Japanese Language Blog

Today’s post is abou Japanese mythology. Japanese mythology is rich and vast. We’ll only go through a couple of myths, and the versions of these myths will be condensed. The first myth has to do with the formation of Japan. Once upon a time a male god named いざなぎ and a female goddess named いざなみ met so that they could mate. The female goddess uttered the first greeting to the male god. Then the two mated and had two children, who were badly deformed. いざなぎ and いざなみ sought the other gods as to why the children were deformed.

The other gods informed the couple that a woman must not speak before a man. Therefore because いざなみ made the first utterance to いざなぎ before they mated, いざなみ displayed bad manners. The result of these bad manners led to the deformation of the children. After this, the couple tried to mate again, but this time the male god いざなぎ spoke first. This time around the couple was successful. Eight healthy children were produced from this union. Later the eight children formed the eight great islands of Japan. From this mythology you can make some inferences about male/female relations and the importance of good manners in Japanese culture.

This next myth has to do with the geographic/natural formation of Japan. The female goddess いざなみ died during childbirth. The male god いざなぎ was distraught by her death. He ventured into the underworld to see her. The underworld was so dark that いざなぎ could not see いざなみ very well. いざなぎ lit his headdress on fire and saw that his wife was a rotting mess of maggots. Terrified, he fled. いざなみ was angered by his betrayal and sent wild demons after him. To rid the demons he threw his headdress to the floor, which became a grape vine. The demons still pursued いざなぎ, at which point he threw his comb, resulting in the formation of bamboo shoots.

Then いざなぎ urinated against a tree, which formed a river. This slowed down the demons. He was finally able to place a large boulder to block the entrance of the underworld. いざなみ was angered that he got away. She vowed to take away 1,000 lives every day. This story tells not only of how the natural geography of Japan was formed, but it also explains how human beings became mortal (through いざなみ). The royal family of Japan used to trace their ancestry to いざなぎ and いざなみ. The myths were important in the sense that it legitimized the actions of the royal family, which made it impossible for people to rebel against the emperor’s orders.

There are also some books on Japanese mythology on Amazon, so check those out for a more thorough version of these myths!

あります can be used to indicate that something “is” or “exists” at a certain location. For example, あそこ　に　びょういん　が　あります = There’s a hospital over there. (あそこ = over there. に = ni particle. びょういん = hospital. が = ga particle. あります = there is.) There are a couple of things to note here. The が particle was used instead of は. So the general formula you use to say, “there are/there is” something is: place + が + あります. Secondly, あります can only be used for non livng things like a hospital. You can’t use あります for people. For people you use います.

Here’s a sentence using います: あそこ　に　いしゃ　が　います = There is a doctor over there. (あそこ = over there. に = ni particle. いしゃ = doctor. が = ga particle. います = there is.) Notice that even when we’re using います, the same general forumla is used: person + が + います. Generally あります is used for non living or inanimate things like places, objects and abstract concepts like freedom,  while います is used for living things like people and animals. います and あります can also be used to indicate that someone owns something or that someone has something.

In this question, “にもつ　が　ありますか” someone may be asking, “[Do you] have [your] luggage?”. (にもつ = luggage.　が = ga particle.　あります = have. か = question marking particle.) You can also use this with more intangible thinks like dreams: “ゆめ　が　あります” = I have a dream. (ゆめ = dream.　が = ga particle.　あります = have.) You can also indicate that you don’t have something by using ありません in place of あります. One of the errors some people make is to use います/あります to transcribe the meaning “is” in Japanese. Remember from the beginning of this blog we talked about how です can mean “is” as well.

It’s correct to say, “せんせい　は　にほんじんです” or The teacher is a Japanese person. (せんせい = teacher.　は = wa particle.　にほんじん = Japanese person. です = is.) You can’t use います here because you technically can’t “own” or “have Japanese ethnicity” but you can certaintly “be” of Japanese descent. Like in the sentence above, です is used to describe a characteristic of a person or thing. However, あります and います is used to describe the existence or the location of a person or thing.

The へ particle indicates that one is heading or setting out to head towards a goal or direction. The へ particle is often confused with the に particle and for a good reason. The へ and に particle can somtimes be interchangeable and yet produce a slighly different meaning. に is used when the destination is the final goal. However へ does not necessarily mean that the destination is the final goal. に is much more specific. It’s kind of like saying, “I will go TO the (actual location of the station) station”, but へ is more ambiguous, more like “I will go TOWARDS the station (but perhaps not at the actual station but somewhere outside it)”.

There are times when に and へ are interchangeable. For example the sentence used above is interchangeable, with only a slight (depending on the context) difference in meaning. “えき　に　いきます” = I will go to the station. “えき　へ　いきます” = I will go towards the station. (えき = station. に/へ = ni/he particle. いきます = will go.) Also most of the time へ is pronounced as “he”, but as a particle it is pronounced as “え“. Obviously when you’re giving directions to someone, the distinction of に versus へ is important, but the general understanding of the sentence (not including giving directions) of the two particles are similar.

に and へ are not interchangeable in terms of time. Only に is used for time references. (For more on the に particle, check the blog post here: http://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/%e3%81%ab-particle/) For example, a sentence like this is correct with に but not with へ: “ろくじ　に　たべます” = I eat at 6 o’clock. (ろくじ = 6 o’clock.　に = ni particle.　たべます = eat.) へ cannot be used in this sentence because 6 o’clock is an exact time reference. If you want to say something less exact like “I eat around 6 o’clock” use the word ごる like this, “ろくじ　ごる　たべます”

Another restriction on へ is that you must use it with a verb of motion like いく (to go) or with a destination. For example, a sentence like this can only be used with に and not へ, “わたし　の　せんせい　に　あいます” = I will meet my teacher”. (わたし = my.　の = no particle.　せんせい = teacher.　に = ni particle.　あいます = will meet). Since あいます is not a verb of motion like かえる (to return) you can’t use へ. However you can say, “ぎんざ　へ　せんせい　に　あいます” = I will meet [my] teacher (somwhere in) Ginza. (Ginza = ぎんざ.) If you were to replace に with へ it would mean, “I will meet [my] teacher (at a predestined/agreed upon destination with the teacher in) Ginza.