🐱喵喵日文社

Proverb - Proverb ๑ "A chance encounter is also fate" (Sodesuri au mo tashou no en) In Chinese, it can be translated as "萍水相逢也是緣" (Píngshuǐ xiāngféng yěshì yuán) or "有緣千里來相會" (Yǒuyuán qiānlǐ lái xiānghuì). *Sodesuri au: Refers to the brushing or bumping of sleeves between strangers when passing each other on the street. *Tashou no en: In Buddhism, "tashou" refers to "past lives" or "future lives." Therefore, the entire phrase means: Even a trivial event like your sleeves brushing against each other as you pass by on the street is a karmic connection formed in a past life. [Additional Notes] Besides "袖すり合う" (sodesuri au), it is also often written as "袖振り合う" (sodefuriau) or "袖触れ合う" (sodefureau). "他生" (tashou) can also be written as "多生" (duosheng), referring to experiencing countless cycles of reincarnation. [Synonym] "Even sharing the shade of a tree or the flow of a river is a connection from a past life" (Ichiju no kage ichiga no nagare mo tashou no en) Meaning: Even coincidences like two strangers taking shelter under the same tree or drinking from the same river are due to karmic connections from past lives.

Japanese Weekdays: Monday (げつようび) 🌙 Tuesday (かようび) 🔥 Wednesday (すいようび) 💧 Thursday (もくようび) 🌳 Friday (きんようび) ✨ Saturday (どようび) 🪐 Sunday (にちようび) ☀️ When first learning Japanese, you might have just memorized '月火水木金土日' (Mon-Sun), but why do the days of the week use these characters? 🤔 Actually, they come from the ancient 'Seven Luminaries'. '日' (Sun) and '月' (Moon) represent the sun and moon, while the other five correspond to: 🔥 Mars 💧 Mercury 🌳 Jupiter ✨ Venus 🪐 Saturn This means— The '火' (fire) in 火曜日 (Tuesday) is indeed related to Mars! Furthermore, English's Sunday ☀️ and Monday 🌙 also mean 'Day of the Sun' and 'Day of the Moon,' respectively. As for Tuesdays and beyond, they incorporate elements from ancient Roman and Germanic mythology~ By the way, the way I first learned about Japanese weekdays was playing the Japanese version of the GBA game 'Harvest Moon' when I was a kid! 😆

There are actually quite a few words that differ by only one or two characters, making them easy to mistake at first glance 🤔 Here are a few examples: アパート (Apartment) デパート (Department store) ペット (Pet) ベッド (Bed) グラス (Glass/Tumbler/Grass) ガラス (Glass) カラス (Crow) トラック (Truck) ドラッグ (Drugs) ブラック (Black) サイン (Sign/Signal) コイン (Coin) アルコール (Alcohol) アンコール (Encore) ダンス (Dance) タンス (Chest of drawers/Wardrobe) ベランダ (Veranda/Balcony) ラベンダー (Lavender) Don't these all look really similar?~~ And most of these types of words are loanwords, so they can be easy for beginners to misread or misremember. It's like a beginner's trap, isn't it? 😂

Chinese: Face Japanese (Kanji): 顔 Japanese (Hiragana): かお Romaji: kao Chinese: Eyes Japanese (Kanji): 目 Japanese (Hiragana): め Romaji: me Chinese: Nose Japanese (Kanji): 鼻 Japanese (Hiragana): はな Romaji: hana Chinese: Mouth Japanese (Kanji): 口 Japanese (Hiragana): くち Romaji: kuchi Chinese: Ears Japanese (Kanji): 耳 Japanese (Hiragana): みみ Romaji: mimi Chinese: Head Japanese (Kanji): 頭 Japanese (Hiragana): あたま Romaji: atama

July: Fumizuki (文月) Named after the tradition of writing poems or wishes on short strips of paper (tanzaku) during Tanabata (Star Festival). August: Hazuki (葉月) Originally 'Ochizuki' (葉落ち月), meaning 'the month when leaves fall'. As autumn begins in the old lunar calendar, tree leaves start to wither and fall. It was later shortened from 'the month of falling leaves' to 'Hazuki'. September: Nagatsuki (長月) Originally 'Yonagatsuki' (夜長月), meaning 'the month of long nights'. After the autumn equinox, the nights noticeably become longer. Ancient people thus abbreviated this month of long nights to 'Nagatsuki'. October: Kannazuki (神無月) The month when gods are away. According to legend, in the tenth lunar month, the 8 million (Yaoyorozu) gods of Japan leave their respective territories and travel to 'Izumo Taisha' for an annual meeting. *Therefore, only the Izumo region calls this month 'Kamiarizuki' (神在月), meaning 'the month when gods are present'. Ya (八): Many, infinite O (お): Accumulation of numbers Yorozu (よろず): All kinds, myriad things Thus, Yaoyorozu (八百万) signifies 'an infinite, countless number'. November: Shimotsuki (霜月) As the weather grows cold, the first frost begins to fall on the land (霜の降る月). December: Shiwasu (師走) Meaning 'the running of teachers' (師馳す). At the end of December, every household prepares for 'Oharae' (exorcism rituals) and ceremonies for ancestors and deities. Local Shinto priests and Buddhist monks (historically called 'Shi', meaning teacher) would be busy rushing to each household to conduct services, hence it became known as 'Shiwasu'.

