Let’s Learn Japanese!
Lesson 1
April, 2013
A simple introduction to the language by the staff at Suzuki, Myers
花見
Welcome to Suzuki, Myers one-point Japanese lesson! The lesson for this month
is “Hanami.”
We imagine most of you are familiar with the Japanese tradition of sitting under
the flowering cherry trees and enjoying the fleeting beauty of the cherry blossoms as they
flutter to the ground like a delicate snow. Their ephemeral beauty symbolizes an ideal
the Japanese feel is unique to their culture. Just listen to the haunting melody of the
traditional folk song “Sakura” and you will get an idea of this aesthetic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPGNqwT2N_Y
Above is the kanji for hanami. Kanji, of course, are Chinese characters, the oldest
form of writing in Japan. These characters combine with hiragana and katakana to make
up the Japanese writing system. More about this in a future lesson!
花（はな）means flower and is pronounced ha-na (the Japanese hiragana is in
parenthesis).
見 (み) means see (or view) and is pronounced mi (like do, re, mi). When it is a
very it is written 見る and is pronounced mi-ru.
In Tokyo, the cherry trees usually blossom around April 1. They bloom earlier in
the south (Kyushu) and later in the north (Hokkaido). Just as for fall colors in Michigan,
the weatherman keeps every apprised of the exact timing of the blossoms’ arrival!
MORE “HANAMI” WORDS!
桜
sa-ku-ra
cherry blossoms
Listen to the song again! Notice how all three syllables of the word are evenly
pronounced. Don't make the common mistake of accenting the middle syllable!
Sakura sakura, yayoi no sora wa, mi-watasu kagiri, kasumi ka kumo ka, nioi zo izuru,
izaya izaya, mini yukan
TRANSLATION:
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, across the spring sky, as far as you can see,
is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the air. Come now, come, let's look, at last!
Let’s Learn Japanese!
Lesson 1
April, 2013
A simple introduction to the language by the staff at Suzuki, Myers
桜前線
sa-ku-ra zen-sen. Zen-sen means “front line”. Like a cold front (kan-rei
zen-sen) or a warm front (on-dan zen-sen), sakura zensen is a weather report topic.
飲み会
no-mi kai = drinking party. A little sake takes the rough edges off our
day-to-day lives, allowing us to float along with the floating flower petals.
弁当
ben-to = lunch box. Go to the Japanese market and purchase a bento. Sit
under one of the cherry trees that were planted in front of the Novi City Hall last year.
The trees were a gift from the Japanese government. Let’s hope the bloom this first year
after they were translplanted!
ダンゴ
dan-go … a picture is worth a thousand words! (They are made from
rice.) The letters are katakana which is sometimes
used for foreign words. Here it is used for a word
that is sometimes written in kanji, but katakana
seems to be more popular.
We hope you have enjoyed our first Japanese lesson. Your feedback is welcome!
office@suzukimyers.com