I look around, see what I have, and then make something out of it…..I just love to eat and love to cook. I sometimes wish I were more gourmet, but I guess I always have something to learn. I am an experimental cook too. I rarely cook the same thing twice because there are so many recipes out there that I want to try. I just want a way to share my eating with others. And for better or worse, my friends and family are my personal guinea pigs for recipe testing. So far no one has died from food poisoning, although they often protest they eat too many vegetables….muahahahaa
Monday, May 18, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
70 Japanese Gestures
Japanese is considered to be an extremely difficult language to learn. The writing system is made up of over 100 phonetic symbols in addition to thousands of Chinese characters. It is often said that it takes till the age of 10 for a Japanese child to master the language. Many people are of the belief that Japanese keep body action to a minimum when speaking, yet over 120 gestures are commonly used. Even after eliminating those that will probably no longer be in use by the end of the next decade, 70 still remain. These are presented here. It is an uncomfortable fact that, at present, there are many Japanese who are not proficient in English. Communicating with words may be difficult but why not start with gestures? Great insight into the culture and lifestyle of
GENERAL GESTURES // These gestures are used in daily life and are popular with both adults and children:-
1 // Bowing [Ojigi]
Lower your head. A movement when greeting someone. This is a practice that is not seen in Western countries, though it is very often observed in
2 // Yes. No. [Hai. Iie.]
As in the West, in
(i.e.) “Aren’t you going? – “Yes” (nodding the head) = (“Yes, I am not going”). In the West, this question would be answered with a “No” and shake the head: “No, I’m not going.”
3 // Itadakimasu / Gochisousama
Place both palms together and lightly bow your head. Itadakimasu is said before eating a meal, make sure your chopsticks are still on the chopstick rest. Gochisousama is said after eating the meal, both phrases are said while you lightly bow your head.
4 // Me [Watashi]
Put your index finger on the tip of your nose. In Western countries, people joint to their chests when indicating themselves, but in
5 // Come over here! [Kocchi ni oide] / Go away! [Acchi ike]
- Come over here! [Kocchi ni oide] – With the back of your hand facing upward, shake your hand downward toward yourself. Some people use both hands to gesture to a child.
- Go away! [Acchi ike] – With the back of the hand facing upward, shake your hand as if trying to shake something off.
Sometimes, the “come over here” gesture may be misunderstood as “go away”. The two can be difficult to distinguish, but a nodding of the head, and the fact the person is looking at you and laughing, will make it likely that “come here” is meant. A person saying “go away” will often not make eye contact.
6 // Calm down [Ochi tsuite]
Move both hands up and down while saying “maaa maaa maaa” with your palms facing the ground. This conveys that one wants a person to calm down, cool his or her temper, or not be so frantic. Maaa maaa maaa must be said together with the hand motion. Otherwise, people will not understand what you are trying to say. It may be best to remember the “maaa maaa maaa” and the hand motion as one set.
7 // I’m going to pass in front of you [Mae wo tourimasu]
Round the back slightly, place one hand up with your fingers together and the thumb up, then gently move your hand up and down when passing in front of someone. It is basically considered impolite to directly pass in front of someone. This gesture can be taken as an apology when passing in front of someone and obstructing his view, for example, in a store aisle. In Western culture, this gesture is very similar to saying “excuse me” when passing in front of someone. You will make a positive and favorable impression with this gesture and may find people striking up a conversation with you.
8 // I don’t know [Shiranai] / That’s wrong [Chigau]
Shake your upright hand near your mouth with your thumb closer to your face. There are times when the head is shaken at the same time. In that case, the head and hand will move in opposite directions. When this gesture is seen, for example, when asking directions, it simply means the person does not understand English or he or she is unable to assist you. One is advised to simply go and ask another person.
9 // Thank you [Katajikenai]
With your thumb facing toward your face, move your hand upright to a point in front of your face. It is the same gesture made by a sumo wrestler who has won as he accepts his prize money. It is an expression derived from the handheld sword. Often it is used by men as an abbreviated form of expressing appreciation. In
10 // Do you want to go eat? [Shokuji]
Pretend to hold a rice bowl in one hand and bring a pair of chopsticks to your mouth with the other hand. Repeat the hand motion of bringing a chopstick to your mouth several times. Sometimes, only chopstick motion is used with two fingers acting as a chopstick. When you see someone looking at you and making this gesture, it means he is asking you have already eaten or would you like to go eat together.
11 // Wait a moment [Chotto matte]
Show the palm of one hand to the other person. It also means to wait there. Both hands are used at times. In the West, gestures meaning “wait” often involve raising your index finger. However, in
12 // Seiza / Agura
The proper way to sit in a tatami room is in the seiza position, which is sitting on your knees with your legs tucked under you. In a formal setting, you would continue sitting in the seiza position. But once the greetings have been made and the atmosphere becomes relaxed, you may unfold and cross your legs, in the seating position Japanese call “agura”. The host may sometimes say, “Please put yourself at ease.” In which case, you would thank him before assuming the agura seating position. Agura was considered a man’s seating position from the time when Japanese dressed mainly in kimono. Sitting in the agura position was considered bad manners for women. Unless in the company of close friends, it may be better for women to sit with legs unfolded, but to one side. Sitting in the seiza position for hours is painful even for many Japanese. The legs fall asleep and you may not be able to stand without help. There are various ways to survive long hours of seiza sitting. The most popular one is to cross your toes. Ask a Japanese friend for tips. You will be surprised to find out how many different ways there are.
13 // Tapping the shoulder [Kata wo tataku]
When you want to let someone know he has dropped something, or you want him to notice that you want to talk to him, or when you’re meeting someone and approaching him from behind, tap the person on his shoulder two or three times to make him aware of your presence or to request his attention. The same thing is done when you want to point something out to hi, for example, “Look over there!” you would tap the person on his shoulder before saying what you have to say.
14 // Hot [Atsui]
When you’ve touched something hot like a hot pot, grab the earlobe with the thumb and index finger. This comes from the fact that the earlobe has the lowest body temperature compared to other body parts. Please don’t think of this gesture as meaning someone has lost a pair of earrings.
15 // To laugh [ Warau]
Covering the mouth when laughing. In the old days in
16 // Let’s put that subject aside [Sono hanashi wa oitoite]
The gestures looks like one is moving a box from in front of one’s self to the side. It is a gesture used when changing the subject or saying, “Let’s put that subject aside and change the topic.”
17 // I agree! [Nattoku!]
Hit the palm of one hand with a closed fist. This gesture can also be done by hitting your thighs. In that case, be sure to slap your thighs hard enough for the sound to be heard. This gesture may look similar to a “want to fight” gesture in the West. Don’t worry if you see someone directing this gesture at you. There is no need to move away. No one wants to start a fight with you. In fact, it is quite the opposite. They are just agreeing with what you say!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Japanese Fugu
The infamous fugu (blowfish) is a luxury food in Japan, one with a long history and an exciting reputation. Also known as fuku, this delicious fish has been part of the Japanese diet since ancient times, and is as popular today as it’s ever been; in fact, the Japanese consume some 10,000 tons of fugu annually. There are different varieties of fugu, but most notable among those approved for human consumption by the Japanese government is the tora, or tiger, fugu.
Tora fugu is renowned for its delicate and distinctive flavor—and for the deadly toxin tetrodotoxincontained in its liver and ovaries. Before being sold or served, the law requires that the poison be removed entirely, a procedure undertaken by specially licensed chefs.
Fugu has long been on the Japanese menu: fugu bones have been unearthed from shell mounds dating back some 2,500 years. During the late sixteenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries, deaths by fugu poisoning were commonplace, and various laws were passed prohibiting its consumption, but it was eaten regardless.
It wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that a safe and standardized preparation method was established. In1948, a certification system for fugu preparation was introduced in Osaka; this was later adopted by other prefectures in the country. Nowadays, if prepared by a specialized chef, there is no risk involved in eating fugu.
Fugu is normally served at specialty restaurants—some quite elite—which offer set menus priced from 5,000 yen to 30,000 yen (US$50.00-$300.00). Typical dishes include fugu-sashi, or tessa: thin, nearly transparent slices of raw fugu beautifully arranged on a plate. Fugu-sashi is dipped in ponzu-shoyu, soy sauce mixed with citrus juice, and garnished with momiji-oroshi (grated daikon mixed with red pepper) and green onion. Crunchy yubiki or teppi (boiled skin) is eaten the same way.
