NIHONgo for it!

I love fox noodle♪

2009-01-07T10:56:00.004+09:00

Do you like Japanese food?
You know, we have some popular food here in Japan like Sushi, Tempura, Shabushabu…
Besides those popular menus, we have some food called unique (strange?) name.

① きつねうどん (kitsune udon) “fox udon (fox noodle)”
② たぬきそば (tanuki soba) “raccoon dog soba (raccoon dog soba)”
③ ねこまんま (neko manma) “cat rice”
④ 親子丼 (oyako don) “parents and child rice bowl”

① きつねうどん (kitsune udon) is udon with deep fried bean curb.
I’ve heard it’s because foxes like deep fried bean curb.

② たぬきそば (tanuki soba) is soba with 天かす (tenkasu) and spring onions.
Tenkasu is kind of tempura.
But tenkasu doesn’t have any ingredient inside.
Should I call it “Bits of Deep-Fried Tempura Batter” maybe?
Here’s the photo of tanuki soba.

③ ねこまんま (neko manma) is rice with dried bonito and soy sauce.
The definition of neko manma is different depending on the area in Japan.
Some people call neko manma a bowl with miso soup on rice.

④ 親子丼 (oyako don) is a bowl of rice topped with chicken and eggs.
It’s because chicken and eggs are “parents and child”.
It’s cute, isn’t it?

Have you ever tried those food?
I love all of them.
If you know any interesting name of food in your language, let me know please!

She lives near the red road.

2008-12-24T11:01:00.003+09:00

I’ve heard that seeing old women with purple hair in Japan is surprising for foreigners.

Some old people like changing their hair to bright color and it’s not so unusual to see those people in Japan.

I think it’s because Japanese (Asian) hair is very black and it’s difficult to change the color when we are young.

So, when we get old and have white hair, it’s a good chance to enjoy changing hair color.

By the way, knowing the idea of color is quite different depends on the language.

Do you know what the following expressions describe?

① 肌が黒い (hada ga kuroi) “the skin is black”

② 目が黒い (me ga kuroi) “the eyes are black”

③ 金髪 (kinpatsu) “gold hair”

④ 赤道 (sekidoo) “red road”

① 肌が黒い (hada ga kuroi) means “sunburned, tan”.

In Japan most of women try NOT to get suntan.

This expression doesn’t have bad nuance, but be careful with using it!

② 目が黒い (me ga kuroi) means “alive”.

Because, when people die, their eyes are not black anymore…??

③ 金髪 (kinpatsu) means “blond hair”.

To be accurate, Japanese 金髪 (kinpatsu) is a little different from blond.

When Japanese people try to change the hair color to blond, eventually it becomes gold.

But we call Westerners’ blond 金髪 (kinpatsu), too.

④ 赤道 (sekidoo) means “equator”.

I guess it’s because red color is used in a map, maybe??

Again, about hair color, recently, some dogs have strange “hair color” in Japan.

The hair salon where I usually go has a “hair color course for pets”, too.

What poor dogs! (>_<)

Girls having wrinkles are cute☆

2008-12-12T09:13:00.008+09:00

When you describe someone’s face, what kind of expressions do you use?
“She has big eyes.”
“She has freckled cheeks.”
“He has heavy bread.”

In Japan, we often talk about the eyelids, too.
If there is a wrinkle on the eyelid, it’s called 二重 (futae), “double edged eyelid”. If there isn’t a wrinkle, it’s 一重 (hitoe), “single-edged eyelid”.
If there might be a wrinkle, but you cannot see is, it’s 奥二重 (okubutae) … Hmm… I can’t describe this word in English…

Usually, people want 二重 (futae).
There are a lot of cosmetics which you use to make your eyelids seem double-edged.
Also plastic surgery for making a wrinkle on the eyelid is popular here in Japan.

Especially, when you talk about someone cute, you comment about their eyelids.

「彼女は二重でかわいいね。」
(kanojo wa futae de kawaii ne)
「二重というより奥二重じゃない？でもとにかくかわいいね！」
(futae to iuyori okubutae janai? demo tonikaku kawaii ne!)

“She has double edged eyelids and is cue.”
“She has more of 奥二重 (okubutae) than double egded eyelids, doesn’t she? She is cute anyway!”

Also, when we describe people’s faces, we use 濃い (koi) and 薄い (usui).

濃い (koi) means thick, strong, deep, dark.
薄い (usui) means thin, flat, sheer.

I’ve been thinking how I can explain those two words in English for long time, but I still have no idea.
Actually, even in Japanese, it’s quite hard to explain… But most of Japanese people understand and use those expressions.
If you know the words and have a good idea for translating to English, let me know please!

Today's kanji : 危

2008-10-23T22:34:00.000+09:00

The blue part describes "cliff"
The red part describes "person who is squatting"
The green part describes "person who is squatting, too"

Two people are squatting near the cliff, because it's...

Can you guess the meaning?
See the comments page for the answer!

Wanwan

2008-09-25T11:10:00.003+09:00

Recently, there are lots of people who spend a lot of money for their pets in Japan.

LOUIS VUITTON’s goods for a dog
Spending 5,000yen for a cat’s “hair salon” every week
Yoga lessons for dogs
Restaurants for dogs…

Their life seems much more expensive than my life! (@_@)

By the way, the way of expression of cry or bark of animals is very different depend on the language.

