This years kanji

Every December a 漢字 (Japanese kanji character) is chosen in Japan that best summarizes the year that is ending…and it becomes the official 「今年の漢字」 (“Kanji of the Year”) in a ceremony in Kyoto with the temple monk writing the character in calligraphy brushstrokes on a large board.

The 2011 Kanji of the Year is 「絆」 ("Bond").

The official character for 2011 was announced today. It’s 「絆」 (Kizuna)…which means “(to) bond“.

This was chosen because of the way the people of Japan and the world came together to help the victims of the March 11 earthquake.

(Last year (2010), the Kanji of the Year meant “hot”. Click here to find out why.)

カッパさん

Let me introduce you to a Japanese folklore character.

Do you know what a 「カッパ」 (“Kappa“) is?

It’s a fictional character that has been a famous folklore legend in Japan for centuries.
It looks like a creepy turtle-like creature with a “dish” on it’s head surrounded by hair, a turtle-like shell on it’s back, a bird-like beak and webbed fingers and toes.

It lives in the rivers, streams and other bodies of water in Japan.

Kappa love to eat cucumbers. So there is a type of sushi made with cucumber that is called “Kappa-maki“.
But their favorite meal is children. They like to eat children who wander too close to rivers and streams.

As you may have guessed, the “Kappa” is a type of “boogey-man” in Japan that is meant to frighten children from playing too close to water were they might drown.

That’s the purpose of Kappa. To keep small children from playing near rivers and streams.

So, almost every sign near rivers, streams, ponds, etc that warn children from playing there have a picture of a Kappa.
The character is basically a “do not swim” mascot.

 

The sign says "Danger!! Don't play in the water" (The faded blue sign says about the same)

(Signs in Japan for earthquake shelters have a logo too. A catfish. (I wrote a post about that: here).

Kappa can be seen many places in Japan. There’s even a part of Tokyo called 合羽橋 (Kappabashi).

The Kappa has a weak point.
His incredible strength stems from the “dish” on top of his head that is full of water.
Kappa must be careful to never let the water spill out of the dish.
But the Kappa is famously polite…if a person is confronted by a Kappa that person should bow to the Kappa because the polite Kappa will surely return the bow—and then spill the water off his head which would render him helpless.

And there’s another weakness…if someone refills a Kappa’s empty “dish” and restores his strength, the Kappa will be indebted to that person for life.

 

A cuter Kappa-san

What types of folklore creatures are in your country’s culture? And they meant to ensure children’s safety, like the Kappa?

“New” Kanji of the Year

Every December a kanji character is chosen in Japan that represents the year that coming to an end, and the character is written in traditional 習字 (calligraphy) by the head monk at a temple in Kyoto and presented in a ceremony to the public.

Last year (2008), the character 「変」 (“change“) was chosen. Click here to read my post from last year to see why that character was chosen.

It was decided that since the U.S. elected a historic new President, Japan elected a Prime Minister from a new party, and also because of the global epidemic of “Swine Flu” which is called 「新型インフルエンザ」 (“New Flu”) in Japan…that the kanji character for 2009 is 「新」, which means “new“.

The 2009 Kanji of the year is the character for "New"

Here’s a picture of the head monk writing the character 「新」 (“new”) in traditional Japanese calligraphy:

Anpanman

Yesterday was my oldest daughter’s 中学校の卒業式 (Junior High School graduation ceremony).
After Spring vacation she’ll start her first year of high school (10th grade). I can’t believe how fast my kids are growing up!

Today is 春分の日 (Spring Equinox). (Click here to read my short FAQ about this holiday).

In Japan, both 春分の日 (Spring Equinox) in March and 秋分の日 (Autumn Equinox) in September are holidays, so we have the day off…and they’re days that many people pay a visit to their family gravesite.

So, this morning we went to our family gravesite to leave flowers and pay respects. It’s called 墓参り (Haka-mairi).

After that, we went to the 「アンパンマンとやなせたかし展」 (“Anpanman & Takashi Yanase Exhibit“) at the 日本橋三越本店 (Mitsukoshi Dep’t Store head store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo).

やなせ・たかし (Takashi Yanase) is the artist who created the famous and extremely popular children’s cartoon character アンパンマン (Anpanman).
This exhibit at the 日本橋三越本店 (Mitsukoshi Dep’t Store head store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo) is to celebrate やなせ・たかし (Takashi Yanase)’s 60 years of being an artist, the 40th anniversary of the アンパンマン (Anpanman) comic, and the 20th anniversary of the アンパンマン (Anpanman) TV series.

アンパンマン (Anpanman) is about as popular as Mickey Mouse is in Japan. Maybe more.

アンパンマン (Anpanman) is a superhero whose head is made of Anpan, which is a sweet-bean filled bun.
He and his friends (most of whom also have heads made of various types of bread or some other healthy food) fight 「ばいきんまん」 (Germ man) and his partner 「どきんちゃん」 (Dokin-chan) who use various inventions and their army of 「かびるんるん」 (Mildew maniacs) to try and fill the world with germs.
アンパンマン (Anpanman)’s weakness is if his head becomes wet…at which he’s helpless until the friendly baker 「ジャムおじさん」 (Jam-ojisan) makes a new head for him.
「ばいきんまん」 (Germ man)’s weakness is contact with soap.

There are also sub-plots in the story which include:

• 「どきんちゃん」 (Dokin-chan)’s having an infatuation with アンパンマン (Anpanman)’s friend 「食パンマン」 (Sandwich bread man), much to 「ばいきんまん」 (Germ man)’s chagrin.
• アンパンマン (Anpanman) helping people in distress. Often by giving them a piece of his head to eat if they’re hungry.

and

• 「ばいきんまん」 (Germ man) gave a black heart to 「ロールパンナちゃん」, the older sister of アンパンマン (Anpanman)’s friend 「メロンパンナちゃん」 (Melon-panna chan). If she sees アンパンマン (Anpanman), her heart turns black and she betrays her friends…but when she sees her sister, her heart turns kind again.
  After she helps her friends, she always leaves to live in solitude for fear of her heart turning black again.

アンパンマン (Anpanman) is very popular with young children in Japan and his image (as well as many of the other characters) can be seen on all sorts of items from toys to clothes to lunchbox sets to just about anything!

アンパンマンの仲間 (Anpanman & friends)

When my kids were little, they loved アンパンマン (Anpanman).
Last Spring, we visited the 「横浜アンパンマンこどもミュージアム」 (”Yokohama Anpanman Children’s Museum”).
(Click here to read the post I wrote about it).

Click here to visit the 「アンパンマンとやなせたかし展」 (“Anpanman & Takashi Yanase Exhibit“) website (Japanese only).
Click here to visit the official Anpanman website (Japanese only).

and another popular superhero in Japan is Ultraman. I wrote a post about him, too. ( Click here to read it.)