studying kanji

I'm going to talk about kanji because I just started learning them in November and I kind of love them.

I've always been afraid of kanji, because a long time ago I read a post online about how hard it is to study Japanese. This post said that kanji were "3 million embodiment of your worst nightmare." Which I think is ridiculous. Kanji are, in fact, the key to the kingdom of Japanese comprehension.

The way I learned most of my vocabulary in English was reading. I learned how to let English talk to me using its own words. I'm trying to do that now with Japanese: letting Japanese grammar talk to me in Japanese.

Japanese writing is divided into three sets of writing: hiragana (ひらがな), katakana (カタカナ), and kanji.

Katakana are generally used for phonetic spelling and words that are imported from other languages. Example: コーヒー is "ko-hee" or "coffee." A カフィラテ, or "kah-fee-rah-tay" is "cafe latte."

Hiragana is used to write native Japanese words for which there are no kanji, such as suffixes (-san for "Ms." and "Mr.") or particles that show the other words' relationships to each other. (The same as English words like a, the, in, and from operate in sentences.) Hiragana are also used to show how kanji should be pronounced, such as for obscure kanji or as an aid for kids still learning kanji. These helping hiragana are called furigana, and they're kinda the same as me having to Google "tarpaulin" and have the Google voice say it for me. (Apparently it's tar-PAUL-in.) Hiragana are the phonetic building blocks of the Japanese language.

If Hiragana and Katakana are like the alphabets of Japanese, Kanji are the words. However, they don't work quite the same way as English words. A single kanji can be read multiple ways, both in meaning and literal pronunciation (for example, 山 is mountain and can be read as "san" サン or "yama" やま ). There are context cues that can help with this, which I have not yet learned. To me, it initially seemed easier to just write everything out in hiragana, because then it's obvious how everything should be pronounced. Right?

For example:

What time is it?
Ima wa nan-ji desu ka?
いまはなんじですか

Except to a Japanese reader, the hiragana section looks like this: "Whattimeisit?"

Japanese doesn't have spaces. Japanese has kanji. Kanji are what turn a long string of hiragana (with no clear beginning and end for words) into something easily comprehensible.

ima     wa     nan-ji    desu    ka?
いま　  は   　なんじ　です　 か
今        は      何時      です    か

Kanji is what changes もくようび into 木曜日, which is "mokuyoubi," or Thursday. It makes the meaning clear without the necessity of context clues for the reader to figure out if "moku" means "wood/tree"  木 or "eye" 目. One "moku" is used in the word for Thursday, and the other is not. Sure, you can tell which "moku" is meant by reading "youbi" and realizing that this "moku" is the one for "Thursday," but the visual cue of the kanji shaves off that little extra time you'd otherwise be taking to get that from the context.

Kanji is the spacing and punctuation of Japanese. Now that I'm learning kanji, I'm finding that I would much prefer the sentence 今は何時ですか  to いまはなんじですか. One, I can quickly skim and understand, while the other I have to sound out the hiragana in my head to realize how they're supposed to be grouped into words. I'm sure a Japanese-literate individual wouldn't have as much trouble with the hiragana sentence as I do, since I'm still learning to recognize words, but the gist is the same. One is quickly legible, the other takes a bit more work.

Kanji have a specific stroke order, where each line of the symbol must be made in a certain order. Stroke order (and the direction the stroke is made) are important to learning to correctly write Japanese kanji; it makes your kanji look like everyone else's, which I think helps with legibility. There's a logic to it, though; horizontal strokes are usually made before vertical ones, central strokes usually precede the outer ones, and kanji with box frames usually complete the box before the stuff inside it. If that sounds like a lot to remember, know this: my muscle memory has started taking over, so I've been able to occasionally make accurate guesses about the stroke order of a new kanji based on my previous repetitious experience writing others.

