A BRIEF TOUR OF THE
HISTORY AND CULTURE
OF JAPAN (日本)
FOR THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
OF CHRIST THE KING.
DRAFT COPY ONLY.
10/15/2006.

Bill Moore.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktashis.htm



Need a Japanese font? Then click on:      http://www.amazon.co.jp and a font should load into your system.

1. TABLE OF CONTENTS.


1. Table of Contents.
2. Introduction.
3. Traditional era: before 400 AD.
4. Kyoto era: 400-1200.
5. Military feudalism: 1200-1600.
6. Tokugawa shoguns: 1600-1868.
7. Meiji restoration: 1868-1945.
8. Postwar Japan: 1945-present.
9. ECCTK-TAS Relationship.
10. Japanese Language.
11. Japanese Calendar.
12. Make a Japanese Language Visitor Card.
13. Glossary.
14. References.
15. One Hundred Easy Kanji.

2. INTRODUCTION.



JAPAN (日本) is a nation located on a north-to-south collection of islands east of China, stretching between the arctic and the tropics. Japan has an area the size of the State of Montana, and a population half that of the USA. Only one-fifth of the land in Japan can be farmed. Japan is one of the dozen wealthiest and most industrialized nations on earth, with a rich history and culture.

OVER THE PAST TWO MILLENNIA, Japan's destiny has been shaped by: its proximity to China; the geographic isolation of the Japanese islands; the scarcity of agricultural land; Japan's high population density; and its polite, hard-working people.

JAPAN'S HISTORY AND CULTURE has been largely separate from that of Europe and North America until 150 years ago, and Japanese history is typically not a very large part of the ordinary U. S. public school curriculum. It is worthwhile to learn some of this history before travelling to Japan. The Japanese people enjoy entertaining vistors from abroad, and appreciate the effort made by visitors to understand Japan's journey as a nation. Furthermore, you can have a much richer experience in Japan if you make an effort to learn SOME written Japanese. It's easier than you might imagine. First, learn about 50 ideograms (Kanji characters) for common things, such as: Japan (日本), Tokyo, man (人), woman (女), baby (予), entrance, exit, left, right, etc. Next, learn Katakana, the 46-letter alphabet for representing foreign words, including your name. ECCTK parishioners can find their Japanese names at URL:
http://www.gwmoore.org/ecctk/ctkglry/ecckglry.htm
It is worthwhile to make up a set of computer-printed bilingual VISITOR CARDS (i.e., personalized business cards), for giving out when you meet a new person. Bill Moore can help you make them, but it's not very hard. You say: Hajimemashite (roughly, pleased to meet you for the first time), bow, and give out your visitor card.

FINALLY, LEARN ABOUT THE SHARED HISTORY of the Episcopal Church of Christ the King in Woodlawn, MD (ECCTK) and our sister parish, Tokyo All Saints Church, Tokyo, Japan (TAS). This relationship began with a formal Companion Diocese Relationship in the 1980s between the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and the Anglican Episcopal Diocese of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (Nippon Sei Ko Kai). A few years ago, the formal relationship was ended at the Diocesan level, but the two sister parishes had formed such a strong bond that both congregations voted to continue it on an informal basis.

The purpose of the arrangement is mutual support and ministry. The congregations support each other with prayer, information, and friendship, enhanced with exchange visits and correspondence. Christ the King members furnish all the resources and costs needed for the Maryland part of the activity.

Nearly every year, on an alternating basis, exchange visits are made between the two parishes. Two years ago, we were honored to have visitors from Tokyo All Saints, including their rector, the Rev. Ms. Mary Shigeko Yamano . In October, 2006, we expect to send four Christ the King members to help celebrate the 125th Anniversary of Tokyo All Saints.

You can read about the visits of ECCTK and TAS parishioners at:
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst.htm


JAPAN'S HISTORY MAY BE DIVIDED INTO SIX ERAS, OR JIDAI:
1. Traditional era: before 400 AD.
2. Kyoto era: 400-1200.
3. Military feudalism: 1200-1600.
4. Tokugawa shoguns: 1600-1868.
5. Meiji restoration: 1868-1945.
6. Postwar Japan: 1945-present.

3. TRADITIONAL ERA.



JAPAN HAD NO WRITING SYSTEM UNTIL THE 7th CENTURY A.D., when Japan imported the Chinese writing system during the T'ang Dynasty (618-967 AD). Linguistically, the Chinese writing system is a bad fit to spoken Japanese, and one commentator suggested that Japanese writing would have been better off if Japan had been located closer to Rome and farther from China. In those days, men of noble birth (no women!) traveled to China to learn how to write.

THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF JAPAN PRIOR TO 700 A.D. is shrouded in mystery and legend. According to this legend, the Sun Goddess was the mother of the first Japanese emperor, Jimmu (711-585 BC), and eventually the ancestor to all Japanese people. The Japanese royal family is directly descended from Jimmu. Until 1945, when Japan surrendered to the Allies at the end of World War II, the Japanese emperor was considered to be a god. Shinto, the traditional Japanese national religion, cultivates this special ancestral status of the Japanese people, all considered to be descendants of the Sun Goddess.

4. KYOTO ERA.



Between the eighth and sixteenth centuries, Japan's emperor was largely a figurehead, residing in the traditional imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto. All the delegations from the Episcopal Church of Christ the King (ECCTK), Woodlawn, MD, to Tokyo All Saints (TAS), Tokyo, Japan, have included a trip to Kyoto, and this city is well worth the visit. Some of the original imperial buildings are still maintained in their original form (obviously, the wood and rice paper walls are replaced periodically). In the early days of Japanese written history, the real power in Japan was held by feudal lords, or Shoguns, who were constantly at war with one another.

IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY, THE LADIES OF THE JAPANESE COURT introduced a simplified writing system for Japanese, called Hiragana (see below). The famous work, The Tale of Genji , by Lady Murasaki, is a soap opera, set in the Japanese imperial court.

