The Japanese Language

Our past two weeks have been busy! We have spent quite a bit of time getting settled into our apartment and neighborhood.

'Getting settled' has included:

• Going to the city offices to ‘register' and get a resident card
• Signing up for the NIH (National Health Insurance) and getting our insurance card
• Finding out the combination on our mailbox at our apartment so we could retrieve our mail
• Figuring out which parking spot is ours
• Arranging for internet/wifi at our apartment
• Getting a Japanese bank account set up for reimbursement purposes (for mission related expenses)
• Putting the final touches on our apartment—like drapes, a coat rack, rugs, hangers, extra blanket, plastic drawers, etc. 
• Stocking the apartment with cleaning supplies and food
• Learning the complex garbage and recycling processes

Imagine doing all those things with an extreme language barrier, a lack of knowledge of the layout of the city, an inability to read street signs or store names or documents or labels….and you can imagine that it has been quite the challenge. I think we are almost there. Thank heaven for an English speaking neighbor and wonderful missionaries who have helped us accomplish many of these things. 

For example, this is the garbage/recycling information sheet we were given when we moved in. It tells what type of garbage goes in what color of bag and when each type will be picked up. However, the color of the bag on the sheet doesn't match the color of the bag you need to buy. My wonderful neighbor did a good job of explaining it all to us, and then went the extra mile and went to the city offices and got us an English version!

We have everything we need in the apartment. We have a good grocery store near us, and a dollar store, and we know how to get to the Lowe’s type store. Also, Dave can now understand them at the store when they ask if we want a ‘points’ card, and he knows how to ask for 1 or 2 grocery bags. Progress!!!

For those of you not familiar with it, I will share a little about the Japanese language--just my experience. It is a beautiful language, but difficult to learn because of the alphabet system. They have three alphabets, each using symbols to represent either words, phrases, or phonetic sounds. The three alphabets are Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. 

Kanji--small sample seen below--is the original alphabet, using characters borrowed from the Chinese. I've heard some say there are over 50,000 Kanji. You need to know between 2000-3000 to be able to read a Japanese newspaper. Children learn around 1000 by 6th grade and 2500 by 9th grade. There are some Kanji that represent one word, some represent a sound, and some represent a phrase. It is fascinating to watch someone writing in Kanji. I have seen it in Relief Society when the teacher was writing a thought on the board just as quickly as we would write. Absolutely amazing!

The next alphabet I've become familiar with is Hiragana. It is a set of symbols representing each sound in the Japanese language. I have been working on memorizing Hiragana. There are 56 symbols, meaning there are 56 sounds not counting the combinations. That is a nice thing about the Japanese language--every time you see a particular sound symbol, you know exactly how it is to be pronounced. It is a phonetic language.

The third one is Katakana, and I haven't even attempted that one yet. It is usually used to denote a foreign word or sound. Many times on signs on the street or labels there will be a combination of Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana. It is pretty rare to see Romaji (the Roman alphabet that we use), but it does show up occasionally and I love it when it does!

Below are some examples of things we see every day. A type of noodle, a package of curry (I think), and a label that came inside a glass I bought. 

So you can see the language is challenging to say the least. I have learned some phrases, but all in Romaji (Roman alphabet). I say O-hayou gozaimasu (good morning) a lot. Also Hajimemashite (It's nice to meet you). And sometimes I'm able to get out an O-genki desu ka? (How are you?) Dave knows much more than I do, but still wishes he could carry on a longer conversation in Japanese. The nice part is the people we have met have been so kind and seem to really appreciate that we are trying. And it is amazing what you can communicate through a few words and some hand gestures. 

If you are curious about the Japanese symbols in the heading of our blog, they say "Joyful Adventure". That is how we feel about our mission. It is an adventure every day, but one that brings us joy as we strive to serve the Lord and the wonderful people here in Japan.