Composition 3

二十ねんごのわたしはそうりょになたいです。そして、わたしは日本でくらいしたいです。わたしのいちばんのきぼうはこれです。わたしはいっか中国へぶっきょうのべんきょうに行きます。そうりょのせいかっはとてもおもしろいです、そしてへいわです；かぞくがいません、しごともありませんよ。たいへんなものがありません。とこどきわたしはトルコへりょうしんにあいに行きます。それから、毎日じいんでめいそうがしたいです。いおりのたべものはちょっとおもしろくないですが、けんこうですよ。しょうじんりょうりがきらいうですが、たべたいです。

わたしの一日

今日8じにおきました。時間がありませんでしたから、あさごはんをたべませんでした。クラスに行きました。それから、ともだちとあるいでレストランにいきました。Ollie'sにいきました。Ollie'sのたべものはあまりおいしくなかったですけどやすいでした。それから、日本語のクラスにきました。

3 Terrible Haiku!

I apologize for what you are about to read..


はるのこい
すごいけどタフ
つかれます


タイムまて!
おいつけないよ
最高ランナー


すしはいい
すきやきもいい
でもまだハングリー


こい-Love
タフ -Tough
最高 -いちばにい

The first Haiku is about how hard love is to maintain, as it blooms in spring and wears the person out.


The second one (the best among the 3 in my opinion) is about the passing of time which is asked to stop, and the last stanza describes it as the best runner there is, for it is fast and stops for no one. 


The third one is not a haiku, but a senryu which is more flexible in its structure. I chose to write "hungry" in katakana because as the work also describes, it is from a westerners perspective towards Japanese food, which they find is not always so filling!

ーーさくぶんーー

やまださんのかぞくへ、


はじめまして！わたしは、コロンビアだいがくのだいがくいんせいです。なまえはカーンです。トルコからきました。にじゅうよんさいです。わたしのまちはイスタンブールです。イスタンブールきれいです。そしてとてもにぎやかです。そしてたのしいです。そしておおきです。ニューヨークはあまりたかくありません。わたしはにほんへしがつようかにいきます。よろしくおねがいします。

ヘイケガニの謎 ! (Updated!)

ヘイケガニはにほんのとても有名ガニです。ガニはにほんごで "crab" です。ガニはどうして有名ですかね？それから、このうガニはノーマルじゃありませんがおもしろいです。
このうガニはヒトの(human)顔(face)あります！

ヘイケガニのなまえはかたかなですから、このガニもおもしろいです！


I chose to select ヘイケガニ as my Katakana Analysis focus word for a very specific reason. Whilst neither claiming a vast knowledge in theoretical linguistics nor Japanese (far from it in fact), even within my limited experience with the language I feel confident saying that in a lot of cases in which we see the use of Katakana, there is either no replacement Hiragana or Kanji that exists to replace the word (on account of the thing being not native to Japan), or it was "felt" that the word used to describe something is better written in Katakana (which is where those of us who look into this phenomenon get confused because this procedure as far as I can tell from my limited exposure does not make that much sense and it is unlikely that this was done methodically). 


The first category I mentioned is pretty straightforward, things such as Chocolate or Soccer were introduced to Japan later on and thus the language needed to adapt to this expansion and that is where Katakana came in. A similar phenomenon (although not the point of a new set of characters) exists in many european languages, such as my native turkish, where for previously non-existing things we use the Turkish way of pronunciation such as "Telefon" for telephone or for some things that did exist, the european term has replaced the original one, such as "magazin" (magazine) which was called "mecmua" in olden times). 


The case of ヘイケガニ is, however, truly baffling. Heike (or Taira) is a word that has historical significance in Japanese as it is the name of one of Japan's oldest samurai clans. Written in Kanji, Heike is 平家, which can be literally translated as "the house of taira" a clan name that was bestowed upon certain ex members of the imperial family. Descendants of Emperor Nimmyo, Montoku and Koko for example were given this clan name. The crab (Kanji 蟹 ) has also been known and consumed in Japan throughout its history. What could be the reason, then, that the Heike crab was given a Katakana name which is primarily used today? Curiously enough, ヘイケガニ is not the only crab species which uses katakana, but it is the only one which has a specific name identified with it. カニ is used instead for ordinary crabs, however one would think that a crab species native to Japan whose origins predate the use of kanji and has the name of an important clan attached to it, would also have a hiragana or kanji term. 