5. MILITARY FEUDALISM.



NO FOREIGN POWER HAD EVER SUCCESSFULLY INVADED JAPAN until its defeat in World War II, leading to an (eventually false) sense of Japanese invincibility. In 1274 and 1281, the combined forces of Koryo and the Mongolian Empire under Kublai Khan attempted sea invasions of Japan. There was an enormous storm, the so-called Divine Wind (Japanese: Kamikaze), which destroyed the Mongolian navy and saved Japan from foreign invasion. This providential bad weather is eerily similar to the storms that destroyed the Spanish Armada in its 1588 attempted invasion of England, and gave the English a sense of their God-given superiority in the world. Kamikaze is the name given to the suicide airplanes that the Japanese air force rammed into U. S. shipping during World War II, in an effort to repeat the divine protection given to Japan in the thirteenth century.

TWO SIGNIFICANT EVENTS TOOK PLACE IN THE LATE 16TH CENTURY. First, POWER WAS CONSOLIDATED by Hideyoshi Toyotomi the son of a poor fisherman with no royal ancestry. Hideyoshi unified all of Japan, and conquered most of Korea (the Koreans haven't forgotten this!). Then Hideyoshi suddenly died, and his unified empire fell apart again. Even today, Hideyoshi is a popular given-name for Japanese boys, a symbol of success from humble beginnings.

Second, Catholic Jesuit monks from Portugal, under the leadership of SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, INTRODUCED CHRISTIANITY TO JAPAN. Initially, Christianity received a favorable reception in Japan, since many Japanese people could sense the similarities between Jimmu and God, and the Emperor and Jesus Christ, God's human representative on Earth. The theological similarities are crude, but the at least there was a basis for mutual understanding. At that time, Japan was disunified, and in villages where Christian missionaries were unwelcome, in the words of St. Peter, the missionaries would "shake the dust from their sandals" (Acts xxx), and move on to the next village.

6. TOKUGAWA SHOGUNS.



BETWEEN 1600 AND 1865, JAPAN ENTERED A PERIOD OF PROFOUND ISOLATION from Western culture and influence, under the leadership of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa and his successors. Japan closed its borders, turned away Western shipping and trade, and executed shipwrecked Western sailors who washed up on Japan's shores. All foreigners were either exiled or killed, including Christian missionaries, who risked execution if they didn't renounce their faith by stomping on a cross in public. This historical event is the subject of Silence, a powerful book written by the late Shusaku Endo (1923-1996), and discussed by the ECCTK-bookworms, which rhetorically questions the silence of the Christian God during those terrible times. The Christ the King Bookworms Club selected this book, read by our members for the June, 1999, meeting, held at 8:00 PM, June 19, 1999. See:
http://www.gwmoore.org/ecctk/ctkjendo.htm

SILENCE.
Shusaku Endo; William Johnston (Translator)
Paperback (March 1980).
New York: Parkwest Publications.
ISBN: 0800871863 ;
The persecution of Christians living in Japan before World War II, both open and indirect, including members of the Tokyo All Saints (TAS) Christian parish, must have been similarly terrifying. It seems difficult for us Christians, living in 21st century USA, to appreciate the challenges of a political regime that is openly hostile to Christianity. There have been more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in any other century in human history.

DURING THIS PERIOD, JAPAN EXPERIENCED ITS LONGEST UNBROKEN PERIOD OF UNIFICATION AND PEACE, under the totalitarian leadership of the shoguns. The disadvantage of this arrangement was that Japan experienced almost no social or technological growth. When Westerners returned to Japan in 1868, they discovered a land living with the same tools and feudal codes as late 16th century Europe.

TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SOCIETY HAD FOUR, RIGIDLY SEPARATE, SOCIAL CLASSES, based upon principles of Confucius (Chinese philosopher, 551-479 BC): nobleman-warrior, farmer, merchant, and laborer. During the Tokugawa shogunate, there were no wars, and it was unthinkable that noblemen-warriors should pitch in and participate in the work assigned to other social classes. Instead, Japanese noblemen-warriors used their privileged status and leisure time to develop a detailed code of military and personal honor, the Bushido code. Sometimes, this code led to ridiculous extremes (at least by modern Western sensibilities). In 1638, one Japanese nobleman accidentally insulted another nobleman's lady relative. Rather than simply solicity an apology, the offended nobleman set in motion a whole cascade of events of injured honor, resulting in ancestral lands changing ownership, hundreds of farming families losing their livelihood, and eventually 47 RONIN (leaderless samurai) being required to commit suicide.

On the other hand, this same period of an educated leisure class in Japan resulted in an incredible flowering of literature, poetry, theater, and art, the envy of any Western nation.

A DISTORTED VERSION OF THE BUSHIDO CODE was exploited by the militaristic Japanese leadership in the 1930s and 1940s to induce young Japanese men to serve in the military and participate in missions, such as the Kamikaze suicide missions, leading to their near-certain deaths.

7. MEIJI RESTORATION.



On March 31, 1854, COMMODORE MATTHEW C. PERRY (1794-1858), UNITED STATES NAVY, signed a historic peace treaty with the Empire of Japan, that allowed the USA to trade with Japan. The Tokugawa shoguns, weakened by nearly three centuries of technological stagnation, were in no position to resist Commodore Perry's demands. The shoguns had never seen steamships before, which they characterized as "dragons puffing smoke". On January 3, 1868, there was a bloodless revolution, the MEIJI RESTORATION, in which Emperor Meiji accepted Western assistance, seized power from the weakened shoguns, and opened Japan to Western trade.

In a remarkable display of Japanese skill and hard work, the Japanese people transformed their nation from a 16th century backward feudal system into a modern nation, by the dawn of the 20th century, in a mere 30 years.

..........................

World War II, was the most costly and terrible conflict ever between our two nations. It began and ended with two extremely violent events. We must study this important history if only not to repeated.

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, at 8:00 AM, the Empire of Japan bombed the U. S. naval ships docked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, without warning or any prior declaration of war. There were 2,403 deaths. The United States declared war on the Empire of Japan the next day, with nearly unanimous approval of congress.

