何が意味ですか？

I took this picture in the restroom at the Nagoya International center where I take Japanese classes on Sundays. I was curious as always what this sign was trying to communicate to me, so let's translate!


お願い（おねがい）- 'wish' usually お願いします 'please do this favor' commonly used expression at the end of a request when doing just about everything.

ビル - Katakana word for 'building'

の - the possessive particle to declare 'the building's ...'

設備（せつび）- 'equipment'

～につき - this is a type of special particle that works as either a preposition, adverb or sometimes an article with meanings like 'for, to, from or a' in this form we read it as 'for'

待ち（まち）- 'wait'

～出さないで（ださないで）- normally 出す is 'take out' and in the negative is 'don't take out', but here it is used together with 待ち that changes the meaning to 'begin' or since its in the negative 'don't begin'

下さい（ください）- 'please'

Translation: "Please don't begin to wait for the building's equipment"

名古屋（なごや）- Kanji for the city of Nagoya
国際センター（こくさい）- Kanji for the International center aka Kokusai center
防災センター（ぼうさい）- Kanji for the Disaster Prevention center

The title of this post is 何が意味ですか？that means "what is the meaning?' because this sign seems to have no context until we get to the bottom and see 防災センター. Now we may have a clue to why we shouldn't begin to wait for the building's equipment, that probably infers not waiting in an emergency for such things as back-up power, water sprinklers, etc. そうかな。。。

これは以上です。

ジョシュア

あぶないの看板

This week we will look at some more warning signs cautioning us to "Do Not Swim".



Both signs contain the warning in hiragana あぶない with the latter adding emphasis with
あぶないよ！both of which mean 'dangerous or watch out'.

The top sign uses:

池（いけ）- pond

The bottom sign uses:

柵（さく）- fence

Both signs use:

の中（なか）に - in the/to the ...

入らないで（はいらない）- do not enter/go in

ください- please

ね - 'ne' is a confirmation ending like saying, 'eh' or 'right'.



As you can in this picture if the warning is ignored it may cause significant damage to your body as there is no water in the pool!!


以上です。またね。

ジョシュア

大阪のハトにはエサをやらないんです。

I saw this sign and thought is was cute so I took a picture even though there isn't any Kanji.

(There is Kanji underneath, but this is just giving a location so I'm not going to translate it.)


ハト - hato is word for pigeon, if its 白いハト (shiroihato) then its a 'white pigeon or dove'.

には - read as 'niwa' is two particles together to mark an action and subject, ハトに is 'to the pigeons' that is our subject.

エサ - esa is a difficult word. It translates as 'bait' and even has a Kanji, 餌, probably not used because of its rarity, but also has the meaning of 'food or feed'.

を - the particle 'wo' linking the noun to the verb.

やらないでください - The is the negative form of やる + ください, when you do this then you need to put で in between to make 'please don't".

Translation: "Please do not feed the pigeons"

それじゃまった。

ジョシュア

家電の漢字Part I：炊飯器

Starting this month I am going to do some home appliance Kanji using some the things around my apartment I use almost everyday. The first post is the rice cooker. A very important appliance that after a year and a half I couldn't live without.

炊飯器（すいはんき）- 'suihanki' is the 'rice cooker'.

右下ボタン：

炊飯（すいはん）- This button is for 'rice cooking'. You press this button to start and select which cooking speed you prefer.

メニュー- In Katakana this is 'menyu-' or 'menu'.

左下ボタン：

保温（ほおん）- 'hoon' is 'heat insulation'. Once the rice is cooked you can use this button to keep the cooker hot and the rice fresh. My cooker automatically sets the 保温 once finished cooking.

切- This Kanji has different readings, but here is being used as 'きる (kiru)' meaning 'to cut'. You press this button to stop cooking after you've started.

中くらいのライト：

白米（はくまい）- 'hakumai' is 'white rice' the staple food of every Japanese meal and diet. This setting is used to slow cook the rice.

白米高速（はくまいこうそく）- 'hakumaikousoku', 'kousoku' adds 'high speed'. This setting is used to cook the rice quickly.

おかゆ- 'okayu' is the setting used to 'boil water'.

上ボタン：

予約（よやく）- 'yoyaku' is 'reservation'. You use this button to set the timer.