Fugu-chiri or tecchiri is a savory nabemono, one-pot dish of fugu with tofu and vegetables that is simmered at the table and then eaten. This dish is accompanied by the same ponzu sauce, momiji-oroshi and green onion. Any remaining liquid is simmered with rice to make fugu zosui (rice porridge).
Other characteristic dishes include deep-fried fugu, whose crispy coating is savored together with the umami of succulent fugu meat. And to conclude this bill of fare, hire-zake—sake infused with the umami of roasted dried fugu fin—may be sipped in a final toast to this meal.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Japanese Food (FAQ)
INGREDIENTS //
Is rice the most common ingredient of Japanese meals?
Yes. Almost all meals in Japan come with rice. There are usually side dishes that you eat with rice. Rice is thought to be almost sacred and is still used in some ceremonies. Until the end of the Edo era (1867), Buddhists in Japan did not eat meat. Instead, rice was used in many different ways : to make desserts, snacks, vinegar and sake.
When you eat Japanese food, you should try to finish the rice and all the side dishes at about the same time. You can always tell when someone is not used to eating Japanese food because they either have a lot of rice left after eating their side dishes or a lot side dishes left after eating their rice.
Sushi is the most popular rice dish. Most sushi is made with a small handful of rice and is topped with small piece of seafood (raw or cooked), vegetable, or egg. Kaitensushi shop, where the plates of sushi go around on a conveyor belt are common. You can also have a bowl of rice with sashimi on top of it. Onigiri is a homemade rice ball. Inside, it is filled with Japanese pickles, flakes of seafood or other ingredients. Usually the rice ball is wrapped in seaweed.
Do the Japanese use a lot of soy sauce?
Yes, they do. Soy sauce is called shoyu in Japanese. It is the main way to flavor their food. It is used when cooking food and also to flavor it when you eat. At most tables in Japanese restaurants, you will find a little bottle of shoyu. You cannot make very many Japanese dishes without using soy sauce.
I went to Japanese restaurant and had brown soup with seaweed in it. What was it?
That's miso shiru (miso soup). Miso is made from soybeans, salt and sometimes rice. It is used to make soup, but it is also used to add flavor to other types of Japanese dishes. Miso soup is a key food for almost any Japanese meal. Most typical Japanese meals include a cup of miso soup.
Do Japanese eat a lot of tofu?
Yes. Tofu is very common in Japan. Tofu is also a common ingredient in many parts of the world. There are many ways that you can use it. It is high in protein and low in fat, and it's cheap.
In America, tofu is used to make ice-cream and other food, but I once went to a tofu restaurant and I had a meal with about 10 courses, and everything was made out of tofu. Tofu doesn't have a strong flavor, and so it can be used in a lot of ways.
How is seaweed used in Japanese cooking?
Do Japanese eat raw fish everyday?
Not everyday, but sashimi is very popular. Most people like it. Sashimi is a little expensive and that's why most Japanese don't eat it everyday.
Do most Japanese eat a lot of noodles?
Yes, noodles are very popular in Japan. There are two kinds of traditional noodles ; udon and soba. Udon is widespread principally in Western Japan and Soba is relished principally in Eastern Japan. In recent years, a Chinese brand of noodles known as ramen is being prepared in Japanese style and has become the most popular noodle dish in Japan. Udon is made of wheat flour and Soba is made of grain which is from a plant that is relativily easy to cultivate. These ingredients, the soup, and the various toppings make the noodles different from each other. As you might know, all three of these are sold as instant noodles. Unlike Ramen, which is only served in a hot bowl of soup, Udon and Soba can also be served inside a cool broth. People eat it in this style in the summer.
At many train stations you can find simple restaurants which serve these noodles. You can't take your time eating them in these places and there are often no seats. You need to burn your tongue to down them quickly as the people in line will surely be rushing you. But, somehow, these quick noodle meals taste better than when you sit down and take time to eat. At first the noodle dishes all look the same and the taste may also seem the same. However, as you get used to eating noodles, you'll start to realize the differences and find that trying different kinds can be fun. While eating noodles in Japan you are allowed to "slurp". In fact, it seems customary to do so!
If you're traveling to Japan for the first time or going to a Japanese restaurant and fear that the only things to eat will be fish and rice, think again!Japanese noodles are delightfully served in a variety of ways. Like all Japanese food, the way it's prepared depends on the season. There's nothing better on a cold, damp winter day than a bowl of homemade ramen noodle soup. And conversely, on a hot, sticky summer day, eating a plate of cool buckwheat noodles with dipping sauce makes your whole body feel cooler.
Is rice the most common ingredient of Japanese meals?
Yes. Almost all meals in Japan come with rice. There are usually side dishes that you eat with rice. Rice is thought to be almost sacred and is still used in some ceremonies. Until the end of the Edo era (1867), Buddhists in Japan did not eat meat. Instead, rice was used in many different ways : to make desserts, snacks, vinegar and sake.
When you eat Japanese food, you should try to finish the rice and all the side dishes at about the same time. You can always tell when someone is not used to eating Japanese food because they either have a lot of rice left after eating their side dishes or a lot side dishes left after eating their rice.
Sushi is the most popular rice dish. Most sushi is made with a small handful of rice and is topped with small piece of seafood (raw or cooked), vegetable, or egg. Kaitensushi shop, where the plates of sushi go around on a conveyor belt are common. You can also have a bowl of rice with sashimi on top of it. Onigiri is a homemade rice ball. Inside, it is filled with Japanese pickles, flakes of seafood or other ingredients. Usually the rice ball is wrapped in seaweed.
Do the Japanese use a lot of soy sauce?
Yes, they do. Soy sauce is called shoyu in Japanese. It is the main way to flavor their food. It is used when cooking food and also to flavor it when you eat. At most tables in Japanese restaurants, you will find a little bottle of shoyu. You cannot make very many Japanese dishes without using soy sauce.
I went to Japanese restaurant and had brown soup with seaweed in it. What was it?
That's miso shiru (miso soup). Miso is made from soybeans, salt and sometimes rice. It is used to make soup, but it is also used to add flavor to other types of Japanese dishes. Miso soup is a key food for almost any Japanese meal. Most typical Japanese meals include a cup of miso soup.
Do Japanese eat a lot of tofu?
Yes. Tofu is very common in Japan. Tofu is also a common ingredient in many parts of the world. There are many ways that you can use it. It is high in protein and low in fat, and it's cheap.
In America, tofu is used to make ice-cream and other food, but I once went to a tofu restaurant and I had a meal with about 10 courses, and everything was made out of tofu. Tofu doesn't have a strong flavor, and so it can be used in a lot of ways.
How is seaweed used in Japanese cooking?
Seaweeds (kaiso) have been an important part of the Japanese diet for many centuries. Today, various types of seaweed are used extensively as soup stock, seasonings and other forms in daily Japanese cooking. The following are the three most commonly used types of seaweed: Konbu is a large type of seaweed that is often used as a soup stock or in nabe (hot pot) dishes. Wakame is often used in soups such as the miso soup or in sunomono salads. Wakame is usually sold in dried form, and is soaked in water before usage. The picture on the left shows wakame in dried and soaked form. Nori are thin, dried seaweed sheets. Nori sheets are used in many sushi, or rice balls and as a topping or condiment for various noodle and other dishes.
Do Japanese eat raw fish everyday?
Not everyday, but sashimi is very popular. Most people like it. Sashimi is a little expensive and that's why most Japanese don't eat it everyday.
Do most Japanese eat a lot of noodles?
Yes, noodles are very popular in Japan. There are two kinds of traditional noodles ; udon and soba. Udon is widespread principally in Western Japan and Soba is relished principally in Eastern Japan. In recent years, a Chinese brand of noodles known as ramen is being prepared in Japanese style and has become the most popular noodle dish in Japan. Udon is made of wheat flour and Soba is made of grain which is from a plant that is relativily easy to cultivate. These ingredients, the soup, and the various toppings make the noodles different from each other. As you might know, all three of these are sold as instant noodles. Unlike Ramen, which is only served in a hot bowl of soup, Udon and Soba can also be served inside a cool broth. People eat it in this style in the summer.