Actually, the air raid was planned by Japan to follow a declaration of war (only by a few hours), but bureaucratic delays at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC, resulted in a declaration of war AFTER the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack was commanded by Vice-Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943), who had studied at Harvard and worked in Washington, DC, and understood how angry and unified the American people would be against Japan after this attack. He said: "I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve." Vice-Admiral Yamamoto later died in combat during the U. S. attack on Saipan. The episode is very well and sensitively covered in a movie, TORA! TORA! TORA! (tiger! tiger! tiger!, the code words for the attack) starring Martin Balsam as Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and Soh Yamamura as Vice-Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Imperial Japanese Navy.

On August 6, 1945, the United States bombed HIROSHIMA, JAPAN, with the first atomic bomb ever used in combat. The United States Government demanded immediate unconditional surrender by Japan, which was declined. On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan, and captured four islands in north Japan, which are still in dispute today. On August 9, 1945, the United States bombed NAGASAKI, JAPAN, with the second atomic bomb and last used in combat. There were an estimated 100,000 - 220,000 deaths, over 90% civilians, both immediate and lingering, from burns and radiation poisoning. On August 14, 1945, the Empire of Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration, leading to unconditional surrender to the United States.

From Fr. Chris Lee's sermon, August 6, 2006:

Luke 9:34. "While he was saying this a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud."

"Focus, if you will this morning, on the cloud that overshadowed those three disciples, and so filled them with fear.

"There are, as we know, many kinds of clouds that we see and experience in different ways and the Bible speaks in several places of God speaking from a cloud, and of God leading through a cloud, and even of God being in a cloud. Our gospel reading concerns a cloud high on the MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION, that engulfed the top of the mountain, and filled the disciples with fear -- and we will return to that in a moment. But clouds also feature on our agendas, and are significant in events of recent times. Not all of them through positive mountain-top experiences.

"I want to take you to a much later cloud that shocked the entire world 61 years ago today. It was a cloud so vast and so deadly that the world had never seen the like before. It was a cloud that terrified those who saw it coming. Although they were few in number and has terrified every generation since. Today is the anniversary of that cloud for on the morning of August 6th, 1945, the United States Army Air Forces dropped a nuclear weapon, nick-named `Little Boy', on the city of HIROSHIMA, JAPAN, followed three days later by the detonation of a similar bomb, `Fat Man', over NAGASAKI, JAPAN . The cloud that transfigured the whole city of Hiroshima had taken 140,000 lives by December, 1945, and has gone on taking lives ever since. In Nagasaki the figure was 74,000, making a total of 214,000 people -- mostly civilians. Often when we remember the victims of war -- those terrified beneath the cloud, a large cloud of transfiguration -- we offer a prayer that has meaning for the countless victims and for the loved ones who somehow emerged from the cloud and remain.
They grow not old as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
"We will remember them.

"So today we remember the dark, godless cloud of the nuclear bomb -- the victims who were terrified when it overshadowed them and the victims who have died since."

8. POSTWAR JAPAN.



After World War II, Japan became an instant constitutional monarchy, and the emperor was demoted from the status of God-on-earth to figurehead only.

9. ECCTK-TAS RELATIONSHIP.



The Companion Diocese Committee is a relationship, begun in the 1980s, between the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and theAnglican Episcopal Diocese of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (Nippon Sei Ko Kai). This relationship was initiated by our Bishop Eastman and the late Bishop Yamada of the Diocese of Tokyo. When Tokyo's Bishop Takeda was consecrated in January, 1989, a delegation attended from the Diocese of Maryland. The early informal relationship was approved the Executive Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA, and existed for about a decade as a formal relationship.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktascmp.htm


A relationship of dioceses, one in Japan and one in the USA, brings us to awareness of the wide diversity within the Anglican Communion, and lifts our eyes beyond the boundaries of our own diocese. Japan and the USA are economic equals, so the companion relationship does not focus on material needs of either partner. In Japan, Christians are less than 0.5% of the population. In all of Japan, there are about the same number of Anglicans as Episcopalians in Maryland. Japan's eleven dioceses comprise one province. The USA has nine provinces.

The formal companion relationship originally began between dioceses. The purpose was mutual support for the mission and ministry, to which each partner is called. Translated into practical terms, this means that congregations support each other with prayer, information, and friendship, which is based upon personal relationships which grew from exchange visits and/or correspondence. Because Tokyo clergy are transferred periodically, and some of our parishes have interim rectors, the relationship between parishes was designed to be congregation-to-congregation, with strong lay leadership within each congregation.

By 1995, there were about twelve linked parishes in Maryland, with counterparts in Tokyo, which have maintained a relationship of greater or lesser intensity over the prior decade. The Companion Diocese Committee encouraged each of the Maryland linked parishes to fashion a companion relationship as best suits their energy, creativity, and resources. For this reason, each relationship between parished looks different from the rest. The committee coordinated exchange trips, and acted as a resource and clearinghouse for information from the Diocese of Tokyo.

The relationship has taken the form of an exchange of correspondence, visits, prayers, and joint fund-raising projects. The Greeting Card Project, which has been in place nearly a decade, was the result of an initiative by a small group of people at St. Martin's, Tokyo. Maryland parishes have been gathering and sending used cards for the people of St. Martin's to rework by cropping the front picture and then mounting the picture on a new folder, for resale in Japan. Originally, the proceeds were going to be used for badly-needed church repair. After the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995, St. Martin's decided to donate the majority of proceeds for earthquake relief in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area, saving nothing for themselves. The group has also decided each year to contribute to the Outreach program of their companion parish, Holy Trinity in Churchville, Harford County. Other Tokyo linked parishes and individuals have contributed to various Outreach projects in the Maryland Diocese.

Bishop and Mrs. Ihloff accepted Bishop Takeda's invitation to visit the Diocese of Tokyo in late June, 1997. The Reverend John Kitagawa and the Companion Diocese Chair, Mrs. Pat Edlund, accompanied them. During their five days in the Diocese of Tokyo, the Maryland visitors will saw much of the Tokyo diocese, and met with as many people as possible, to exchange current information about their respective dioceses, and discuss the future for the companion relationship.