The process for cooking rice in the rice cooker is as follows:

1. Purchase rice specific for use with rice cooker

2. Put rice in cooker bowl and wash throughly with water, usually 4 or more rinses cleans the rice pretty well

3. Add water and let set for 10 or more minutes

4. Start cooker at desired speed

5. Onced finished enjoy with desired dish

何か質問がありますか。

それじゃあ、またね。

ジョシュア

ピンポンのときにびっくりして「くそ！」と言っています

This sign is at my apartment next to the button to ring the bell.

勧誘（かんゆう）- 'kanyuu' is a word for the most annoying act of 'solicitation'. It can also mean 'persuasion, canvassing, and encouragement' for use in selling or promoting products.

セールス- In katakana 'se-rusu' is 'sales'

お断りします（おことわりします）- 'okotowarishimasu' is ' refusal, decline, reject, make cry' or in other words 'say no!'

Translation: "Will refuse sales solicitation" and you better believe it too! Although, it doesn't stop them from trying and unfortunately Japan doesn't have the girl scouts' and no girl scout cookies which would be the only thing I would buy from my door step.

A better deterrent to stopping solicitation might be a sign that reads, '勧誘しないで下さい' which translates as 'Please do not solicit' much like the classic English sign 'No soliciting!'

まあ、何でも。

ジョシュア

お手洗いのステッカー

This a small sticker on the light above my sink. Sorry I couldn't get a clear picture of it so I had to do some color adjustment, but we can see the Kanji and that's all we care about. 始めましょう！

ご注意（ごちゅうい）- 'gochuui' is 'attention, warning, careful'

殺虫剤（さっちゅうざい）- 'sacchuuzai' is 'insecticide'. 殺虫 is used for 'killing bugs' and 剤 is 'medicine, agent, chemical'

は- particle marking the main subject

絶対に（ぜったいに）- 'zettai ni' means 'absolutely, no matter what'

かけないでください- 'kakenaidekudasai' is 'please don't put on'

Translation: "Attention: Please don't put insecticide on"

I know I'm a little confused; what am I not suppose to put it on? Me? the light? or something else? Who knows, but the sticker doesn't look to have any missing parts or maybe someone stuck it there from something else and it got left there and now its there forever warning people to not put insecticide on.

Well, either way its good advice.

以上です。

コメントしてください。

ジョシュア

注意：子供の飛出し

This is a sign right outside my apartment near the elementary school.

注意（ちゅうい）- 'chui' is a noun for 'attention, caution, be careful' used a lot in signs and warnings.

子供（こども）- 'kodomo' is the noun for 'kids, children'.

の - 'no' is used as a possessive particle.

飛出し（とびだし）- 'tobidashi' is a verb for something 'jumping or leaping out' in this case 'children'.

Translation: 'Caution of children jumping out'.

An equivalent English sign may read 'Caution children at play' or a yellow sign of what looks like a running child. I have just seen the 'walking child' without the explanation sign. Sometimes it's a boy or the girl pictured here which definitely sends a clear message of 'be watchful of manga looking children leaping out of no where to scare the hell out of you!" which happens from time to time, but luckily I don't drive in Japan.

それじゃぁ、まったね。

ジョシュア　

信号を待って下さい

横断（おうだん）- 'oudan' is 'crossing'

者（しゃ）- 'sha' is added to mean 'person'

は- 'wa' is the subject marker particle

下（した）- 'shita' is 'under, below'

の- 'no' is the possessive particle

ボタン- written in Katakana is 'button'

を- 'wo' is a linking particle from a noun to a verb

押して（おして）- 'oshite' is 'push'

信号（しんごう）- 'shingou' is the noun for 'traffic light'

を

待って（まって）- 'matte' is the verb for 'wait'

下さい（ください）- 'kudasai' is 'please'

Translation: "Crossing person push the button below and please wait for the traffic light."

喫煙でない別の看板

In the red （赤） at the top （上）:

迷惑な（めいわく）- A ~な adjective 'meiwaku' that means 'troublesome/annoying'.

路上（ろじょう）- The noun 'rojou' that means '(on the) road/(on the) way' or an equal expression could be 'walking while ...".

喫煙（きつえん）- The noun 'kitsuen' that means 'smoking'.

は- The particle pronounced 'wa' but written as 'ha' that marks the subject of the sentence.