Can you guess what animal’s cry these are?

ワンワン (wanwan)
ニャーニャー (nya-nya-)
ブーブー (bu-bu-)
ヒヒーン (hihi-n)
メーメー (me-me-)
コケコッコー (kokekokko-)

Answer key :

ワンワン (wanwan) is for dogs.
ニャーニャー (nya-nya-) is for cats.
ブーブー (bu-bu-) is for pigs.
ヒヒーン (hihi-n) is for horses.
メーメー (me-me-) is for goats.
コケコッコー (kokekokko-) is for chickens.

How do you describe them in your language?
I know some of them in English and I think English expressions sound much more real than Japanese ones!

I want to call you "you".

2008-09-09T10:31:00.002+09:00

What is the most different point between English and Japanese?
I think the way of using the word “you” is one of the most different points.
When we speak English, we use “you” all the time.

Do you like chocolate?
Have you met Ichiro?

In my English-Japanese dictionary, there are “あなた(anata)” “君(kimi)” “お前(omae)” for the word “you”.
But actually we almost never use these words especially in formal situation.

あなた(anata)　is one of the most popular words for “you”.
But I almost never use or hear “anata” in general conversation.
If I use “anata” for my friends, boyfriend or family, it sounds unfriendly.
Also if I use it for my boss, it’s unbelievably rude.

Instead of “anata”, we usually use the person’s name.

ゆうこさんはチョコレートが好きですか。
(Yuuko san wa chokore-to ga sukidesuka.)
ゆうこさんはイチローに会ったことがありますか。
(Yuuko san wa Ichiro ni attakotoga arimasuka.)

But, if we don’t know the person’s name what should we do?
When you talk with a customer in a department store, ask a taxi driver a question, run into your friend’s homeroom teacher…
We just try to avoid using “you”.
It means that we drop “anata” from the sentence.

チョコレートが好きですか。
(chokore-to ga sukidesuka.)
イチローに会ったことがありますか。
(Ichiro ni attakotoga arimasuka.)

But sometimes we can’t avoid using “anata” anyway.
In that case, we use the person’s position, occupation instead of the name.
お客様(okyakusama) for your customer, 運転手さん(untenshu san) for the taxi driver, and 先生(sensee) for your friend’s teacher.

お客様はチョコレートが好きですか。
(okyakusama wa chokore-to ga sukidesuka.)
運転手さんはイチローに会ったことがありますか。
(untenshu san wa Ichiro ni attakotoga arimasuka.)

I like being called my name or calling my friends’ name instead of saying “anata”.
But, you know, it’s sometimes difficult to remember someone’s name especially when we meet someone accidentally.

I hope using “anata” becomes more common and natural in Japanese like English.

Do you know any other language which has the same situation as Japanese?

How can we describe "gigabyte" in kanji?

2008-08-28T09:48:00.012+09:00

Basically, kanji is used for Japanese (Chinese) words and katakana is used for words coming from foreign countries.

But there are some kanji for katakana words.

米 means “meter”
千 means “one thousand”
毛 means “small, thin”

米 (me-toru) “meter”
米＋千＝粁 (kiro me-toru) “kilometer”
米＋毛＝粍 (miri me-toru) “millimeter”

瓦 means “gram”

瓦 (gramu) “gram”
瓦＋千＝瓩 (kiro guramu) “kilogram"
瓦＋毛＝瓱 (miri gramu) “milligram"

We usually use katakana but kanji for the above words, but it’s still interesting that there are some knaji which we can’t describe in Japanese words.
Don’t you think so?
I’m not sure if these kanji is used in Chinese too and if they pronounce same way though.

Well, maybe we can “develop” new kanji for some English words.
How about some words used for computer?
Do you have any idea about kanji for “byte” “mega” and “giga”? ;)

Note:
To type the above kanji, I used Windows "IME Pad Hand writing".
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/handson/user/IME_Paper.mspx
Those are not 常用漢字(jooyoo kanji) which is basic 1954kanji we lean in elementary school and junior high school in Japan.

Don't pull my leg!

2008-08-20T12:02:00.000+09:00

There are a lot of idioms using a part of the body.
Today, I’m introducing you some idioms with “leg”.
Leg is "足 (ashi)" in Japanese.

①　足が重い　(ashi ga omoi)

"The leg is heavy."
This means...
"I don’t want to go to the place but I have to go."

「明日はJLPTだ、足が重いよ。」
(ashita wa JLPT da, ashi ga omoiyo.)

"It will be the Japanese proficiency test tomorrow. I don’t want to go but I have to go."

②　足元にも及ばない　（ashimoto nimo oyobanai）

“It doesn’t reach to even foot.”
This means…
“Someone is much greater than I am.”

This is often used for describing a humble attitude.

「社長はゴルフがお上手ですね！私なんて足元にも及びませんよ！」
(shachoo wa gorufu ga ojoozu desune! watashi nante ashimoto nimo oyobimasenyo!)

“You are a great golf player, our president! I’m much worse than you!”

③　足を引っ張る　(ashi o hipparu)

“To pull someone’s leg”
This means…
“to interrupt someone’s success or career”

「吉田、おれの足を引っ張らないでくれ。」
(Yoshida, ore no ashi o hipparanaide kure.)