We have tried to send Maryland young people to the Diocese of Tokyo in even-numbered years, and to host Tokyo young people from the Diocese of Maryland in odd-numbered years. In addition, there have been numerous adult delegations in both directions over the past decade. Unfortunately, it has been years since we were able to recruit a group of Maryland young people to journey to Tokyo. Money has been a big problem. Even though all Maryland young people are guests of families in the Diocese of Tokyo, and are treated to fantastically gracious hospitality by our Tokyo hosts, with essentially no expenses during their stay in Japan, the round-trip air-fare had been prohibitive to many young people. The Companion Diocese Committee has urged each parish to plan a parish-to-parish visit at any time mutually agreeable to their Tokyo companion. Several companion parishes have achieved such trips.

Good communications have proved indispensable in achieving a reasonably smooth exchange experience for the Companion Diocese relationship. The Tokyo young people often have at best a moderate command of English, but we have always had two excellent English speakers in the persons of the late Mr. John Shioda and Ms. Jean Ogawa, a former U.S. high school exchange student in South Dakota. For preparations and for the actual visit, telephone, fax, email, and the emerging diocesan websites are all important tools in achieving the communications necessary for a meaningful experience and growth of the Companion Diocese relationship.

The relationship between ECCTK and TAS began with the 1990 visit by Mrs. Nancy Murdock and the late Mr. Earl Hagen to Tokyo All Saints. The formal relationship between the two dioceses has now ended, but continues between ECCTK and TAS. Representatives of ECCTK, including Father Chris Lee, will visit Tokyo All Saints in November, 2006, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the TAS parish. You can read more at:
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst.htm


The late Mr. Earl Hagen was a high-school mathematics teacher, a high-school principal in Baltimore city, and a prominent member of the Anglican community. When Mr. Hagen first became ill, several Anglican bishops came to visit Mr. Hagen in the hospital.

As he said in his homily to the TAS congregation in 1990, Mr. Hagen's first attempted trip to Japan, in 1945, was never completed. He was a U. S. Navy radio technician, and World War II ended while Mr. Hagen was in Hawaii, waiting to join a dangerous land invasion of Japan. He told me that he was always glad that he never completed that trip. Instead, Mr. Hagen lived on to make a peaceful visit, as guests of Tokyo All Saints.

Mr. Hagen's remains are now interred in the ECCTK Memorial Scattering Garden. A delegation of parishioners from TAS attended a memorial service for Mr. Hagen at his burial site on September 19, 2005. You can read more at:
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasv05.htm

10. JAPANESE WRITING SYSTEM.



JAPANESE HAS THE MOST COMPLICATED WRITING SYSTEM OF ALL MAJOR WORLD LANGUAGES. Written Japanese employs THREE ALPHABETS (Kanji; Hiragana; and Katakana); four if you count the Roman alphabet, called ROMAJI, in widespread use in Japan. Furthermore, there are at least two pronunciations for almost every word. Even well-educated Japanese are troubled by this difficult writing system. As a casual tourist, you can never hope to master all this.

However, you can have a much richer experience in Japan if you make an effort to learn SOME written Japanese. Here's the trick: learn about 50 Kanji for common things, such as: man, woman, Japan, Tokyo, entrance, exit, left, right, etc.; and learn Katakana, the alphabet for representing foreign words, including your name. Katakana can also be thought of as INTERNET JAPANESE, because a lot of Japanese websites, containing English loan-words like computer, keyboard, monitor, hotel, front-desk, seat-belt, computer-help, etc., are written heavily in Katakana. For example, take a look at the Amazon.com website in Japanese:
http://www.amazon.co.jp
Another place that you will see a lot of Katakana is on multilingual package inserts that include instructions in Japanese. First, don't mix up Japanese with Chinese or Korean. Virtually any continuous written Japanese contains the most common word in Japanese, "no" (め), which means "of". Similarly, nearly any continuous written Chinese contains the most common word in Chinese, "de" (的), which also means "of". You can always recognize Korean, because many of the letters contain circles. Korean was invented in the thirteenth century, long after writing technology allowed writing circles easily; classical Chinese and Japanese is over 5,000 years old, and was written with a stiff brush. For example, the Chinese ideogram for SUN is 日, which is supposed to be a circle with a dot in the middle.

ECCTK parishioners can find their Japanese names at URL:
http://www.gwmoore.org/ecctk/ctkglry/ecckglry.htm
Learning Katakana is about a week's worth of intense work. There are 46 BASIC KATAKANA SYLLABLES, as follows:
a アi イ u ウe エo オ
ka カki キ ku クke ケko コ
sa サshi シ su スse セso ソ
ta タchi チ tsu ツte テto ト
na ナni ニ nu ヌne ネno ノ
ha ハhi ヒ fu フhe ヘho ホ
ma マmi ミ mu ムme メmo モ
ya ヤ yu ユyo ヨ
ra ラri リ ru ルre レro ロ
wa ヮ wo
n ン


In addition to the above basic sounds, Ho represents P; and the double-quote voices an unvoiced consonant. That is, voiced K" represents G; voiced S" represents Z or J; voiced T" represents D; voiced H" represents B; and voiced W" represents V. Thus, ka" (カ") = ga (ガ) ki" (キ") = gi (ギ) ku" (ク") = gu (グ) ke" (ケ") = ge (ゲ) ko" (コ") = go (ゴ), sa" (サ") = za (ザ) si" (シ") = za (ジ) su" (ス") = za (ズ) se" (セ") = za (ゼ) so" (ソ") = za (ゾ), etc. There are EXTENDED KATAKANA SYLLABLES, as follows:
a アi イ u ウe エo オ
ka カki キ ku クke ケko コ
ga ガgi ギ gu グge ゲgo ゴ
sa サshi シ su スse セso ソ
za ザzi ジ zu ズze ゼzo ゾ
ja ザji ジ ju ズje ゼjo ゾ
ta タchi チ tsu ツte テto ト
da ダdi ヂ du ヅde デdo ド
na ナni ニ nu ヌne ネno ノ
ha ハhi ヒ fu フhe ヘho ホ
ba バbi ビ bu ブbe ベbo ボ
pa パpi ピ pu プpe ペpo ポ
ma マmi ミ mu ムme メmo モ
ya ヤ yu ユyo ヨ
ra ラri リ ru ルre レro ロ
wa ヮ wo
n ン
-- ー


