Japanese Culture, language and resources by Ray Heffer

Japan is one of my favourite topics, in regards to both culture and language. I've been learning the Japanese language seriously for 4 years now, but have had an interest since 1997 when I saw my first Anime series 'The Legend Of The Four Kings'. Since then, I've been hooked on Anime and the Japanese culture. I've never been to Japan, but hope that one day I will get the chance to go and see it for myself. Hopefully by then I will have good Japanese language skills so I can put it into practice!

The Japanese culture is a fascinating subject, which you'll find reference to in everyday Japanese life and in many anime films such as Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totero, and The Cat Returns.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony (or Chanoyu) was introduced to Japan from China in the 16th century. Translated, "Cha no yu" literally means "hot tea". The picture on the right was taken in November 2005 at Rikkyo School in Rudgwick, Sussex where the Japanese school children have mastered the art of chanoyu, giving this demonstration to the public.

It is based on zen principles, and achieves a calm and relaxed state of mind, together with simplicity. The actual ceremony requires perfection, as the preparation, serving and drinking of the tea are all part of the ceremony.

Animals play a big part in Japanese culture and history, and no doubt you've seen the Maneki Neko (Beckoning Cat) in your local Chinese take away? Well, the story of the Maneki Neko goes all the way back to the Edo period in the 17th century.

Legend has it that the priest of Setagaya temple (Western Tokyo), kept a pet cat, named Tama, and he sometimes complained to Tama about his poor situation, "Tama, I'm keeping you in spite of my poverty. So couldn't you do something for this temple?"

One day, Naotaka Ii who was the lord of Hikone district was caught a shower near the temple on his way home from hunting. While avoiding the rain under a big tree in front of the temple, Naotaka noticed that a cat was inviting him on the temple gate. And as soon as he left the tree tempted by the cat's gesture, the tree was struck by lighting. Naotaka's life was saved by the cat which was proved to be Tama.

By the incident, Naotaka became closer to the priest of the temple. The rundown temple was appointed to be the Ii's family temple, and changed it's name to Goutokuji. Goutokuji became prosperous backed up by the Ii clan after that. Tama saved Naotaka from lighting, and saved the temple from it's poverty at the same time. After it's death, Tama was buried at Goutokuji's cat cemetery with all due respect, and Maneki Neko was invented admiring Tama.

The Japanese language (Nihongo), has four writing systems. Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji and Romaji.

Kanji is the oldest of the writing systems, and was developed by the Chinese over 1500 years ago. There are around 5000 or more Kanji, so this is the most difficult to learn.

Hiragana is based on 46 symbols, each representing a different sound unlike Kanji that represents pictures.

Katakana is used for words of a foreign origin, such as place names and fast food.

My [Japanese Study Notes] page contains some of my early notes in beginners Japanese.

- "Kōhī no jikan desu"

Let's translate the example above. The first four characters mean "Kōhī" (Coffee) and this is written in Katakana being a foreign word. The next character means "no" which in this example is (for) but "no" is often used to associate two words. The next two characters mean "jikan" (time) and are written in Kanji. Finally, the last two characters "desu" (it is) are written in Hiragana.

If we read this backwards "It is time for coffee"

When writing a sentence such as the one above, you’ll notice that foreign words are written in Katakana (Kōhī), particles such as 'no' and 'desu' are written in Hiragana and the word Jikan in written in Kanji.