Posts from January 2010

Winter Festivals

Posted by Ginny 1 Comment
Jan 31 2010

Who said that you have to stay inside for the winter? Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean it has to be boring! Around late January and February, winter festivals are all the rage in Japan. You’ve probably heard of the famous Sapporo Snow Festival (http://www.transparent.com/japanese/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=46), but did you know that there were other winter festivals in Japan? Every region has a distinct festival different from other regions. Let’s take a look at some of those festivals.

The Yokote Kamakura Snow Hut Festival is located in Akita Prefecture (秋田県,). It’s famous for the various igloos that can serve as bars, small museums or a cozy place to take pictures. The igloos are compact and store heat, making it surprisely warm for visitors. The festival was first held to honor Suijin (水神) or the water god. Visitors can sample some sweet sake and rice cakes; which were originally offerings to the water god.

Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival begins in late January and is located in Hokkaido (ほっかいどう). Admission is free of charge, but the food and drinks are unfortunately not free. At night the whole place is a sea of color. Ice sculptures both big and small, simple and detailed, are lit up at night. This is further intensified by the fireworks display. There’s also an area where you can enjoy the hot springs.

The Hachinohe Enburi Festival is located in Aomori Prefecture (青森県). The festival showcases a traditional harvest dance. The dance mimics the movements of harvesting crops. The locals perform this dance to usher in the arrival of spring. The locals visit a shrine and make offerings to the gods for a speedy spring season. Visitors can view a parade full of people in colorful costums holding various harvest tools.

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Informal Forms of Verbs

Posted by Ginny 3 Comments
Jan 28 2010

Here are some examples of the casual form for RU verbs in the present tense affirmative and negative:

おきる (to get up) : affirmative – おきる. Negative – おきない

ねる (to sleep) : affirmative – ねる. Negative – ねない

みる (to see) : affirmative – みる. Negative – みない

Did you notice that the casual form in the affirmative for RU verbs were the same as the infinitive? Also, the casual form of the negative for RU verbs was formed by dropping the る and adding ない to the stem.

Now let’s look at the casual forms of U verbs in the affirmative and the negative.

やすむ (to rest) : affirmative - やすむ. Negative – やすまない

しぬ (to die) : affirmative – しぬ. Negative - しなない

あう (to meet) : affirmative – あう. Negative – あわない

はこぶ (to carry) : affirmative – はこぶ. Negative – はこばない

さがす (to search) : affirmative – さがす. Negative – さがさない

かく (to write) : affirmative – かく. Negative – かかない

およぐ (to swim) : affirmative – およぐ. Negative – およがない

まつ (to wait) : affirmative – まつ. Negative – またない

The casual form of the affirmative for U verbs are the same as the infinitive forms of the verbs. Unfortunately, the casual form of the negative for U verbs are not so easily formed as the RU verbs. If you look at やすむ (to rest) as an example, the negative was formed by changing the む to ま and adding ない. The same will occur in the casual negative of verbs that fall into this category of verbs. For example, take the ぬ of しぬ (to die) and change it to a な. Then add ない. Likewise, change the う in あう (to meet) to わ and add ない.

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Informal Forms of い and な Adjectives

Posted by Ginny No Comments
Jan 25 2010

So far we looked at the polite forms of the い and な adjectives. Today we’ll look at the casual forms of い and な adjectives, but only in the present tense.

The present tense polite affirmative of an い adjective :

すずしいいです (cool)

The present tense casual affirmative of an い adjective :

すずしいい (cool)

To form the casual form of the present tense affirmative of an い adjective, just leave off the です.

The present tense polite affirmative of a な adjective :

あんぜんです (safe)

The present tense casual affirmative of a な adjective :

あんぜんだ (safe)

To form the casual affirmative of a な adjective, leave off the です and place だ in its place.