やめましょう！- 'yamemashou' is a form of the verb 'yameru' that means 'to stop'. The conjugation ~しょう is used to express 'Let's' as in 行きましょう 'Let's go', しましょう 'Let's do', やめましょう 'Let's stop'.

Translation: "Let's stop troublesome smoking while walking."


Arching around （アーチ形に曲げます）the sign （看板） in blue （青）:

ここは- 'Here'

やめよう - This is the short form of やめましょう for saying 'Let's stop'.
*The form ~よう has different uses when attached to verbs combined with different particles. It's possible the grammar has been cut out for space in this sign, but the meaning is correct.

迷惑（めいわく）- 'meiwaku' again.

たばこ - Tobacco in Japanese uses phonetic syllables 'tabako' that can be written in Hiragana or Katakana タバコ, but doesn't have a Kanji

市民（しみん）- 'shimin' means 'citizens'. The Kanji 市 has the meanings for 'market, city, town'. 民 has the meaning for 'people, nation, subjects' which makes them together literally mean 'city people' or 'citizens'.

マナー - Katakana word taken from English （英語） meaning 'manners'.

向上（こうじょう）- 'koujou' means 'improvement' and contains the Kanji 向 for 'facing, beyond, tend toward' and 上 for 'up, above'.

エリア - Katakana word taken from 英語 meaning 'area'.

せんば心斎橋（しんさいばし）- Senba Shinsaibashi is an area of Osaka.

Translation: "Let's stop troublesome tobacco and improve citizens manners here in the Senba Shinsaibashi area."

Of the last four Kanji I can only make out these two 商店 （しょうてん）'shouten' that means 'shop or business firm.' The other two on each side are too blurry to make out. ごめんなさい。


それから、以上です。

ジョシュア

どこか日本でありました。

I don't remember where this photo was taken, but I remember why I took it. This sign has some pretty interesting Kanji.


チラシ- 'chirashi' are handbills or flyers with advertisements on them.

広告類（こうこくるい）- 'koukokurui' are advertisements that are much larger such as something found in Sunday newspapers with coupons, etc. 広告 is the word for advertisements and 類 is a designator of 'type or class'.

郵便受け（ゆうびんうけ）- 'yubinuke' is a mailbox.

に - 'ni' is a particle used with actions.

投函禁止（とうかんきんし）-This has two parts: 投函 （とうかん） 'toukan' is a noun for 'mailing or posting'. 禁止 （きんし） 'kinshi' is a noun for 'prohibition'. Together they mean 'Prohibited Mailing'.

Translation: "Flyers and advertisements are prohibited from mailing through the mailbox."

In Japan, it is illegal to send advertisements through the mail. Rather, the hire part-timers to go door to door stuffing them in your mail slot or stand on the street handing out flyers. Usually this technique is very wasteful and generates more trash than necessary as everyone just throws them away, unless they hand you the ever so useful packet of tissue paper to clean your nose on the street then you may hang on to it for awhile.


Special Note:

At the top （上） of this picture （写真）:

有ります（あります）- 'It is'. The Kanji 有 is used in the popular verb ある, although you never have to use it with this word.

そろそろ、後ほど。

ジョシュア

Learning Japanese on you DS

As I have recently purchased a Nintendo DS LL I have began to start a collection of Japanese learning games for the system. So far I have only purchased a couple of games in this category, although I did buy the Japanese version of Zelda: Spirit Tracks but it's not necessarily teaching me Japanese. Included is a short list (very short) of games I've been using so far.








My Japanese Coach is a good game for complete beginners and advanced learners. It includes lesson reviews, games, and teaches the Japanese Kana and Kanji. All the explanations are in English so it's very easy to navigate. Most lessons include vocabulary and others include grammar points. Each lesson is recorded so you can hear the words spoken in natural Japanese.

Kakitori-kun: Tadashii Kanji is a Japanese
game for elementary kids to practice and learn
Kanji for years 1-6. This game is all in Japanese
so it's verydifficult to navigate when using the
games and tests, but the overall Kanji writing
section is very intuitive. The major missing
element in this game is it contains no Kanji
readings unless you use a sort of hint guide
within one of the tests. Even though, it's a
very good resource for practicing writing Kanji
without using a lot of paper.

Both of these games have arbitrary recognition rules for the Kana and Kanji on the correct way it should be written. Kakitori-kun has a traditional approach to writing Kana that I have a lot of difficulty with, but the Kanji is pretty straightforward that I have no problems with. I recommend these games for the avid and motivated Japanese learner of any age.

Both of these games can also be purchased at Play-Asia.com, see the banner below.

Happy Learning!

ジョシュア

Ryuk's Kanji lesson

ニュースで

I found this interesting news article over at Japan Today about the proposed addition of 196 new Kanji into the 'list of everyday Kanji' which currently includes 1,945 and with this addition and the deletion of 5 Kanji will bring the total to 2,136.

You can read the entire article here at Japan Today to learn more about the situation.

洗い流すのを忘れないでください。

This picture was taken in the restroom at the Kintetsu Utsube Line gate at Yokkaichi station. The Utsube line is one of the local lines between Yokkaichi and its surrounding areas. Since I live in Minami Hinaga （南日永） I use the Utsube（内部） line to get to Yokkaichi （四日市） and from there I can use the Kintetsu （近鉄） railway to go anywhere in the Kansai （関西） area, usually to Nagoya （名古屋） or Osaka（大阪）.

I found this sign a bit odd and I'll tell you why after the translation:

便用後（びんようご）- 'binyougo' is 'for service after' 便用 is the Kanji for 'for service' and 後 is 'after' often used in 後で （あとで）'atode' meaning 'later'.

は- is the subject marking particle.

水洗（すいせん）- 'suisen' is the noun for 'flushing'.

ボタン - 'botan' this borrowed word from English written in Katakana is 'button'.

を- 'wo' is the linking particle from the noun to the verb.

押して（おして）- 'oshite' is the verb for 'push'.

水を流してください（みずをながしてください） - 'mizu wo nagashite kudasai' is literally 'Please pour water', as I see it flushing water doesn't really 'pour' but more so 'shoots' or 'flows'. Since the act of flushing is to 'renew with clean water' I am going to translate this as 'flow' as it best correlates with the idea of 'cycling' the water.

Translation: "For service after, please push flushing button to flow water."

The reason this is odd, just like many signs in Japan, is because it's telling us something that should be common sense（常識） or instinctively intuitive that after taking a piss you should flush the toilet.

Although, the Wikipedia page about the trian line informs us that it was originally built in 1912 and rerouted to the current Yokkaichi station location in 1974; Kintetsu Yokkaichi looks to have been renovated since, while the Utsube line side looks as if it's never been changed since 1974 with the exception of adding electronic ticket machines and gates for commuter convenience. How can I make such a claim? Well, anyone who knows anything about Japan or has been to Japan knows that the Japanese love to install the latest in technological advancements into to every corner they can find. Concerning toilets, just about everywhere you go has sensor toilets with just a wave of the hand will flush the containing contents.

So what about this sign?

Maybe in a world where technology has overtaken our lives you forget that there are small places hiding about where you still have to push a button to get the job done and a simple reminder hanging on the wall will do just that.

Stay tuned for more friends,

そろそろ、しつれいします。

ジョシュア

オレはお金を持っていないんだから、道でたばこをすうな。

I saw this sign around the JR station in Nagoya. It's a smoking fish（魚） warning us of the dangers caused by smoking in front of 'No Smoking' signs.

The large（大きな） Kanji （漢字） to the right（右） reads:

違反者（いはんしゃ） - 'ihansha' which means 'Violator',　違反 means 'violation of law' and 者 means 'person'.

は - read as 'wa' marks the main subject of the sentence.

過料（かりょう） - 'karyou' means 'non-penal fine or correctional fine'.

２，０００円 （えん）- 'en' or commonly referred to in the West as the Yen is the currency of Japan. This Kanji, 円, also means 'circle' referring to a time when all of Japan's money were round coins.

Exchange rate for Dollar to Yen is roughly $1=100円. So 2,000 Yen is about 20 Dollars.

Translation: "Violators will be fined 2,000 yen."


On the left（下） side of the this sign next to the 'No Smoking' sign is the sentence:

路上禁煙は、大人の常識

路上（ろじょう）- 'rojou' means 'on the road' either standing or walking.

禁煙（きんえん）- 'kinen' is the Japanese phrase for 'No Smoking'.

は、- Here is our subject particle.

大人（おとな）- 'otona' means 'adult' which refers to a person 20 years or older.

