Japanese calligraphy

For our last kanji class, we got to do shodou, Japanese calligraphy. Shodo is an art form of writing Japanese characters by using a brush and black ink. Our teacher brought some paintbrushes, paper and some ink and we all got the chance to paint our favorite Japanese characters.

It's actually harder than it looks. Because I like to draw, I thought it would be easier but I think it was more difficult just because I am so used to drawing with a sketching pencil. I'm used to drawing lightly and carefully applying pressure with my pencil to sketch the shape I want. With drawing, you can go over your lines, erase, and start back over. But with calligraphy, you have to be a bit rougher with the paintbrush, pressing harder here and then releasing the pressure in other areas to form the nice wing-like lines. The way the ink splatters on the page isn't always predictable... and you definitely cannot erase if you make a mistake.

Our kanji class

guess what these two characters mean? (Hint: it's a martial art)

Kanji of the year

I learned recently in my kanji class that a kanji (Japanese character) is selected at the end of each year to represent the year that has come to past. The kanji is chosen through a national ballot and then announced on December 12 (Kanji Day) at Kiyomizu Temple. (I didn't even know there was a Kanji Day).

So the kanji chosen for the year 2011 is..... (drumroll) : Kizuna, which means the bonds between people. Here is a picture:

 
On Wikipedia, if you're interested, look up "Kanji of the year" and you get a list of all the characters that have been selected so far and a little explanation as to why that specific character was chosen.

For this year, I think you already must have a good idea why kizuna was chosen. With the earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese rediscovered the importance of bonds between friends and family. It could also represent the bonds between Japan and other countries. After the earthquake and tsunami, other countries offered their help and support to Japan (I'm just extrapolating here). On Wikipedia's page, it also mentions that kizuna represents the bonds and teamwork between the members of Japan's women's national football team (Nadeshiko Japan) who won the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

After kizuna, wazawai (disaster) and shin (tremor) came in second and third place respectively. I find it amazing that even though the past year was very difficult for Japan (and they're not out of the woods yet), a positive kanji such as kizuna was chosen. It just goes to show that even during times of hardship, some good comes out of it.

In class, we were also asked to choose our own kanji of the year to represent our own life. I chose the kanji shin, which means "new".

I chose it because 2011 has been a year of new beginnings for me. I began a new life here in Japan, I met a lot of new people and made many new friends. For the first time I'm living alone and I'm doing a lot of new things I never would have imagined I'd be doing. And I know there's still a lot more to come. : ) I really like this "kanji of the year" concept so I think that from now on, I'll be choosing a kanji every year.

A few random notes

A few random things I find interesting to mention:

1) Bugs: There are plenty of them here. You can hear them buzzing all day and night. There are also flying spiders, which I've been unlucky to see during my first days at the dorm. And what's probably most funny is how scared the girls are of bugs. Even at the dojo the girls will leap up and shriek and shake until the bug is off of them.

2) Going grocery shopping is still quite challenging. I'm still learning what certain products are. I swear, it might seem obvious but you should try grocery shopping in a foreign country. How can you tell what is in a countainer when you can't see what's in it or read the information on the package? Today I brought my dictionary with me and looked up certain words like toothpaste (nerihamigaki) and sweet potato (satsumaimo). Really handy although I'm pretty sure it makes it quite obvious that I'm a foreigner.

3) When sick, people will wear surgical masks to cover their mouths. I saw this last time I came to Japan so it isn't new for me. To me, it goes along with what I know of Japanese culture: it's very important not to create problems for your peers. You do whatever you can to contribute to a healthy and efficient working place. So Japanese will wear masks to prevent from passing on their germs to others.

4) I find kanji (the complex characters Japanese use in their writing) to be very poetic. The other day, I learned that the kanji that make up the word hanabi (fireworks) is made up of two characters, the one for flowers (hana) and the one for fire (bi). Put together you have : fire flowers. As an artist, I find it creates beautiful images in my mind.

5) Lastly, the toilets... I don't have a picture to show you, but you can probably google it if you really want to know. Essentially, it's simply a hole in the ground. Now I don't know why, in such a highly developed and technological country, they still have such toilets. I do not see the appeal in crouching down (and there's no even a bar to hold on to) in order to do one's business. Thankfully they also have Western style toilets. In the university's bathrooms, there is usually one Western style toilet for each 3 or 4 Japanese style toilets. If I enter a bathroom where there are only Japanese style toilets, my urge to pee often disappears miraculously lol. But some Japanese prefer their toilets. My friend from Denmark, Zara, told me that she once entered a bathroom where there were both a Japanese style and a Western style bathroom. And to be polite, she offered the Western style bathroom to an old lady who had come in at the same time. But the old lady said she preferred the Japanese style bathroom! .... This remains a mystery to me.

That's it for today. Actually wrote quite a lot so hope you enjoy. If you have any comments/questions, don't be shy! Have to go work on a Japanese composition now where I'm supposed to write about myself. Catch up with you later!