Japanese Language Blog

These are on the west side of a hill, so many face the hill.

Unlike カナダ (Canada) and many western countries, the 春 (はる/spring) equinox and 秋 (あき/fall) equinox are national holidays in 日本 (にっぽん/Japan). Many people use this time to go to the 墓地 (ぼち/cemetery) to pray for their deceased family members and relatives. While the 夏 (なつ/summer) Obon holiday is perhaps the most popular time to go to the 墓地 (ぼち), you will still see a fair amount of people around ９月２２日 (くがつ　にじゅうに　にち /September 22nd) and around ３月２０日 (さんがつ　はつか/March 20th).

Japanese 墓地 (ぼち) are a lot different than the christian ones I’m used to in カナダ. For example, each family has a site with a large 墓 (はか/grave or tomb) that is used for the whole family, instead of a 墓 (はか/grave) and 墓石 (はかいし/gravestone) for each person. The 墓 (はか) and 墓石 (はかいし) usually faces due 東 (ひがし/east), to face the rising 太陽 (たいよう/sun). For that reason, 墓地 (ぼち) are not often on the 西 (にし/west) side of hills, but when they are the 墓 (はか) could face into the hill! It can be quite surprising to see hundreds of 墓 (はか) all facing the exact same direction.

When someone passes away, their name is usually added to a secondary stone tablet which contains the names/ages/dates of all the other family members who died in the past. If a 墓 has been used for a long time, there could easily be several generations of 名前 (なまえ/names) listed at one 墓. Unlike christian 墓, the Japanese do not bury the whole body. They will place any 骨 (ほね/bones) that remained after 火葬 (かそう/cremation) in a small chamber at the base of the main stone. Finally, 花 (はな/flowers) are placed on either side of the main stone, 水 (みず/water) is left as a gift to the deceased, and 線香 (せんこう/incense) is burned in front whenever people visit and pray.

A part of a large cemetery in Kagoshima city

島娘 (Shimamusume), one of 鹿児島's most popular brands of shochu, which is probably Kagoshima's most famous export.

日本 (にっぽん/Japan) consists of four main 島 (しま/islands), starting with 本州(ほんしゅう/Honshu), the large main 島. To the 北 (きた/north) you’ll find 北海道 (ほっかいどう/Hokkaido), 南 (みなみ/south) of it’s middle you’ll find 四国 (しこく/Shikoku), and to the 西 (にし/west) you’ll find 九州 (きゅうしゅう/Kyushu). The biggest and most famous city in 九州 is 福岡 (ふくおか/Fukuoka), but if you travel far 南, almost as far as you can go you’ll find my adopted hometown 鹿児島 (かごしま/Kagoshima) city in 鹿児島県 (かごしまけん/Kagoshima Prefecture).

As far as I know, the main exports of 鹿児島 are 焼酎 (しょうちゅう/Shochu), 緑茶 (りょくちゃ/green tea), 黒豚 (くろぶた/black pork) and 芋 (いも/potatoes), both 薩摩芋 (さつまいも/sweet potatoes) and じゃが芋 (じゃがいもregular potatoes). 薩摩芋 were such a common food for this area that the Japanese name for this 野菜 (やさい/vegetable) references the name of the old domain that this area used to be, 薩摩 (さつま/Satsuma). Less exported, but a popular souvenir among visitors is 薩摩揚げ (さつまあげ/Satsuma-age), which is a chewy fish-based food. The texture is similar to a firm 豆腐 (とうふ/tofu), and the taste is 甘い (あまい/sweet) without any hint of the 魚 (さかな/fish) inside.

The most famous person from 鹿児島 is likely 西郷隆盛 (さいごうたかもり/Saigo Takamori), who was a key player in many of the events around the time of the Meiji Restoration in the mid 19th century. The Ken Watanabe / Tom Cruise movie, “The Last Samurai”, is loosely based on a rebellion led by Saigo, with Ken Watanabe’s character (Katsumoto) loosely based on him.

桜島 (Sakurajima) letting us know who's in charge.

Finally, perhaps 鹿児島’s most famous feature is 桜島 (さくらじま/Sakurajima), the volcano that looms over it from across the harbour. While it is not dangerous, it burps up smoke and 灰 (はい/ash) almost 毎日 (まいにち/daily), sometimes coating the city in a fine layer of grey 灰. It doesn’t cause health problems, but it can be extremely annoying if if it’s dry and the ash gets kicked up by the wind, or if you have to wash the 車 (くるま/car) before you can drive it because the windows are coated.

As many of you already know, the Japanese pop music scene is rather… eccentric. The variety is huge:

Rock pop bands like: Tokio

Solo pop singers like: 浜崎 あゆみ (はまさき　あゆみ/Hamasaki Ayumi)  or 宇多田 ヒカル (うただ　ひかる) Utada Hikaru (not the most recent I know, but I don’t know the names of anyone more current)

A huge number of boy groups (think Backstreet Boys) from various eras like: SMAP (hitting their 40′s now), 嵐 (あらし) Arashi (hitting their 30′s now) and young groups like Hey Say Jump (a play on the word 平成 (へいせい) Heisei, meaning everyone was born after 1988, the start of the current Emperor’s reign, named the Heisei Period).

Smaller in number, but still popular are the girl groups like: Perfume (even I like them) or the new comic (satiric?) girl group ももいろクローバーZ (Momoiro Clover Z).

Perhaps the most popular among young girls are the “team” girl groups like: AKB48 and all their spinoffs, each consisting of 48 members (NMB48, HKT48, JKT48, and more).

All of these styles and bands have culminated with きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (officially きゃろらいんちゃろんぷろっぷきゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ Caroline Charonplop Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, according to Wikipedia), and her style that I’m going to call Candy Pop. Or maybe Silly Pop. Cutesy Pop? (there’s probably a popular term for her style, but I personally don’t know it)

She’s only 19, but she has already become famous as a fashion blogger based out of 原宿 (はらじゅく/Harajuku), in 東京 (とうきょう/Tokyo) which is considered the fashion capital of 日本 (にっぽん/Japan). Her quirky/cute style made her popularity rise very quickly. She soon started modeling her unique outfits for 雑誌 (ざっし/magazines) and has become a fashion leader (unbelievably, in my mind) and is now co-hosting an evening variety show. As is common with popular テレント (literally “talent”, but means “celebrity”), she started making pop music.

Why am I talking about this now? Well, one of her singles, つけまつける (Tsukema Tsukeru), which as far as I can tell is not real Japanese, but is referring to つけまつげ (tsuke matsuge/fake eyelashes), has been getting a lot of airplay on TV recently and it’s stuck in my head. I can’t get it out and it’s driving me nuts! Now, it can be stuck in your head too, courtesy of the video below! Note the style which is apparently popular among the 原宿 (はらじゅく/Harajuku) crowd.

Perhaps a better example of her very unique style is “Pon Pon Pon”, featuring popular comedienne/dancer Naomi Watanabe: