Archive for the 'Japanese' Category
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Japanese Hand Clapping Playground Game
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009Here’s a Japanese hand clapping game about making rice cakes. Cool motions!
If anyone would like to send me the Japanese lyrics and/or an English translation, I’d love to add them here. You can add a transliteration or translation in the comments below or email me the Japanese text at lisa@mamalisa.com .
Meanwhile, you can enjoy watching and listening… they repeat it so you can try to learn it by ear.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
About The Japanese Star Festival – Tanabata – with a Song and YouTube Video
Thursday, July 30th, 2009One wonderful festival that takes place in Japan in July is the Star Festival, also known as Tanabata. Tanabata means “evening of the seventh”… the Star Festival takes place at night on July 7th every year. Tanabata is originally based on a Chinese legend.
Tanabata celebrates the meeting of a husband and wife. They are Orihime (the star Vega) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair)… to meet they must cross the river Amanogawa (the Milky Way). They can only meet once a year on this night… it’s the one time they can cross the river. The story is that a flock of magpies help Orihime cross the river on this day only. If it’s a cloudy night, that means the river was too high and Orihame and Hikoboshi couldn’t meet. So in Japan everyone wishes for a clear night full of stars on July 7th.
Ayako Egawa in Japan wrote to me about one fun tradition on this day: “Children write their wishes on strips of fancy paper and put them on displays made of the branches of bamboo trees.”
Ayako sent me this photo below with the note, “This is the decoration at Star festival (Tanabata) on July 7th.”
Here’s a traditional Tanabata Song that’s sung for the festival. First you’ll find a Japanese transliteration, then the Japanese text, an English translation by me, followed by a YouTube video of a little girl singing it…
Sasa no ha sara-sara
In Japanese Romaji:
Sasa no ha sara-sara
Nokiba ni yureru
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
Kingin sunagoIn Japanese Text:
笹の葉 さらさら
軒端にゆれる
お星様 キラキラ
金銀砂子English Translation:
Bamboo leaves are rustling, rustling,
Swaying close to the roof’s edge,
Oh, how the stars are twinkling, twinkling,
Gold and silver grains of sand.If you’d like to share any photos, songs or memories of this festival, feel free to in the comments below or email me at lisa@mamalisa.com .
Many thanks to Ayako Egawa for letting us know about this festival and for sharing the wonderful photo!
Mama Lisa
Japanese Lullabies called Nenneko Yo with a YouTube Video
Thursday, July 30th, 2009There are some lullabies in Japan that start with variations of the line, “Nenneko yo”. “Nenneko yo” is literally “Sleep, baby child”.
Here are some I found in an old book called “A Japanese Miscellany: Strange Stories, Folklore Gleanings, Studies Here & There” by Lafcadio Hearn (1901). They’re Japanese transliterations with translations.
Nenneko, nenneko,
Nenneko yo !
Oraga akabo no
Neta rusu ni,
Azuki wo yonagete,
Kome toide,
Aka no mamma e
Toto soete,
Aka no ii-ko ni
Kureru-zo !Sleep, sleep, sleep,
Little one!
While my baby sleeps
I will wash some red beans
And clean some rice;
Then adding some
Fish to the red rice,
I will serve it up
To this best
of little babies.*****
Nenneko! nenneko!
Nenneko yo !
Oraga akabo wa
Itsu dekita ?
San-gwatsu, sakura no
Saku toki ni :
Dori de o-kao ga
Sakura-iro.Sleep, sleep,
Sleep, my child!
When was my
Baby made?
In the third month,
In the time of the blooming
Of cherry-flowers.
Therefore the color of the honorable
Face of my child is the color of the cherry-blossom.*****
Nenneko, nenneko, nenneko ya !
Netara o-kaka e tsurete ina !
Okitara gagama* ga totte kama !Sleep, sleep, sleep, my child !
If you sleep I will go home to fetch your mother!
If you stay awake the
Gagama* will catch and bite you !* An Izumo name for some kind of Goblin.
Here’s a YouTube I found of someone singing a lovely Nenneko yo lullaby…
Here’s an English transliteration of the YouTube lullaby:
Yurika go no uta o
Nenneko, nenneko,
Nenneko yo.
Yurika go no uta o,
kanari ya ga uta u yo.
Nenneko, nenneko,
Nenneko yo.Here’s an English translation I made with Ayako Egawa:
The Songs of Cradle
Sleeping, sleeping,
Sleeping, baby!
The songs of the cradle,
The canary sings
Sleeping, sleeping,
Sleeping, baby!Here’s the Japanese text to this lullaby:
ゆりかごのうたを
ねんねこねんねこ
ねんねこよ
ゆりかごのうたを
カナリヤが歌うよ
ねんねこねんねこ
ねんねこよThe lullaby in the video is only part of a longer song. We hope to eventually post the whole lullaby.
We’d be happy to receive the Japanese text to any of the above lullabies that don’t have it. You can email any info to me at lisa@mamalisa.com . Thanks in advance!
Many thanks to Linda Austin from Cherry Blossom Memories for providing the transliteration to the YouTube video! Thanks to Ayako Egawa for the Japanese text and for helping with the English translation!
Mama Lisa
Miso Soup Traditions
Sunday, May 24th, 2009I recently posted a recipe for miso soup that Ayako Egawa from Japan helped me with. When she saw the photo of the bowls and spoons I used to serve it with, she made this comment: "It is interesting you use a spoon for Miso soup, because we use chopsticks for it. And we usually put it in a deep bowl. But of course it is all right! It looks yummy!"
Ayako said (regarding the photo above): "This is my Miso soup bowl. Most Miso soup bowls have beautiful pictures and they have covers."
I said to Ayako: "That’s interesting that you eat miso soup with chopsticks. Do you drink the broth at the end? Here, in restaurants, we use big, deep spoons to eat it."
Ayako replied: "We drink the broth at the end by putting our mouths on the bowl. In Japan, it’s not against good manners to do that, especially when eating Japanese food such as Miso soup, Udon or Soba. We drink western soup with spoons. In some restaurants, Miso soup may taste better than ours at home. But the important point is that each family has its own tastes. Generally people in northern areas prefer red miso and ones in western areas, especially Kyoto areas prefer white miso. But it depends on each family. It’s interesting"
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako! Very interesting!
Mama Lisa
Hat tip: Thanks also to Linda Austin of Cherry Blossom Memories for sharing her Miso traditions too. Linda’s Mom is from Japan. She wrote, "My mom insists on using red miso, someday I’ll try white."
Cherry Blossom Viewing in Japan
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009When the Cherry Blossoms bloom in Japan it’s traditional to go to the park to view the blossoms and have a picnic. Cherry Blossom viewing is called called Hanami. Ayako Egawa generously shared her photos of this years cherry blossom viewing.
Ayako wrote, "We walked under the flow of cherry blossoms in the park. It was beautiful!"
Close up of the cherry blossoms.
Ayako continued, "Lots of people enjoy sitting and eating ‘bento’ (their lunch)."
Ayako wrote, "We hiked along the road hearing the twitter of Japanese Bush Warbler.
I like the feel of spring!"I asked Ayako what the Japanese Bush Warbler sounds like and she wrote, "Hearing the twitter of the Japanese Bush Warbler is a sign of Spring in Japan. They sing like ‘Whoo Who ket kyo’! It’s a unique twitter." Later Ayako sent me this YouTube video below she found to hear the bird’s tweet.
Ayako wrote, "Small purple flowers in the park. They are pretty."
Ayako wrote, "Cherry blossoms in this school playground are really beautiful! It’s common that there are lots of cherry blossoms in school playgrounds in Japan."
Thanks so much for sharing these great photos with us Ayako!
Check out these posts for more about Cherry Blossom Viewing and Festivals.