“Yoshida, don't interrupt my career."

Does your language have same or similar expressions using legs?

Today'a kanji : 鞄

2007-07-27T15:23:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 鞄.

The blue part means "leather".
The red part means "to wrap / to fold".

The leather for wrapping your baggage.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

My boyfriend has a wide face

2007-06-25T13:40:00.002+09:00

There are a lot of idioms using a part of the body. Today, I’m introducing you some idioms with “face”.
Face is "顔 (kao)" in Japanese.

①　顔が広い　(kao ga hiroi)

"The face is wide."

This means...
"to know a lot of people having different background."

「彼は顔が広いから、いい人を紹介してくれると思うよ。」
(kare wa kao ga hiroi kara iihito o shookai shitekureru to omouyo)

"I think he will introduce you someone nice as he knows a lot of different people."

②　顔に書いてある　(kao ni kaitearu)

“something is written on your face”

This means…
“Your face is expressing your feeling. I know what you are thinking in your heart.”

「パーティー行きたくないって顔に書いてあるよ。本当に行くの？」
(patti ikitakunai tte kaoni kaitearuyo. hontooni ikuno?)

“Your face is saying “I don’t want to go to the party!”. Are you really going to the party?”

③　顔に泥をぬる　（kao ni doro o nuru）

“to apply (paint) mud on someone’s face”

This means…
“to loose someone’s face”

「お客さんの前で飲みすぎて、上司の顔に泥をぬってしまった・・・」
(okyakusan no mae de nomisugite jooshi no kao ni doro o nutteshimatta…)

“I drank too much in front of our clients and I lost my boss’s face…”

When I was checking my dictionary for this blog, I noticed something. Both in Japanese and English, “face” means “honor” and ”mood”, too. Interesting!
Do you know about other language?
What kind of expression using "face" do you have in your language?

Today's kanji : 宮

2007-06-06T22:47:00.000+09:00

The blue part describes "roof"
The red part describes "rooms"

A house with a lot of rooms.

Can you guess the meaning?
See the comments page for the answer!

Who lives in a temple?

2007-05-29T16:24:00.000+09:00

Today, let's try mathematical kanji exercise!

Q. Answer the following questions.

eg：イ(person) + 動 (to move) = 働 (to work)

①　イ(person) + 賞 (prize, award) =

②　イ(person) + 憂 (anxious) =

③　イ(person) + 夢 (dream) =

④　イ(person) + 寺 (temple) =

⑤　イ(person) + 為 (for, sake) =

Answer key：

①　イ(person) + 賞 (prize, award) = 償 (compensate, recompense)
　　Do we have to compensate when we win a prize!?

②　イ(person) + 憂 (anxious) = 優 (kind, gentle)
　　We can be kind because we feel anxious?

③　イ(person) + 夢 (dream) = 儚 (empty, fragile, frail)
　　Having a dream is empty… (T T)

④　イ(person) + 寺 (temple) = 侍 (samurai)
　　Samurai was in a temple?

⑤　イ(person) + 為 (for, sake) = 偽 (fake)
　　Doing something for someone is fake!??

These are interesting...
Some of them seem difficult kanji, but maybe not so difficult to remember because of the meanings?? ;)

How to read the kanji...
働く (hataraku) 償う (tsugunau) 優しい (yasashii)
儚い (hakanai) 侍 (samurai) 偽 (nise)

Today's kanji : 協

2007-05-17T15:48:00.000+09:00

The blue part describes "to gather"
(It looks like "plus" (+), doesn't it?)

The red part describes "power + power + power"

To gether people's power

Can you guess the meaning?
See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 枯

2007-05-06T13:20:00.000+09:00

The blue part describes "tree"
The red part describes "old"

When the tree becomes very old...

Can you guess the meaning?
See the comments page for the answer!

I'm a cat's tongue.

2007-04-28T21:27:00.000+09:00

There are many idioms / expressions with animals.
Today, I introduce you some popular idioms using "cat".
Cat is 猫 (neko) in Japanese.

①　猫の手も借りたい
　　（neko no te mo karitai）

I want to borrow even cat's hands.

This expression means...
I'm very busy.

I know cats are not helpful at all for my work, but I'd appriciate if a cat helped me as I'm very busy now.

「忙しそうだね。」
「isogashisoudane.」
「うん、猫の手も借りたいほどだよ。」
「un. neko no te mo karitai hododayo.」

"You seem busy."
"Yeah, I'm extremely busy."

②　猫糞 / ネコババ
　　（nekobaba）

Cat's dropping (excrements)

This expression means...
To pocket, steal something and pretend not to know

Cats cover their droppings with sand.
They seem hide something bad and pretend not to know anything.

今日、公園で千円拾ってネコババしちゃった！
kyou kouen de senen hirotte nekobaba shichatta!

Today, I picked up 1000yen and I stole it!

Note:
This expression might sound dirty or disgusting.
But actually it doesn't.
Most of Japanese people know and use this expression, but lots of people don't know that ババ（baba） of ネコババ（nekobaba） means "dropping".

③　猫舌
　　（nekojita）

Cat's tongue

This expression describes...
Someone who cannot eat hot food

Cat's don't like hot drinks/food.

