chō This character means where bureaucrats work. Such buildings are called chōsha of which the sha is a house. A prefectural government is kenchō, of which the ken means prefecture. Elementary school kids memorize the names of cities where kenchō is. We call them kenchōshozaichi, which means the prefectural capital. Here is the list of [...]
Basic Japanese Characters
Japanese Calligraphy Art by Japanese Calligrapher Nao
Browsing the archives for the Shizuoka tag
5 Apr 10
To Intersect
maji-waru, maji-eru, kou (kō) The verb majiwaru means to intersect, to cross, to be sociable, or to make love. You can use this expression when, for example, two lines intersect. Meeting people is expressed with this character. The verb majieru means to mix or to exchange. Words with this character include these meanings. Mingling with [...]
0 Comments
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. [...]
18 Aug 09
Reaching
ita-ru, shi This character means to reach somewhere. When we want to say something/somebody has reached what it is, we say genzai ni itaru. The Japanese genzai ni means the current state of it. This character is a part of the words that mean the summer solstice and winter solstice: geshi and tōji. The ge [...]
0 Comments
Filed in Japanese calligraphy
26 Jul 09
Down, Under or Lower
shita, moto, sa-geru, sa-garu, kuda-ru, kuda-su, kuda-saru, o-riru, o-rosu, ka, ge, shimo The most basic meaning of the word, shita, is the bottom or the foot. Another word including this character is Shimoda, a tourist spot in Izu, Shizuoka. Shimoda is the historic port where Commodore Perry landed when Japan was taking a national seclusion [...]
After Blossom Viewing
Snow Moon