And repetition is definitely helpful. As children, we're all made to practice writing until forming letters with a pencil is second nature. Heck, I've even changed the way I write some of my letters in the last two years because I've found that the visual cues of a tail on my "u" and a straight line at the beginnings of my "m" and "n" makes it easier for my students to read my writing, since that's how they're taught to write the English alphabet letters. (I have been schooled on my ability to write the English alphabet by Taiwanese 6 year olds, and it was the cutest thing ever.) Therefore, to get better at writing kanji, I'll write them, repeatedly, until I can stop thinking about which pieces come next and just let my pencil move naturally. It's painstaking, but it's how I'll learn, so that's what I'm doing.

When I say I practice Japanese all the time, I mean I practice Japanese ALL THE TIME. At school, I count my steps in my head ( in Japanese) as I climb the stairs. I try to read random signs all over the school, even the ones in the toilet. At train stations, I try to read the kanji and hiragana telling me which trains are coming and when, even though most of the screens also show this information in English. At stop lights, I look at the license plates around me and quiz myself on the single hiragana characters on them. Waiting for the ATM at the post office, I look at calendars and see how fast I can convert 木，金，日，木 into English. (Thursday, Friday, Sunday, Thursday.) Thanks to how often I stare at license plates, I can now recognize the kanji for Mito City on sight. ( 水戸市 ) And I haven't even studied these kanji.

I came to Japan with literally one mission: learn Japanese. I am doing my absolute best to accomplish that as quickly and as well as I can. Because immersion helps you learn a language, but the process only works if you immerse yourself. It's not immersion if you stay floating on top, singling out the few bits of your native language you can find and just guessing about the rest.

So I'm studying kanji. Not just when my book is in front of me, but all the time, and in every way I can. I'm trying to make Japanese as real for me as English is. Slowly, it's working. And seeing that happen is extremely cool.

I'm glad I like kanji. I'm glad learning language is fun. If it wasn't, this would be... well, it'd still be hard, but I'd probably be more frustrated. Instead, I'm just excited and determined. Japanese is a puzzle I'm putting together, one kanji at a time. I've nearly got my first 100.

Here's to hundreds of kanji more!

i'm so tired right now

To summarize my day, "Yay pictures! Ow, feet/calves/knee." It's just as well I go home tomorrow because I don't have it in me to do another day of sightseeing in Kyoto. My calves were screaming yesterday. Today I visited Inari mountain, and then I walked all the way up the mountain. Coming back down was an exercise in near futility, it hurt so much. I was not made to climb stairs. I can walk great distances in straight lines, but God help me if I try to climb stairs.

However, I did manage to get my long-sought pictures of the Inari Shrine torii gates, which cover a 4km hike up the side of Inari mountain. Between these pics and those of the bamboo forest on Friday, I've now photographed two of the things I've always wanted to photograph. (Incredible pics of sakura blossoms is still on the list, since last March/May I'd just arrived and was too busy figuring out How To Japan to go anywhere neat for great pics.)

At the end of today, when I finally made it back from the mountain and had eaten dinner at a restaurant in Gion, I began thinking about souvenirs. I feel like I should buy something to commemorate the trip. But the thing is, the pictures I have are my souvenirs. They're records of my time here, and the fact that I was able to be here to capture these specific, special photos are what matter the most to me. It may seem silly, but it's not just seeing these places that excites me, it's the fact that I'm able to capture the kind of photos that are famous and iconic. The flower hills in Hitachi Seaside Park are iconic, and this spring I plan to get a lot of photos.

This trip made me think about the photo opportunities I might be able to find in my own prefecture, Ibaraki, and even my own area, in Hitachinaka and Mito. There are little side streets in Mito that are probably lit up on weekends with cool stores and shops, filled with interesting people. There are probably a lot of opportunities for street photography in my own area that I have yet to take advantage of.

This was Mito's riverside during a festival in summer.

That's all going to happen later, though. For now, I'm exhausted, and really glad I'll have a full week to relax and recover before work starts again in 2015. The hard part tomorrow will be dragging my enormous suitcase all over the trains all the way home. Once I'm home, though, I can take a day or two of lazing around watching Netflix until standing up and walking around doesn't sound like work anymore.

