Help with Kanji

[alenehan]

Hi, I am new to this so if this is posted inappropriately I apologise in advance. I recently purchased a netsuke I was quite taken with, it has a signature as well as some text on the subject's kimono. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could help me with translating the text, I have attached one picture and the rest can be found at:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v51/Shambla/netsuke/



Thanks ever so much for any help.
Alex

 

[Leroy_Brown]

Lad,

The top character is "Shu" or "Sho" (on-yomi)/"Hide" (kun-yomi), meaning excellence, beauty. Men who are named Hide-something generally use this Kanji.

The bottom one looks like "Shin" (on-yomi) / "Oya" (kun-yomi), meaning parent or familiarity.



Hope that helps.

Cheers!

 

[alenehan]

Thanks

Thank you ever so much Leroy, your help is much appreciated. I am finding it difficult learning spoken Japanese at teh moment so I think Kanji is a bit beyond me! Did you have any thoughts on the kimono text?

Arigato Gozai Masu!

Alex

 

[Leroy_Brown]

Kimono? Oh, sure thing. Let me take a loo at it.

 

[Leroy_Brown]

Laddie,

You mean the object that the woman in Kimono is holding? There are no Kanji on the Kimono itself.

The object she is holding is a lamp that has three Kanji characters: one for "Hi" (fire) , and two that make up "Youjin" (precaution, or care). There really should be a Hiragana "no" in between so that it all reads "Hi no youjin" (Be careful of/with fire). In the old days in Japan, people would patrol the neighborhood at night holding a lamp and yelling "Be careful of fire!"

Anytime you need some help again, just let moi know.

 

[alenehan]

Thanks again Leroy, it all makes sense now! I wondered what on earth the message would be!

 

[Leroy_Brown]

Fire patrols

I guess it's still done in some parts of Japan:

mediatinker.com

 

[alenehan]

It looks like it has become a real part of tradition, I wonder if it was part of a joke on the netsuke? As she is sat on a bundle of sticks, I reckon she particularly needs to look out for fire!

 

[lexico]

I liked the recording and the commentary. It's amazing they've been doing that since the Edo times !
"Hi no youjin!" Now could that be said in colloquial speech when you want to tell a friend, "Watch out for fire tonight!" ?

 

[Leroy_Brown]

I liked the recording and the commentary. It's amazing they've been doing that since the Edo times !
"Hi no youjin!" Now could that be said in colloquial speech when you want to tell a friend, "Watch out for fire tonight!" ?

How about "Konya kaji ni ki o tsukerundayo" ?

kaji = a fire disaster, as opposed to "hi" which is generic fire.

 

[lexico]

Thanks, Leroy! You are so knowledgeable, and I'm just learning.
I hope you'll be around even when I'm more ready to learn the more advanced stuff!!

 

[Leroy_Brown]

Thanks, Leroy! You are so knowledgeable, and I'm just learning.
I hope you'll be around even when I'm more ready to learn the more advanced stuff!!

Kamusamida! Chonmaneyo!

Sure! I'll try to help anyone here who is interested in learning.

But I don't care for all the stereotypes and generalizations.

 

[lexico]

Kamusamida! Chonmaneyo!

Thanks again!
Now I recognize that as spoken Korean; obviously you've had some Korean friends!
How long have you lived in Japan ? Wait, I remember you posting about singing Yokohama!

 

[Leroy_Brown]

Thanks again!
Now I recognize that as spoken Korean; obviously you've had some Korean friends!
How long have you lived in Japan ? Wait, I remember you posting about singing Yokohama!

Sometimes I answer tha phone, "Yaboseo!" J/K!

I'm a "Chongaa".

Did you know there is a big Korea Town in Los Angeles?

I've been to Japan various times since childhood.

 

[lexico]

I'm a "Chongaa".

I'm truely impressed, but this last word escapes me. Obviously you know something about Korean that I don't.

Did you know there is a big Korea Town in Los Angeles?

I've been to Japan various times since childhood.

Yes, I've been there a couple of times; although I enjoyed China town more. I actually had the best tasting pig-feet in Los Angeles. Strange to find myself foreign to my own culture. I've also passed thru Japan once, and I remember going to the market to pick up some pretty Japanese unbrellas. They used to be real hot in the 60's. I only stayed for 2 days maybe. That was a long time ago.

 

[Leroy_Brown]

I'm truely impressed, but this last word escapes me. Obviously you know something about Korean that I don't.

"Chongaa" I thought was a word for an unmarried male. Maybe it's out of usage now.

I had a friend every time I asked where something was she said "chogi!"

 

[lexico]

"Chongaa" I thought was a word for an unmarried male. Maybe it's out of usage now.

No, it is still in use.
You must be very attuned to language sounds to pick up that much detail from casual conversations. Koreans tend not to explode the final consonant. What you heard is written 총각 ﾃ｣`ﾅ?p "Chong-gak." It's Chinese in origin. It refers to the hair style with the growth of hair bundled up on top of the head like (a) horn(s). "Chong"=to bind. "gak"=horn. Unmarried males are supposed to have had the hair style long time ago in China, and Korean preserves the word, although the hair style has long disappeared. Young Chinese girls still have that name called Y窶慊ｪ yatou "horned head." You've probably seen Chinese dolls with two small buns on the head!

I had a friend every time I asked where something was she said "chogi!"

Hahahahaha! That is really funny. "(Righ over) there!"

 

[Leroy_Brown]

Lexico-san,

Thank you for the detailed explanation!

Los Angeles' Chinatown is not that big. Much bigger ones are in San Francisco (best Chinese food I ever had), New York, and Seattle. But there is a section east of LA called "Monterrey Park" which is heavily Chinese.

In Japan, there are Chinatowns in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki. In Osaka and Tokyo, there are areas where you see a lot of Hangul neon signs at night.

 

[XTC33]

The signature on the netsuke reads Hide-chika. It's a man's name.
The link is out of date? sorry.