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Yoji Juku Go

Coming to live in Japan, one of the first things to notice is the writing system, which is complex and very different from the Western alphabet.  A few thousand years ago, Japan learned and borrowed from China the use of characters, or ideograms, for the purpose of reading and writing.  These characters are called "Kanji" and have continued in use through today.  Kanji are different from the Western alphabet's letters in that each character/ideogram has its own meaning (and some have multiple meanings).  In order to be able to read and write, many Kanji's need to be memorized, and they are therefore intensively studied in Japanese elementary and junior high schools -- so by the end of 9th grade, a student will have learned 1026 characters.  Kanjis are sometimes combined together to form wise sayings and proverbs, which are called: Yoji Juku Go (四字熟語).  Each character has its own meaning, and when linked together, they form a different, and often deeper meaning.  Here are a couple of examples.  "The beauties of nature" = Ka-Cho-Fu-Getsu (花鳥風月); 花 is flower, 鳥 is bird, 風 is wind, and 月 is the Moon.  "Be active outside when weather is good, stay inside and read when it rains" = Sei-Ko-U-Doku (晴耕雨読); 晴 is clear sky, 耕 is plow/cultivate; 雨 is rain, and 読 is read.  Of note, in a previous article in our Staff Blog we introduced the Yoji Juku Go: Sessa Takuma (切磋琢磨 -- see the link below for details).  Finally, a good general overview article on "Four Character Idioms" is provided in the link at the bottom.  We hope you will have a chance to learn more about the unique Kanji writing system while you live in Japan.  

Written by Goodfield

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LINKS:

Sessa Takuma

https://us.iino.cc/blog/blog.html?eid=00029

Background article:

https://www.nippon.com/en/nipponblog/m00111/