At many train stations you can find simple restaurants which serve these noodles. You can't take your time eating them in these places and there are often no seats. You need to burn your tongue to down them quickly as the people in line will surely be rushing you. But, somehow, these quick noodle meals taste better than when you sit down and take time to eat. At first the noodle dishes all look the same and the taste may also seem the same. However, as you get used to eating noodles, you'll start to realize the differences and find that trying different kinds can be fun. While eating noodles in Japan you are allowed to "slurp". In fact, it seems customary to do so!
If you're traveling to Japan for the first time or going to a Japanese restaurant and fear that the only things to eat will be fish and rice, think again!Japanese noodles are delightfully served in a variety of ways. Like all Japanese food, the way it's prepared depends on the season. There's nothing better on a cold, damp winter day than a bowl of homemade ramen noodle soup. And conversely, on a hot, sticky summer day, eating a plate of cool buckwheat noodles with dipping sauce makes your whole body feel cooler.
Tips when eating at Japanese restaurants
Ohiya (Cold drinking water)
Start with safe, tasty water in Japan.
When you take seat at a restaurant in Japan, cold water will be served. This is called "ohiya." Along with "ohiya," the waiter or waitress will also give you "oshibori," a wet towel you can use to wipe your hands and/or brow. Both "ohiya" and "oshibori" are provided free of charge and do not worry about tipping because it is not required for either of them. In some countries, they serve free mineral water in hotel rooms. In Japan, however, since tap water is safe and can be drunk as is, free mineral water is not provided at hotels.
Sabi-nuki (no wasabi)
Wisdom of the Japanese, who eat sushi and think "Sabi-nuki" means "no wasabi" and is a term from the sushi jargon. If you do not like hot wasabi, you should ask for "sabi-nuki" in advance at a sushi restaurant. By the way, do you know why we use wasabi in sushi It has been proven that wasabi eliminates fishy smell and has strong sterilizing power.
Since the Japanese eat raw fish, they have long known this power of wasabi. Tasty sushi incorporates the wisdom of the Japanese, too.
(Wasabi = Hot savory herb(Japanese horseradish, kind of) that complements sushi, sashimi, soba and other dishes)
[Pin-point Advice on Traveling]
How about trying common dishes.
Since you have traveled a long distance to come to Japan, please do not forget to try common dishes. Dishes favored by common people include soba, udon, ramen, and curry and rice. They cost approximately 500 yen, so trying them shouldn't be a problem. Please do not miss an opportunity to do so. Although you may have the impression that sushi is expensive, you will not have to worry much about prices if you go to a "kaitenzushi (conveyor-belt sushi)" restaurant. Since the prices are indicated by the color of the plates on which the sushi is served, you can enjoy sushi according to your budget.
Let's speak Japanese in a Sushi restaurant!
Hokkaido abounds in fresh seafood. When you go to a sushi restaurant, you should ask for your favorites by referring to the words and phrases below:
Do not miss delicious dishes that originated in Hokkaido "Namara-umai" means "very delicious" in the Hokkaido dialect. We have numerous tasty dishes unique to Sapporo and Hokkaido that might make you throw out this phrase in rapid succession. They include miso-flavored ramen, "Genghis Khan" barbecued lamb, fresh seafood, soup curry that has caught on nationwide and various sweets cooked with ingredients produced in Hokkaido. Since they are not so expensive, we recommend that you try Hokkaido's tasty specialties.
Let's speak Japanese in the Hokkaido dialect.
Like "namara-umai," we have a unique dialect in Hokkaido. Here is a list of terms from Hokkaido dialect for you to use without feeling embarrassed:
[Pin-point Advice on Traveling]
"Otoshi" is served even if you do not order it.
When you order an alcoholic beverage, a small dish is served along with the drink in some cases. This is called "otoshi (starter)." "Otoshi" is served to all customers, even to those who have not ordered it, but it is not free. It would be easy for you to consider it as sort of cover charge. Also referred to as "tsukidashi," "otoshi" varies depending on the restaurant and season. Common food tends to be served, but you never know what you will get!
Methods of payment in Japan
Japanese people say "okaikei o onegaishimasu" to the waiter / waitress when they have finished their meals and want to pay. It means "Check, please". The waiter / waitress will bring the bill to your table. You can pay at your table in some restaurants. However, not all restaurants have this payment system. Some restaurants use a pre-paid meal coupon system while others require the meals to be prepaid.
Please note that in many restaurants, you are kindly advised to pay at the cash register near the entrance / exit.
Let's speak Japanese at a restaurant
We have a collection of useful expressions to use when you pay for your meals. When you leave the restaurant, please do not forget to say "Gochisosama" with a smile.
Useful Column
Please try the following dishes. Did you find them delicious or unsavory.
By difficulty levels Let's try Japanese tastes that Japanese people eat routinely.
Difficulty Level 1: No problem!
Tsukemono // primarily vegetables pickled in salt - is a preserved food unique to snowy areas. Other than pickles in salt, we have those in rice-bran paste, soybean paste, sake lees and so forth. Pickles have different characteristics in different regions, and Nishinzuke, pickled dried herring, cabbages, and so on, in addition to Matsumaezuke, dried cuttlefish and kelp pickled in soy sauce, are famous in Hokkaido.
Difficulty Level 2: You can manage!
Umeboshi // In Japan, people talk about "umeboshi" first when it comes to sour food. It is one of Japan's traditional preserved foods and is made by pickling plums in salt and then drying them in the sun. Umeboshi is used for boxed meals because it helps to keep the food fresh. It has long been popular as a healthy snack and we found that it has the effect of soothing fatigue.
Difficulty Level 3: Appearance of an archenemy!
Ikura // Refers to salmon roes pickled in salt or soy sauce. Salmon and trout are fish that are representative of Hokkaido. "Ikuradon," or a bowl of rice topped with plentiful amounts of ikura, has gained great popularity as one of Hokkaido specialties. Ikura is also popular as a sushi ingredient available in Hokkaido. Salmon roes that have been separated into individual eggs are called ikura while those that are still in the sac are referred to as sujiko.
Difficulty Level 4: You would be a Japanese food connoisseur if you can eat it.
Shiokara // Eefers to the salted and fermented flesh, internal organs, eggs and the like of sea animals. The most popular shiokara in Japan is from squid. People eat it as a side dish and snacks to go with alcoholic beverages, but some people do not like it at all. "Konowata," considered to be one of the top three delicacies in Japan, is made with the intestines of sea cucumbers.
Difficulty Level 5: You are as Japanese as the Japanese if you can eat it.
Natto // Natto is made by fermenting soybeans with the bacillus natto bacterium and is characterized by its strong smell and sticky and stringy consistency. This is a must-eat breakfast dish for many Japanese people and a number of hotels serve it for breakfast. Having said that, there are a lot of Japanese people who do not like it and people do not eat it very often in the Kansai region. Generally, people pour soy sauce onto natto, but they also add mustard, leeks, eggs and such if they like.
Start with safe, tasty water in Japan.
When you take seat at a restaurant in Japan, cold water will be served. This is called "ohiya." Along with "ohiya," the waiter or waitress will also give you "oshibori," a wet towel you can use to wipe your hands and/or brow. Both "ohiya" and "oshibori" are provided free of charge and do not worry about tipping because it is not required for either of them. In some countries, they serve free mineral water in hotel rooms. In Japan, however, since tap water is safe and can be drunk as is, free mineral water is not provided at hotels.
Sabi-nuki (no wasabi)
Wisdom of the Japanese, who eat sushi and think "Sabi-nuki" means "no wasabi" and is a term from the sushi jargon. If you do not like hot wasabi, you should ask for "sabi-nuki" in advance at a sushi restaurant. By the way, do you know why we use wasabi in sushi It has been proven that wasabi eliminates fishy smell and has strong sterilizing power.
Since the Japanese eat raw fish, they have long known this power of wasabi. Tasty sushi incorporates the wisdom of the Japanese, too.
(Wasabi = Hot savory herb(Japanese horseradish, kind of) that complements sushi, sashimi, soba and other dishes)
[Pin-point Advice on Traveling]
How about trying common dishes.
