I have recently came across a word game that is called “A.I.U.E.O essay”. This is called, “\u3042\u3044\u3046\u3048\u304a\u3000\u3055\u304f\u3076\u3093\u3000\uff08\u4f5c\u6587\uff09” in Japanese. It is a way of creating an array of words or sentences where each word\/sentence starts with the first given Japanese hiragana (\u3072\u3089\u304c\u306a). \u00a0I wanted to introduce this word game to you because this is such a fun way of increasing your Japanese vocabulary. The best part of this word game is that there is no limitation as to how long each word or sentence has to be. Your words\/sentence could be as long as you like, unlike traditional Japanese Haiku (\u4ff3\u53e5) or Tanka (\u77ed\u6b4c), which I would like to introduce to you in my later articles. So, let’s get started to see how this word game is played.<\/p>\n
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\u3042\u3044\u3046\u3048\u304a<\/strong><\/p>\n For example, as some of you might already know, \u3042\u3044\u3046\u3048\u304a is the first 5 hiragana (\u3072\u3089\u304c\u306a\u3001\u5e73\u4eee\u540d) in Japanese. These are the first 5 letters in any Japanese Hiragana chart. \u00a0We will be using\u00a0\u3042\u3044\u3046\u3048\u304a as an example in today’s lesson.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u3042 (a)<\/strong><\/p>\n You will first start with\u00a0\u3042 and try to think about the word that starts with\u00a0\u3042. That could be, \u3042\u3057\u305f(Ashita, tomorrow)\u3001\u3042\u3055(Asa, morning)\u3001\u3042\u3055\u3072(Asahi, morning sun)\u3001\u3042\u3057(Ashi, leg)\u3001\u3042\u305f\u3089\u3057\u3044(Atarashi, new), etc…<\/p>\n \u3044 (i)<\/strong><\/p>\n Next letter is \u3044, let’s come up with a word that starts with\u00a0\u3044. For example, you could use something like, \u3044\u306c(inu, dog), \u3044\u3057(ishi, stone), \u3044\u308f(iwa, rock), \u3044\u308d(iro, color), \u3044\u305f(ita, board) etc…<\/p>\n \u3046 (u)<\/strong><\/p>\n The 3rd letter is \u3046. What word can you think of that starts with\u00a0\u3046? Let’s see, how about something like, \u3046\u3057(ushi, cow), \u3046\u307e(uma, horse), \u3046\u3055\u304e(usagi, rabbit), \u3046\u305f(uta, song), etc…<\/p>\n \u3048(e)<\/strong><\/p>\n The 4th letter is \u3048. The word that starts with\u00a0\u3048 could be, \u3048\u307b\u3093(ehon, picture books), \u3048\u3073(ebi, shrimp), \u3048\u3093\u3074\u3064(enpitsu, pencil), \u3048\u3089\u3070\u308c\u308b(erabareru, to be selected), etc…<\/p>\n \u304a(o)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The last letter is \u304a. What word can you think of using\u00a0\u304a as the first letter? For example, \u304a\u304b\u3057(okashi, snack), \u304a\u3044\u3057\u3044\u3044(oishii, taste good), \u304a\u3055\u3057\u307f(osashimi, raw fish), \u304a\u3070\u3042\u3055\u3093(oba-san, grandma), \u304a\u306b(oni, monster) etc…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So let’s put all these together. You could create something like,<\/p>\n \u3042 – \u3042\u305f\u3089\u3057\u3044 (Atarashii, new)<\/p>\n \u3044 -\u3044\u308d\u3067 (Irode, with color)<\/p>\n \u3046 -\u3046\u3064\u304f\u3057\u304f,\u304b\u304b\u308c\u305f (utsukushiku kakareta, written beautifully)<\/p>\n \u3048 -\u3048\u307b\u3093\u3092(ehon o, picture book)<\/p>\n \u304a -\u304a\u304f\u308a\u307e\u3059 (okurimasu, I will send (to you))<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is your version of\u00a0\u3042\u3044\u3046\u3048\u304a\u3000\u3055\u304f\u3076\u3093\u3000\uff08\u4f5c\u6587\uff09?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have recently came across a word game that is called “A.I.U.E.O essay”. This is called, “\u3042\u3044\u3046\u3048\u304a\u3000\u3055\u304f\u3076\u3093\u3000\uff08\u4f5c\u6587\uff09” in Japanese. It is a way of creating an array of words or sentences where each word\/sentence starts with the first given Japanese hiragana (\u3072\u3089\u304c\u306a). \u00a0I wanted to introduce this word game to you because this is such…<\/p>\n