このお茶熱いね~！私、猫舌なんだ。
kono ocha atsuine! watashi nekojita nannda.

This greentea is hot, isn't it!
I'm a person who cannot eat hot food.

I've heard there isn't an English expression for 猫舌（nekojita）.
Is that right?
Don't you think it's quite useful expression? :)

Kanji for your country

2007-04-23T08:58:00.000+09:00

As you may know, we usually use katakana for foreign words like "coffee" (コーヒー), "boots" (ブーツ), "Canada" (カナダ), "Julia" (ジュリア)...

But we also have kanji for some countries.
For example, we use 仏 for describing France.
仏 means "Buddha", but the meaning of the kanji is not relevant to the country's name at all.
The important point is the pronunciation.
We read 仏 "butsu" "futsu" "hotoke".
The sound "fu" of "futsu" is similar to "F" of "France".

Kanji for countries is often used for headlines of newspapers.
I'm posting some countries' kanji and the meaning of the kanji.
If you would like to know other kanji, let me know!

日： Japan (sun)
米： U.S.A (rice)
英： U.K. (English)
露： Russia (dew)
独： Germany (alone)
伊： Italy (a sage from a legend)
加： Canada (add)
豪： Australia (luxury)
印： India (stamp)

米大統領訪日
（bei daitouryou hounichi）
President of the U.S.A is visiting Japan

日英協会
（nichi ei kyoukai）
The Japan-British Society

伊ワイン
（i wain）
Itarian wine

Note:These phrases are usually used as written language.

Today's kanji : 兄

2007-03-29T15:27:00.000+09:00

This kanji as a whole describes "a person who has huge head".

A Child who should have a "good brain" is...

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 嫌

2007-03-13T22:35:00.000+09:00

The blue part describes "woman".
The red part describes
"the hand + two rices = feel dissatisfaction".
(If it was just one rice, it should be easier. Why do I have to carry two rices? ...)

My girlfriend complains all the time!

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

NOVA's telephone number

2007-03-04T08:00:00.000+09:00

NOVA is the biggest English conversation school company in Japan.
(They have 500,000 students now!!)
http://www.nova.ne.jp/

I remember NOVA’s telephone number, because it’s very easy to remember.

0120-324929

Can you guess why the number is easy to remember?

The reason is that in Japanese we can use number as “sound”.
In this case,

3 is “mi” : we say “mittsu” for 3 when we count something
2 is “ni” : 2 is “ni” in Japanese
4 is “yo” : we say “yottsu” for 4 when we count something
9 is “ku” : September is “kugatsu”
2 is “tsu” : 2 is “two” in English, “two” sounds like “tsu”

0120 is a common number for toll-free dial.
You can read 324929 “mi ni yokutsuku”.

身によくつく(mi ni yokutsuku) means “you learn a lot”.

Most of companies are trying to find a telephone number which customers can remember easily, right?
Do you know any other telephone numbers which have meaning like NOVA?

There are some other companies’ numbers.
If you don’t understand the sound, let me know!

REVE21 (Company for wig)
0120-783640
783640 : 悩み無用 (nayami muyoo)
“You don’t have to worry.”
http://www.reve21.co.jp/campaign/

Staff service (service for finding employment)
0120-022022
022022 : オー人事オー人事 (o- jinji o- jinji)
“Oh Human Resources! Oh Human Resources!”
http://www.022022.net/

OCN (internet service)
0120-506506
506506 : コールコール (ko-ru ko-ru)
“Call call!”
http://www.ocn.ne.jp/hikari/application.html?gnavi1

Today's kanji : 神

2007-02-28T08:43:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 神.

The blue part describes "altar / shrine".
The red part describes "lightning".

That's, so to speak, lightning in the shrine.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Ears on the wall.

2007-02-18T14:23:00.000+09:00

There are a lot of idioms using a part of the body.
Today, I’m introducing you some idioms with “ears”.
Ear is "耳 (mimi)" in Japanese.

①　耳が遠い　(mimi ga tooi)
"The ears are far."
This means...
"cannot hear very well."

「私の父は耳が遠い。」
(watashi no chichi wa mimi ga tooi.)

"My father doesn't hear very well."

②　壁に耳　(kabe ni mimi)
"The ears on the wall."
This means...
"It's difficult to have a "secret meeting". There could be someone who is listening to what you are talking about behind the wall."

「壁に耳だから、ここでその話はやめよう。車の中で話さない？」
(kabe ni mimi dakara kokode sono hanashi wa yameyoo. kuruma no nakade hanasanai?)

"Someone might listen to our talking, maybe we shouldn't talk about it here. How about talking in my car?"

③　耳が痛い　(mimi ga itai)
"My ears are hurts."
This means...
"Someone's indication is very accurate and it's just what I have to improve."

「お酒の飲みすぎは健康に悪いよ。」
(osake no nomisugi wa kenkoo ni warui yo.)
「耳が痛いよ・・・。」
(mimi ga itai yo...)

"Drinking a lot is bad for your health."
"Yeah... I agree with your idea. That's exactly talking about me..."

Do you have similar idioms or expressions in your language, too?

Problem with sinuses

2007-02-01T14:00:00.000+09:00

As you may know, there are some (actually lots of) words that is very difficult to translate to another language.
In my experience, the most difficult English word for translating is “sinus”.