の - 'no' is a possessive particle, but when we see 大人の together the translation becomes 'grown-up'.

常識（じょうしき）- 'joushiki' means 'common sense'.

Translation: "No smoking on the road is grown-up common sense."

Alright, so there you have it. If you get caught smoking on the street in places that are non-smoking you can be fined. This sign was posted near the doors around a busy area that crosses the JR station over to the Meitetsu station so I can understand that if people are standing around smoking in this area it could jam up the commuter flow going in and out of the stations.

それじゃ、楽しかったね！またすぐ。

ジョシュア

もう大阪で回るんでした。

Walking through the streets of Osaka's Shinsaibashi district there are many of these types of signs lining the streets. This one in particular caught my interest for two reasons; 1. It's an arrow giving me information about something and 2. those two Kanji in the middle are new to me. So let's see what it says:

この- kono means 'this' and is used before a noun to mean 'this ___'. 'This' can also be これ kore, which is used without the noun. It's primarily used in 何これ nani kore for 'What's this?'

先（さき）- saki has a lot of meanings, but its primary use is to mean 'ahead' and 'previous or before'.

段差（だんさ）- dansa is a noun that means 'difference in level'.

あり- ari is a short form for the polite verb form of ある aru あります arimasu which means that something physical 'exists' that is not living.

This sign is telling us, 'This ahead has a difference in level'. As I remember there was a bit of a hill leading up to the intersection, but I don't really think it was so much of a difference that constitutes the use of of sign to give me a warning. Then again it's these types of things that make Japan so great!!

それじゃあ、まったね。

ジョシュア

心謝意橋筋で散歩をしました。

Here is another photo from my camera phone album. This was taken in the Shinsaibashi arcade on my way to Honmachi.

Let's first look at the red(赤) Kanji(漢字):

事故（じこ）- 'Jiko' is made up of the Kanji 事 for 'thing or matter' and the Kanji 故 for 'cause, circumstance, reason' and together makes 'accident'.

発生（はっせい）- 'hassei' is made up of the Kanji 発 for 'departure or discharge' and the Kanji 生 for 'life, genuine, birth' and together makes 'incidence or occurrence'.

事故発生 means 'Accident Incidence'.

The Kanji in black(黒):

自転車（じてんしゃ）- These three Kanji, 'jitensha', together means 'bicycle'.

は- 'wa' is a topic marking particle.

押して（おして）- This is the 'て'(te) form of the verb 押す that means 'to push'.

下さい（ください）- 'kudasai' is a requesting 'please' usually written in Hiragana, but in most signs uses the Kanji 下 'down' to represent a bow of respect. (This is just speculation.)

自転車は押して下さい means 'Please push your bicycle.'

In the Shinsaibashisuji arcade is an orgy of people shopping and glaring at different things, or you could just say, "it's crowded." So you really shouldn't ride a bicycle through the people because you will probably hit someone, especially children who are small and easily unseen.

At the bottom(下):

せんば- This has no meaning that I can find, so it must distinguish this part of Shinsaibashi.

心斎橋筋（しんさいばしすじ）- These Kanji read as 'Shinsaibashisuji' which is a ward in Osaka.

協（きょう）- This Kanji is read as 'kyou' and means 'cooperation'.

それじゃぁ、

ジョシュア

飲酒運転はダメですよ！

I took this picture near the restroom in a Sukiya restraunt in Nipponbashi, Osaka. The sign is a pretty self-explanatory 'Don't drink and drive' message' so let's learn it in Japanese.

First let's read from the top(上) left(左) under the swerving car and glass of beer:

飲酒運転

飲酒（いんしゅ）- Here we use the Kanji for 'drink' 飲 and 'sake' 酒 which is Japanese for 'alcohol' to make the word 'inshu' which is 'drinking alcohol'.

運転（うんてん）- Here we have the Kanji 運 which means 'fortune/luck' and is also used for 'drive/transport'. 転 for 'revolve/turn around/change' when used together makes 'driving/operation'.

All together 飲酒運転 is 'drunk driving'.

To the right (右) in red (赤):

ご車でご来店

ご車（くるま）- Here we have 'gokuruma' where ご is used as an honorable prefix for 'your car'.

で- 'de' is a particle that has many uses and meanings. When partnered with a transportation vehicle で takes the meaning of 'by' so 車で is 'by car'.