The first thing that you should try to do with Katakana is try to write your own name. The idea is to pronounce your name with available Japanese sounds, then transcribe the sounds into the corresponding Katakana. There are no L's in Japanese (the sound is simulated with an R), and every consonant except N must be followed by a vowel. Thus my name, Bill Moore, becomes Biru Moa, ビルモ ア. Japanese simulates an ACCENT by extending the accented syllable. So, my name becomes Bi--ru Mo--a, ビールモ ー ア. Local Japanese names are usually given as the SURNAME (last name) first, followed by the GIVEN NAME (first name). However, Western visitors are indulged if they put their given name first. Here are some common English given names, transcribed in Katakana:
English Name Romaji
Transcription		 Katakana
ChrisKuri--su クリース
ChristinaKurisutein クリステイン
ChristineKurisuteina クリステイナ
ChrysieKuri--shi クリーシ
JohnJiyan ジヤン
AndrewAndore アンドレ
DickDei--tsuku デイーツク
RichardRichiyado リチヤド
William Uiriamu ウイリアム
Williams Uiriamusu ウイリアムス
WilliamsonUiriamuson ウイリアムソ ン
LouiseRuisa ルイザ
Louis Ruisuルイス
JamesJiyemusu ジエムス
JenniferJienifua ジエニフア
CarolKieroru キエロル
KarenKaren カレン
VirginiaBajinia バジニヤ
JeffreyJiefuri ジエフリ
GeoffreyJiefuri ジエフリ
VincentBinsento ビ ン セント
BarbaraBa--bara バーバラ
JerryJieri ジエリ
GerryJieri ジエリ
RobertRoberuto ロベルト
Bobbo--bu ボーブ
NancyNanshi ナンシ
Billbi--ru ビール
HarryHa--ri ハーリ
GaryGa--ri ガーリ
DonaldDonarudo ドナルド
DonDon ドン
GeorgeJiaju ジヤズ


There are 4000 spoken human languages on earth, 2000 of them written. The Bible has been translated into every written language. There are two methods for representing spoken words: by sound (phonetic alphabet) or by idea (ideogram). The Japanese writing system uses both. Historically, all phonetic alphabets on earth are derived from the Phoenician alphabet, over three thousand years old, including Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Cyrillic (Russian), Arabic, and Sanskrit (Indian). With a little imagination, you can morph the Hebrew aleph (א), into the Greco-Roman-Cyrillic A, and even into the Arabic alif (ا) and the Sanskrit .....

Chinese uses IDEOGRAMS, in which a written letter represents an IDEA, NOT A SOUND. Chinese ideograms comprise the first Japanese alphabet, called KANJI. The power of this approach is that one ideogram means the same thing to everybody. For example, a red octagon with a white border means STOP all over the world, regardless of how the word is pronounced locally. This fact was recognized by Emperor Chin [260-210 BC], the first emperor of China, who realized that he could write an edict in Beijing that could be read and understood by persons with a different spoken language in Shanghai or Nanjing. This is the equivalent of a Hungarian or Russian reading an order written by a British king. (The ancient Romans just made everybody learn Latin.) Emperor Chin executed anyone who owned a book not written in the official ideograms. Hero, a movie starring Jet Li, describes this historical event.

Some Chinese ideograms are easy to learn and recognize: man (人); woman = (女); baby (予) (in swaddling); mouth (口); sun (日); tree (木); river (川); ricefield (田); heart (心); fire (火); blood (皴); speak-formally (言); gold (金) (counting-house with roof); beauty (羊); mountain (山); one (一); two (二); three (三). Some Chinese ideograms have a charming etymology: bright = sun(日)+moon; good (好) = woman(女)+baby(予); source (本) = tree (木) on ground; far (岀) = off in the many mountains (山); big (犬) = man(人)+leash (big man can afford a dog); lord (男) = power+ricefield (田); king (王) (man under heaven with feet on the earth), etc.

And here's a survival tip: Most restrooms in tourist-areas in Japan are well-marked for foreigners, and many are color-coded like baby clothing (pink=girls; blue=boys). If not, ladies = 女 and gentlemen = 男.

Trouble is, there are over 65,000 Chinese ideograms, of which you must know 10,000 ideograms just to read a Chinese newspaper; and 1,800 ideograms to read a Japanese newspaper or graduate from a Japanese high school. Furthermore, the is no such thing as standard alphabetical order for finding words in Chinese dictionaries.

And that's not the worst of it. SPOKEN CHINESE AND JAPANESE ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT LANGUAGE GROUPS, less similar to one another than English is to Turkish. Thus, every Chinese ideogram has a Chinese-pronunciation (On-reading) and a Japanese-pronunciation (Kun-reading). The exact same ideogram is pronounced differently, depending upon context. It would be like saying that the white-bordered-red-octagon is pronounced STOP in some contexts and ARRÊT in other contexts. (Wait! They already do that in Canada!)

ENGLISH HAS SOME EXAMPLES OF DOUBLE-PRONUNCIATIONS, based upon the history of the Norman (French) invasion of Anglo-Saxon (German) England in 1066: mutton/sheep, beef/cow, pork/swine, where the German word (sheep, cow, swine) is what the animal is called in the farmyard, whereas the French word (mutton, beef, pork) is what the animal is called on the nobleman's dinner table. But at least in English, the two forms of the word have a different spelling.