One day, maybe three years ago, my British friend asked me to go to a drugstore with him.
He had a problem with his sinuses and wanted to buy a medicine for that.
It was my first time to hear the word “sinus”.
He explained a lot about “sinus” , but I had no idea.
Finally we looked for a dictionary.

In my dictionary (my dictionary is named “Genius” which is the most famous dictionary in Japan.) there are some translating.

洞（とう・ tou）
瘻（ろう・ rou）
湾曲（わんきょく・ wankyoku）
湾曲部（わんきょくぶ・ wankyokubu）

… I still had no idea.

We gave up and went to the drugstore and showd the pharmacist the translation.
But! She had no idea either!!

The interesting point is that we don’t have the “idea” of sinus.
Of course we sometimes have a problem with our nose, throat and ears, but we don’t think the organ “sinus”.

Ask your Japanese friends if they know sinus and if you find a good Japanese translation, let me know please!

We did "ladder" last night.

2006-05-29T17:31:00.000+09:00

Do you remember that I wrote about 2 different meanings of “サクラ (sakura)” ?

http://nihongonihongo.blogspot.com/2006/04/he-might-be-sakura.html

I’ve just remembered 2 another words having 2 different meanings.

The left picture is a basket which you use when you are cooking.
This is called ざる (zaru) in Japanese.
The different meaning of zaru is a person who drinks a lot and doesn’t get drunk easily.
Zaru can’t keep water at all.
Those people’s stomach doesn’t keep (feel) alcohol like zaru.

The right picture is a ladder.
This is called 梯子 (hashigo) in Japanese.
The different meaning of hashigo is making the rounds of bars.
I’m not sure (couldn’t find) why we use hashigo for the action, but I guess, going to bars one after another is like going up the ladder step by step.
This expression could be used for different situation, too.
It’s not only for bars, but also restaurants, coffee shops etc.

The way of using ざる (zaru) and 梯子 (hashigo) is popular.
Try to use these expressions when you talk with your Japanese friends.

“Wow! You drink a lot! You must be zaru.”
“I had a terrible hangover this morning. We did hashigo last night and drank too much!”

You usually use katakana when you use these words for “2nd meaning”.

Today's kanji : 母

2006-05-14T23:58:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 母.

The blue part describes "nipples / breast".
The red part describes "woman's body".

Woman with nipples.
(Usually women have nipples though...)

Can you guess the meaning?

Special hint : What anniversary is today? (^o^)

See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 泡

2006-05-03T12:42:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 泡.

The blue part describes "water".
The red part describes "body".
The green part describes "unborn baby".

Water swell like the body with unborn baby.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Finger for medicine.

2006-04-26T22:30:00.000+09:00

Do you know how you call each finger in Japanese?

First, finger is 指 (yubi) in Japanese.

Thumb : 親指 (oya yubi)
(parents finger)
Thumb is the biggest finger, so it’s like parents (…actually father).

Index finger : 人差し指 (hitosashi yubi)
(finger to point person)
When you point someone, you use this finger.
(Actually, this action is rude though!)

Middle finger : 中指 (naka yubi)
(middle finger)
Yes, middle finger is the middle of the fingers.

Ring finger : 薬指 (kusuri yubi)
(medicine finger)
When you use medicine (application), you should use ring finger, because you usually don’t use this finger, so the finger is the cleanest.

Little finger : 小指 (ko yubi)
(small finger)
Little finger is the smallest finger.

Also there is a different way for describing fingers for children.

Thumb : お父さん指 (otoosan yubi)
(father finger)

Index : お母さん指 (okaasan yubi)
(mother finger)

Middle : お兄さん指 (oniisan yubi)
(older brother finger)

Ring : お姉さん指 (oneesan yubi)
(older sister finger)

Little : 赤ちゃん指 (akachan yubi)
(baby finger)

These are cute, aren’t they? :)

How do you call fingers in your language?

His hand is fast...!?

2006-04-15T19:31:00.001+09:00

There are a lot of idioms using a part of the body.
Today, I’m introducing you some idioms with “hand”.
Hand is "手 (te)" in Japanese.

① 手を貸す (te o kasu)
“To lend one’s hand”
This means…
“To help someone”.

“手を貸してくれない？”
(te o kashite kurenai?)
“Can you help me?”

② 手が早い (te ga hayai)
“The hand is fast”
This means…
“To have relationships with women right away”.

“彼は手が早いから気をつけて！”
(kare wa te ga hayai kara ki o tsukete!)
“He wants to have relationships with girls easily. Be careful!”

③ 手が焼ける (te ga yakeru)
“The hand is burnt”
This means…
“It’s difficult to take care of someone.”
“To have a lot of trouble to take care of someone”

“私の秘書は失敗ばかりで、手が焼けるよ。”
(watashi no hisho wa shippai bakaride te ga yakeru yo)
“My secretary makes mistakes very often. I have a lot of trouble with him/her.”

Do you have similar idioms or expressions in your language, too?

Today's kanji : 放

2006-04-07T23:19:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 放.

The blue part describes
"dead person is hanged on tree for charm against evil spirits".

The red part describes "hit, knock, beat".

Dead person is hanged on tree and hit by people!
Hope the evil spirits will...

