matsu, shō Matsu is pine. It is an evergreen tree. Pine, bamboo, and Japanese apricot can withstand harsh coldness. Because of their strength, they are regarded as good luck trees, the so-called “shō chiku bai.” Japanese families display them on happy occasions such as New Year’s Day. Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka are major league [...]
Basic Japanese Characters
Japanese Calligraphy Art by Japanese Calligrapher Nao
Browsing the archives for the Nagano tag
31 Jan 10
Long
ta-keru, naga-i, naga-sa, chō, chō-zuru The adjective nagai means long. The noun nagasa means length. Today’s character and the character we uploaded the other day mean long and read nagai. The former looks more common for both meanings; the latter is not used for the length of something. Only today’s character reads chō-zuru or chō. [...]
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Filed in Japanese calligraphy
25 Nov 09
Mountain
yama, san Yama is a mountain. Most Japanese mountains have the suffix -san, such as Fujisan (Mt. Fuji) between Shizuoka and Yamanashi, Asosan (Mt. Aso) in Kumamoto, Zaōsan (Mt. Zaō) in Tōhoku, Rokkōsan (Mt. Rokkō) in Kōbe to name a few. The suffix –yama is similarly used for some mountains. Some examples are Kurohimeyama (Mt. [...]
25 Oct 09
Belief
Shin-jiru, shin The reading of this character is shin, whether it has a suffix or not. With a suffix, it becomes the verb, shin-jiru, which means to believe. Compounds including this character are relevant to believing. For example, jishin is self-confidence. Shinnen is faith. Shinrai is reliance. Shinrai sei is reliability. Let me add meishin, [...]
After Blossom Viewing
Snow Moon