Since you have traveled a long distance to come to Japan, please do not forget to try common dishes. Dishes favored by common people include soba, udon, ramen, and curry and rice. They cost approximately 500 yen, so trying them shouldn't be a problem. Please do not miss an opportunity to do so. Although you may have the impression that sushi is expensive, you will not have to worry much about prices if you go to a "kaitenzushi (conveyor-belt sushi)" restaurant. Since the prices are indicated by the color of the plates on which the sushi is served, you can enjoy sushi according to your budget.
Let's speak Japanese in a Sushi restaurant!
Hokkaido abounds in fresh seafood. When you go to a sushi restaurant, you should ask for your favorites by referring to the words and phrases below:
- [Maguro] kudasai ([Tuna], please.)
- [Maguro] no sabi-nuki kudasai ([Tuna] without wasabi, please.)
- Sushi menu
- Tuna (maguro)
- Fatty tuna (toro)
- Cuttlefish (ika) (Squid)
- Octopus (tako)
- Scallop (hotate)
- Raw shrimp (ebi)
- Salmon (sake, samon)
- Crab (kani)
- Sea urchin (uni)
- Salmon roe (ikura)
- Squila (syako)
- Flatfish (hirame)
- Tuna roll (tekkamaki)
Do not miss delicious dishes that originated in Hokkaido "Namara-umai" means "very delicious" in the Hokkaido dialect. We have numerous tasty dishes unique to Sapporo and Hokkaido that might make you throw out this phrase in rapid succession. They include miso-flavored ramen, "Genghis Khan" barbecued lamb, fresh seafood, soup curry that has caught on nationwide and various sweets cooked with ingredients produced in Hokkaido. Since they are not so expensive, we recommend that you try Hokkaido's tasty specialties.
Let's speak Japanese in the Hokkaido dialect.
Like "namara-umai," we have a unique dialect in Hokkaido. Here is a list of terms from Hokkaido dialect for you to use without feeling embarrassed:
- Umaissho (delicious)
- Shibareru (very cold)
- Shakkoi (cold)
- Kepparu (work hard)
- Menkoi (cute)
- Obandesu (Good evening)
- Azumashikunai (feel ill at ease)
- Waya (terrible)
[Pin-point Advice on Traveling]
"Otoshi" is served even if you do not order it.
When you order an alcoholic beverage, a small dish is served along with the drink in some cases. This is called "otoshi (starter)." "Otoshi" is served to all customers, even to those who have not ordered it, but it is not free. It would be easy for you to consider it as sort of cover charge. Also referred to as "tsukidashi," "otoshi" varies depending on the restaurant and season. Common food tends to be served, but you never know what you will get!
Methods of payment in Japan
Japanese people say "okaikei o onegaishimasu" to the waiter / waitress when they have finished their meals and want to pay. It means "Check, please". The waiter / waitress will bring the bill to your table. You can pay at your table in some restaurants. However, not all restaurants have this payment system. Some restaurants use a pre-paid meal coupon system while others require the meals to be prepaid.
Please note that in many restaurants, you are kindly advised to pay at the cash register near the entrance / exit.
Let's speak Japanese at a restaurant
We have a collection of useful expressions to use when you pay for your meals. When you leave the restaurant, please do not forget to say "Gochisosama" with a smile.
- Okaikei o onegaishimasu (Check, please.)
- Dokode harauno desuka? (Where should I pay?)
- Ikura desuka? (How much is it?)
- Credit card wa tsukae masuka? (Do you accept credit cards?)
- Oishikatta desu (I enjoyed the meal. It was good!)
- Gochisosama deshita (Thank you for the meal.)
Useful Column
Please try the following dishes. Did you find them delicious or unsavory.
By difficulty levels Let's try Japanese tastes that Japanese people eat routinely.
Difficulty Level 1: No problem!
Tsukemono // primarily vegetables pickled in salt - is a preserved food unique to snowy areas. Other than pickles in salt, we have those in rice-bran paste, soybean paste, sake lees and so forth. Pickles have different characteristics in different regions, and Nishinzuke, pickled dried herring, cabbages, and so on, in addition to Matsumaezuke, dried cuttlefish and kelp pickled in soy sauce, are famous in Hokkaido.
Difficulty Level 2: You can manage!
Umeboshi // In Japan, people talk about "umeboshi" first when it comes to sour food. It is one of Japan's traditional preserved foods and is made by pickling plums in salt and then drying them in the sun. Umeboshi is used for boxed meals because it helps to keep the food fresh. It has long been popular as a healthy snack and we found that it has the effect of soothing fatigue.
Difficulty Level 3: Appearance of an archenemy!
Ikura // Refers to salmon roes pickled in salt or soy sauce. Salmon and trout are fish that are representative of Hokkaido. "Ikuradon," or a bowl of rice topped with plentiful amounts of ikura, has gained great popularity as one of Hokkaido specialties. Ikura is also popular as a sushi ingredient available in Hokkaido. Salmon roes that have been separated into individual eggs are called ikura while those that are still in the sac are referred to as sujiko.
Difficulty Level 4: You would be a Japanese food connoisseur if you can eat it.
Shiokara // Eefers to the salted and fermented flesh, internal organs, eggs and the like of sea animals. The most popular shiokara in Japan is from squid. People eat it as a side dish and snacks to go with alcoholic beverages, but some people do not like it at all. "Konowata," considered to be one of the top three delicacies in Japan, is made with the intestines of sea cucumbers.
Difficulty Level 5: You are as Japanese as the Japanese if you can eat it.
Natto // Natto is made by fermenting soybeans with the bacillus natto bacterium and is characterized by its strong smell and sticky and stringy consistency. This is a must-eat breakfast dish for many Japanese people and a number of hotels serve it for breakfast. Having said that, there are a lot of Japanese people who do not like it and people do not eat it very often in the Kansai region. Generally, people pour soy sauce onto natto, but they also add mustard, leeks, eggs and such if they like.
Hokkaido Simply Delicious!!!
Ekiben is a packed lunch often sold at railway stations. Eating ekiben is one of the pleasures of travelling. In
One-Pot Dishes are Popular Winter Standard. Ishikari-nabe is a one-pot dish in which salmon, its milt and various vegetables are cooked with miso sauce. Its name was derived from
Genghis Kahn (Jingisukan) is a lamb barbecue dish named after the Mongolian warrior, is unique to Hokkaido and especially popular at beer halls throughout the city, many with their own original sauces in which the lamb is either marinated or dipped after grilling. The dish is rumored to be so named because in prewar
At home or outdoors, this barbecue is so popular among Hokkaido people for “Ohanami” cherry blossom viewing, summer camping, on the beach , in the field, or at home, many enjoy having Jingisukan. Standard ingredients for this is, mutton or lamb, vegetables like onions, bean-sprouts, or others depending on the season or individuals ’liking. In most cases, for eating this barbecue, we use the special iron-cast pans in the shape of flat helmets with the hollow edges all around. In eating the meat, there are two choices, one is the meat is already soaked in the special sauce, the other is choosing the raw meat. For both kinds, we grill the meat on the pan with other ingredients at table, after the ingredients are cooked, we dip them into the special sauce for the unseasoned meat, or if we need more taste. If you have a chance of visiting supermarkets, meat corners, you find many different kinds of packs of Jingisukan coming from many different farms or factories along with different kinds of sauce. For local people, it’s quite common to have the “Jingisukan pan “at home, enjoying this barbecue with good beer or other beverages all the year round. In
Ramen is very popular all over
Soup curry has become popular among local people. It is a new style dish of a mixture of ramen soup and curry. It is different to a normal thick curry and tastes like a curry flavoured spice soup cooked with large pieces of meat and vegetables. There are great varieties in ingredients. Some restaurants have 'Natto' (fermented soybeans), boiled egg or seafood in their soup curry. It may be interesting to try different soup curry.
Blessed with a broad expanse of land, a sunny climate, and water on all sides,
In
Dairy farming is popular in
Summer sees the harvest of the various types of melon grown in the area. Delicious, fragrant Yubari melons and Furano melons are famous nationwide. Haskapp is a small purple berry used for sweets and jam. Cherries of Niki are a popular specialty of the region. 'Densuke-suika' of Touma is a rare black jumbo watermelon. Its taste is very sweet.