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

He might be a sakura.

2006-04-04T20:42:00.000+09:00

It's the best season for 桜 (sakura, cherry blossoms) now in Tokyo.

In this season, a lot of people drink and eat under sakura trees in the park or river side.
It's getting warm but still quite cold outside especially in the evening, but people try to drink in the park with coat and scarf. (^ ^;)

The event is called 花見 (hanami).
(Just in case... 花見 (hanami) is seeing cherry blossoms and 花火 (hanabi) is fireworks.)
I did hanami last weekend with my friends, too.
Do you have similar event in your country?
Do you sometimes drink outside even if it's cold!?

By the way, there is another meaning for the word "Sakura".
Another sakura is usually written in katakana and describes people.
When people are trying to sell something, if there isn't any customer, people usually don't care about the shop.
But if there are many customers, you could be interested in the shop.
So shops sometimes hire people who pretend customers.
The people are called サクラ (sakura).
They are called sakura because sakura trees seem very gorgeous and the flowers fall soon.
The people try to do same thing.

The way of using the word "sakura" is popular in Japanese.
Try to use the word when you talk with your Japanese friends.
Like...
"Wow! That store is very crowded!"
"Well... maybe some of them are sakura, don't you think so?"

山 looks like mountain!

2006-03-25T14:10:00.000+09:00

The blow 5 kanji made from their shapes.
Click the picure to expand.
Can you guess which kanji describes which picture?

There is the answer in the blow explanations.

These are simple, basic and important kanji.
Japanese people learn them for first year of elementary school.
These kanji almost look like pictures!
Don’t you think so?

By the way, the above kanji, especially 山, 川 and 田 are often used in Japanese family names because a lot of Japanese people decided their family name depend on where they lived.
Do you have any Japanese friends with these kanji?

These are example words including the above kanji.

山 mountain
山（yama）：mountain
富士山（fujisan）：Mt.Fuji
火山（kazan）：volcano

田 field
田んぼ（tanbo）：rice field
田畑（tahata）：field
田植え（taue）：rice planting

口 mouth
口（kuchi）：mouth
入り口（iriguchi）：entrance
口づけ（kuchizuke）：kiss

門 gate
門（mon）：gate
門限（mongen）：curfew
門番（monban）：doorkeeper, gatekeeper

川 river
川（kawa）：river
川原（kawara）：riverbank, river side
ナイル川（nairu gawa）：Nile river

There are a lot of kanji made from the shape.
But some of them are too difficult (actually almost impossible!) to tell the meaning from the kanji.

老 means "old"
This kanji (should) look like old person who cannot stand straight.

肉 means "meat"
This kanji (should) look like meat with nerve.

卵 means "egg"
This kanji (should) look like eggs of fish or frog.

Hmm... what do you think!?

Today's kanji : 包

2006-03-19T13:33:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 包.

The blue part describes "body".
The red part describes "unborn baby".

What does the body do for the unborn baby?

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

My parents are hoping…

2006-03-11T12:29:00.000+09:00

In Japan, when parents give name for their child, they often care about the meaning of kanji which they use in the name.

As you may know, each kanji has meaning.

For example, my name Akiko is “明子” in kanji.
明 means “bright” and 子 means “child” also 子 is often used in girl’s name.
My parents hoped that I became a bright child.
My mum’s name is Sachiko, “幸子” in kanji.
幸 is happy and 子 is child, I guess my grandparents hoped that my mum became a happy child.

There are some popular Japanese names in the following list.

Girl’s name

Yuki 有紀　有(exist) ＋紀(methodical)
Hope she becomes a person with methodical idea

Natsuko 夏子　夏(summer) ＋子(child)
She was born in August.

Kimie 喜美恵　喜(glad) ＋美(beautiful) ＋恵(bless)
Hope she is always glad, beautiful and blessed.
(What an ambitious name!!)

Youko 陽子　陽(sun) ＋子(child)
Hope she becomes a cheerful child like sun.

Boy’s name

Ken 健　健(healthy)
Hope he is always healthy.

Tetsuya 哲也　哲(smart) ＋也(“yes, it’s true.”)
Hope he becomes a 100% smart person.

Jiro 次郎　次(next, second) ＋郎(boy)
He is their second son.

Ryoichi 良一　良(good) ＋一(one, best, first)
Hope he becomes the best boy in the world!

Do you know any people having the above name?
Do you think the name is suitable for the person?

How do parents decide the names for their children in your country?

Kit Kat

2006-02-27T14:29:00.000+09:00

In this season, you see so many KitKat (chocolate) advertisement everywhere.
Especially in trains, they sometimes have "KitKat train".
They are decorated with Kitkat stickers and all the posters in the train are KitKat.

The reason is that KitKat is "lucky" for candidates for highschools and unversities.
In Japan, usually students take the exam in February.

KitKat is pronounced "kitto katto" in Japanese.
"Kitto(きっと)" means "surely, certainly".
"Katoo(勝とう)" means "let's win, let's pass the exam".

They make posters with messages for the students like
"You can do it!"
"You don't have to worry at all. You tried very hard!"
"Your parents are nervous rather than you." ...etc.

Also the posters are imaged cherry blossom, so that the students can imagine spring (the season after the exam) easily.

