Learn about Coming-of-Age Day and associated terminology
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Peter: Stop by our website japanesepod101.com for all the latest and greatest features, line by line audio, iPod on the go plus much more. Stop by and see what’s going on at japanesepod101.com |
| Sakura: さくらです。 |
| Peter: Peter here and we are back with another lesson. As always, we are brought to you by Erklaren, the translation and interpretation specialists. Today we have a great lesson for you. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: Today we are going to take it down a notch to talk about a holiday that’s going to happen next Monday. Can you tell us about that holiday Sakura? |
| Sakura: Okay it’s called 成人の日 |
| Peter: Okay can you break this down for us? |
| Sakura: 成人の日 |
| Peter: And what does this mean? |
| Sakura: It means coming of age day. |
| Peter: Yes very nice, coming of age day. Can you give us the syllables? |
| Sakura: せいじんのひ |
| Peter: Very nice and break down the words inside this? |
| Sakura: 成人 |
| Peter: And that is |
| Sakura: Adult. |
| Peter: Yes and |
| Sakura: 日 |
| Peter: And what’s 日? |
| Sakura: 日 is day. |
| Peter: Very nice. So that’s a literal translation. Actually means coming of age day. Now can you tell us about this holiday? |
| Sakura: Japanese people when they become 20… |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Sakura: They are considered adult. |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Sakura: So they celebrate this day for you know becoming a member of society. |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Sakura: And they usually, girls dress up in Kimono. |
| Peter: Oh really? |
| Sakura: Yes and they wear Kimono called 振袖 |
| Peter: Okay wait! Stop the press. Slow down a little bit. So they wear a Kimono? |
| Sakura: Kimono |
| Peter: Called |
| Sakura: 振袖 |
| Peter: Okay please break this down for us. |
| Sakura: ふりそで |
| Peter: Okay and one more time fast. |
| Sakura: 振袖 |
| Peter: 振袖 |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay and what is this? |
| Sakura: It’s Kimono for single ladies who are not yet married. |
| Peter: I see. |
| Sakura: Yes and they have very long sleeves that nearly comes to their ankle. |
| Peter: Wow that long! |
| Sakura: Yes very long maybe not to ankle but maybe some shorter but it’s quite long. |
| Peter: And again these are for girls, right? |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay can you give us the name of the kimono one more time please. |
| Sakura: 振袖 |
| Peter: And I noticed that the second part 袖 is the word for sleep right? |
| Sakura: Yes that’s right. |
| Peter: And what does the first part mean? |
| Sakura: 振 |
| Peter: ふり |
| Sakura: It means 振り literally means like swinging or… |
| Peter: Ah… |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: So swinging sleeve. So long, long sleeves. |
| Sakura: Yes very long sleeves. |
| Peter: Well now in this type of situation, we can say |
| Sakura: 勉強になりました。 |
| Peter: Right. |
| Sakura: Right. |
| Peter: And what does this mean? |
| Sakura: I learned something. |
| Peter: Yes. The word for study, learn is |
| Sakura: 勉強 |
| Peter: Yes. One more time, can you give us that expression? |
| Sakura: 勉強になりました。 |
| Peter: Okay very, very nice and can you break it down by syllable. |
| Sakura: べんきょうになりました |
| Peter: Very nice and one time fast. |
| Sakura: べんきょうになりました |
| Peter: You will find out when we are with Sakura, we always learn something new. She is the cultural expert. Okay we were just talking about the kimonos for girls. Now is there some special way they do their hair or something, I don’t know. |
| Sakura: Oh yes, well young people now-a-days don’t wear kimono very often. So this is the time for you know dressing up in Japanese traditional clothes… |
| Peter: I see. |
| Sakura: And girls are looking forward to it and usually they do their hair up… |
| Peter: Ah… |
| Sakura: And in a special kimono style.. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Sakura: To match the kimono. |
| Peter: I see, how long does that take speaking from experience? |
| Sakura: Well one hour, two hours. Wearing kimono itself takes time. It usually takes at least 30 minutes from my experience. |
| Peter: Thirty minutes to put on the kimono. |
| Sakura: Yes, yes. |
| Peter: Wow! And does it hurt? |
| Sakura: Oh yes at the 帯 which is the belt. |
| Peter: Ah okay, one more time please? |
| Sakura: 帯 |
| Peter: And please break this down. |
| Sakura: おび |
| Peter: Yes and what’s this? |
| Sakura: It’s the belt for kimono. |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Sakura: And it’s very long and you wrap it around your waist you know so many times. |
| Peter: Ouch! |
| Sakura: And finally you tie it up in a very tight knot. |
| Peter: Oh! |
| Sakura: Well but it’s in a decorative style. There are many different ways of doing 帯 at the back… |
| Peter: I see. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay so we have the girls dressed up in their Kimonos with the hair up… |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Looking very nice and what about footwear? Do you wear sneakers under there or… |
| Sakura: They usually wear 草履 |
| Peter: Okay again 勉強になりました what is this? |
| Sakura: 草履 is the footwear for Kimono. |
| Peter: Okay and can you break this down for us? |
| Sakura: ぞうり |
| Peter: And syllable please… |
| Sakura: ぞうり |
| Peter: 草履 Okay I got it. Footwear for Kimono, what kind of – are they like sneakers, what are they like? |
| Sakura: Ah…let’s see, it’s like sandals. |
| Peter: Ah like a… |
| Sakura: The beach sandals but you know more expensive and more organized but the structure of that footwear is kind of, it’s like beach sandals. |
| Peter: Yes again, we would like to apologize to everybody out there who took the time to spend their lives studying about Japanese culture and the way we just simplify these terms. I am sure I know some of you out there are hurting inside but this is – just remember, we are just getting the gist of it to you. So don’t take it personally please. |