You can also hear 2 well known Cherry Blossom Songs on Mama Lisa’s World:
Sakura Sakura – Cherry Blossoms (Song #2)
Enjoy the season and try to see Cherry Blossoms blooming near you if possible. It’s worth the effort.
Mama Lisa
Taiyaki – A Japanese Sweet
Sunday, April 5th, 2009I think it’s interesting to learn about different foods eaten around the world. Here’s one that’s eaten in Japan. Ayako Egawa shared this photo with me, with the note:
This is a fish shaped sweet called “Taiyaki”. It’s a popular sweet in Japan. Usually Azuki (red bean) paste is stuffed inside it. But this one has custard cream inside of it. It’s yummy!
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako!
Bunny Bento
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009Check out this post for making bunny bento. What’s bento? A Japanese lunchbox!
You can buy Japanese Bento Boxes at:
Ayako Egawa wrote from Japan: “Hi Lisa, bunny bento, which is the cutting style of an apple, is very popular in Japan in lunchboxes!”
A couple of days later, Ayako wrote to me: “Hi Lisa, those are my bunnies! (See photo below.) I put them in my lunchbox today.”
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako!
-Mama Lisa
Hina Matsuri – Doll Festival in Japan
Thursday, March 19th, 2009Hina Matsuri or “Doll Festival”, is celebrated in Japan on March 3rd every year.
Ayako Egawa wrote to me from Japan about the holiday:
“Families with daughters celebrate March 3 by displaying Hina-dolls on a stepped shelf to express the wish for their daughters’ good health and growth. I posted a photo of ‘Hina-dolls’ (below). They are pretty.”
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“We decorate Hina-dolls with flowers of peach and field mascard (canola) on ‘Hina Matsuri’. These below are flowers of peach.” The peach blossoms are thought to repel evil.Ayako makes flower arrangements. She wrote, “This is a ‘Hinamatsuri’ arrangement I made. It has in it flowers of peach, field mustard (canola – the small yellow flower), gerbera, roses, persion buttercup (the big yellow flower) and lemon leaf. The point of this arrangement is arrange the flowers of peach vertically going higher. The pink tone of the flowers create an elegant mood.”
Here’s the Hina Matsuri Song that’s sung all over Japan for the holiday. You can hear it being sung below by Sakura and Hatsami. The recording is followed by the transliterated lyrics, an English translation and the Japanese text…
Hina Matsuri Song
Transliterated Japanese
Akari o tsukema sho bon bori ni
O hana o agemasyo momo no hana
Gonin – bayashi no fue daiko
Kyoo wa tanoshii Hina MatsuriLoose English Translation
Let’s light the lanterns on the tiered stand
Let’s put peach blossoms on the tiered stand
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums
Today is a Happy Dolls’ Festival.Japanese Text for the Hina Matsuri Song
うれしいひなまつり
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You can read more about Hina Matsuri in a previous posts I’ve written about it by clicking on the links below.
You can visit the Mama Lisa’s World Hina Matsuri Song Page for sheet music to this song.
Many thanks Ayako Egawa for sharing her photos with us about Hinamatsuri and for commenting on them, to Sakura and Hatsami for singing the Hina Matsuri Song and to Peter Galante of Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com for allowing us to use this wonderful recording! The recording is from their podcast about the Hina Matsuri Festival (it’s mainly in English).
Happy Hina Matsuri!
Mama Lisa
Halloween in Japan and Japanese Yokai Monsters
Friday, October 31st, 2008The Washington Post had an article today about monsters and Halloween in Japan.
Japanese people do dress up in costumes and celebrate the holiday with Halloween parties. Though they don’t go out trick-or-treating like the Americans do.
Japan’s scary monsters are called yōkai. Yōkai has come to mean demon, spirit, ghost or monster in Japanese. Yōkai are found in Japanese folklore.
The oni are one of the best known yōkai. Oni are demons which are often depicted as fighting the samurai heroes. (Interestingly, they’re also an important part of the Japanese holiday called Setsubun. It celebrates Springtime on February 3rd. The tradition is to chase out the demon oni from your house. People chase away men disguised in demon masks, by throwing roasted soybeans at them.)
