Japanese language and culture.

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Milaad akbari, Mees Mostmans,
Veerle Van loon
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ELC, Tg2a
 Introduction

 fatcts about the japanese language

 history about the japanese language
 The japanese alpahbet.
 grammar rules
 japanese writing system. Content:
 Japanese dialects
 religion.
 Holidays
 The flag
 japanese art.
 music of japan.
 anime and manga
 Fun facts.
 Do’s and dont’s
 Food

 Exercise

 Sources.
 introduction

 Milaad, Veerle, Mees

 Japanese cultere/language

 Because we are interested in

the country.

 And because it is an original

subject
Facts about the Japanese
language.
 In the native tongue, the
language is actually
‘Nihongo’.

 Japan uses three writing

systems

 Even though Japanese uses

Chinese characters the
language isn’t based on
Chinese.

 There are three different

levels of formality with
corresponding grammar.

 Over 130 million people

speak japanese
 Through the spread of buddhism, the chinese
writing system was imported to japan.
History about the japanese language
 The earliest texts found in japan are written in
classical chinese.

 Old japanese is written in the Man’yogama system.

 The modern japanese language is used since

around 1600.

 The city edo (tokyo) developed into the largest city

in japan, the dialect that city spoke became the
standard language of japan.

 Their language has also changed a little bit during

around 1900 and has borrowed words from
languages like: german, portugese and english.
These words are used for new technology and
more
The japanese alphabet  There are three japanese
alpahbets: kanji, hiragana and
katakana. But the standard
japanese alphabet is hiragana.

 The alphabet is originated

from the chinese alphabet, but
the japanese one is just a little
bit more different
 alphabet
 The alpahbet consists out of
+
46 letters.
pronounciation
 Videoclip about the alphabet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=PAfi3D9K7lk
 Grammar rules

 Japanese word order is classified as subject-object-verb. This

means that the only really strict rule really is that a verb is always
put at the end of a sentence.

 In japanese nouns can also function as adverbs and adjectives.

 A basic sentence often start with the subject afterwards the verb
and at last the noun.
The japanese writing
system

 The modern japanese

writing system uses a
combination of logographic
kanji (kanji is adopted
chinese characters.

 And they also use syllabic

kana. Kana consists out of
syllabaries ( written
symbols).
 Japanese dialects

 There are a lot of different dialects in japan, the dialects in japan

differ in pitch accent, vocabulary and morphology ( how words
are formed).

 Believe it or not the two biggest two cities in japan ( tokyo and
kyoto) differ the most in dialects and accents. In each city there
are also a lot of different accents and dialects to be found.

 The classical japanese is not really used anymore although it has

been used to speak in the imperial court. But for the rest it is not
really used anymore
 religion

 The most common religions in japan

are shintoism and Buddhism

 Shinto came to japan around the 6th

century. In the religion of Shinto
people worship their ancestors and
spirits at public shrines.

 Buddhims also arrived in japan

around the 6th century.
holidays
 Japan like any other country in the world has it’s
own set of national holidays and celebrations

 Ganjitsu - this is the name of new year in japan.

The date of celebration is January 1st. They
celebrate with fireworks and spiritual visits.

 Coming of age day – this is a day where the

japanese celebrate people of around the age of
20 and congragulate them that they are becoming
adults. – second Monday of january.

 Kenkoku Kinen no Hi – translation of this day is

national foundation day. On this day the japanese
show their love for the country. – febuary 11
 Greenery day – on this day the people of japan
appreciate nature and appreciate how important
More holidays
it is. – may 4th

 Children’s day – on this day the adults appreciate

their children to upper their self esteem and
prepare them for their futures. May 5th

 Health and sports day – on this day many sporting

events are organized for people to do some
excersise and go outside more. – second Monday
of october.

 Along with these holidays there are many more

holidays in japan.
  The flag of Japan became effective in the year 1999.

flags  The flag is completely white with just one red circle
centered in the middle. It is really simple but also
really easy to remember.

 Before it was the flag of japan it was called the sun-

disc flag. It was used as a flag for merchant ships.
 Japanese art.