In the past, we used to eat "katsudon" for luck.
(Katsudon is a pork cutlet on rice.)
Katsu (勝つ) means "to win, to pass the exam".
Maybe katsudon is old idea now...! :(

Hmm... they found an interesting business chance!
Is there same idea in your country?

Today's kanji : 恋

2006-02-14T22:16:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 恋.

The blue part describes
"It's difficult to untie tangled threads".

The red part describes "heart / feeling".

The feeling is like tangled threads.

Can you guess the meaning?

Special hint : What anniversary is today? (^o^)

See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 友

2006-02-05T16:09:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 友.

The blue part describes "right hand".
The red part describes "right hand", too.

People who shaking hands are...

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

４ and ９

2006-01-31T22:58:00.000+09:00

Do you know which numbers are unlucky in Japan?

The answer is 4 and 9.

4
You pronounce “yon” or “shi” for 4.
For example, “yonsai” means 4 years old.
“shigatsu” means April.
“Shi” has some different meanings and one of them is “death”, 死 in kanji.
That’s why 4 is unlucky for Japanese.

９
You pronounce “kyuu” or “ku” for 9.
For example, “kyuusai” means 9 years old.
“kugatsu” means September.
“ku” also has some different meanings and one of them is “pain, suffering”, 苦 in kanji.
That’s why 9 is unlucky for Japanese, too.

Especially, 4 is said to be very unlucky.
Usually there isn’t room numbers including 4 in hospitals and hotels.
Like, room number 201, 202, 203, 205, 206…
Sometimes, even floor, they don’t have 4th floor in some hospitals.
Check out it when you go to a hotel for next time!

Does your country have same custom?
Do people avoid the unlucky numbers?

Today's kanji : 眠

2006-01-29T22:20:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 眠.

The blue part describes "eyes".
The red part describes
"person who was stabbed his/her eyes".

You don't see anything when you are...

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

My husband or my prisoner!?

2006-01-13T16:35:00.001+09:00

Do you know that there are more than 1,000 sounds (pronunciation) in English?
Compare to that, there are only about 100 sounds in Japanese.
(46 sounds from あ to ん plus 25 sounds of voiced consonant like が・ぽ and 33 palatalized consonant like きゃ・じゅ・ぴょ.)

Correctly, as phonetics, there are some exceptions, like ん(n) in まんが(manga) is different from ん(n) in ふじさん(Fuji-san).
But basically, each hiragana / katakana always describes same sound.
I think this is one of the most different points between alphabet and Japanese writing system.

The good point is that if you can read hiragana / katakana, it’s easy to know how to pronounce the word and it’s only 100 sounds.
The difficult point is that there are so many same or similar sound words in Japanese!

Examples for completely same pronunciation

Koosei : こうせい（公正） justice
Koosei : こうせい（校正） proofreading
Koosei : こうせい（構成） structure
Koosei : こうせい（更生） rehabilitation

Kansoo : かんそう（感想） impression
Kansoo : かんそう（乾燥） dryness
Kansoo : かんそう（完走） running the whole distance

Shimeru : しめる（締める） to fasten
Shimeru : しめる（占める） to occupy
Shimeru : しめる（閉める） to close
Shimeru : しめる（絞める） to strangle

Examples for similar pronunciation
(These pronunciations are similar, but it’s easy to tell the difference for Japanese people.)

Yuuki : ゆうき（勇気） courage
Yuki 　: ゆき（雪）　　snow

kyuuyo 　: きゅうよ（給与）　salary
kyuuyoo : きゅうよう（休養） rest

shugo　 : しゅご（主語）　subject
shugoo : しゅごう（酒豪） heavy drinker

Be careful!!!
shujin 　: しゅじん（主人） husband
shuujin : しゅうじん（囚人） prisoner

Be careful!!!
shoojo : しょうじょ（少女） girl
shojo　 : しょじょ（処女）　virgin girl

If you know any interesting same or similar pronunciation pairs in Japanese, let me know please!

Today's kanji : 忙

2005-12-29T12:35:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 忙.

The blue part describes "heart / feeling".
The red part describes "to die".

My heart is dead.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 花

2005-12-28T13:28:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 花.

The blue part describes "grass".
The red part describes "to change".

Grass changes to...

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 働

2005-12-23T23:44:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 働.

The blue part describes "people".
The red part describes "to move".

People are moving.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

＼(^-^)／

2005-11-29T19:56:00.000+09:00

When we write an e-mail in English, we usually use 3 or 4 kinds of emoticons like :) :( ;) .

Compare to that, in Japanese, there are so many kinds of emoticons and we often use them to express emotion or even just for fun.

One of the reason that Japanese people like and use emoticons a lot is that the code for Japanese language is different from English one, I guess.
There are many signs (marks, codes) in addition to Japanese letters (hiragana, katakana, kanji).
So, it’s easy to “develop” new emoticons.

The following emoticons are basic ones.
You can tell what kind of emotion they describe easily.

(^o^) (; _ ;) (>_<)

Also there are some emoticons that I found on internet.
Try to use them for e-mail!!

○|￣|＿
I’m tired….

((ﾐﾟｴﾟﾐ))
Doraemon.

§￣∠￣§
Prime minister Koizumi.

∠(ﾟ-ﾟ)
Sir,Yes Sir!