Much of
JAPANESE LANGUAGE (日本語)
The Japanese language is spoken by the approximately 120 million inhabitants of Japan, and by the Japanese living in Hawaii and on the North and South American mainlands. It is also spoken as a second language by the Chinese and the Korean people who lived under Japanese occupation earlier this century.
CHARACTERISTIC OF JAPANESE
Vocabulary //
Three categories of words exist in Japanese. The native Japanese words constitute the largest category, followed by words originally borrowed from China in earlier history, and the smallest but a rapidly growing category of words borrowed in modern times from Western languages such as English. This third category also contains a small number of words that have come from other Asian languages. Studies by the National Language Institute show that the frequency of these three types of words varies according to the kinds of written material examined. In magazines, native Japanese words constitute more than half of the total words, while the Chinese borrowed words average about 40%, and the rest drawn from the recently borrowed words from Western languages. In newspapers, the words of Chinese origin number greater than the Japanese native words.
Sounds of the Language
Japanese has an open-syllable sound pattern, so that most syllables end in a vowel -- the syllable may be composed solely of the vowel. There are five vowels, /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/. Vowel length often distinguishes words, as in to for "door" and too for "ten." The basic consonants are: /k/, /s/, /t/, /n/, /h/, /m/, /y/, /r/, /w/, and the syllabic nasal /N/. Many of these consonants can be palatalized in front of the vowels /a/, /u/, and /o/, for example, /kya/, /kyu/, /kyo/. When the two consonants, /s/ and /t/, occur with the vowel /i/, these consonants are automatically palatalized as /shi/ and /chi/. The consonant /t/ is pronounced as /ts/ in front of the vowel /u/.
Unlike English, which has stress accent, Japanese has pitch accent, which means that after an accented syllable, the pitch falls. The word for "chopsticks," hashi, has the accent on the first syllable, so its pitch contour is ha shi. Without the accent on the first syllable, hashi may mean "bridge" or "edge." "Bridge" has accent on the second syllable, which can be seen if a grammatical particle such as the subject marker ga is attached to the word: hashi ga. "Edge" has no accent, so it would be pronounced without any fall in the pitch even with a grammatical marker such as ga.
Grammar //
Every language has a basic word order for the words in a sentence. In English, the sentence Naomi uses a computer has the order subject (Naomi), verb (uses), and object (a computer). In the corresponding Japanese sentence, the subject comes first, just as in English, but then the object appears, followed finally by the verb: Naomi-ga (Naomi) konpyuuta-o (computer) tukau (use). The rule of thumb in Japanese is that in a sentence, the verb comes at the end. The two word orders, subject-verb-object for English and subject-object-verb for Japanese, are both common among the languages of the world. If we look again at the Japanese sentence, we see that the subject and the object are accompanied by particles, ga with the subject "Naomi" (Naomi-ga) and o with the object "computer" (konpyuuta-o). These are called case markers, and a large number of the world's languages have them. We can see a remnant of a case-marking system even in English: the pronouns in English change shape depending on where it occurs, he/she/they in the subject position, but him/her/them in the object position (e.g., She saw him). If we go back in history, the older English of five hundred to one thousand years ago had an extensive case-marking system similar to modern Japanese. These case markers make it possible for the words in Japanese to appear in different orders and retain the same meaning. In the sentence we have been looking at, it is possible to place the object where the subject normally occurs, and the subject in the normal object position, and not change the meaning: konpyuuta-o Naomi-ga tukau. If we do the same thing to English, the meaning of the sentence is radically altered (The computer uses Naomi). If we have a more complex sentence, it is still possible to change the order of all the words as long as the verb remains at the end. The sentence "Naomi gave a computer to Taro" has the subject-indirect object-object- verb basic order, Naomi-ga (Naomi) Taro-ni (to Taro) konpyuuta-o (computer) ageta (gave). This sentence has the following word order possibilities, starting with the basic order we just observed.
Naomi-ga Taro-ni konpyuuta-o ageta (subject-indirect object-object verb)
Naomi-ga konpyuuta-o Taro-ni ageta (subject-object-indirect object verb)
Taro-ni Naomi-ga konpyuuta-o ageta (indirect object-subject-object-verb)
konpyuuta-o Naomi-ga Taro-ni ageta (object-subject-indirect object verb)
Taro-ni konpyuuta-o Naomi-ga ageta (indirect object-object-subject verb)
konpyuuta-o Taro-ni Naomi-ga ageta (object-indirect object-subject-verb)
Although the Japanese language allows a multitude of word orders, the one inflexible order is the verb, in that it must appear at the end of the sentence. This is no accident. The core element in a sentence is the verb, because the verb expresses the action or the event involving the referents of the other words. Such a core is often referred to as the "head" of a sentence or a clause, and Japanese always places the head at the end of its clause. In a noun phrase, modifiers function to modify the head, as in expensive computer, where expensive modifies the head of the phrase, computer. In Japanese, the modifier always precedes the head, as expected (takai (expensive) konpyuuta (computer)). This is not only true of simple modifiers, but for modifiers that involve an entire sentence. Note that in the English sentence the computer [that Naomi uses], the bracketed portion modifies the head computer, and this modifier follows the head. In Japanese, the head-final order is invariably followed, so that this would be expressed with the modifier preceding the head: [Naomi-ga tukau (that Naomi uses)] konpyuuta. With few exceptions, the languages of the world either follow the head-final order, just as in Japanese, or the head-initial order (for example, Indonesian). Within the same language, we might see one or the otheroption for different types of clauses, as we saw for English simple modifiers (head-final) and sentence modifiers (head-initial). Japanese is consistently head-final for all types of clauses.
The Japanese verb does not indicate number or gender. The same form for the verb is used with singular and plural subjects, and no gender distinction is made. The verb inflects for tense, negation, aspect, and mood. Following are some inflections for the verb "to push," which has the root os-.
os-u (push) present/dictionary form
os-ita (pushed) past
os-anai (not push) negation
os-ite iru (is pushing) progressive
os-e (push) imperative
os-itara (if (you) push) conditional
These forms vary depending on whether the root of the verb ends in a consonant or a vowel. While the root of the verb "to push" above is consonant-final, a verb such as "to eat" has a vowel-final root (tabe-), and it takes a slightly different shape for each of the inflections: tabe- ru (present/dictionary form), tabe-ta (past), tabe-nakatta (negation), tabe-te iru (progressive), tabe-ro (imperative), tabe-tara (conditional). In languages such as Italian and Spanish, a rich verbal inflection that indicates both number and gender often allows the speaker not to express the subject if it is understood in the context, e.g., (Juan) vio ese film ((Juan) saw that film) in Spanish. In Japanese, despite the lack of number and gender inflection on the verb, it is possible not only to leave the subject out, but any other element in the sentence except the verb, so long as it is understood in the sentence. The Japanese counterpart of the sentence "Naomi uses the computer" may be expressed simply by saying the verb tukau (use), so long as it's clear to the hearer from context that the sentence refers to Naomi and to the computer.
In Japanese, ideas often expressed in other languages with separate clauses and sentences frequently take the shape of a word, albeit a complex one. This is the agglutinative nature of the language. For example, the expression in English, Naomi was made to go purchase a more expensive computer by Mary, contains separate verbs was made, go, and purchase. In the Japanese counterpart, these verbs together form one complex verb (Japanese uses "come" for the English "go" in this context) : katte-ko-sase-rare-ta (buy-come-made-was-past). Other languages that have an agglutinative verb system include Korean, Navaho, and Turkish.
Writing System //
Japanese is traditionally written vertically, with the lines starting from the right side of the page. While this way of writing is still predominant, there is another way that is identical to English in starting from the top left hand side, with each line written horizontally.