Another popular yōkai is the kappa. The kappa resembles a turtle and likes to challenge humans to sumo fights! But if you’re smart, you can outwit him, and get out of the dual.
Check out The Obakemono Project online to learn more about the different yōkai monsters.
Happy Halloween!
Mama Lisa
*****
Image info:1st image – Ōkubi by Toriyama Sekein c. 1779 (Ōkubi are Giant Heads of Men or Women that appear in the sky when a disaster is about to happen)
2nd image – Oni from the Cleveland Museum of Art
3rd image – Kappa by Toriyama Sekein in the 18th century (with a bit of editing by Mama Lisa).Can Anyone Help with a Japanese Song about Raccoons or Badgers called “Shojoji”?
Saturday, January 12th, 2008Raquel wrote to me:
Hi,
I LOVE your website! Charming, charming and so fun!
I was looking for a Japanese song about how raccoons or badgers make a drum sound on their tummies.It was on an Ann Leif Barlin record many years ago.
It goes like this (I hope):
Sho, sho sho joji
sho joji naee wawa
tzum, tzum tzum kei o na
me nodeta koi koi koiThat’s some of it as I recall.
If you can find it that would be great!
Thanks!RAquel Ary-DE ROZZA
If anyone can help with this song, please comment below or email me.
Thanks in advance!
Lisa
Multilingual Kids Books on the Web
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008I’ve been asked twice in the past week for free multilingual books.
Here’s a link I found called Books in Multiple Languages. They have English children’s books with translations in Spanish, French, Polish, Italian, Romanian, German, Chinese, Finnish, Swedish, Maori, Greek, Dutch, Farsi (Persian), Afrikaans, Croatian, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Pennsylvania Dutch, Sloven, Indonesian, Malaysian, Hungarian, Dari, Hindi and Filipino.
If anyone knows of any other good multilingual book links, feel free to let us know about it in the comments below.
Someone was also looking for children’s books with animal sounds around the world. There’s one called Who Says a Dog Goes Bow Wow? by Hank de Zutter. You can click the link to see it on Amazon.
-Mama Lisa
Can Someone Help with the Japanese lyrics to “”Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”"?
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007Kristen wrote:
Hi,
We have our preschool concert coming up soon and we’re hoping to do “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes” with the kids. We are learning body parts in Japanese but need the translation for the whole song.
This is what we have… is this correct? We need the section “Let’s all clap hands together.”
Atama kata hiza ashi (Heads, shoulders, knees, toes)
hiza ashi hiza ashi (Knees, toes, knees, toes)
atama kata hiza ashi (Let’s all clap hands together)
me mimi thana kuchi (Eyes, ears, mouth, nose)
thana kuchi thana kuchi (Mouth, nose, mouth, nose)
me mimi thana kuchi (Let’s all clap hands together.)Thank you for your time.
Kristen
If anyone can help with the full lyrics to this song, or if there are any corrections that should be made to above text, please let us know by commenting below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Come Listen to the Japanese Children’s Song “Donguri Korokoro” – A Rolling Acorn
Thursday, May 17th, 2007Roxanne Dixon sent me this wonderful recording of some Japanese schoolchildren singing the well-known song, Donguri Korokoro. Click the link below to hear the recording. Below that you’ll find the Japanese transliteration for singing along, followed by an English translation.
MP3 Recording of Donguri Korokoro – A Rolling Acorn
Donguri Korokoro
(Transliteration)Donguri korokoro donburiko
O-ike ni hamatte saa taihen
Dojou ga detekite konnichi wa
Botchan issho ni asobimashouDonguri korokoro yorokonde
Shibaraku issho ni asonda ga
Yappari o-yama ga koishii to
Naite wa dojou wo komarasetaA Rolling Acorn
(English)An acorn rolled down and down,
He suddenly fell into a pond.
Then came the loaches*,
Hi boy! Come play with us!The acorn enjoyed playing with them.