ご来店（ごらいてん）- Here we see ご again with 'goraiten' where 来 means 'come' and 店 commonly read as 'mise' means 'store'. Together 来店 means 'coming to the store'.

All together ご車でご来店 is 'Coming to the store by car'.


The rest of sign is as follows:

お客様には、アルコール類の販売をお断りさせていただきます。

お客様（おきゃくあま）- 'okyakusama' is the word for 'customer'.

には、- 'niwa' are the two particles に and は. に is giving direction which would translate 'to the customer' and はis marking the subject.

アルコール類（るい）- In Katakana is 'alcohol' and the Kanji 類 'rui' is a designator of 'class/family/kind' which includes the whole list of alcoholic beverages that can impair your abilities.

の - 'no' is the possessive particle.

販売（はんばい）- 'hanbai' is the noun for 'sales/selling' that uses the Kanji 売 for 'sell'.

を - 'wo' is the linking particle to a verb.

お断りさせて（おことわりさせて）- 'okotowarisasete', although we read this as one word it's actually made up of noun and verb, the noun お断り which means 'refuse' and させてwhich is a form of
する 'suru' which is 'to do'. It is very common is Japanese to add a noun + する to make a verb for doing the noun, whatever it may be. This form する uses させて in the causative form.

Here I will direct you to Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese page of 'Cause to be Passive' for the full explanation.

いただきます- 'itadakimasu' in the root form いただく 'itadaku' is the verb for 'I will receive' it is the standard expression used before every meal or food/drink offered to you by someone else. Like in this sentence, it can also be used with important information you want someone 'to receive'.

This sentence in essence reads, 'To the customer coming by car, the selling of alcohol beverages will be refused.'

Now (今) let's look (見ましょう) at the Kanji (漢字) in (中) the picture (絵) below (下):

末成年者飲酒

末成年者飲酒（すえせいねんしゃいんしゅ）- 'sueseinenshainshu' OK, to understand this let's break it apart:

末 - 'sue' means 'end/close/future' which in this case I believe means 'future'.

成年 - 'seinen' has the Kanji 成 for 'become/change/grow' and the Kanji 年 for 'year' which together means 'adult age'.

者 - 'sha' is the Kanji used to label a type of 'person'.

飲酒 - We saw this above as 'drinking alcohol'.

All together this means literally (including the 'NO' indication in the sign) 'NO future adult age person drinking' or 'No underage drinking'.

２０歳末満

This part of the sign has two readings and clarifies the meaning:

２０歳末満（さいみまん）- 'saimiman' which means 'Less than 20 years old'.

２０歳末満（さいまつみつる）- 'saimatsumitsuru' which means '20 at the end of the year full'.

The rest is the same as under （下） the top （上） sign about the store's authority to refuse the sale of alcohol, in this case to 'minors'. You may be surprised, or not, that the legal drinking age in Japan is 20 years old, but to ease your jealousy the Japanese driving age is 18 years old.

以上です。

後ほど。

ジョシュア

大阪で回るんでした。

So finally, I got a new phone here in Japan. It's just a normal prepaid service phone from Softbank, but it's adoring factor is that it has a camera!! So during my recent visit to Osaka I took some photos of different signs around the city that I will be sharing during the coming weeks.

As you can see this photo came out a little blurry, but the Kanji is very readable, so let's learn what the cartoon cop is trying to stop us from doing:

駐（ちゅう）- This Kanji represents 'resident' and sometimes means 'to reside-in or stop-over'

車（しゃ）- This Kanji represents 'transport'. In old Japan it was used for 'cart or wagon' but now it most commonly is used for 'くるま' (kuruma) which means 'car'.

禁（きん）- This Kanji was in the last post and we remember it represents something that is 'forbidden'.

止（し）- This Kanji was also in the last post and means 'stop' usually seen in　'とまれ'.

All together:

駐車禁止（ちゅしゃきんし）- The word 'chushakinshi' means literally means 'Resident cars are not allowed to stop' or more commonly known as 'No Parking!'

それじゃぁ、

ジョシュア

宇治の川で

This picture(写真) was taken in Uji(宇治) about 20 minutes(分) south(南) of Kyoto(京都).

