Wakarimasen and other useful Japanese words

Konnichiwa, students,

As you can tell from the tile, this is another entry on the Japanese language.
There are certain words in all languages that convey a whole sentence in just one word. Wakarimasen and Sumimasen are two such words I think I will probably make good use of during my stay in Japan. Wakarimasen means "I don't understand", and Sumimasen means "Excuse me, or "Sorry". Since the Japanese people are very polite, they use "sumimasen" regularly.

In the picture of me posted on this blog, I am reading 15-minute Japanese . It has been a helpful guide to learning phrases that I can use in different situations. I have learned that I can make a sentence into a question by add "ka" to the end of the sentence. O genki desuka, for example, means "How are you?"

I have also learned that Japanese has been greatly influenced by the other countries it has traded with in its past, such as Portugal, the Netherlands, and the United States. Many words are "borrowed" and then Japanized. Here are some: Pants are pantsu, however, the word pants in Japanese means underwear; the color pink is pinku,the Internet is intahnetto. So, I have found I can remember many words once I know their meaning.

In other situations there are different words for the same thing. This became evident to me when I began learning how to tell the Japanese I meet about my family. Otohsan is the word for father, but if I were talking about my father, Steve, I would call him ChiChi. In some instances, I like the familiar word for "my" relative better than the formal one. Whereas Okhsan is mother, when you're talking about your mother, she is HaHa. Musume san is daughter, musume for my daughter, Sarah. I would use musuko san for son when asking someone about their son, and musuko for my son, Aaron when talking about him.


Kyo's(today's)picture is from a Japanese Anime movie, one which won the 2002 Academy Award for animation. We can't always stay focused on "school" subjects, now can we? I have seen my share of Pokemon cards when musuko, Aaron collected them. Although he doesn't trade them anymore, he is keeping them as an "investment", and memories of his younger years. And, I chose this picture because it gives another example of Japanese hiragana (Japanese characters representing syllables).

Mr., Mrs., and Three

Ohayo gozaimasu students,

Did the title of this entry catch your attention? Any fourth grader in my school who is working on his writing portfolio entries should know about "hooks". If the title intrigued you enough to want to read on, then it did its job of hooking you.

Since I've been practicing my Japanese more, today I will share a little of what I've learned. Perhaps many of you already know the meaning of the word "san". In one of my blogs I used the Japanese word "san" to refer to Mt. Fuji, but I didn't receive any comments as to why I called Mt. Fuji, Fuji-san, or Mr. Fuji. That is, in fact, what the Japanese call this mountain.

The word "san" in Japanese can mean Mr., or Mrs., when following a name, or it can mean the number three. The Kanji symbol for san is shown above. It is composed of three lines, the last longer than the other two.

I've learned that Japanese is one of the most difficult languages to write because it uses 3 different scripts to convey meaning. One is Kanji; these are modified Chinese characters. Hiragana and Katahana are characters based on the syllabic sounds of Japanese words, and are to the right in the above picture. The third, which allows Westerners to read Japanese and to pronounce the words is romanji, the Roman letters we use for our writing. This enables me to read Japanese, although I still don't understand the meaning of many of the passages. Here are few of the phrases and sentences I have learned: dohzo yoroshiku = pleased to meet you, ichi(e-chi) ji(gee) han dewa = thank you very much, and kehki o onegai shimasu = may I have some cake please,( this I thought was an important sentence for me to learn, since I really have a sweet tooth and like any kind of cake).

I'll be leaving a week from today, and I'm getting nervous about being able to communicate with the host family I will be staying with. But at the same time, I'm becoming excited about using the new words, phrases and sentences that I've been learning.

Dewa Mata (see you soon)

Tokyo's humble beginnings

Konnichiwa students!

Did you find that the capital of Japan is Tokyo, just like the prefecture name. However,the correct name of the prefecture is "Metropolitan Prefecture of Tokyo", and it includes smaller cities called "wards" that are under the administration of the prefecture. Tokyo is not only the capital and seat of government, but is also home to the Imperial family, and is where the the Imperial Palace is located. But as I mentioned the other day, it hasn't always been so.
Once named Edo, it was a small and simple village whose inhabitants caught fish for their livelihood. In the year 1457, Edo began to change. A samurai, Ota Dokan, a warrior-poet, built Edo castle,(a current picture of which is above). In 1590, the great military general, Tokugawa Ieyasu, made Edo his military headquarters when he became Shogun, or military high commander of Japan, in 1603. Then, because of its importance in the governing of Japan, the Emperor moved to Edo; Edo castle became the Imperial Palace.
Throughout the years the population grew, and it became Japan's political and cultural center. So it remains today.
Over 12 million people live in the Metropolitan Prefecture of Tokyo where I will be spending the first five days of my visit to Japan. I'm very excited because I will be staying in the New Otani Hotel which now owns the 10 acre garden that once belonged to Edo Castle. I can't wait to see it! In just a few days (Oct. 1) Tokyo will celebrate its anniversary in memory of Ota Dokan. The following is a poem written by him that describes the castle that he built and mentions a famous landmark of Japan that I have already noted in a previous blog.

