CHAPTER 1: Learning All About Japan
BEFORE WE BEGIN, I HAVE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO TANUKI-SAN, WHO WILL BE MY ASSISTANT IN THIS BOOK AND WHO WILL GIVE YOU LOTS OF GOOD ADVICE…
AND I’D LIKE EVERYONE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AND SAY WHY YOU WANT TO STUDY JAPANESE.
HELLO, TANUKI-SAN. MY NAME IS EMILY, I’VE PRACTICED AIKIDO SINCE I WAS LITTLE, AND I’D LOVE TO GO TO JAPAN SOMEDAY…
I’M TÉO. I LOVE MANGA AND ANIME… AND I’M CRAZY ABOUT SUMO WRESTLING CONTESTS ON CABLE TV…
ME, I’M NICOLAS, BUT EVERYONE CALLS ME NICO. I’M FRIENDS WITH TÉO AND, UH, EMILY TOO… I MEAN, UH… I WAS JUST HANGING AROUND, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE JAPAN IS… I REALLY LIKE SOCCER THOUGH… BUT THAT PROBABLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS BOOK…
THE JAPANESE USE TWO SORTS OF CHARACTERS TO WRITE THEIR LANGUAGE: KANJI AND KANA. KANA (WHICH INCLUDES TWO SETS OF SYMBOLS, HIRAGANA AND KATAKANA) ARE THE CHARACTERS USED TO TRANSCRIBE SYLLABLES: A, I, U, E, O… KA, KI, KU, KE, KO… SA, SHI, SU, SE, SO… THERE ARE 46 HIRAGANA CHARACTERS IN ALL, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE CHART BELOW.
THE CHART STARTS HERE, WITH THE SYLLABLE A; FIRST THE FIRST COLUMN, THEN THE SECOND, AND SO ON.
AS FOR THE KANJI, THEY ARE CHARACTERS THAT CAN EACH HAVE SEVERAL READINGS AND SEVERAL MEANINGS. UNLIKE HIRAGANA, THERE ARE SEVERAL…THOUSAND!!! THE JAPANESE USE HIRAGANA AND KANJI SIDE BY SIDE AND IN A COMPLEMENTARY WAY.
YIKES! 46 CHARACTERS? THAT’S ALMOST TWICE AS MANY LETTERS AS OUR ALPHABET!
AAGH!! SEVERAL THOUSAND KANJI…! FORGET IT. SIR FOX, CAN WE LEAVE THIS BOOK, RIGHT NOW?
NOBODY LEAVES… DON’T PANIC! WE’LL PROCEED JUST LIKE THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN JAPAN DO TO LEARN TO READ AND WRITE. FIRST, WE’LL LEARN HIRAGANA AND THEN, LITTLE BY LITTLE, KANJI. ANYWAY, YOU’LL SEE, HIRAGANA ARE GREAT CHARACTERS SINCE NOT ONLY DO THEY ALLOW US TO WRITE ALL THE WORDS OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE, BUT ALSO, ONCE YOU HAVE LEARNED THEM, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO USE THEM EASILY BECAUSE EACH CHARACTER CORRESPONDS TO ONLY ONE SYLLABLE. AND, THE REVERSE ALSO: EACH SYLLABLE IS ALWAYS WRITTEN WITH THE SAME HIRAGANA. IN COMPARISON, THINK ABOUT HOW MANY WAYS THERE ARE TO WRITE DOWN THE SOUND “O” IN ENGLISH!
O, OW, OE, OA, OH, OUGH…
WHILE WE DISCOVER HIRAGANA, WE’LL ALSO BEGIN TO SEE HOW JAPANESE SENTENCES WORK, AND I’M NOT GOING TO LIE TO YOU—THEY DON’T WORK AT ALL LIKE IN ENGLISH!
SENTENCES WORK BACKWARDS.
TSK, TSK… NOT AT ALL, NICO. JAPAN IS CERTAINLY VERY FAR AWAY FROM AMERICA, BUT IN THE SAME HEMISPHERE… SO THEY DON’T AT ALL HAVE “THEIR HEADS UPSIDE DOWN”…
I WANNA GO! DON’T FEEL WELL NOW… TUMMY ACHE… SIR, SIR, CAN I GO PEE?
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, JAPAN IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD. THEIR HEADS ARE UPSIDE DOWN…
I THINK IT IS URGENT, BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, TO CLARIFY FOR NICO WHERE JAPAN IS, AND TO GIVE HIM SOME FACTS ABOUT MY COUNTRY.
JAPAN IS LOCATED IN FAR EAST ASIA, MEANING AT THE EXTREME EASTERN END OF THE ASIAN CONTINENT. JAPAN IS ALSO CALLED THE “LAND OF THE RISING SUN,” WHICH IS REPRESENTED ON THE JAPANESE FLAG.
JAPAN IS MADE UP OF THOUSANDS OF ISLANDS: IT’S WHAT WE CALL AN ARCHIPELAGO. THE FOUR MAIN ISLANDS ARE HOKKAIDO, HONSHU, SHIKOKU AND KYUSHU. THE CAPITAL CITY IS TOKYO. THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IS MOUNT FUJI (FUJISAN), 12,388 FEET (3776 METERS) HIGH. THERE ARE AROUND 127 MILLION INHABITANTS, LESS THAN HALF AS MANY AS IN THE UNITED STATES.
IN ENGLISH, IT’S THE PLACEMENT OF THE WORD WITHIN THE SENTENCE THAT TELLS YOU WHICH ONE OF THE WORDS IS THE SUBJECT, WHICH ONE IS THE DIRECT OBJECT, ETCETERA. IF YOU SAY FOR INSTANCE “THE MOUSE IS EATING THE CAT” IT CAN EITHER MEAN THAT WE’RE DEALING WITH A MONSTROUS MOUSE, OR WITH AN ANIMATED MOVIE… OR THAT THE SENTENCE ISN’T WORKING…
IN JAPANESE ON THE OTHER HAND, THE WORD PLACEMENT WITHIN THE SENTENCE DOESN’T MATTER, EXCEPT FOR THE VERB, WHICH IS ALWAYS AT THE END. INDEED, NOUNS ARE FOLLOWED BY LITTLE WORDS OF ONE OR TWO SYLLABLES, CALLED PARTICLES. THOSE PARTICLES ARE THE ONES THAT INDICATE THE FUNCTION OF THE NOUNS IN THE SENTENCE. IT’S AS IF YOU SAID IN ENGLISH:
CAT (SUBJECT) + MOUSE (DIRECT OBJECT) + EATING.
IN JAPANESE YOU CAN ALSO SAY, FOR THE EXACT SAME MESSAGE:
MOUSE (DIRECT OBJECT) + CAT (SUBJECT) + EATING.
THESE FUNCTIONS ARE THE SAME AS IN ENGLISH, SO YOU’LL HAVE TO REMEMBER WHATEVER GRAMMAR YOU LEARNED AT SCHOOL. WE’LL BE TALKING ABOUT SUBJECTS, VERBS, DIRECT OBJECTS, AND SO ON.
SO, MOVING ON: AS ENCOURAGEMENT, I’VE GOT THREE PIECES OF GOOD NEWS THAT YOU’RE GOING