From the top(上) in red Kanji(赤い漢字):

遊 - This Kanji is used in the verb 遊び（あそび）'asobi' which means 'to play'.

泳 - This Kanji is used in the verb 泳ぐ（およぐ）'oyogu' which means 'to swim'.

禁 - This Kanji is used in the verb 禁じる（きんじる）'kinjiru' which means 'to forbid'. Anytime you see this Kanji the message in its simplest form is 'Don't Do It!!' And, as my friends pointed out, looks like an elephant, which it totally does, so it's easy to spot.

止 - This Kanji is used in the verb 止まる（とまる）'tomaru' which means 'to stop'. In Japan you see this '止マレ' on the roads where people are meant to stop instead of stop signs. In Japanese there are many ways to say 'stop' using this Kanji. An incredibly popular spoken form of 'stop' is 止めて（やめて）'yamete'. This is often said when you want someone to stop what they are doing, usually physical, probably because it hurts or it's annoying. Although, woman say this in a playful manner, at times, that can be confusing as to if they really mean for you to stop or not, so its good to be conscious of their tone and expression.

All these Kanji of course can be used in may different words, the examples given here are the most popular used forms.

So when we put them all together:

遊泳禁止（ゆうえいきんし）'yuueikinshi' means 'No Swimming Allowed!'

At the bottom (下) in the yellow (黄色) hiragana:

As all these words have Kanji they could of used, but I remember reading somewhere that the Japanese will often use important words in Kana so that children can read them.

ながれ（流れ）'nagare' means 'flow'.

はやい（早い）'hayai' means 'fast'.

およぐな（泳ぐな）'oyoguna' means 'do not swim'. Now, I'm not technically familiar with adding 'na' to the end of a verb to make it a negative, but it seems to be so. With any verb add 'な' and it will become a 'don't ___' verb. This is different from the 'ない' negative form.

Let's look:

泳がない - 'Didn't swim', in the 'nai' form with う verbs you conjugate the final syllable or Kana and add 'nai' to make it mean 'didn't __'. With a るverb you drop 'ru' and add 'nai' as in 食べない 'didn't eat'.　　

およぐな - 'Don't swim' keeps the plain form of the verb and adds 'na'. This is the same with う and る verbs, as with 食べるな 'don't eat'.

Hopefully this is a clear explanation. The real difficulty is listening for the differences, but I assume if your about to put something into your mouth and your hear, "食べるな!!" you should stop, a more accurate expression would be, "止め!!　食べるな." in this situation.

Back to the translation:

All together, ながれ　はやい　およぐな, means 'Fast current. Do Not Swim!' You can kind of see the water in the picture, but for relevance the water was flowing pretty strongly and would definitely send someone down river, not to mention being in there with those scary bug eyed fish!!

Anyway, that's it.

ありがとうございます。またね。

ジョシュア

Yui's Kanji Lesson

友だちは東京に旅行しました。Part 2

Somewhere in the vast Tokyo cityscape is this sign:


Photo by: Alex Kornya

At first glance a picture of a rabid bulldog can only mean 'Beware of Dog' but wait!! Let's read and find out what's really going on:

First in black(黒):

暴力団（ぼりょくだん）- These three Kanji make the noun 'bouryokudan' which means 'gangsters' referring to the notorious Yakuza in Japan.

の - 'no' is a possessive particle

追放（ついほう）- These two Kanji make the noun 'tsuihou' which means 'exile, banishment'. Adding the verb する(suru) 'to do' can also be added to this noun to make it a verb 'to exile'.

Translation: "The Yakuza's banishment"

Underneath(下) in red(赤):

恐れない（おそれない）- This word 'osorenai' can be used as a verb or adjective to mean 'don't be afraid' or fearless.

金を出さない（かねをださない）- In this sentence 金（かね）'kane' is 'money'. を 'wo' is the linking particle between a noun and the verb 出（だ）さない 'dasanai' which has many meanings with this one being 'don't pay'. So the meaning here is 'don't pay money'.

利用しない（りようしない）- The verb 'riyoushinai' means 'to utilize' or 'take advantage of' and since it's negative 'don't take advantage of'.

Translation: "Don't be afraid, don't pay money, don't be taken advantage of ." I added a little more meaning to 利用しない to make its meaning fit a little better with the message, which may or may not be correct. If so, then the top translation would be better as "The Yakuza's banished" either way "Don't worry, be happy!' ねぇぇ..