Whats more, there is a rich history and an amazing legend connected with ヘイケガニ in Japan. As told in the Tale of the Heike (平家物語), a historic sea battle named Dan-no-ura (壇ノ浦の戦い) occurred off the coast of Honshu between the forces of Heike clan (led by the child emperor Antoku) and the Minamoto (Genji) clans (led by Yoshitsune, whose older brother Yoritomo consequently became the Shogun which marked the beginning of the Kamakura period). It is worth noting that this was also the battle where the 3 Sacred Treasures of Japan (三種の神器) were almost lost forever, tossed into the sea by the Heike clan as they were about to be defeated, but 2/3 were recovered with the exception of the sword which was lost at sea. For all this historic significance, this battle among these clans has a very important place in Japanese history. 


Realizing they were defeated, the leaders of the Heike clan decided to end their lives honorably and threw themselves off the decks and were drowned at sea. This is where the folk-belief comes in, as it is generally believed that the  ヘイケガニ appeared off the cast of Honshu right after this battle, as the reincarnations of all the samurai who drowned themselves at sea. 


This event that occurred in 1185, and the belief connected to  ヘイケガニ since that period, why is it the Heike crab is now written in Katakana? It is a mystery. The use of katakana for ヘイケガニ does not seem to have anything to do with the history of heike, and this just seems to be an oddity in the language. I am sure there are many other quirks like this in the use of katakana in Japanese, though for now, I would be contented knowing the reason behind just this one case. 

Dietary habits of Japanese monastics

Since we learned about food this week I thought I would make the new blog post about what kind of food one would expect to find at a Buddhist Temple.

As is known, 仏教徒 (Buddhists) はにくをたべません, as it is believed that killing sentient beings (even for food) is a violation of the Vinaya (Buddhist precepts). それから、over the centuries a lot of dishes have gained popularity amongst そうりょ (monks) and あま (nuns)。このごばんはやさいとくだものをありますよう、たまごとにくとさかなをありません。Most of these ごばん contain tofu for its nutritional value and various seasonings. 

Buddhist cuisine also differs from one おくに to another, and each Buddhist sect also has different ingredients they would (or would not) use in a dish. Some Buddhist traditions that follow the Vinaya more strictly forbid the use of root vegetables (such as きゅうりandじゃがいもandたんじん) as the vegetable does not survive after its harvested and dies. It is also common to eat only one meal a day, and take the meal promptly at じゅにじ, when the sun does not cast a shadow.

Here are some examples of Buddhist dishes:

Buddha's Delight 羅漢菜

Shōjin-Ryōri　しょうじんりょうり

そうりょ (monks) and あま (nuns) at a meal.

日本の仏教 post 1

Starting with this post I would like to share some basic information on the important Buddhist sites in Japan which I previously read about and desire to visit myself one day. I also hope to be able to write this using more Japanese in the future. 

The Todai-ji (東大寺) in the city of Nara (奈良市)

Following the Shinto (神道) tradition (the indigenous religion which predates Buddhism in Japan) of building structures in wood, the Todaiji is  constructed using only natural materials and currently holds the record of being the largest wooden structure in the world. Inside the temple is a bronze statue of Vairochana Buddha (大日如来) which is simply called "great Buddha" or Daibutsu (大仏) in Japanese. This is also the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world.

Inside 東大寺 is a great pillar at the base of which there is a small hole that one can squeeze through. The hole is supposedly the same size as the nostrils of the 大仏. According to legend one who can squeeze through this pillar will gain enlightenment in their next reincarnation to this world. I think this promise makes 東大寺 a very beneficial place to visit apart from its obvious religious and historical value. =)

Not just for children, adults try it too!

Why study 日本語。。。

There are various reasons why I chose to study Japanese over other languages (I happen to think its has a very charismatic ring to it), but it mostly has to do with my academic interests. As a だいがくいんせい,  I study ちゅごく（中國）のとにほん（日本）の仏教 (Buddhism), and a great number of primary sources on the subject that survive today are only in Japanese, as some original texts were lost in China during the Cultural Revolution (and prior to it) while their Japanese translations remain. It is therefore crucially important for any Historian/Buddhologist of East Asia to be able to read and write both languages. Thank you for reading!どうもありがとうございます！

私の第一ポスト

こんにちは!!

わたしの名前はカーンです。

トルコのイスタンブロからきました。

わたしはコロンビア大学の大学院生です。

どうぞよろしく。