IN ADDITION TO HAVING MULTIPLE PRONUNCIATIONS FOR THE SAME WORD, Japanese and Chinese grammar-words (articles, prepositions, pronouns, etc.) are totally different. Originally, Japanese noblemen studied writing in China, and did the best they could at representing Japanese grammar with Chinese grammar-words. It would be as if one wrote English with Latin suffixes: si languagem Englisham cum suffixibus Latinibus writtam est.

IN THOSE DAYS, JAPANESE NOBLEWOMEN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO LEARN TO WRITE . However, women of the Japanese court needed to send messages to one another, for day-to-day activities in the court household. So, the Japanese ladies developed a simple, phonetic alphabet, called HIRAGANA. The most famous all-Hiragana book, Tales of Genji (1008) by Lady Murasaki (Murasaki-shikibu), is a gossipy soap-opera about intrigues in the 11th century Japanese court. Hiragana is now used to write grammar-words in Japanese. If you look at Japanese comic books, or other books written for children, or for instruction of foreigners learning Japanese, you will see mostly Hiragana.

KATAKANA is the Japanese phonetic alphabet used to write foreign words, such as COMPUTER (= konputa = コンプタ), KEYBOARD (= kibodo = キボド), MONITOR (= monita = モニタ), HELP (= herupu = ヘルプ), TELEVISION (= terebi = テレビ), MARMALADE (= mamaredo = ママレド), MACDONALD'S (= makudonarudo = マクドナルド), BALTIMORE (= baruchimoa = バルチモア), MARYLAND (= marirando = マリランド), PHILADEPHIA (= fuiriyaderufuiya = フイリアデルフイア), PENNSYLVANIA (= penshirubeniya = ペンシルベニア), or the Japanese names of Christ the King parishioners.

All educated Japanese, including their excellent postal service employees, are conversant with the ROMAN ALPHABET.

11. JAPANESE CALENDAR.



There are THREE JAPANESE CALENDARS: Christian, Imperial, and traditional Chinese. The Christian (or COMMON ERA, C.E.) calendar is used for most purposes in science, business, and international trade. The New Year begins January 1.

The Imperial calendar (years named after the accession of a new emperor) is used for national ceremonial purposes, and in some traditionalist hotels. The New Year begins January 1.
JAPANESE IMPERIAL CALENDAR
Meiji 11868
Meiji 21869
.........
Heisei 11989
Heisei 21990


The traditional Chinese, or more accurately, traditional Asian calendar, based upon the Chinese zodiac, is used mostly in celebrations of the new year. The Chinese New Year begins at different dates in early February, based upon the lunar calendar.


TRADITIONAL CHINESE ZODIAC CALENDAR
The TRADITIONAL CHINESE ZODIAC CALENDAR works in a cycle of twelve years, just as the more popular Babylonian zodiac in Western astrology. Many Chinese restaurants have paper placemats with these zodiac animals. You can figure out your Chinese zodiac animal by adding 12 to your birth-year repeatedly, until it equals the number on the following chart.
Zodiac animalChristian yearHour
Rat199611 PM - 1 AM
Cow19971 AM - 3 AM
Tiger19983 AM - 5 AM
Rabbit19995 AM - 7 AM
Dragon20007 AM - 9 AM
Snake20019 AM - 11 AM
Horse200211 AM - 1 PM
Sheep20031 PM - 3 PM
Monkey20043 PM - 5 PM
Birds20055 PM - 7 PM
Dog20067 PM - 9 PM
Pig20079 PM - 11 PM


Every educated Asian knows the order of these zodiac animals, and knows at which year he/she was born. As with the Babylonian zodiac, diffferent birth-year Chinese zodiac animals are supposed to correlate with certain personalities and social likes and dislikes.

The Chinese Zodiac animals are correlated with the lives of Chinese farmers and bureaucrats during the Chin Dynasty (third century BC), when the Chinese writing system was united under Emperor Xin Shi-Huang. The concepts are roughly as follows:

Zodiac animalHour Brief Description
Rat11 PM - 1 AM Rats running around
in the barn.
Cow1 AM - 3 AM Cow pulling at the ropes
in the barn.
Tiger3 AM - 5 AM Get up to go to market.
Growl like a tiger
at this early hour.
Rabbit5 AM - 7 AM Run like a rabbit to market.
Dragon7 AM - 9 AM Market goes up and down
like a dragon.
Snake9 AM - 11 AM Put the money in a pot
guarded by a snake.
Horse11 AM - 1 PM Bureaucrats go to lunch,
hitch horses at the restaurant
Sheep1 PM - 3 PM Bureaucrats flock together like sheep
over a long lunch
Monkey3 PM - 5 PM After wine at dinner,
bureaucrats are drunk,
and monkey around at the table
Bird5 PM - 7 PM At sunset, bureaucrats fly
back home, like birds
Dog7 PM - 9 PMGuard dog set outside
for the night
Pig9 PM - 11 PMMan behaves like a pig
at night





Months:
㋀ = ichi-gatsu = January.
㋁ = nichi-gatsu = February.
㋂ = san-gatsu = March.
㋃ = shi-gatsu = April.
㋄ = go-gatsu = May.
㋅ = roku-gatsu = June.
㋆ = shichi-gatsu = July.
㋇ = hatchi-gatsu = August
㋈ = kyu-gatsu = September.
㋉ = ju-gatsu = October.
㋊ = juichi-gatsu = November.
㋋ = junichi-gatsu = December.


Days:
㏠ = ichi-ka = First.
㏡ = nichi-ka = Second.
㏢ = san-ka = Third.
㏣ = shi-ka = Fourth.....
㏾ = 31-ka = Thirty-first.

12. MAKE A JAPANESE VISITOR CARD.



A VISITOR CARD, or personalized business card, is presented by Japanese people when they meet each other for the first time. In Japan, the visitor card is presented first, then one bows, and says: "Hajimemashite" (roughly: pleased to meet you for the first time). For Japanese people, the visitor card contains information regarding one's social position, so that one knows how deep to bow. For example, an assistant professor would bow more deeply than a full professor. It is understood that foreigners do not understand this custom, and it is excusable not to bow appropriately.