Japanese is written using two systems of orthography, Chinese characters and syllabaries. Chinese characters, or kanji, were brought in from China starting about 1,500 years ago. Prior to their introduction, Japanese was strictly a spoken language. Chinese characters are by far the more difficult system because of the sheer number of characters and the complexity both in writing and reading each character. Each character is associated with a meaning; for example, the character 行 has the basic meaning "to go." There are tens of thousands of characters attested, but in 1946, the Japanese government identified 1,850 characters for daily use. In 1981, the list was increased in number to 1,945 characters, and given the name Joyo Kanji List (Kanji for Daily Use). The characters in the Daily Use List must be learned in primary and secondary schools, and newspapers generally limit the use of characters to this list. Most characters are associated with at least two readings, the native Japanese reading, and the reading that simulates the original Chinese pronunciation of the same character. If the same character came into Japan at different periods or from different dialect regions of China, the character may be associated with a multitude of Chinese readings that represent different historical periods and dialectal differences. For example, the character , "to go," has four different readings, the Japanese reading and three distinct originally Chinese readings. The second system of wriiting are syllabaries, or kana, which were developed by the Japanese from certain Chinese characters about 1,000 years ago. Each syllabary represents a syllable in the language, and, unlike Chinese characters, it represents a sound but not meaning. There are two types of syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, each containing the same set of sounds. For example, the sound "ka" in Japanese may be represented by the hiragana or the katakana , both of which were developed from the Chinese character . Hiragana is often used in combination with a Chinese character, in such a way that, for example, the character represents roughly the root of a verb, and the inflection is written with hiragana. Katakana is used to write loan words from Western languages such as English, French, and German. It is not uncommon to find kanji, hiragana, and katakana used in the same sentence. Along with Chinese characters and syllabaries, Roman alphabets are sometimes employed for such things as names of organizations. For example, companies such as Honda, Toyota, and Sony often use Roman alphabets for their name in advertisements.
HISTORY OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Through painstaking research, we now have conclusive evidence for the genetic relationships of the major languages of the world. English, along with a host of languages spoken in Europe, Russia, and India, belong to the Indo-European family of languages. In contrast, there is no conclusive evidence relating Japanese to a single family of languages. The most prominent hypothesis places Japanese in the Altaic family, which includes Turkish, Tungusic, Mongolian, and Korean, with the closest relationship to Korean. According to Roy Andrew Miller, the original Altaic language was spoken in the Transcaspian steppe country, and the speakers of this language undertook massive migrations before 2,000 B.C., spreading this language family from Turkey in the west to Japan in the east. However, this hypothesis is inconsistent with some major features of Japanese, leading some scholars to turn to the languages of the South Pacific in the Austronesian family for clues of genetic relationship. A hypothesis that has currency among a number of Japanese historical linguists is a "hybrid" theory that accepts the relationship to the Altaic family, but also hypothesizes influence from Austronesian languages possibly through heavy lexical borrowing. It is also important to note that in the northern island of Hokkaido, the Ainu people, who are physically and culturally different from the rest of the Japanese, speak a language that has even more successfully escaped attempts to relate it to a single language family.
With the introduction of the writing system from China starting about 1,500 years ago, the Japanese people began to extensively record their language through poetry and prose. The language of that era, called Old Japanese, had a number of features that have been lost through time. For example, Susumu Ono has argues that Old Japanese had eight vowels instead of the five that we see today. There were also a number of grammatical and morphological features that no longer exist. The transition from Old Japanese to Modern Japanese took place from about the twelfth century, A.D., to the sixteenth century, A.D.
VARIETIES OF JAPANESE
Regional Dialects //
There are a large number of dialects throughout the four main islands and the smaller islands of Okinawa and others. Some dialects such as those spoken in the southern parts of Japan (Kyushu, Okinawa) are virtually incomprehensible to the speakers of other dialects, requiring the use of the standard (or "common") dialect for communication. The two dialect families with the largest number of speakers are the dialect spoken in and around Tokyo, which is equivalent to the "common" dialect, and the dialects of the Kansai region spoken in western Japan in cities such as Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. Due to the spread of the common dialect through television and radio, most people outside the Tokyo region speak the common dialect as well as the dialect of their area.
Social Styles of Speech //
The Japanese language employs an extensive system of politeness and honorific markers. It is often the case that in order to utter any kind of expression, the speaker must keep in mind his/her social standing to the person addressed, and the person being talked about. These markers appear on verbs, adjectives, and even nouns. For example, the informal form of the verb "to go," iku, is used when speaking with someone close to the speaker, but if the person addressed is a stranger or is older than the speaker, the politeness marker -masu appears: iki- masu. If the person being talked about is socially superior to the speaker, the honorific form of the verb "to go," irassyaru, is may be employed, even if this person is not present. In using this honorific form to talk about a socially-superior person, if the person addressed doesn't have a close relation to the speaker, such as a relative or a friend, or is older, the politeness marker appears on the honorific form: irassyai-masu. Thus, this form, irassyai-masu, simultaneously allows the speaker to be polite to the person addressed and show respect to the person being talked about. The prefix o- (go- in some contexts) may be used with nouns and adjectives to show politeness or respect to the person addressed or spoken of, as in o-tuskue (desk) and o-suki (like).
The use of pronouns varies according to social context and also often according to gender. The first person pronoun boku is used by a male in relatively informal situations, while watashi is used by a female in informal situations and by both male and female in formal situations. There are a large number of ways to expressed "you" according to social context and gender, including using the actual name of the person addressed. Aside from pronouns, the choice of some sentence-final particles varies by gender in informal speech.
The use of politeness and honorific markers and the various pronouns reflect the prominent role that in-group/out-of-group factors play in Japanese. If the person addressed is not within the "group" of the speaker in personal relationship or age, the speaker uses the polite style of speech. Familial words also reflect this. The word for your own mother is haha, but okaasan for the mother of others. We see the same bifurcation for the terms for father, sister, brother, and so forth.
FAQ
Where did Kanji come from?
Kanji, or Chinese characters, came from China about 1,400 years ago. Similar kanji are also used in China, Korea, Taiwan and some other countries, but they don't have the same meaning. For example, the characters for letter (tegami) mean toilet paper in China.
There are two types of kanji in Japanese. One type is close to Chinese character that came from China. The other type is called Japanese kanji (kokuji). Kokuji were made by Japanese based on Chinese charcters. Japanese characters are simpler than the Chinese characters. In 1981, the former Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, designated 1,945 kanji for daily use. Thet are called "joyokanji". They are learned in school, so most people know at least this many characters.
Is Japanese a difficult language to learn?
There are only 51 sounds in Japanese, so it is not difficult to pronounce. Some people say that Japanese sounds like Spanish.
However, there are many types of Japanese, and so it is difficult to know which type to use. Male and female Japanese is a bit different, so if a man uses the language used by women, he will sound very strange. Or if an adult used the language used by a child, that would sound funny.
It is easy to speak basic Japanese, but it is difficult to speak correct, polite Japanese. For example, there are sometimes many way to say one thing. If you want to say "you", you can use anata, kimi, or omae. You just have to use the right word or you will sound too strong or too weak.
For me, one of the most difficult things about learning Japanese was knowing which word to use. it took me a long time to learn that it was okay to say omae to a friend, but not to a business client. I had an American friend who told me he once called his Japanese client omae because he was in the habit of using it all the time with his friends! Of course, this didn't sound good at all.
In America and many other countries, the most important thing is to be friendly. So it's not uncommon to even call your boss by his or her first name. But in Japan, It's more important to show respect than to be friendly. So sometimes you might think that Japanese are unfriendly and cold, but they are probably just trying to show respect to you.
Is Japanese difficult to read and write?
Yes, it is difficult. One of the reasons is that there are three types of writing : Kanji, hiragana, and katakana.
Each kanji characters has a meaning, and the character are put together to form words. For example, the kanji for "food" is made by putting the character for "to eat" and the character for "thing" together to make "an eating thing".
Hiragana is like simple kanji. The hiragana symbols are a little like the English alphabet because they have sounds and not meanings. These symbols are used to put kanji together and to show different forms of the same root kanji. For example, in haya-i ('quick", adjective), haya-ku ("quickly", adverb), haya-sa ("speed", noun), the haya part is the kanji and the rest is written in hiragana. And hiragana can also be used to make words on their own.
Katakana is like hiragana, each symbols has a sound and not a meaning. But katakana is used mostly to write words from English or other foreign languages. So if you wanted to write "hamburger" in Japanese, you would use katakana.
"The Latin alphabet (romaji) is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when entering Japanese text into a computer.
Can you pronounce Western names properly in Japanese?
Japanese has fewer sounds than English, and so when you put names into Japanese, you can sometimes get funny words. For example, my name is Max, but I have to pronounce it "makkusu" in Japanese.
