日本歴史のレッスン一 (History of Japan Lesson One)

日本歴史のレッスン一

Tokugawa Shogunate

 Today we have a lesson in Japanese History and the Meiji Restoration. Prior to this period in time, control of Japan had been in the hands of the Shogun. A shogun came into power by succeeding or overthrowing the previous one shogun. During this time the emperor was still present but was nothing more than a cultural and religious figurehead. It was the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu that would bring an end to the feudal system of Japan and return control of the country to the emperor and his ministers. In November of 1867 the 15^th Tokugawa Shogun relinquished his power to the emperor and ushered in a new era for Japan.

Meiji Restoration

One of the main reasons for the Meiji Restoration was the fact that Japan had fallen technologically behind the rest of the world during their self-imposed seclusion. To combat this many changes were made of these reopening Japan to foreign trade was one of the most important. This allowed Japan to refortify its military power with new weaponry and techniques. This period in time also saw the abolishment of the class system in Japan and the end of the samurai.

The Last Samurai

During the Meiji Restoration steps were taken that removed the power of the samurai (侍) class. One such step was the outlawing of caring a sword in public. Up until this point it was a badge of honor for a samurai to carry his swords with him. While many ex-samurai were conscripted to serve in the new military others fought the abandoning of their privileged class. The Satsuma Rebellion (西南戦争 Seinan Sensō (Southwestern War)) was the last in a series of these uprisings. It culminated in the deaths of the rebels and the effective end to the Japanese samurai.

It was a time of change, but without it Japan may not exist today. So until next time...

じゃね。

神道のレッスン一 (Shinto Lesson One)

神道のレッスン一

Shinto

Shintoism, also called kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spiritualism of Japan. Even though Shinto is considered a religion by most of the world, in actuality it is a set of practices incorporated into daily life. Shinto (神道), translated as “Way of the Gods”, is the study and reverence of kami (神).

Kami

The word kami is often translated into English as God or spirit. The term in actuality refers to the “spiritual essence” found in everything. These kami can take on many forms from human-like, to animistic, and even abstract “natural” forces. In ancient times people would build shrines that would house kami. At these shrines people would honor these spirits in return for safety, fortune, or good will. Over time some kami became more prominent than others, these major kami are included in such tales as the creation myth.

Shrines

Shinto shrines are found all over Japan and act as conduits for communication with the kami. These shrines can be small and simple or large and more complex. The shrines have purification rituals and are usually marked by the torii (鳥居). This gate symbolizes the transition from the profane into sacred realm of the shrine. Other common markers are statues such as the kitsune (狐, fox) statues found at the entrances of shrines dedicated to Inari Ōkami (稲荷大神).

So next time you see a torii gate look for the shrine nearby and pay that kami a visit. So until next time…

じゃね。

日本文化のレッスン一 (Japanese Culture Lesson One)

日本文化のレッスン一

Setsubun

For our first lesson in Japanese Culture I decided to go with something timely. Around early February (the beginning of the traditional lunar calendar) the Japanese, like many cultures around the New Year, have a ritual celebration to bring good fortune in the year to come. This celebration is Setsubun (節分), literally translated as “Bean-Throwing Festival” or “Bean-Throwing Ceremony”. There are many ways to celebrate this time of year, but a few have become tradition.

Mamemaki

One of these traditions is the ritual of mamemaki (豆撒き, literally “bean throwing”). In this ritual the male head of the family would take roasted soybeans called fuku mame (福豆, “fortune beans”) and throw them out the front door to keep evil spirits out of their home while everyone says “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (鬼は外！福は内！, “Demons out! Luck in!). In modern times one parent might dress up as a mythological creature called an oni (鬼), while the other parent leads their children in chasing the “oni” away with the soybeans.

Oni and the kimon

The word oni is most often translated into English as demon or ogre. The oni were believed to come from the kimono (鬼門) or “demon gate”. Introduced from China the idea was that demons and evil spirits came from the north-east direction and this direction became known as the demon gate. When the Chinese zodiac was placed on a compass the direction of north-east falls between the ushi (丑, ox) and the tora (寅, tiger). This led the kimon to known as the ushitora (丑寅) or the “ox tiger” direction. This association with the ox and the tiger gave us the modern image of the oni with its horns and fangs as well as the tiger pelt it wears.

So if you feel like getting some good luck for the year to come, and want to do so in Japanese fashion, then grab some soybeans and chase those oni out of your house. So until next week...

じゃね。

日本語のレッスン二 (Japanese Lesson Two)

日本語のレッスン二

Sentence Structure

The Japanese language or Nihongo (日本語) has a sentence structure that is a little different from what English speakers are accustomed to. In English we structure our sentences in the order of Subject, Verb, and then Object, e.g. Tanaka eats bread. In that sentence the subject is the person “Tanaka”, the action Tanaka does is that he “eats”, and the object that Tanaka eats is “bread”.

In Japanese the sentence structure goes Subject, Object, and then Verb, e.g. Tanaka-san wa pan o taberu (田中さんはパンを食べる). In this case the literal translation would be “Tanaka bread eats”, or “As for Tanaka, bread (is what he) eats”. The only real rule though on this sentence structure is that the verb must come at the end of the sentence. This is due to the parts of a sentence being marked with particles that denote what the elements grammatical function is.

Particles

These particles are little words attached to other sentence elements. In the case of our previous sentence the wa (は, looks like ha but in this case pronounced wa) and o (を, looks like wo but in this case pronounced o) are particles. The wa is identifying the topic of the sentence and o identifies the object. In this sentence the topic is also the subject, but this is not always the case such as seen in the sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai (象は鼻が長い), literally “As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". In that sentence the topic would be Zō (elephant) and the subject would be hana (nose).

Dropping Words

In Japanese the subject and object can be left out of the sentence if it is obvious from context. Pronouns are often left out on the basis that it is inferred from the previous sentence. Using the previous example, hana-ga nagai would be "[their] noses are long," while nagai by itself would be "[they] are long." It is even possible for a verb to be a complete sentence as seen in the commonly used phrase Yatta! (やった！) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!”.

I could go on, but I’ll leave that for another time. You can also read more on the Japanese language on Wikipedia and the sources provided there. Japanese can really spin your head some times, but that is half the fun. So until next week…

じゃね。