A colleague of mine, a retired Professor of Pathology, U. S. Army veteran, and second-generation Japanese-American (i.e., born in the USA, with Japanese-born parents), served in the Occupation Army in Japan right after World War II. Because of his family background, my colleague speaks both unaccented American English and unaccented Japanese. When he was first assigned in Japan, he found that he would inadvertently insult local Japanese people. Since my colleague looks Japanese and spoke Japanese, the local people expected him to understand all the nuances of bowing and other customs of politeness. Eventually, my colleague pretended to have an American accent, so that the local Japanese people would not expect him to know all the local customs.

If you have a PC-compatible computer with MICROSOFT® WORD® and an inkjet or laser printer, then you can prepare your own visitor cards, that includes your name in Japanese. If you are an ECCTK parishioner, then you can look up your Japanese name on the ECCTK website at URL:
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst.htm
If you are a friend of ECCTK and you wish to have your Japanese name included on the website, then please contact me. SELECT EDIT. COPY. EDIT. PASTE. TOOLS. LETTERS AND MAILINGS. ENVELOPES AND LABELS. OPTIONS. 8371 BUSINESS CARD.

13. GLOSSARY.




14. REFERENCES.



1. Meyer MW.
Japan. A concise history. Third Edition.
Lanham, MD: Littlefield Adams Quality Paperbacks. 1993;:.
ISBN 0-8226-3018-4, 330 pages.

2. De Roo JR.
2001 Kanji. Structure Analysis. Association Method. Fully Cross Referenced. Fast Visual Index.
Bonjinsha, Tokyo. 1980;:.
   Bonjinsha Distribution Center. JAC Building.
   5-5-35 Konan, Minato-ku, TOKYO 108 JAPAN.
   011=Tel Intl Access; 81=Japan; 3=Tokyo.
   Voice: 011-81-3-472-2240.
   Fax: 011-81-3-472-2129.

3. Japan Travel Bureau, Inc.
Illustrated Japanese Characters. Third Edition.
Japan: Japan Travel Bureau, Inc. 1991;:.
ISBN 4-533-01359-7, 191 Pages.

4. Numbered List of Non-Roman letters, including Japanese.
http://www.medparse.com/charhtml.htm

8. Reischauer EO.
Japan. Past and Present. Third Edition, Revised.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1967;:.
ISBN not stated, 323 pages.

5. Reischauer EO.
The Japanese.
Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1977;:.
ISBN 0-674-4718-4, 443, pages.

6. Reischauer EO.
Japan: The Story of A Nation. Fourth Edition.
New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. 1989;:.
ISBN: 0075570742, 448 pages.

7. Reischauer EO, Jansen MB.
Japanese Today: Change and Continuity, Enlarged Edition.
New York: Belknap Press. 2004;:.
ISBN: 0674471849, 438 pages.

9. Endo S. (Johnson W, translator).
Silence.
New York: Parkwest Publications. 1980;:.
ISBN: 0800871863.

10. Berlitz.
Japanese Phrase Book & Dictionary.
Oxford: Berlitz Publishing Company. 1987;:.
ISBN 2-8315-0898-3, 192 pages.

11. O'Neill PG.
Essential Kanji. 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters, Systematically Arranged for Learning and Reference.
New York: John Weatherhill, Inc. 1986;:.
ISBN 0-8348-0082-9, 325 pages.

12. Guest H.
Mastering Japanese. MacMillan Master Series.
London: MacMillan Education, Ltd. 1989;:.
ISBN 0-333-41998-7, 339 pages.

13. The Financial Times.
Japan. A Businessman's Guide.
New York: American Heritage Press. 19790;:.
ISBN 8281-0094-2, 269 pages.

14. Bleiler EF.
Essential Japanese Grammar.
New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1963;:.
ISBN 0-486-21027-8, 156 pages.

15.
Rasyoomon no oni.

ISBN 4-318-00370-1, 39 pages.

16. Nagao M, Tsujii J-I, Nakamura J-I.
Machine Translation from Japanese into English.
Proceedings of the IEEE. 1986 Jul;74(7):993-1012.

17. Nagao M.
A framework of a mechanical translation between Japanese and English by analogy principle.
In: Elithorn A, Banerji R, eds. Artificial and Human Intelligence. 1984;:173-180. Amsterdam: North Holland. 1984;:173-180.

18. Nagao M.
Machine Translation: How Far Can it Go? Translated by Norman Cook. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1986.

19. Nagao M, ed.
Machine Translation Summit.
Tokyo: Ohmsha Ltd. 1989.

20. Hamilton E.
Mythology. Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes.
New York: Meridian, published by the Penguin Group. 1940;:.

21. Episcopal Church of Christ the King. Woodlawn, Maryland.
Webmasters: Richard Holmes, Bill Moore.
http://www.ecctk.info

22. Partnership for Mission and Ministry.
Episcopal Church of Christ the King. Woodlawn, Maryland.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasprt.htm

23. Tokyo All Saints, Tokyo, Japan, Companion Relationship.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst.htm

24. Visit to All Saints Church, Tokyo, Japan, 125th Anniversary Celebration, October-November, 2006.
Guests: Rev. Chris Lee, Mrs. Christine Lee, Richard Reed, Cryssie Read.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasj06.htm

25. The Rev. Ms. Mary Shigeko Yamano, Rector,
Tokyo All Saints Church, Tokyo, Japan.

26. Mrs. Teresia Masako Uchigasaki,
Correspondent, Tokyo All Saints Church, Tokyo, Japan.

27. Ms. Jean Kiyoe Ogawa,
Companion Parish Coordinator, Tokyo All Saints Church, Tokyo, Japan.

28. The Rev. Chris Lee, Rector,
Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Woodlawn, Maryland.
teilo@comcast.net

29. Mrs. Nancy Murdock, Chair, Tokyo All Saints Committee,
Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Woodlawn, Maryland.
murmuse@comcast.net

30. Mr. Bill Moore, Co-Chair, Tokyo All Saints Committee,
Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Woodlawn, Maryland.
gwmoore@erols.com