But he soon began to cry,
I want to go back to the mountain.
The loaches didn’t know what to do.*Loach is the name for various Eurasian and African freshwater fish of the carp family.
Come visit the Donguri Korokoro Song Page for the Japanese text, the sheet music, the tune played on piano and a link for a French translation. Roxanne also sent recordings of Zosan and Yuki. You can click the links to visit those song pages and hear the newest recordings.
Many thanks to Roxanne Dixon for the recording. Roxanne collected the recording and songs on her trip to Japan as part of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Exchange Program, a Program of the Japanese government to foster goodwill and understanding between the US and Japan.
Thanks also to Petter Mæhlum for the transliteration and to Ayako Egawa for the English translation.
Enjoy!
Lisa
Looking for a Japanese Children’s Song with the Line “”Teku Teku”"
Friday, April 27th, 2007Liz Matsumoto wrote:
Does anyone know the Japanese childrens song that starts off Teku Teku?
If anyone can help out with this song, please comment below or email me.
Thanks!
Lisa
Does Anyone Know a Japanese Song called “Kouma” about Teddy Bears ?
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007I recently received this email:
Hi… don’t know if you would be able to help me.. but I’m looking for a Japanese song about Teddy Bears – I was told the title is KOUMA – but can’t seem to find it on the net.
Would you know where I can locate this video?
Thank you
Sincerely
Providencia MorilloIf anyone can help with the lyrics to this song or if you know where to find the video, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Can You Help with a Japanese Song called “Okina kurino kino shita de”?
Saturday, April 7th, 2007Ling Ling wrote:
Hi mama lisa. I am Ling ling from Indonesia. I am looking for the lyrics to a Japanese song, I hope you can help me.
The title is OKINAKURINO KINO SHITA DE. My teacher taught me this song when I was in high school and I have forgotten the lyrics. Here’s what I know…Okina kurino kino shita de, anata to watashi…. (and bla bla bla…)
Please help me?
If anyone can help out with the lyrics to this song, or a translation, please comment below, or email me.
Thanks!
Lisa
Hina Matsuri 雛祭り – The Doll Festival in Japan – Has its Roots in an Old Chinese Purification Ceremony
Friday, March 2nd, 2007Tomorrow, March 3rd, is the Hina Matsuri 雛祭り or Doll Festival in Japan.
The Japanese celebration seems to have originated in China, where there was a festival called Shang-suu that had also been celebrated on March 3rd, at least since the 3rd century AD. Shang-suu may go back before that time but the date may have shifted. (It looks like Shang-suu eventually merged with the Ching Ming Festival – Remembrance of Ancestors Day – which is still celebrated today in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Now it takes place on April 4th or 5th.)
Shang-suu was a day of purification. Suu stands for snake, so for convenience, I’ll translate it here as the Day of the Snake (as it came to be called later in Japan). In China, Shamans were considered people who could see evil spirits. On Shang-suu, the shamans gave people baths using herbs in rivers to wash away the evil spirits.
We know that by the 11th century in Japan, the nobles had adapted a similar ceremony. This was called Mi-no-hi or jō-shi. We can date it because it’s mentioned in a book of the times called the Tales of Genji. By that time, it wasn’t the actual person who was cleansed in the river, but a doll who represented him or her.
In the Tales of Genji it says, “It was the day of the serpent, the first such day in the Third Month. ‘The day when a man who has worries goes down and washes them away,’ said one of his (Genji’s) men, admirably informed, it would seem, in all the annual observances. Genji thought he could see something of himself in the rather large doll being cast off to sea, bearing away sins and tribulations. ‘Cast away to drift on an alien vastness, I grieve for more than a doll cast out to sea.’”
Today, in parts of Japan, some people still load boats with dolls and send them off to sea. Now, though, the festival is mostly for girls. It’s called Hina Nagashi Matsuri or Floating Dolls Festival. Traditionally, people first rub the dolls to pass any bad luck onto the doll. Then they let the doll float down the river in a little boat and then out to sea to cast off all evilness and bad spirits.