Other foreigners have an even more difficult time with their names in Japan. I met a man in Japan named Gerry, in Japanese his name sounds like geri (diarrhea). Another one even worst, his name is Barker, which sounds like baka (fool).
CHARACTERISTIC OF JAPANESE
Vocabulary //
Three categories of words exist in Japanese. The native Japanese words constitute the largest category, followed by words originally borrowed from China in earlier history, and the smallest but a rapidly growing category of words borrowed in modern times from Western languages such as English. This third category also contains a small number of words that have come from other Asian languages. Studies by the National Language Institute show that the frequency of these three types of words varies according to the kinds of written material examined. In magazines, native Japanese words constitute more than half of the total words, while the Chinese borrowed words average about 40%, and the rest drawn from the recently borrowed words from Western languages. In newspapers, the words of Chinese origin number greater than the Japanese native words.
Sounds of the Language
Japanese has an open-syllable sound pattern, so that most syllables end in a vowel -- the syllable may be composed solely of the vowel. There are five vowels, /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/. Vowel length often distinguishes words, as in to for "door" and too for "ten." The basic consonants are: /k/, /s/, /t/, /n/, /h/, /m/, /y/, /r/, /w/, and the syllabic nasal /N/. Many of these consonants can be palatalized in front of the vowels /a/, /u/, and /o/, for example, /kya/, /kyu/, /kyo/. When the two consonants, /s/ and /t/, occur with the vowel /i/, these consonants are automatically palatalized as /shi/ and /chi/. The consonant /t/ is pronounced as /ts/ in front of the vowel /u/.
Unlike English, which has stress accent, Japanese has pitch accent, which means that after an accented syllable, the pitch falls. The word for "chopsticks," hashi, has the accent on the first syllable, so its pitch contour is ha shi. Without the accent on the first syllable, hashi may mean "bridge" or "edge." "Bridge" has accent on the second syllable, which can be seen if a grammatical particle such as the subject marker ga is attached to the word: hashi ga. "Edge" has no accent, so it would be pronounced without any fall in the pitch even with a grammatical marker such as ga.
Grammar //
Every language has a basic word order for the words in a sentence. In English, the sentence Naomi uses a computer has the order subject (Naomi), verb (uses), and object (a computer). In the corresponding Japanese sentence, the subject comes first, just as in English, but then the object appears, followed finally by the verb: Naomi-ga (Naomi) konpyuuta-o (computer) tukau (use). The rule of thumb in Japanese is that in a sentence, the verb comes at the end. The two word orders, subject-verb-object for English and subject-object-verb for Japanese, are both common among the languages of the world. If we look again at the Japanese sentence, we see that the subject and the object are accompanied by particles, ga with the subject "Naomi" (Naomi-ga) and o with the object "computer" (konpyuuta-o). These are called case markers, and a large number of the world's languages have them. We can see a remnant of a case-marking system even in English: the pronouns in English change shape depending on where it occurs, he/she/they in the subject position, but him/her/them in the object position (e.g., She saw him). If we go back in history, the older English of five hundred to one thousand years ago had an extensive case-marking system similar to modern Japanese. These case markers make it possible for the words in Japanese to appear in different orders and retain the same meaning. In the sentence we have been looking at, it is possible to place the object where the subject normally occurs, and the subject in the normal object position, and not change the meaning: konpyuuta-o Naomi-ga tukau. If we do the same thing to English, the meaning of the sentence is radically altered (The computer uses Naomi). If we have a more complex sentence, it is still possible to change the order of all the words as long as the verb remains at the end. The sentence "Naomi gave a computer to Taro" has the subject-indirect object-object- verb basic order, Naomi-ga (Naomi) Taro-ni (to Taro) konpyuuta-o (computer) ageta (gave). This sentence has the following word order possibilities, starting with the basic order we just observed.
Naomi-ga Taro-ni konpyuuta-o ageta (subject-indirect object-object verb)
Naomi-ga konpyuuta-o Taro-ni ageta (subject-object-indirect object verb)
Taro-ni Naomi-ga konpyuuta-o ageta (indirect object-subject-object-verb)
konpyuuta-o Naomi-ga Taro-ni ageta (object-subject-indirect object verb)
Taro-ni konpyuuta-o Naomi-ga ageta (indirect object-object-subject verb)
konpyuuta-o Taro-ni Naomi-ga ageta (object-indirect object-subject-verb)
Although the Japanese language allows a multitude of word orders, the one inflexible order is the verb, in that it must appear at the end of the sentence. This is no accident. The core element in a sentence is the verb, because the verb expresses the action or the event involving the referents of the other words. Such a core is often referred to as the "head" of a sentence or a clause, and Japanese always places the head at the end of its clause. In a noun phrase, modifiers function to modify the head, as in expensive computer, where expensive modifies the head of the phrase, computer. In Japanese, the modifier always precedes the head, as expected (takai (expensive) konpyuuta (computer)). This is not only true of simple modifiers, but for modifiers that involve an entire sentence. Note that in the English sentence the computer [that Naomi uses], the bracketed portion modifies the head computer, and this modifier follows the head. In Japanese, the head-final order is invariably followed, so that this would be expressed with the modifier preceding the head: [Naomi-ga tukau (that Naomi uses)] konpyuuta. With few exceptions, the languages of the world either follow the head-final order, just as in Japanese, or the head-initial order (for example, Indonesian). Within the same language, we might see one or the otheroption for different types of clauses, as we saw for English simple modifiers (head-final) and sentence modifiers (head-initial). Japanese is consistently head-final for all types of clauses.
The Japanese verb does not indicate number or gender. The same form for the verb is used with singular and plural subjects, and no gender distinction is made. The verb inflects for tense, negation, aspect, and mood. Following are some inflections for the verb "to push," which has the root os-.
os-u (push) present/dictionary form
os-ita (pushed) past
os-anai (not push) negation
os-ite iru (is pushing) progressive
os-e (push) imperative
os-itara (if (you) push) conditional
These forms vary depending on whether the root of the verb ends in a consonant or a vowel. While the root of the verb "to push" above is consonant-final, a verb such as "to eat" has a vowel-final root (tabe-), and it takes a slightly different shape for each of the inflections: tabe- ru (present/dictionary form), tabe-ta (past), tabe-nakatta (negation), tabe-te iru (progressive), tabe-ro (imperative), tabe-tara (conditional). In languages such as Italian and Spanish, a rich verbal inflection that indicates both number and gender often allows the speaker not to express the subject if it is understood in the context, e.g., (Juan) vio ese film ((Juan) saw that film) in Spanish. In Japanese, despite the lack of number and gender inflection on the verb, it is possible not only to leave the subject out, but any other element in the sentence except the verb, so long as it is understood in the sentence. The Japanese counterpart of the sentence "Naomi uses the computer" may be expressed simply by saying the verb tukau (use), so long as it's clear to the hearer from context that the sentence refers to Naomi and to the computer.
In Japanese, ideas often expressed in other languages with separate clauses and sentences frequently take the shape of a word, albeit a complex one. This is the agglutinative nature of the language. For example, the expression in English, Naomi was made to go purchase a more expensive computer by Mary, contains separate verbs was made, go, and purchase. In the Japanese counterpart, these verbs together form one complex verb (Japanese uses "come" for the English "go" in this context) : katte-ko-sase-rare-ta (buy-come-made-was-past). Other languages that have an agglutinative verb system include Korean, Navaho, and Turkish.
Writing System //
Japanese is traditionally written vertically, with the lines starting from the right side of the page. While this way of writing is still predominant, there is another way that is identical to English in starting from the top left hand side, with each line written horizontally.