The present tense negative polite of an い adjective :

すずしくありません (not cool)

The present tense negative in the casual form of an い adjective :

すずしくない (not cool)

To form the present tense negative of an い adjective in the casual form, drop the ending ありません and attach ない to すずしく.

The present tense negative polite of a な adjective :

あんぜんじゃありません (not safe)

The present tense negative casual of a な adjective :

あんせんじゃない (not safe)

To form the present tense negative of a な adjective in the casual form, drop the ありません and replace it with ない.　

Daibutsu

Posted by Ginny 1 Comment
Jan 22 2010

In Japanese, だいぶつ means, “great buddha”. In many parts of Japan, you’ll see countless buddha statues where people flock to give offerings, pray or just admire the statue as a work of art. The statues we’ll talk about today are one of the largest, tallest and well known buddha statues of Japan.

The Ushiku Daibutsu (牛久大仏) is located in Ushiku (牛久) Japan, in Ibaraki prefecture (茨城県). Reaching 120 meters, (394 feet) this statue is Japan’s tallest buddha statue. There are four floors inside the statue, where you can see smaller statues of the buddha, learn more about Buddhist scriptures and view the outside world and everything below it from eighty five meters off the ground.

The Daibutsu of Kamakura (鎌倉) in Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川) is 13.35 meters (44 feet). The statue was originally built inside a temple, but the temple was washed away in a tsunami in the 1498. Since the tsunami, only the bronze statue has remained. Small repairs to prevent the statue from corroding from the wind and rain have been made. Tourists can also visit the inside of the statue, which happens to be hollow.

The Daibutsu of Nara (奈良) in Nara Prefecture (奈良県) is 14.98 meters tall (49 feet) and housed in Todai Temple (東大寺). Over the centuries, the bronze statue has suffered from damage caused by earthquakes. In fact, in 855 A.D. the head of the statue fell to the ground. This was considered an ominous sign to the reigning emperor. Therefore the head was quickly repaired to prevent bad luck.

The Daibutsu of Gifu (岐阜) in Gifu Prefecture (岐阜県) is 13.7 meters (45 feet). The statue is housed in Shouhou Temple (正法寺). The statue is also known as the “Basket Buddha” because of the way it was constructed. The buddha was formed from bamboo and covered with clay. Then Buddhist sutras were laid upon the clay, giving the buddha a basket type texture.

The daibutsus of Japan are one of the most traditionally iconic images you’ll see in Japan. Even non-worshippers travel to see these towering and beloved icons!

Exceptions with い and な Adjectives

Posted by Ginny No Comments
Jan 19 2010

いい (good) which is an い adjective, is irregular, but only in certain cases.

For example, in the present affirmative polite, いい will be いいです

However in the present negative polite, いい will be よくありません

Similarly, in the past affirmative polite,  いい will be よかったです

And the past negative polite, it will be よくありませんでした

When using い adjectives, you can place the adjective before the noun:

これは　いい　コーヒーです = This is good coffee.

(これ = this. は = subject marking particle.　いい = good　コーヒー = coffee. です = is.)

You can also place an い adjective after the noun it modifies:

その　みずは　つめたいです = That water is cold.

(その = that.　みず = water. は = subject marking particle.　つめたい = cold. です = is.)

Like with い adjectives, you place な adjectives before nouns:

げんきな　ひとです = [He/She's] a lively/energetic person

(げんきな = lively/energetic.　ひと = person. です = is.)

However, when な adjectives come after a noun, leave off the な:

かれは　びんぼうです = He’s poor

(かれ = he. は = subject marking particle.　びんぼう = poor. です = is. )

な adjectives are considered quasi adjectival nouns and that’s why the な is left off after the noun.

When you have a situation like this, how do you know whether the adjective is an い or な adjective?

はなは　きれいです = The flower is pretty

(はな = flower. は = subject marking particle.　きれい = pretty. です = is.)

The answer is that you just have to memorize that いれい(な) is a な adjective. Luckily there aren’t that many adjectives that are ambiguous as いれい(な).

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