8th March – 弥生 Old women monster who lives in deep mountain. Very tall and have sharp eyes, teared mouth till ears . She runs very fast like a wind. She can also be called 鬼婆 (Onibaba), 鬼女 (Kijo). As it has been told that Japanese mountains are mysterious and have relations to spirits andContinue reading “山姥 (Yamanba) – Japanese Mountain witch”
Tag Archives: #March
巫女 (Miko) Shrine Maiden
7th March ー 弥生 When you go to the shrine, you probably see the ladies working with white and red clothes. Those people are called 巫女 (Miko / Fujo) and help the priests at the shrine. In the past, Miko had very important roles for both society and religiously. In the old time, Miko was theContinue reading “巫女 (Miko) Shrine Maiden”
お坊さん Monk
6th March – 弥生 In Japanese, there are various ways to call monk depending on their Buddhism sect or their hierarchy, but generally we call monk as お坊さん (Obou-san). Why are they called Obou san? IN Nara /Heian era, the metropolitan city was divided into several district, those districts were named as 坊, and eachContinue reading “お坊さん Monk”
天狗 Tengu
5th March – 弥生 God or monster alike creature which has been believed to exist in deep mountain. He has red face with very tall nose and flying with his wings. He has huge body and wear Japanese mountain ascetic hermits (山伏＝Yamabushi) style clothes. From the old time, Japanese people have believed that mountain hasContinue reading “天狗 Tengu”
オノマトペ onomatopoeia No. 1
4th March – 弥生 Making words from the things which does not have the actual word in order to express how the thing is – from nature sounds, feeling, situation and emotion into words Japanese has a lot onomatopoeia compared to other language. This is because Japanese does not have variation of verbs – ForContinue reading “オノマトペ onomatopoeia No. 1”
桜料理 （Sakura-Ryouri）
2nd March – 弥生 Sakura blooms beautiful and fall gorgeously. However, not only making us enjoy seeing them but also letting us having a great taste of it – we can eat sakura! Some people might have seen it, that there are many shops selling sakura flower pickled in salt. It generally be used inContinue reading “桜料理 （Sakura-Ryouri）”
桜 Sakura (Cherry Blossom)
1 st March – 弥生 March in Japan, many people imagine with 桜 (Sakura=Cherry blossom). Sakura inform us that the spring has come, bringing us happiness and joy. The native Sakura species are 10 of them, and it cross-fertilized by nature and grow 100 more new species. Those naturally made Sakura are called 山桜 (Yamazakura).Continue reading “桜 Sakura (Cherry Blossom)”
Little Japan Dictionary 