As always feel free to comment.

それでは、またこんどです。

友だちは東京に旅行しました。

For two weeks my friends from America were visiting Japan and they took some interesting photos that I want to share with all of you.


This first photo was taken on the a JR train in Tokyo by: Rob Ross

First let's look at the green letters on the right side(右):

チカン - This is Katakana that reads 'chikan' and means 'pervert'. Katakana words are typically borrowed words from foreign languages with a lot coming from English such as 'カメラ(kamera)' or 'camera', but I don't know where チカン comes from.

は - This is the Hiragana 'ha' except in a Japanese sentence when this Kana is used as the particle to mark the subject it's read as 'wa'.

犯罪(はんざい） - These two Kanji form the noun 'hanzai' which means 'illegal' or 'criminal'.

です - The particle 'だ(da)' in its plain form and 'です(desu)' in its polite form appears at the end of Japanese sentences which is typically compared to being the English equivalent of 'to be'. As a rule of thumb for any foreigner speaking Japanese "just say Desu!"

Translation: "Perversion is illegal."

Now, let's look at the red letters on the left(左）:

出来心（できごころ）- These three Kanji together form a noun 'dekigokoro' which means 'sudden impulse' or 'passing fancy'.

では - 'dewa' is a compound particle read as 'で' for 'by' or 'at' and 'は' to mark the subject.

すまされない - This is the verb 'すます' 'to finish or complete' in it's negative form 'sumasarenai' means 'to not finish or not be done'.

Translation: Literal translation would be "It is not done by sudden impulse!" If we write this sign for an English train it would probably say, "Don't do it on impulse!"

All together now: So 'チカン' means 'pervert' and what do perverts do? They 'molest'. When you think about the Japanese rush hour train with all those people crammed together you should understand that its easy for a man to get the impulse to reach out a grab a women. Then we can read the sign as "Molesting is illegal. Don't do it on impulse!" and understand the picture as 'when the women exits the train the man grabs her ass' or at least that's my interpretation of this.

If you think differently or have any insight on the situation of train molesting please feel free to leave comments.

Ryuk's Kanji Lesson

池袋の道路標識 - Road sign in Ikebukuro

I recently took a trip over to Tokyo to finally visit the city I've only seen in various forms of media with my own two eyes. While searching for Kanji in Tokyo I came across this street sign in Ikebukuro. Do you know what it says? Well lets figure it out shall we!

(上)The top line:

人（ひと）- This Kanji, hito, is for person
の - Hiragana, no, can be used as a possessive particle
乗降（じょうこう）- These two Kanji form a noun, joukou, for 'getting on and off'
を - Hiragana, wo, is a particle used to link direct objects with verbs
除く（のぞく）- The Kanji, nozo, with the hiragana, ku, forms a Regular 1 or う (u) verb for 'remove', 'get rid of', 'exclude' or 'except for'

Translation: [Reading the X as an international sign for 'NO'] No entrance except for the getting on and off of people.

(下）The bottom line:

日曜（にちよう）- The first Kanji, nichi, represents the 'sun' or 'a day' and the second Kanji, you, is 'day of the week' which often looks like, 日曜日 nichiyoubi, representing Sunday
休日（きゅうじつ）- The first Kanji, kyuu, means 'holiday' more often seen in 休み, yasumi, as 'holiday' and again with 'day' read as, jitsu, to make, kyuujitsu, for 'holiday'
を - wo again to link the direct object to the verb
除く（のぞく） - nozoku again meaning 'except for'

Translation: Except for the Sunday holiday. [Note: There is a dot between 日曜 and 休日which could translate as 'Sundays and holidays', but I'm unsure about this.]

So what we have is a street in Ikebukuro that cannot be driven on unless its used to drop off or pick up passengers except on Sundays and possibly holidays.

Unfortunately that ends my Kanji of Tokyo series. As Tokyo is a popular tourist location in Japan most of the signs had Kanji and English written on them.

Comments and suggestions are welcome, Thank you.

始める

Hello and welcome to the Death By Kanji Blog! After some experimenting and thought I've decided to make this blog exclusively about Kanji I see or find here in Japan. I wanted to combine a kind of photo blog with Kanji and now I will start to photograph Kanji and explain its meaning to everyone and myself.