Today’s Giongo

Today’s Giongo
– 擬音語 – onomatopoeia;
you can imagine and perceive the state through the five senses using the expression

Today I introduce a Giongo about heavy rain.

ざあざあ or ざーざー in Hiragana
ザアザア or ザーザー　in Katakana
[zaa-zaa]

meaning:
the sound of heavy or roaring rain
noisy sound of water stream
the sound of rapid flow
or static noise

implications:
Did anyone who is in Texas hear the thunder and heavy rain because of this Hurricane Harvey yesterday?
The sound of the heavy rain is this zaazaa sound.
Also, it might affect the radio station. Then you might hear the noise, zaazaa.
Can you imagine what the sound is like?

practical usage:
You can use it mostly for heavy rain.

雨がざあざあ降っている。
[Ame ga zaazaa hutteiru]
It rains heavily.

外はざあざあ降りの雨です。
[Soto wa zaazaaburi no ame desu]
Outside it is heavy/torrential rain.

ざあざあ降りです。
[zaazaaburi desu]
The rain pours down.

ざあざあ降りになりました。
[zaazaaburi ni narimashita]
It became heavy/torrential rain.

水がざあざあ流れています。
[Mizu ga zaazaa nagareteimasu]
The water is flowing heavily/ rapidly.

Today’s Kotowaza – proverb

Today’s Kotowaza – proverb
失敗（しっぱい）は成功（せいこう）のもと
Shippai wa Seiko no moto

key words:
– Shippai (失敗) = failure, mistake
– wa (は)=> noun + wa = [particle for the subject]-> the noun turns out to be a subject.
– Seiko (成功) = success
– no (の) = [possessive particle]: in this case, moto of seiko
– moto (もと) = origin

implications:
– Shippai wa –> failure is
– Seiko-no moto –> origin of success
– moto –> origin; interestingly people say it is “mother(母:[haha])” as well.

usage:
There are many ups and downs in life. When you failed to do something, you feel depressed but is it ok to think your life is over? You are standing at the crossroads of your life. Even if you failed many times, you can learn from the mistakes. Failure teaches success. Every failure is a stepping stone that leads to success.
Don’t worry, you can learn from it. You will be able to strive to go forward.
So, let’s use this proverb when you encourage yourself and other people!

similar:
失敗は成功の母 (Shippai wa Seiko no haha)
七転び八起き (Nana-korobi Ya-oki)

Could you guess it? (^^)..V

Japanese mythical world no.2

Have you ever heard about Japanese mythology? It would be interesting to imagine what people in the past handed down from generation to generation. Let’s imagine the mythical world!

河童[kappa] is one kind of supernatural creature which is often found in traditional Japanese folklore. Kappa is fabled or said to be an unidentified mysterious creature which inhabits the ponds and rivers of Japan.

It was so well-known in Japan that various kinds of folktales still remain across the country.
For example, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Kappa often brought people various kinds of calamities or sufferings. One day a farmer tried to bind Kappa with a pine tree and kill it. The Kappa apologized in tears and made a promise to the farmer that they would never do bad things and would protect people from any disaster, such as a flood or a drowning. After that, it is said that there was no longer harm from Kappa. In Iwate Prefecture, Kappa often played a trick on people, such as flipping their pillows over called “makura-gaeshi” after entering a room floored with tatami mats.

People expanded the image of Kappa and Kappa remained as both good and bad images in the legends. Interestingly Kappa was understood by people as not only warning children of the dangers in river and lakes but also a mysterious creature which often surprises humans, with even more humorous image.

Let’s enjoy Kanji world!

Let’s enjoy Kanji world!
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Today’s group is “thread”!
The 部首[bushu](radical, a graphical component of a Kanji character) “糸” is called “いとへん[itohen].”

1. 糸 = いと[ito] /or シ[shi] – いと
2. 紙 = かみ[kami] /or シ[shi] – いとへん

+++Structure++++++++++++++++>>
Doesn’t it look like thread or yarn or rope?
There are many kanji connected with the “thread”.

糸[ito] – thread/yarn
紙[kami] – paper
綿[men] – cotton
縄[nawa] – rope; usually long and narrow rope
網[ami] – net
綱[tsuna] – rope; usually thick and long rope
紐[himo] – string, cord
線[sen] – line
絵[e] – picture
繊維[sen-i] – fiber
絹[kinu] – silk
編む[amu] (verb)- knit
織る[oru] (verb) – weave
結ぶ[musubu] (verb) – tie, knot; tie more than two things, ex. 紐[himo] wo 結ぶ[musubu] = tie shoe strings
縛る[shibaru] (verb) – bind, tie; usually bind something strongly/tightly
細い[hosoi] (adj) – thin

Did you notice that all the kanji with 糸 is connected with thread or yarn or rope(or line)?
All these kanji characters are connected with thread or material which has fiber.

-bits of knowledge-
Japanese paper is called 和紙[wa-shi].
It has been made from wood pulp, especially kouzo (mulberry tree), mitsumata shrub and gampi tree for a long time. However, there are also various kinds of ‘washi’ paper made from other wood pulp and non-wood pulp, such as hemp, cotton and bamboo. Each ‘washi’ paper has different texture by each bast fiber.