In some towns they load up big boats and many people cast their old dolls in them. In the photo below, the dolls are actually made with fish food!
Between the 11th century and today, the tradition of Hina Nagashi Matsuri went from being mainly for the nobility to spreading to the whole population. Part of the reason for this was that merchants wanted to sell their paper dolls at this time of year. So they encouraged more of the population to buy them. By the 18th century, the dolls became more intricate and expensive. People no longer wanted to float them out to sea. So they started bringing them to temples to get rid of the evil.
Eventually, people started buying alters for their dolls called hina dan (doll alter) on which to display them in their own homes. These became like shrines. They made offerings of shirosake (sweet sake made from fermented rice) and hishi mochi (diamond-shaped rice cakes with three to five layers). The alters are decorated with peach blossoms which is thought to repel evilness.
The hina matsuri dolls are now called hina ningyo. They’re often passed down from mother to daughter from generation to generation. The hope behind celebrating the Hina Matsuri is that the daughter will live a long, healthy and happy life.
Here’s the Hina Matsuri Song that’s sung all over Japan on this day. You can hear it being sung by Sakura and Hatsami…
Hina Matsuri Song
Transliterated Japanese
Akari o tsukema sho bon bori ni
O hana o agemasyo momo no hana
Gonin – bayashi no fue daiko
Kyoo wa tanoshii Hina MatsuriLoose English Translation
Let’s light the lanterns on the tiered stand
Let’s put peach blossoms on the tiered stand
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums
Today is a Happy Dolls’ Festival.Japanese Text for the Hina Matsuri Song
うれしいひなまつり
![]()
Happy Hina Matsuri!
You can read more about Hina Matsuri in a previous post I wrote about it. It tells more about the hina ningyo dolls.
You can visit the Mama Lisa’s World Hina Matsuri Song Page for sheet music for this song.
Many thanks to Sakura and Hatsami for singing the Hina Matsuri Song and to Peter Galante of Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com for allowing us to use this wonderful recording! The recording is from their podcast about the Hina Matsuri Festival (it’s mainly in English).
For anyone interested in reading more about Shang-ssu and Hina Matsuri, I’d recommend an article by Alsace Yen called Shang-ssu Festival and Its Myths in China and Japan
Free Online Language Dictionaries
Friday, December 22nd, 2006While I have this link at hand, I’d like to recommend www.freedict.com. It’s a site devoted to free online language dictionaries. You can translate between English and the following languages:
Afrikaans
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Latin
Norwegian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swahili
SwedishI find that it can usually succeed at translating the words I need.
Feel free to recommend other language dictionaries that you like in the comments below.
-Lisa
Is Anyone Familiar with the Japanese Children’s Song called “Aka Tombo” or “Red Dragonfly”?
Wednesday, December 6th, 2006Priscilla wrote…
Hi, Lisa-
Love your website, especially the Japanese Children’s songs. Wondering if you could include the lyrics, melody, and sheet music for “Aka Tombo” Red Dragon Fly. Thank you,
Priscilla
If anyone can help with this song, please comment below or email me.
Thanks!
Lisa
Great Link for Language Learning
Monday, December 4th, 2006If you’re trying to learn a new language, I’d recommend checking out LanguageGuide.org.
Users visit different theme related pages (i.e. about insects, the family, the farm). Each page has images related to the theme. You place your cursor over the images and hear their names pronounced and see them spelled out in the language you choose.
Because it’s visually based, these pages can be used by anyone in the world, regardless of your native language.
Here are the languages they have:
English (English)
Italian (Italiano)
Arabic (عربي;)
Spanish (Español)
Portuguese (Português)
Mandarin Chinese (普通话)
French (Français)
Russian (Русский)
Japanese (日本語 Nihongo)
German (Deutsch)
Hebrew (עברית)So if you’re interested in learning any of these languages, or improving your skills, check it out!
-Lisa
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