it’s a title used to show politeness and respect towards someone.  You should use this with people you’ve never met before and people older than you. 

The next suffix is くん.  The general rule of thumb is that you use くん for young boys, but that’s not always the case.  I’ve heard it used for women and for older men as well.  It all depends upon the relationship of the speaker and the person whom くん is being referred to.  くん is generally an indication that the speaker and the person being referred to are on a first name basis.  The important thing to remember is that you can use くん to refer to other people’s children, but you can’t use it to refer to your own.

ちゃん is the female equaivalent, but again, it can be used towards young boys as well.  The general rule of thumb is that It’s used for younger girls, but sometimes older and married women can be referred to this suffix as well.  For example, an older brother may call his younger sister ちゃん even though she’s married and has children of her own.  ちゃん is a form of endearment, so it’s usage indicates that the speaker and the person being referred to are on close terms.

せんせい literally means “teacher”, but it’s usage extends outside of the teaching profession.  せんせい is one of those titles that you can use on its own.  For example, if you just called people by くん without a name in front of it, it would sound weird, but calling someone by the general title of せんせい is not weird at all.  The important thing to remember here is that せんせい is used to show respect towards people who have mastered a special skill or craft.  For example, a karate instructor would be called せんせい and so would a doctor.

Lastly, さま is a highly honorific form of さん.  You can hear this term attached to the word “customer” in Japanese, which is おきゃくさま.  Back in the day when Japan had shogun rulers, the shogun were referred to as うえさま.  The only restriction with this title is that you shouldn’t use it to refer to yourself.  It’s considered arrogant to use it with your own name attached.  Sometimes, さまcan be a derrogative title.  It can be used sarcastically to refer to someone who is not that good looking or a know-it-all.

This is not an exhaustive list, so if you can think of other titles, write it in the comment box. Alright, I’m gonna wrap this up.  See ya next time.

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