[Traditional Aliases for 12 Months] January: Mutsuki (睦月) Meaning: During the New Year, relatives and friends gather together and spend the holiday in harmony (睦み合う). February: Kisaragi (如月) In the dead of winter, the weather is cold, requiring one to "wear more clothes" - Ki-saragi (衣更着). Ki (衣): Clothes, garments Sara (更): More, anew, again Gi/Ki (着): To wear, to put on March: Yayoi (彌生) Describing lush vegetation. Spring arrives, and plants begin to "grow more (彌生)". Iya (彌): More, increasingly, lush Oi (生): To grow, to sprout When read together, the pronunciation evolved into Yayoi. April: Uzuki (卯月) This month is the season when the "deutzias (卯の花)" bloom. May: Satsuki (皐月) The month for planting rice seedlings. In ancient times, 'Satsu' (皐) meant cultivation. This is the month when farmers "plant rice seedlings (早苗)". The original kanji for "Satsuki" was "早苗月" (Sanaezuki), meaning "the month of planting rice seedlings." Later, the pronunciation was simplified to "Satsuki," and the kanji "皐月" was borrowed. June: Minazuki (水無月) The month filled with water. Mi (水): Water Na (無): In ancient Japanese, the particle 'na' here means the attributive particle 'no' (of). Tsuki/Zuki (月): Month Therefore, the true meaning of Minazuki is "the month of water" used for irrigating rice fields.

Back in class, I used to answer roll call with 'Hai!'. Then one day at the doctor's office, after they called my number, I unconsciously shouted 'Hai!' really loudly. I was so embarrassed I wanted the ground to swallow me whole 😭

Sake (Alcohol) Accent: Low→High Pronunciation: sa-ke↗ (like 'sah-keh') Sake (Salmon) Accent: High→Low Pronunciation: sa-ke↘ (like 'SAH-keh') Many Taiwanese people think 'sake' refers to alcohol or sake (rice wine) but that pronunciation is actually for salmon~ 🫠🥹

Might be a little bit spooky👻 (Sorry, I like these weird topics🤣 Kotoribako (Little Bird Box) 'Kotoribako' is written as 小鳥箱 in Japanese. 'Kotori' means 'little bird,' and 'hako' means 'box.' When combined into a compound word, 'hako' undergoes voicing and becomes 'bakō.' Does it sound like it refers to a 'box for little birds'?🐦 However, this actually originates from a famous Japanese internet urban legend called — KOTORIBAGO (ことりばこ). In the story, 'Kotori' doesn't actually mean 'little bird,' but rather: Ko-tori (子取り) 'Ko' means 'child,' and 'tori' comes from the verb toru (取る), which has meanings like 'to take, grab, snatch.' So, Kotoribako (子取り箱) can be understood as— 'The box that takes children'👻 As for why it's called that name... In the story, one of the materials used to make the box was a part of a child's body. Both are 'Kotoribako,' Before knowing the kanji: 🐦📦 After knowing the kanji: 👻📦

↑[Osakana Tengoku (Fish Heaven)] by Yumi Shibaya 🐟 Units for Counting Fish *匹 (hiki): For fish that are swimming and alive. Ex: There are 3 🦈 sharks in the aquarium. *尾 (bi): For fish that have become food or merchandise. Ex: At the supermarket's seafood section, there's only 1 sea bream left. 1尾: ichibi 2尾: nibi 3尾: sanbi 4尾: yonbi 5尾: gobi 6尾: rokubi 7尾: nanabi (shichibi) 8尾: hachibi 9尾: kyubi 10尾: juubi 🐟 Classifying Fish by Shape or State *Thin, long fish (whole) - 本 (hon) Ex: 1 Pacific saury 1 tuna *Flat fish / Dried fish - 枚 (mai) Ex: 2 flatfish 3 dried horse mackerels *Cut blocks - 冊/柵 (saku) Ex: Sashimi-grade tuna, 1 block *Slices / Sashimi - 切れ (kire) Ex: Salmon slices, 2 pieces Sashimi, 5 pieces *Sushi Toppings - 貫 (kan) Ex: 🍣 Tuna nigiri, 2 pieces ps, when I think of fish, it's gotta be Taiyaki🐟nya(つω`*)♡(bonk