 Japan has a lot of different art syles but

the most popular ones include: ancient
pottery, sculpturing, ink painting and
calligraphy of paper.

 And more recently manga is also

popular, we’ll talk about that later.

 Although the preffered way to express

yourself in japan is with paint and
brushes
Japanese music
 Japan has a wide collection of
performers, both traditional music
but also modern music.

 Around 30 years ago traditional

music was not really popular
anymore, that because of people
like micheal jackson or the beatles.

 Right now boy and girl groups are

really popular in japan.

 But traditional music is definently

not going away any time soon in
japan.
 Anime is japan’s main source of entertainment, japan does have like drama Anime
shows but anime is way more popular there though. Anime is basically
cartoons but then way more mature. So it’s not really for children at all.

 These shows are often put on television, but these shows are not really seen
on television in other countries. So its mainly watched with streaming services
like: crunchyroll and funimation, or it is watched illegally.

 Anime is not only used in tv-shows but also in video games and commercials.

 Anime episodes are usually around 20 minites long, but a lot of the have like
over 5 or sometimes even 15 seasons.

 Anime has also influenced a lot of cartoons, a lot of their artstyle is used in
shows like: avatar the last airbender, the legend of korra, danny phantom and
ben 10

 Popular anime’s right now are: attack on titan, boku no hero academia,
kakegurui, the promised neverland, banana fish and jojo’s bizarre adventures.
 Manga are basically comics, but they are japanese. Manga is supposed to
be read from the right to the left, this is also the way people read and
manga
write in japan.

 A lot of manga is turned into anime, but there are differences between
the two stories a lot of the times

 Manga has become it’s own art style and is popular internationally.

 Manga has been there since the 50’s and it isn’t any less popular than in
that time.

 Just like anime manga has influenced a lot of artstyles in superhero

comics

 Manga often has over twenty books but some have like more than one-
hundred

 Popular manga are: jojo’s bizarre adventure, one piece, naruto, pokemon
and demon slayer
Fun facts about japan  In a lot of countries it is really popular to go out to dinner with more than
just 1 person. But in japan it is actually really normal to go to a restaurant on
your own.

 Japan was basically vegeterian for more than 1400 years. This was because in
buddhism every life is sacred so that means that everyone is vegaterian. This
stopped during the 19th century.

 To find peace in japan people go to hot springs (these are bath’s). However
they do this fully nude and often there are also others in the hot springs.

 There is no doubt that japan is also very famous for their pretty and colorful
cherry blossoms. But did you know that it is actually a tradition for japanese
families to have picnics underneath these trees. People eat and think about
the beauty of life underneath these beautiful trees.

 When you think of the video game industry you should start with japan. It’s
the home of the biggest video game companies, these include companies
like: nintendo, sega and playstation.
 If you are in the train in Japan you can be polite by being quite. So if you are ever on a More fun facts
holiday there people in the train are not staring at you because of your nationality it is
because you are being rude and annoying.

 But this does not mean that japanese people are always quiet. After a hard day at
work a lot of japanese people like to go to bars and get drunk.

 In the netherlands it is nice when staff in polite at a restaurant or a store. And its a bit
annoying when that is not the case. In japan it is typical for staff to be polite and staff
being mean is never really the case in Japan.

 In japan it is really normal to wear traditional cloting in the summer.

 If you are in japan it is very normal to wear slippers inside, this is have more hygiene
and. However if you enter a bathroom you do change slippers again, if you do not
swap slippers again it is considered embarrassing.

 In japan overweight is very uncommon there, a lot of people get their exercise from
an early morning 10 minite radio broadcast for excersising. This broadcast has been
going since 1928.
  Dont’s

Do’s and dont’s  When you are in Japan do not tip anyone no matter what. Tipping in
japan is just not there, just pay what you are asked to and that’s it.

 If you are going to Japan never ever be late to an appointment.

People in Japan have a really strict schedule so it would be very polite
to be on time and not mess up anyone’s schedule.

 If you are in a shop in Japan never give the cashier the money
immediantly. Most of the time stores have little plates where you can
put the money so if you see one put the money there.

 In japan when you are given food in like a restaurant finish all the
food you have been given. If you don’t do this you are seen as rude.
This is mainly because japanese people really appreciate the people
who made their food.