I've had a fantastic time in Kyoto. I was worried I'd feel lonely at some point, or wish I had someone to share this with, but the truth is, I'm happy I came by myself. I have spent three days doing everything at my own pace, making every decision based on my own whims, and having to consider no one's needs but my own. I got to spend a whole day wandering the same streets in Gion taking endless photos; bike to random places and stop wherever I pleased at Arashiyama; and best of all, there was nobody around to be empathetic or encouraging when I was in ridiculous pain the entire 4 kilometers back down Inari Mountain today, because if one person had tried to kindly tell me to "just keep going" or make me feel rushed when my knee was screaming at me, I might have committed murder. For the better, I spent this entire vacation on my own, and it's been wonderful. I like being around people, but when it comes to relaxing and enjoying things that matter to me, I need to be alone. If there are other people around me, I worry about what they might need, or want, or where they might want to go or do or see, or if they're hungry, or if I'm inconveniencing them when I need to go to the bathroom or get food or want to take fifty pictures of this specific square foot of space. I can't relax fully when I'm around other people, even if I like, trust, and love them.

I've had a good 2014 in Japan. I'm learning Japanese by leaps and bounds, I'm learning about the culture, and I'm making a good life for myself.

I'm exhausted right now, so I'm going to upload some pictures and then scroll mindlessly through tumblr until it's time to sleep.

Merry Christmas and (almost) Happy New Year!

christmas in kyoto

The reason I'm in Kyoto for Christmas is this guy:

This is Kenshin Himura, the title character of one of my favorite anime series, Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心 ) Although the show starts out in Tokyo, its biggest arc takes place in Kyoto. It's symbolic, in that Tokyo is the new capital of Japan, and represents the present as well as the future. Kyoto, however, is the place where memories of the past reside, both good and bad, and in travelling to Kyoto, Kenshin and his friends battle a foe who emerges from the ashes of the old revolution.

It's because of Rurouni Kenshin that I wanted to visit Japan. It's also because of Rurouni Kenshin that I longed to see Kyoto. So, with careful planning and meticulous saving, I made my trip to Kyoto just in time for Christmas.

Nowadays, Kyoto is still historical. It's choc full of  temples, shrines, and famous old landmarks. One of the most famous is Kiyomizu-dera (Kiyomizu Temple). I'm staying in a hostel just around the corner from Kiyomizu, so today I made the temple my first stop.

Naturally, construction is taking place in a big way on the entire area. I had to laugh when I saw the pylons, hard hats, roped off areas, and giant plastic sheeting covering entire buildings while repairs were done. Of course the one time I come, the whole place is a construction zone! There were hammers and drills echoing all over the place. What was left uncovered, however, was still quiet beautiful, and the road leading up to the temple is lined with shops selling all kinds of interesting souvenirs. I love souvenir shops, as the items for sale give you an idea of what's considered noteworthy about the area. People were eating green tea ice cream left and right. There were also several tourists in full-blown kimono--including some Chinese tourists! It gave me a start the first time I passed by a group of kimono-clad women and heard Mandarin.

After Kiyomizu, I had lunch and took the bus to Gion, which is a famous shopping area with stores and teahouses where geiko ("geisha"in the Kyoto dialect) and maiko (apprentice geiko) entertain guests. The teahouses are exclusive and expensive, and not for the average tourist off the street. Occasionally you will see a geiko or maiko walking between buildings or down the street, but it's considered rude to photograph them without their permission.

Note: these are not geiko or maiko. I saw a few in the back streets

but I didn't ask for pictures because they looked busy and I didn't 

want to be rude.

Along Gion's main shopping street, you'll come across a cramped side street called Pontocho. This is a 600 meter street whose buildings are reminiscent of mid-1900s Japan, mostly full of exclusive teahouses and expensive restaurants. It's a tight space, but absolutely gorgeous and makes for excellent photography. I had a blast walking along it and taking pictures. It wasn't very busy, so I got a lot of pictures that were nearly empty of tourists.