31. Visit from Diocese of Tokyo, September, 2005.
Guest: Mrs. Akiko MATSUMOTO (松本 昭子).
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasv05.htm

32. Visit from Diocese of Tokyo, 2003.
Guests: Rev. Mary YAMANO, 山野 繁子 司祭 . Ms. Jean Kiyoe OGAWA (小川　ジーン・清恵), Mr. Kazu KURASAWA (倉澤 一太郎), Mr. Shun KANEKI (金木 俊太郎).
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasv03.htm

33. Visit from Diocese of Tokyo, 2001.
Guests: Ms. Jean Kiyoe OGAWA (小川　ジーン・清恵), Ms. Asami GOTO (後藤 麻美), Ms. Haruka KANEKI (金木 悠).
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasv01.htm

34. Visit from Diocese of Tokyo, August, 1999.
Guests: Ms. Jean Kiyoe OGAWA (小川　ジーン・清恵), Ms. Aine SONO (薗　愛音), Ms. Naoko KOBAYASHI (小林　奈緒子).
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasv99.htm

35. Visit to All Saints Church, Tokyo, August, 1998.
Guests: Rev. Mrs. Linda Fernandez, Mrs. Karen Burdnell, Mrs. Carol Gooden, Thea Burdnell, Vince Moore.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasv98.htm

36. News from the Diocese of Tokyo, June, 1998.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasnws.htm

37. Visit from the Diocese of Tokyo, August, 1997.
Guests: Mr. Azusa SAKAI (酒井　梓、　), Shoko TSURUMI, Satomi YUDA.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktasv97.htm

38. Edlund P.
History of Companion Relationship with the Diocese of Tokyo, August, 1997.
http://www.ecctk.info/cktasvst/cktascmp.htm

15. ONE HUNDRED
EASY KANJI.



.
No. Kanji English ON, kun
readings 		Description
1 人 man JIN, hito two legs
2 亻 man-radical JIN, hito two legs
3 女 woman JO, onna outline of woman
4 予 baby . baby in swaddling
5 日 sun NICHI, hi circle with dot in middle
6 木 tree . trunk and branches
7 川 river . flowing water
8 田 ricefield ploughed vertically and horizontally
9 心 heart . shaped like heart
10 火 fire . tongues of fire
12 言 speak-formally . papers over mouth
13 金 gold . counting-house with roof
14 羊 beauty .
15 山 mountain .
16 一 one ICHI, hiro single line
17 二 two NI double line
18 三 three SAN,mitsu triple line
19 七 spoon .
20 下 bottom KA, shita object under earth
21 上 top JO, ue object over earth
22 不 bad . baby under earth
23 丨 rod .
24 中 center, middle CHU, naka .
25 丶 leash . .
26 丽 rain . .
27 九 nine KYU,kokono .
28 二 two NI,futa .
29 五 five GO,itsu .
30 儿 leg . .
31 入 enter . .
32 全 gold . counting house with roof
33 兼 gate . two doors
34 冖 cover . .
35 冫 rice . .
36 几 table . .
37 凵 receptacle . .
38 刀 sword . .
39 丠 strength RYOKU, chikara .
40 匕 spoon . .
41 匸 basket . .
42 十 ten JU, to .
43 午 ox . .
44 卜 divination . .
45 厂 cliff . .
46 厶 private . .
47 口 mouth KO, kuchi open mouth
48 囗 enclosure . .
49 回 turn, version,
edition 		. .
50 土 earth . .
51 士 scholar . .
52 壬 king . .
53 大 big DAI, o man with outstretched arms
54 好 good . woman, child together
55 子 child . .
56 宀 lid . lid with handle
57丑 zodiac cow ushi year of the cow:
1937, 1949, 1961, 1973,
1985, 1997, 2009,....
58巳 zodiac snake me slithering like snake
year of the snake
1929, 1941, 1953, 1965,
1977, 1989, 2001, 2013,....
59亠 lid . .
60七 spoon . shaped like spoon
61乚 tongue . tongue hanging out
62匚 flank . .
63的 target teki .
64白 food, rice HAKU,shiro .
65火 fire KA,hi .
66川 river SEN,kawa .
67州 province SHU territory along river
68𶑾 prisoner SHU man in enclosure
69上 above JO,ue .
70孅 mountain SAN,yama .
71岀 exit SHUTSU,deru exit way off in the mountains
72婤 fortune-teller . scapular bones
used in fortune-telling
73勹 wrapping,covering . mouth open
74因 reason for . big man in prison
must be for a reason
75力 strength RYOKU,chikara .
76中 middle CHU,naka stick inside a hole
77妃 queen HI woman with individual
turning thoughts
78奴 slave DO, yatsu woman at work
(low-rank person)
79女 woman JO, onna shaped like a woman
80如 equal,alike JO women's mouths
are all alike
81仲 personal relations CHU, naka man in the middle
82代 generation DAI, kawaru man with sword
common soldier
83仏 the deceased BUTSU, hotoke man who denies self
84仁 virtue JIN relations between
two people
85任 duty,task NIN,makaseru young man working for
professional man
86信 faith,trust SHIN man accepting words on paper
87手 hand SHU, te looks like hand
88匾 zodiac horse GO
year of the horse
1930, 1942, 1954, 1966,
1978, 1990, 2002, 2014,...
89勺 mouthful SHAKU open mouth with
bite of food in it
90一 one ICHI, hito one stroke
91二 two strokes NI,futa .
92丆 three SAN, mi three strokes
93丁 residential district CHO road turns on a map
94下 under,below KA,shita thing under the earth
95不 no, negative FU baby buried
under the earth
96子 child SHI,ko looks like child
97乙 second, yin, female OTSU,oto . tiny vapor,
symbol of feminity
98囗 mouth KO, kuchi looks like mouth
99回 turn KAI round and round
100門 gate MON looks like gate
101閂 gate-bolt SAN, kannuki bolted gate
102日 sun NICHI, hi circle with center
103晶 clear SHO three suns



Last updated: 10/15/2006, by Bill Moore.