Tabesan - My Kanji Sensei

I learned my first Kanji lessons from Tabe-san. His full name is Kennichi Tabe. He used to explain me the meaning of Kanji. He started to tell me the meaning of Kanji from his name. The Kanji for "Ta" stands for the Rice field. So meaning of his family name is 'Near Rice Field'

His explanation was interesting and during my days with him, I learned a lof by talking with him. This rare opportunity I got to learn from a native Japanese, I value as one of the best moments in my life.

I used to ask him many doubts on Kanji during the Coffee-break. Our coffee-breaks extended by discussion on Japan, its people, culture, language, places in Japan, History of Japan and so on....

I shared my experience and knowledge about India. He valued this as a rare knowledge to him.

Because of his teachings on Kanji and some basic conversation, I could progress faster in my Japanese learning classes I attended. During the months of February I was the slowest student and hardly I could remember and recall any of the previous lessons. Japanese Teachers Morishita sensei and Imade sensei might have wondered how slow I was. My reading in Hiragana and Katakana also was very slow. Out of the five students, I was the first from the bottom!

I felt shame and worried of how to improve. It was then I got in touch with Tabe-san. A nice gentle man, who keeps high values in his life and respect others. Being a foreigner I used to feel some kind of insecurity regarding the communication, the doubts about the mentality of Japanese people towards foreigners etc.

Tabe-san helped me to overcome this insecurity feeling. I think, I topped the Japanese class both in reading and vocabulary. I could read Hiragana and Katakana without much effort. I could transfer trains and go to unknown places myself without fear.

The inputs given by Balasir, who really helped me to get into Japan coupled with Tabesan's Japanese teaching drastically removed my fears about this new country. My colleagues and Boss at office are rarest kind of people, at least for me. But how can I say the rarest?

Such kind of helping people, the real altruists are more in Japan, compared to other countries. That is why I frequently meet with kind people during my life in Japan.

Past Two and a half months - the rarest days in my life to learn new things about Japan- now finished. But with sweet memories I can say.........I miss you Tabesan............

日本 Nihon

I have always been fascinated about Japan and its people. While in India, I surprised, how Japanese people made and now maintaining such a wonderful culture and attitude towards life. I heard Japanese people are the most intelligent human race in the world. After coming here, I realized how and why it is so. Nihonjin are open minded to other cultural groups. Compared to many other cultures, with which I had chances to interact and experience, Nihonjin are fairly better in attitude and helping mentality.

When I first encountered with Japanese language, I thought it will take many years for me to understand Nihongo and started worrying about the communication with Nihonjin in my office.But after attending four sessions of Language training classes, 3 hours on every saturday, I could read and write Hiragana and Katakana. Learning Kanji still remains mysterious for me. I feel Kanji learning will consume major part of our brain. But if we know the origin of Kanji, it will be very interesting to remember the meaning and writing.

I learned the first Kanji 木 (ki, moku, boku etc). This means tree. By seeing itself we can identify it is a tree only !!!. And a river is 川 (kawa, gawa). Then Kanji must be the universal language, I thought. But as we go deep, it is a bit tough and need much visualization and trick to remember. See this Kanji 藤 (to). It will take the veins out of our brain??? This is a combination of many small Kanji, commonly used in popular Japanese names like 'Sato' ' Kato'.

But I admire the way Japan is represented in Kanji. 日本 Nihon, Nippon. The meaning of first Kanji is Sun (or a day, pronounced as Hi, Ni, ka, Nichi ...... I know only this much). The second Kanji - an extra line put under the stem of a tree- must be a root !!!!!!! GUESSED CORRECT ??? If YES you can master Kanji in a short time. The meaning of the second Kanji is root, Origin or Book, since book is the root or origin of knowledge, and knowledge is the origin of life and then the whole society. Putting all together the meaning could be The land of the Rising Sun, The root of sun, The origin of a day, The origin of Sun...........and thereby the Origin of Book (Knowledge). Think, I am not exaggerating....

............What a brilliant imagination !!!

Sorry, I can not proceed much with Kanji. I really feel myself a little bit pity of not able to learn Kanji in one day !!!

But to our advantage, there are lot of Japanese learning books and Software packages available, which we can purchase through on line, and they are not really costly, but cheaper, compared to the advantage they will bring to your life and career.

Now, coming to one of most beautiful side of Japan.

The beauty of Japanese women are to be commented. The beauty combined with politeness makes them extra ordinary in the world. We can see the feminine characteristics in its fullest version mingled with wisdom in a typical Japanese woman.

Japanese women are the most Westernized Asian women in the sense that they live in the most economically advanced country in Asia. But, in terms of culture and national character, Japanese women are probably the most Oriental women in Asia. Despite importing many Western ways of doing things, they remain a unique. Western influence on other Asian women is more visible.

Whatever the modern cosmetics can bring beauty to the face, I will like to see Japanese women, in their traditional dress. I had some occassions while travelling in trains, just forgotten for a moment about myself, by seeing a Japanese women in Traditional Japanese dress. I repeat, I like to see all Japanese women in that dress and costume.

Initial days in Japan

I just started living in Japan, almost three months now after I landed at Narita Airport. When I moved to Immigration check at Narita Airport, the Japanese Immigration officer told me "Namaste". I was surprised a Japanese remember and use an Indian salutation word. After a finger print session, I moved outside. I could see a different world outside compared to our land, India.

The first Japanese word I learned was 'Ohayo gozaimasu' means good morning. Then 'Arigatou' for Thanks, 'Konnichi wa' and 'Konban wa' used after morning 10'O Clock and in the evenings respectively.

Japanese Food and Table Manners

Initially I was wondered about the Japanese foods. Like me, many people who visit Japan will be excited about the variety of food available. On the other hand, many people must be a little nervous about table manners and how to eat Japanese food.The most important table etiquette in Japan is saying traditional phrases before and after a meal. Japanese people say, "Itadaki-masu" before a meal and say "Gochisou-sama" after a meal. These phrases mean thanks for the food.At first I failed many times to eat with chopsticks.

I purchased two sets of Chopsticks. In Japanese it is 'Hashi'. Japanese people use knives and forks for western food such as spaghetti and steak. Also, spoons are used for eating certain dishes, such as stew, curry rice, and desserts. However, chopsticks are the most frequently used utensils in Japan. Restaurants in Japan serve disposable wooden chopsticks.One of chopsticks etiquettes is not to directly pass food from your chopsticks to somebody else's chopsticks or vice versa. I asked one of my Japanese friend why this is so. He told, the reason is taboo that the bones of the cremated body are passed in that way from person to person in Japanese funerals.Japanese people lift small bowls of rice or soup when you eat. It prevents the dropping of food.

When we do not get a soup spoon, we can drink the soup out of the bowl and eat the solid food with chopsticks. For large pieces of food, we have to separate the piece into small pieces with the chopsticks, or we can just bite a piece off and put the rest back into our plate.It is a Japanese custom to make some slurping noises while eating noodles such as Soba, udon, and somen. People say it tastes better if they make slurping noises. People who eat noodles without a sound could seem strange in Japan.I have tried many varieties of Japanese food except Sashimi - The raw fish.

Living in Tokyo
Cost of living in Tokyo is the highest I have ever experienced than any other place. And if foreign people still stick to their traditional food habit in Tokyo, the living cost will be further go up. The best way is to adjust to maximum extent to the Japanese foods.