| Sakura: Yes and they have the special socks called 足袋 |
| Peter: 足袋 |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Break it down please. |
| Sakura: たび |
| Peter: Okay. |
| Sakura: And there are socks for 草履 |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Sakura: Yes it’s like normal socks but it’s divided between your big toe and second toe. It’s only that part is divided. |
| Peter: That’s interesting. So it has a division in between the big toe and second biggest toe. |
| Sakura: Yes right. |
| Peter: Wow! So kind of like a mitten for your feet. |
| Sakura: Yes exactly. |
| Peter: Very, very interesting and this is called again 足袋 |
| Sakura: 足袋 |
| Peter: This is again 勉強になりました. |
| Sakura: Yeah. |
| Peter: So that’s very, very interesting. Okay it’s January here, winter time and it’s cold. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: It is cold. I mean I go outside with shirt, thermal, two sweaters and a jacket. You know, a scarf, its cold. Now when you wear this kimono, obviously you can’t wear your regular denim jacket. Is it warm or how is it? |
| Sakura: Well it’s not as warm as wearing a coat or fur but usually they have this fur show, maybe fake fur sometimes. |
| Peter: Ah I see. |
| Sakura: Yes around your neck and it’s very fluffy. |
| Peter: Wow! That sounds nice. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: So it keeps you little warm. |
| Sakura: Yes and kimono itself is in many layers. So it’s not as cold as it seems. |
| Peter: Got it. Okay so we talked about the girls, how about the guys? |
| Sakura: Guys sometimes wear suit or… |
| Peter: Ah I see suits or… |
| Sakura: Or traditional 袴 |
| Peter: Okay. Can you give us this word one more time please. |
| Sakura: 袴 |
| Peter: Okay and break it down by syllable. |
| Sakura: はかま |
| Peter: And what’s this? |
| Sakura: Well it’s like this skirt and you wear it over kimono. So first you wear this kimono like you know trousers and then on top of it, you wear this skirt and it goes up to your waist from your ankle. |
| Peter: Okay… |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: From your ankle to waist and it’s kind of like a skirt but underneath… |
| Sakura: Underneath it’s kimono. |
| Peter: So it’s kind of like a skirt on the outside from your – a little above your waist down to your ankle. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Underneath you have the kimono. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Guys kimono right? |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay and how about at the top? |
| Sakura: It is – top is the upper part of kimono is showing. |
| Peter: Ah I see… |
| Sakura: Yes and that’s the like Japanese traditional men’s clothes. |
| Peter: Clothes and name, one more time. |
| Sakura: 袴 |
| Peter: 袴。 Okay and how about special footwear or something? |
| Sakura: They wear 下駄 |
| Peter: Can you give us the name one more time please. |
| Sakura: 下駄 |
| Peter: And what is 下駄 |
| Sakura: 下駄 is wooden sandals. |
| Peter: Yes wooden sandals and they have a kind of W shape, not really a W but kind of two parts of the bottom touch the ground you walk. It’s very interesting. |
| Sakura: Yes so it’s kind of raised sandals. |
| Peter: Yes very, very – again, thank you. ______ (0:09:12) very nice way of simplifying it. Okay and now, 20 years old. So you are not in high school anymore and maybe you are in college or maybe you are working, where do they hold these ceremonies? |
| Sakura: Usually city halls. |
| Peter: City hall. |
| Sakura: Yes they have ceremony and performances and messages from the mayor or governor or it is in charge. |
| Peter: Yes. |
| Sakura: And they give you little something to bring home. |
| Peter: Really, what do they give you? |
| Sakura: They give me photo stand. |
| Peter: Oh wow! That’s really nice. |
| Sakura: And they have different you know things depending on the city. |
| Peter: Wow! I didn’t know that at all. It’s very – and how long is the ceremony? |
| Sakura: It’s about 1 hour or an hour and a half. It’s not very long. Yes but you know all the neighbors like all these… |
| Peter: Really? |
| Sakura: Yes friends from when you are kids you know, they all live in the same city… |
| Peter: Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Sakura: Yeah so you know you – it’s kind of a reunion. |
| Peter: Wow, that’s really nice. |
| Sakura: And after that, you could go to a shrine to pray for your future. So when you go to a shrine on that day, you see many people with 振袖 and 袴 |
| Peter: Very, very nice. And the parents also attend the ceremony or it’s just with the kids. |
| Sakura: Sometimes but usually just kids. |
| Peter: I see. If you turn 20 in Japan, now it’s legal to drink and smoke. |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: So what happens on these nights? |
| Sakura: Well they go out drinking. You know, today we can drink and then all these people on the streets, people shouting. |
| Peter: Yeah so I heard about – Kind of a regular coming of age day would be 10 o’ clock in the morning, you see lots of happy, dressed up people in kimonos about 3 o’ clock, they are on their way to the shrine and then I would say about by 11 pm, yes the streets are filled with… |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Yes lots of young people… |
| Sakura: Yes. |
| Peter: Coming of age. |
| Sakura: Coming of age. |
Outro |
| Peter: Okay so that’s going to be it for today. We just wanted to give you a little bit of background on the holiday that’s coming up, give you some terminology about this holiday. So what we are going to do is stop the lesson here and we are going to see you tomorrow. |
| Sakura: また明日ね。 |
| Peter: Be sure to stop by japanesepod101.com and check out the premium learning center. Inside we have material to bring everything you learned in the lesson together. Flashcards, quizzes, really consolidate what you learned in today’s lesson. Stop by, say hi and be sure to leave us a post. |
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