After Gion and Pontocho, I went back to the Kiyomizu area and found a restaurant in which I finally ate dinner. I was extremely hungry by that time and devoured a bowl of rice, cabbage, pork and onion, along with a small bowl of miso soup.

Now I'm back at the hostel and my feet are killing me, but my SD card is stuffed with pictures and I'm feeling really pleased with myself. I didn't think I'd get through three of the things on my "to see" list in one day, much less my first, but here we are. Tomorrow is up in the air; I may try to knock at least one of the "famous photos" pics off my list, which consists of two: the tori gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine, and the bamboo forest at Arashiyama. Both are locations that most people will recognize as being in Japan, and are often used in promotional material (such as the Lonely Planet travel guide for Japan). 

Tonight, though, I've got a Google Chat date with my family, where we'll come together from three continents and three time zones to finally celebrate Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

cold in japan

Tonight it's hitting the low 40s (F) here in Hitachinaka. During the day it reaches the high 50s, which, for an Ohioan, isn't that cold. Heck, Ohioans pray for the temperatures to hit the 40s and 50s in winter. That's warm.

Consider this, though. Imagine your place of employment did not believe in the concept of "indoor heating." Imagine that, some mornings, you could walk along the halls and see your breath. Imagine that your place of employment left several windows all over the building open a crack (or all the way) while it was in the mid-50s outside. Then imagine that amidst all that, there is rarely a source of heat outside of a hot cup of tea, the heated toilet seats in a few of the bathrooms, the teacher's room (where you do not spend most of your time), and whatever warm clothes you've piled on.
Imagine you're already cold, and when you go to class to teach, the kids yank open the windows because they've been running around outside for gym class and they're hot. Then, when the room's cold, nobody turns on the heat. They just... close the windows. Mostly.

This is Japan.

Malls, shops, and restaurants are heated. The schools, though... not so much. And it seems that many apartments have such dubious insulation that layering clothes and huddling around a heater or kotatsu (heated table) are the ways in which you're expected to keep warm. Clothing stores also sell specialized insulation shirts and leggings with "fiber heat" and "heat-tech" technology that does, in fact, help you keep in that much-needed body heat. Still, you can't go to school in a thin sweater and expect that to be enough.

Despite all this, the jr. high and high school girls still wear skirts to school. Some of the elementary girls wear skirts to school, and it's not even their uniform. Sure, they've got knee socks pulled up nearly to their thighs, but that's still bare skin left out in the cold. I even see 2nd and 1st graders running outside to gym class in their P.E. shorts and t-shirts. If you ask the kids if they're cold, they answer in the affirmative, but for Japan, this seems to be a fact of life. Yeah, they're cold; everyone's cold. What are you gonna do about it? There's no indoor heating in the schools. There are A/C units, and sometimes the classrooms have giant gas heaters in the corners, but I have yet to see any of them turned on.

This isn't to say that everyone is blue in the face and that teeth-chattering drowns out any teaching I do. It's just, Japan's culture is more inclined to bundle up their bodies for warmth than insulate and heat the rooms they're in. It's more energy efficient, I'm sure. But it also means that shopping for a Japanese winter is much different than shopping for an Ohio winter. In Ohio, you buy clothes that will keep you warm when you go outside, with the expectation that several layers can come off when you're indoors. In Japan, you layer your clothes underneath, and only add some accessories plus a coat/jacket when you go outside. Japanese people (in Hitachinaka at least) seem to accept a slight chill as a daily inconvenience and move on.

I've come to appreciate the heat of a hot cup of tea in the mornings, the insulation that layers of blankets provide, and the fashionable look of one shirt peaking out of the collar of another. I've learned that there is no refuge, so you must make one, and enjoy it while you're there. I've come to accept that come January, my electricity bill for my apartment is going to be hideous from all my A/C heater use. And I'm fine with that.

Japan's winter seems to only just be setting in, while Ohio has already had plenty of snow. I'll see what January and February bring, and make sure I plan sufficiently for the cold weather of Kyoto when I visit the southern city for Christmas.