(゜-゜ )(。_。 )
Ah hah.

(●′3)(ε`●)
Chu… kissing… ☆

＿|￣|○))　((○|￣|＿
Japanese style “greeting”.
Prostrating oneself.

((((((／_　_)／□
Giving a present.
“Tsumaranai mono desuga doozo.”
(“It’s not a nice present, but if you like, please receive it.”)

(*^o^)／□☆□＼(^o^*)
Kanpai!!

If you know interesting emoticons, let me know!
(^o^)/

Today's kanji : 宿

2005-11-10T23:44:00.000+09:00

Today's kanji is 宿.

The blue part describes "building".
The red part describes "person".
The green part describes "futon (bed) ".

Person and futon(bed) in a building.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Today's kanji : 貧

2005-10-31T16:24:00.000+09:00

Today’s kanji is 貧.

The blue part describes “divide”.
The red part describes “money”.

To divide the money.

Can you guess the meaning?

See the comments page for the answer!

Nintendo

2005-10-18T22:26:00.000+09:00

Do you know why Nintendo is named Nintendo?

Nintendo is 任天堂 in kanji.
任 (nin) means “leave” “entrust” “let”
天 (ten) means “sky” “heaven”
堂 (do) means “store” “shop” “company”

A company leaving their business to sky.

This name is from Chinese poem
人事を尽くして天命を待つ
(jinji o tsukushite tenmei o matsu)

This poem expresses…
If you’ve done everything you can, what you can do is just leave the matter to sky (destiny).

Hmm…interesting!
I’ll research other Japanese company names’ history!!

Nintendo's official website (Japanese)

Are your friends tired?

2005-10-05T22:09:00.000+09:00

I’ve heard that Japanese language has most varieties for greeting of all language.

When you meet people in the morning, you would say “ohayoogozaimasu”.
When you start eating, you would say “itadakimasu”.
When you leave home, when someone complimented the meal you cooked, when you meet your child’s teacher, when you enter someone’s house…
You would choose and use “the best” greeting for each situation.

In most of Japanese elementary school,
there are posters “Let’s greet with loud voice!”.
Yes, greeting is very important in Japan.

I think, people sometimes use greetings too much, especially in business or formal situation.
If they use their own word instead of routine greeting, it would sound more friendly and interesting.

But in my opinion, basically greeting is convenient and good way to communicate with people.

Recently, some greetings have some different meanings.
Have you ever heard “otsukaresama”?
“otsukaresama” is a very interesting greeting…

Basically, this greeting is used in office.
“o” expresses “polite”, “tsukare” means “tired” and “sama” is “Mr. / Ms.”.
“otsukaresama” is like “I understand you worked a lot.
You must be tired! Please don’t work too hard!”.
What a thoughtful greeting!

When you meet your co-workers or boss in office, when you start talking with your co-workers or boss on the phone…
you would use “otsukaresama”.

Recently, “otsukaresama” is also used between friends, couple and family.
When you meet, talk on the phone or send an e-mail during or after work, most of people say “otsukaresama”, even if they don’t work together.

In my opinion, there are two reasons for that.

First, there isn’t common greeting to use for casual situation (close friends, boyfriend / girlfriend, family etc.) even though we have so many kinds of greetings!
There are greetings “konnichiwa” (hello) and “konbanwa” (good evening).
But we usually don’t use them for casual situation.
Especially for young people, the greetings sound like formal.
So, we became using the convenient and thoughtful greeting “otsukaresama” out of office, too.

For another reason, I guess most of people know that their friends, boyfriend / girlfriend　and family are tired.

“Of course I understand that you worked a lot.
Of course you must be tired.
I’m tired, too!
Let’s try not to work too hard!!
Let’s try not to do overtime too much!!!”

Otsukaresama・・・☆

Yes, whale is unbelievably big!

2005-10-02T23:25:00.000+09:00

Each kanji has “radical”.
“Radical” of kanji is standard for classification kanji.

For example, kanji with radical “月” usually describe body parts.
Like 腕(arm) 腸(bowel) 胸(breast) 肌(skin) 肺(lung).
Kanji with radical “木” usually describe something regarding wood.
Like 枝(branch) 杉(Japanese cedar) 柱(pillar) 机(desk) 林(wood).

There is kanji “魚”.
It’s “sakana”, the meaning is fish.
Also this kanji is used as radical.
The kanji with radical “魚” usually describe name of fish.
In my dictionary, there are 73 kanji with radical “魚”.
The reason/history of each kanji is interesting…

鰯 iwashi : sardine
魚 (fish) ＋弱 (weak)
Sardines are eaten by big fish very easily.
Also they go bad quickly.

鯨 kujira : whale
魚 (fish)＋京 (1,000,000,000,000×10,000)
Unbelievably big fish
(京 is a unit for counting)

鮫 same : shark
魚 (fish) ＋交 (cross)
Sharks copulate (have sex) unlike other fish.

鯖 saba : mackerel
魚 (fish) ＋青 (blue)
The back part’s color is blue.

鱈 tara : cod
魚 (fish) ＋雪 (snow)
Cods come in when it’s the season of snowing.
The fish is white like snow.

One more kanji with “魚”.

鮨 sushi : sushi
魚 (fish) ＋旨 (delicious)
Sushi is delicious!!