 Never eat or drink while you are walking, you might get the street
dirty and people in Japan always keep thing clean so never ever do
that.
 Do’s

 If you are sick in japan even if covid-19 is not around please still wear
a mask because Japan is very crowded and if you just cover your’e
mouth you are still going to get bacteria all over people. So please just
wear a mask.

 Japanese people really appreciate it when foreigners know just a little

bit of japanese. So if you ever wanna go there just learn a few
sentences and japanese people will appreciate it a lot

 If you are in japan you have to throw your trash into seperate bins. If
you do not do this you could mess up their system. So please do this,
it’s super easy and if you don’t do this it could cause trouble.

 Japan is a different and weird country so if you are there just adapt to
the rules and you will be perfectly fine.
 3. Slurping in Japan is actually seen as
something polite, so if you are eating
Etiquette in japan
noodles let the people who made it
know you liked it by slurping.

4. Before you start eating say i-ta-da-

1. If you move there, your neighbours ki-mas before you eat something, this
would appreciate it a lot if you bring litterally means ‘’i shall recieve’’. And
small gifts from your home country. when you are done say ‘’oi-shii’’, this
means delicious.

2. When you are eating rice with

5. Never sniff your’e nose near anyone
chopsticks never leave your chopsticks
else, this is pure to just avoid the other
standing upright. This is something
person getting sick
that only happens at funerals.
 9. Use public transport as much as
possible. This is to keep the air as
More etiquette in japan clean as possible and it is also way
faster.

7. If you are staying in a hotel you will

most likely be given a pyjama. This is 10. Never point anywhere, to japanese
because it is normal for japanese to people this is considered threatening.
still have their pyjama on during Instead use an open hand.
breakfast

8. In Japan people sometimes eat on

This is just their culture and their way
lower tabels and sit on pillows to eat.
of doing everything.
So do not be suprised if you see it.
  Just like any other country in the world, japan has it’s own set of
food traditional food.

 You definently should try sushi if you are in Japan, it is their most
international food, and the best sushi is obviously in japan.

 Sashimi is another food similar to sushi but without the rice it consists
out of raw fish sliced into small pieces to make it easier to eat. And
vegetables on the side

 Hitsumabushi is a dish that consists out of fish on top of white rice, it is

oftenly served with other dishes as well.

 Tempura is fish but it is put in a batter and after it is fried.

 More foods

 Udon is a dish that is known for it’s thick noodles and it is really popular in
japan. It is often served with fish and vegetables.

 Onigiri are basically balls covered in seawead and filled with sushi rice

 Yakitori are skewers with small chicken pieces on it and also vegetables, the
vegetables in this dish differ a lot so the possibilities with this dish are really
endless.

 Sukiyaki is basically an iron pan filled with a lot of different meats and
vegatables. For instance it can be filled with: grilled beef, green onions,
tomatoes, mushrooms, tofu and thin noodles.

 Mochi right now is also getting popular internationally, it is an ice cream

desert in the form of a ball.
Japanese cheesecake  We made a traditional cheesecake that has ben
blowing up on social media lately and has become
really popular.

 The ingredients used are:

7 tablespoons butter
• cream cheese(100 g)
•milk(130 mL)
•8 eggs, yolk
•flour(60 g)
• cornstarch(60 g)
•13 large egg whites
•⅔ cup granulated sugar(130 g)
•hot water, for baking
•powdered sugar
 Excersice

 Our excersice is to make an origami bird and

mees and veerle will show you the tutorial
and how to do it so good luck.

 Tutorial:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk2kill
zERc
 sources
 Information:
 https://blog.udemy.com/japanese-grammar/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language#Dialects
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Japan#Shinto
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Japan
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Japan#:~:text=The%20national%20flag%20of%20Japan,Land%20of%20th
e%20Rising%20Sun
.
 https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime
 https://theworldpursuit.com/facts-about-japanese-culture/
 https://www.theinvisibletourist.com/dos-and-donts-in-japan-tourist-guide-etiquette/

 Recipe:
 https://tasty.co/recipe/fluffy-jiggly-japanese-cheesecake
The end