Japanese is written using two systems of orthography, Chinese characters and syllabaries. Chinese characters, or kanji, were brought in from China starting about 1,500 years ago. Prior to their introduction, Japanese was strictly a spoken language. Chinese characters are by far the more difficult system because of the sheer number of characters and the complexity both in writing and reading each character. Each character is associated with a meaning; for example, the character 行 has the basic meaning "to go." There are tens of thousands of characters attested, but in 1946, the Japanese government identified 1,850 characters for daily use. In 1981, the list was increased in number to 1,945 characters, and given the name Joyo Kanji List (Kanji for Daily Use). The characters in the Daily Use List must be learned in primary and secondary schools, and newspapers generally limit the use of characters to this list. Most characters are associated with at least two readings, the native Japanese reading, and the reading that simulates the original Chinese pronunciation of the same character. If the same character came into Japan at different periods or from different dialect regions of China, the character may be associated with a multitude of Chinese readings that represent different historical periods and dialectal differences. For example, the character , "to go," has four different readings, the Japanese reading and three distinct originally Chinese readings. The second system of wriiting are syllabaries, or kana, which were developed by the Japanese from certain Chinese characters about 1,000 years ago. Each syllabary represents a syllable in the language, and, unlike Chinese characters, it represents a sound but not meaning. There are two types of syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, each containing the same set of sounds. For example, the sound "ka" in Japanese may be represented by the hiragana or the katakana , both of which were developed from the Chinese character . Hiragana is often used in combination with a Chinese character, in such a way that, for example, the character represents roughly the root of a verb, and the inflection is written with hiragana. Katakana is used to write loan words from Western languages such as English, French, and German. It is not uncommon to find kanji, hiragana, and katakana used in the same sentence. Along with Chinese characters and syllabaries, Roman alphabets are sometimes employed for such things as names of organizations. For example, companies such as Honda, Toyota, and Sony often use Roman alphabets for their name in advertisements.
HISTORY OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Through painstaking research, we now have conclusive evidence for the genetic relationships of the major languages of the world. English, along with a host of languages spoken in Europe, Russia, and India, belong to the Indo-European family of languages. In contrast, there is no conclusive evidence relating Japanese to a single family of languages. The most prominent hypothesis places Japanese in the Altaic family, which includes Turkish, Tungusic, Mongolian, and Korean, with the closest relationship to Korean. According to Roy Andrew Miller, the original Altaic language was spoken in the Transcaspian steppe country, and the speakers of this language undertook massive migrations before 2,000 B.C., spreading this language family from Turkey in the west to Japan in the east. However, this hypothesis is inconsistent with some major features of Japanese, leading some scholars to turn to the languages of the South Pacific in the Austronesian family for clues of genetic relationship. A hypothesis that has currency among a number of Japanese historical linguists is a "hybrid" theory that accepts the relationship to the Altaic family, but also hypothesizes influence from Austronesian languages possibly through heavy lexical borrowing. It is also important to note that in the northern island of Hokkaido, the Ainu people, who are physically and culturally different from the rest of the Japanese, speak a language that has even more successfully escaped attempts to relate it to a single language family.
With the introduction of the writing system from China starting about 1,500 years ago, the Japanese people began to extensively record their language through poetry and prose. The language of that era, called Old Japanese, had a number of features that have been lost through time. For example, Susumu Ono has argues that Old Japanese had eight vowels instead of the five that we see today. There were also a number of grammatical and morphological features that no longer exist. The transition from Old Japanese to Modern Japanese took place from about the twelfth century, A.D., to the sixteenth century, A.D.
VARIETIES OF JAPANESE
Regional Dialects //
There are a large number of dialects throughout the four main islands and the smaller islands of Okinawa and others. Some dialects such as those spoken in the southern parts of Japan (Kyushu, Okinawa) are virtually incomprehensible to the speakers of other dialects, requiring the use of the standard (or "common") dialect for communication. The two dialect families with the largest number of speakers are the dialect spoken in and around Tokyo, which is equivalent to the "common" dialect, and the dialects of the Kansai region spoken in western Japan in cities such as Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. Due to the spread of the common dialect through television and radio, most people outside the Tokyo region speak the common dialect as well as the dialect of their area.
Social Styles of Speech //
The Japanese language employs an extensive system of politeness and honorific markers. It is often the case that in order to utter any kind of expression, the speaker must keep in mind his/her social standing to the person addressed, and the person being talked about. These markers appear on verbs, adjectives, and even nouns. For example, the informal form of the verb "to go," iku, is used when speaking with someone close to the speaker, but if the person addressed is a stranger or is older than the speaker, the politeness marker -masu appears: iki- masu. If the person being talked about is socially superior to the speaker, the honorific form of the verb "to go," irassyaru, is may be employed, even if this person is not present. In using this honorific form to talk about a socially-superior person, if the person addressed doesn't have a close relation to the speaker, such as a relative or a friend, or is older, the politeness marker appears on the honorific form: irassyai-masu. Thus, this form, irassyai-masu, simultaneously allows the speaker to be polite to the person addressed and show respect to the person being talked about. The prefix o- (go- in some contexts) may be used with nouns and adjectives to show politeness or respect to the person addressed or spoken of, as in o-tuskue (desk) and o-suki (like).
The use of pronouns varies according to social context and also often according to gender. The first person pronoun boku is used by a male in relatively informal situations, while watashi is used by a female in informal situations and by both male and female in formal situations. There are a large number of ways to expressed "you" according to social context and gender, including using the actual name of the person addressed. Aside from pronouns, the choice of some sentence-final particles varies by gender in informal speech.
The use of politeness and honorific markers and the various pronouns reflect the prominent role that in-group/out-of-group factors play in Japanese. If the person addressed is not within the "group" of the speaker in personal relationship or age, the speaker uses the polite style of speech. Familial words also reflect this. The word for your own mother is haha, but okaasan for the mother of others. We see the same bifurcation for the terms for father, sister, brother, and so forth.
FAQ
Where did Kanji come from?
Kanji, or Chinese characters, came from China about 1,400 years ago. Similar kanji are also used in China, Korea, Taiwan and some other countries, but they don't have the same meaning. For example, the characters for letter (tegami) mean toilet paper in China.
There are two types of kanji in Japanese. One type is close to Chinese character that came from China. The other type is called Japanese kanji (kokuji). Kokuji were made by Japanese based on Chinese charcters. Japanese characters are simpler than the Chinese characters. In 1981, the former Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, designated 1,945 kanji for daily use. Thet are called "joyokanji". They are learned in school, so most people know at least this many characters.
Is Japanese a difficult language to learn?
There are only 51 sounds in Japanese, so it is not difficult to pronounce. Some people say that Japanese sounds like Spanish.
However, there are many types of Japanese, and so it is difficult to know which type to use. Male and female Japanese is a bit different, so if a man uses the language used by women, he will sound very strange. Or if an adult used the language used by a child, that would sound funny.
It is easy to speak basic Japanese, but it is difficult to speak correct, polite Japanese. For example, there are sometimes many way to say one thing. If you want to say "you", you can use anata, kimi, or omae. You just have to use the right word or you will sound too strong or too weak.
For me, one of the most difficult things about learning Japanese was knowing which word to use. it took me a long time to learn that it was okay to say omae to a friend, but not to a business client. I had an American friend who told me he once called his Japanese client omae because he was in the habit of using it all the time with his friends! Of course, this didn't sound good at all.
In America and many other countries, the most important thing is to be friendly. So it's not uncommon to even call your boss by his or her first name. But in Japan, It's more important to show respect than to be friendly. So sometimes you might think that Japanese are unfriendly and cold, but they are probably just trying to show respect to you.
Is Japanese difficult to read and write?
Yes, it is difficult. One of the reasons is that there are three types of writing : Kanji, hiragana, and katakana.
Each kanji characters has a meaning, and the character are put together to form words. For example, the kanji for "food" is made by putting the character for "to eat" and the character for "thing" together to make "an eating thing".
Hiragana is like simple kanji. The hiragana symbols are a little like the English alphabet because they have sounds and not meanings. These symbols are used to put kanji together and to show different forms of the same root kanji. For example, in haya-i ('quick", adjective), haya-ku ("quickly", adverb), haya-sa ("speed", noun), the haya part is the kanji and the rest is written in hiragana. And hiragana can also be used to make words on their own.
Katakana is like hiragana, each symbols has a sound and not a meaning. But katakana is used mostly to write words from English or other foreign languages. So if you wanted to write "hamburger" in Japanese, you would use katakana.
"The Latin alphabet (romaji) is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when entering Japanese text into a computer.
Can you pronounce Western names properly in Japanese?
Japanese has fewer sounds than English, and so when you put names into Japanese, you can sometimes get funny words. For example, my name is Max, but I have to pronounce it "makkusu" in Japanese.
Other foreigners have an even more difficult time with their names in Japan. I met a man in Japan named Gerry, in Japanese his name sounds like geri (diarrhea). Another one even worst, his name is Barker, which sounds like baka (fool).
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