Namiko's Japanese Language Blog

I previously mentioned my last name, "Abe", is quite common. I like my first name, "Namiko", because it is not very common, though it is not unusual. It is also nice that it seems to be easy to pronounce for westerners. People sometime ask about the meaning of my name. I wish I could tell them something interesting! Unfortunately my name doesn’t mean anything by itself. The Japanese word "nami" means, "wave," but it is written with a different kanji character from mine. The kanji character "na" is often used phonetically for a girl's name. "Mi" is the character for "beautiful" and "ko" is for "child."

My last name, "Abe", is quite common in Japan. It is ranked 23rd among a hundred thousand Japanese surnames. In North America, I am often called "Abe" like Abraham, but in Japanese it is pronounced as "a-be" with two syllables. There was a Prime Minister Abe a few years ago, though the kanji characters for his name were different from mine. I didn't like my last name much when I was young because it is too ordinary. However, I liked the fact that I was usually the first on the list of names at school. (The Japanese alphabet order goes as "a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko ..., therefore, unless there are names like "Aoki" or "Aihara," "Abe" would be the first. )

My mom recently visited Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido. She said that she enjoyed it very much. Asahiyama Zoo is the northernmost and one of the most popular zoos in Japan. It is known for its unique facilities where visitors can observe and interact with animals. Despite being a small country, Japan has many zoos. Some people might not agree with animals being kept in small cages. However, I do have good memories of visiting zoo's in my childhood. I think the way Asahiyama Zoo is designed is a great way to see animals in a more natural environment. I found interesting to read the comment, of the zoo's director, Masao Kosuge. He says, "I don't want to hear people saying, 'Kawaii! (Cute!)'; I want to hear them saying, 'Sugoi! (Amazing!)'.” Japanese translation

Although September is not cool yet in Japan, I feel autumn has arrived when I hear the sounds of insects in the evening. Compared to the piercing sound of cicadas in summer, many fall insects have such a nice soothing chirp. Fall insects include, "suzumushi (bell-ring insect)," "koorogi (cricket)" "kutsuwamushi (giant katydid)" and so on. There is a children song called, "mushi no koe", which is cute. I wasn’t crazy about insects when I was little, but collecting insects (a beetle and a stag beetle are popular ones) is a fun activity for kids, especially for boys. Japanese translation

I was at the Japanese restaurant the other day and found "okosama-ranch" on the menu. It made me nostalgic. In Japan, most family restaurants and kids friendly restaurants have "okosama-ranchi (kids lunch)". It says "lunch," but most places allow you to order it any time of the day. On the plate, there are small portions of various dishes that kids would like, such as hanbaagu (hamburger), ebifurai (deep fried prawn), karaage (deep fried chicken), korokke (croquets), furaido poteto (French fries), purin (caramel custard) etc. A rice dish is usually placed in a mountain shape and often has a flag on top. Sometimes, orange juice or a small toy is included. I am not sure about its nutritious value, but it is such a fun meal for kids. I think other countries have something similar to this, which probably reflects popular kids dishes in each country. Japanese translation

In Japan, most children go back to school on September 1st, but September is not the beginning of the school year. The Japanese school year starts in April and ends in March. There is about a five-week vacation in summer. Children are usually given some homework to do during this time. The common homework for elementary school children is "enikki (a diary with drawings)," and "dokusho kansoubun (to write an opinion or impression of a book that you read)." Also, there is often, "jiyuu kenkyuu (open research – sometimes it is hard to choose a topic)." I remember two of my "jiyuu kenkyuu" were an observation of the growth of morning glory and of the moon's waxing and waning. I always enjoyed summer vacation, but I also looked forward going back to school and seeing my friends in September. Japanese translation

When I travel to a foreign country, I like to go to local markets. It is very interesting to see what local people actually eat or use. When you go to a Japanese market, you might feel the same way. Most vegetables have Japanese names, but some use English words with slightly different pronunciations. "Serori (celery)" or "Retasu (lettuce)" are two of them. "Peeman" is probably a funny sounding vegetable for English speaking people. Can you guess what it is? It is green peppers. Red peppers are called "aka-peeman". When I didn’t know English well, I thought it came from an English word. Later I was curious what the origin of "peeman" is. It turned out to be from the French word "piment." However, French people probably won’t be able to figure out what "peeman" is either. Japanese translation

August 15th is the day that World War II ended. There are quite a few Japanese children books that talk about the war. "Kawaisouna zou," which was published in 1970, is a long selling book. It is a true story about three elephants at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo during World War II. I read it when I was at elementary school. I remember it was very sad and I strongly hoped that war never happens again. I haven’t read it for a quite a long time, but I recently read news that a CD of this book was released with both Japanese and English on one disk. The American singer, Cindy Lauper, reads the English version of the story. I hope it will help to spread an antiwar message. Japanese translation

Are you watching the Beijing Olympics? The Japanese word for "Olympics" is "gorin," which is written with the kanji character for "five" and "ring". Japan hosted three Olympics in the past: Tokyo Summer Olympics in 1964, Sapporo Winter Olympics in 1972 and Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. Beijing is the fifth Asian city (the other one was Seoul in 1988) to host the Olympics. I was quite excited about the Nagano Olympics and proud to be a host country. I am sure the Chinese feel the same way. By the way, Tokyo is one of the cities (Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro) that bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Japanese translation

If you are an anime fan, you’ve probably heard of Hayao Miyazaki. He is a great director of animated movies. All his work is amazing, but "Spirited Away" is my favorite. His highly awaited new film, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Gake no ue no Ponyo)" was released in Japan a few weeks ago. The film is inspired by "The Little Mermaid" and tells the story of a fish-girl, Ponyo, saved by a five-year-old boy, Sousuke. It is done completely with traditional hand-drawn animation, not using any computer graphics. I am really looking forward to seeing this film. It is supposed to be a simple story for young children, which means you will probably understand it even in Japanese! I hope you are able to enjoy the film with sub-titles when it comes to your country. Japanese translation