The abode of mine
Adjoins a pine grove
Sitting on the blue sea
And from its humble eaves
Commands a view of soaring Fuji

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A political map part 2----Cities of Japan

Kombanwa students,
One aspects of Japan's political divisions we should view before we leave the topic of maps, for now, are the cities. Look at this map. Where are the cities located? if you said "along the coastal areas", you are right.
With what you have already learned about Japan's topography, why do you think they located their cities on their coastline? Can you find the capital city of Japan? It is located in Tokyo prefecture, and its beginning letter is a capital "T". But it wasn't always called this; long ago it was know as Edo.
I will stay in the capital for about 5-6 days, but most of the time will be spent in my host city of Minamisoma. It was hard for me to find on a map...it is not a coastal city, but it is close to the Pacific Ocean, and south of Soma. It is not a large city, and is not on this map.

A political map of Japan

Ohayo gozaimasu students,

On one of my previous blogs I used a physical map of Japan to help you understand that Japan has a very rugged terrain. Here is a political map of Japan. Just as we in the U.S. have areas and territories divided by man-made boundaries, so do other countries. The fact that these boundaries have been created by people in order to claim what they consider to be their land, and allow thenselves to set rules for its governing is what makes a political map. Some boundaries are accepted that are natural borders, such as the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers which define at least one of the territorial boundaries of each of the states that border those rivers. Our Commonwealth of Kentucky is one of those states. The Ohio River creates our northern boundary with Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the Mississippi creates the western-most boundary between Kentucky and Missouri. Other boundaries do not follow naturally created separations. The border between Tennesee and Kentucky is one such border.
In this map the Prefectures are outlined. In Japan, Prefectures are like our states. The prefecture I will be staying in for most of my visit is named Fukushima Prefecture. Can you find it on this map? Click to enlarge. It is colored in yellow; it is number 7 on this map.

Mt. Fuji san

Ohayo gozaimasu Students,

This greeting is "Good Morning" in Japanese. The first word is pronounced like the state of Ohio, the second word is pronounced just like it sounds with a long "i", and su is pronounced like the name "Sue", but with the "u" almost inaudible, so it sounds like "mass" to most non-Japanese.

Did you look at the physical map of yesterday's post? If so, then you could clearly see how mountainous Japan is. Japan is a country of great physical beauty I am told. Soon I will get to experience its rugged and dramatic beauty in person. I have only 20 more days until I leave on October 12Th!

Geologically speaking, Japan lies on a very unstable portion of the earth's crust.
Because of the movement of the earth's plates, the land shifts quite regularly causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There are over 160 active volcanoes on the islands.
The most famous of all their mountains, and one which is a volcano, is Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji san is still considered an active volcano. It last erupted on December 16, 1707 and continued to do so until January 1, 1708. I am looking forward to seeing it. It is so perfectly shaped that the Japanese regard it as a sacred place. Many Japanese artists consider Mt. Fuji as a subject they never tire of recreating through their artistic medium. Katsushika Hokusai, a woodblock artist who lived between 1760 and 1849, created two series which have Mt. Fuji as the main subject. One is entitled "36 Views of Mt. Fuji" created between 1826-1833, and the other, "100 Views of Mt. Fuji" completed in 1834-1835. They are quite famous prints, and are considered masterpieces of Ukiyo-e art. I've included one here for you to appreciate.

An Island Nation

Kombanwa Students,

This is the Japanese word for "Good Evening".
In class today we talked about how Japan is an island nation which stretches in the ocean for 1,200 miles. Just like we, as people, have varying physical features, so do countries. There are many little islands which comprise Japan.However, there are four main islands. They are: Hokkaido, the northern most, below Hokkaido is Honshu, where Tokyo, the capital is located, Kyushu, and Shikoku, to the south and west, are separated from each other by the Inland Sea--(I suggest you find this on the map of Japan; I did not realize what an important resource it is until I started researching for my trip to Japan).
The remaining islands to the south form an archipelago called the Ryukyu Islands. Okinawa lies close to these, but is much larger. Some islands are so small they are uninhabitable. There are many mountains and hills in Japan, because the islands are actually the tops of a great mountain range that rises from the Northern Pacfic Ocean. Look at the physical map included here and you will see what I mean. Click on the picture of the map to study its details.