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Japanese Literature Posted by Ginny on Mar 28, 2009
I’m going to recommend a classic piece of Japanese literature from the Heian (平安) period. Genji Monogatari (源氏物語) or the The Tale of Genji, is a famous and renowned novel about a prince and his romantic dalliances. As much as Shakespeare is respected and praised all over the world, so is the author of Genji Monogatari…
Japanese Cuisine: Hina Matsuri Food Posted by Ginny on Mar 26, 2009
Hina Matsuri (雛祭り) is a doll festival in which multiple dolls are displayed and presented to young girls as gifts. This tradition goes back to the time when Japanese people believed that dolls had the power to contain evil spirits within the doll, so that the young girl would not be harmed by the evil…
Japanese Holiday: Hina Matsuri 2 (雛祭り) Posted by Ginny on Mar 23, 2009
Alright, so here are the remainder of the dolls: The third platform contains five figures of musicians called go nin bayashi (五人囃子). There are three drum players, one of them holds a drum called taiko (太鼓) and is seated. The other two drums players are both standing. There is also a flute player with a fue…
Japanese Festival: Hina Matsuri (雛祭り) Posted by Ginny on Mar 19, 2009
Hina Matsuri (雛祭り) literally means “Doll Festival.” You’re probably thinking it’s a festival for dolls, but that’s not quite true. It’s a festival for young girls. For presents, young girls receive a hina ningyo (雛人形) or a set of dolls. A basic doll set comes with a five-level-platform called a hina dan (雛壇). The first level contains…
Japanese Numbers 100 – 900 Posted by Ginny on Mar 17, 2009
Unlike numbers 20 to 99, the number 100 has no relation to any previous single digit number. This is a number you’ll just have to memorize. Luckily for numbers 200 to 900, they look a lot like the numbers 2 – 9. 100 – hyaku (ひゃく) 200 – nihyaku (にひゃく) 300 – sanbyaku (さんびゃく) 400…
Japanese Numbers 20 – 90 Posted by Ginny on Mar 15, 2009
In order to form the number 20 in Japanese, you add the number for 2 in Japanese with the number for ten. In the previous post I talked about how you need to add in order to form the numbers 11- 19. Well for the numbers 20 – 90 you need to multiply. If you…
Japanese Numbers Posted by Ginny on Mar 12, 2009
We’re going to learn how to count today! Here’s a run through of the numbers 0 -10: 0 – ree (れい) or zero (ゼロ) 1 – ichi (いち) 2 – ni (に) 3 – san (さん) 4 – yon (よん) or shi (し) or yo (よ) 5 – go (ご) 6 – roku (ろく) 7…