New Years Day Card － 年賀状 （Nenga‐jo)

New Year is the most important holiday in Japan with its own unique customs.
One of the things we do to prepare for the New Year holiday period is to send out New Year postcards to friends, family, and relatives before the New Year's Day arrives.



2012：　年賀状
After coming to the U.S., I have neither sent out nor received these special New Year postcards for many years. But, every year during the past several years I have been receiving one New Year postcard from special friends in Japan. The friends (husband and wife) who were here for almost a year 8 or 9 years ago. The husband was working for an international high-tech company in this city. He was sent here by his company in Japan on a special assignment for a year when I met them. We have gotten to know each other well and have become good friends. I look forward to seeing them each time I travel back to Tokyo.

In the card they send to me I can visualize the part of their family activities of the year. The New Year greetings and personal notes are absolutely wonderful to read. I see joy and happiness on their faces in the photos that are posted on the card. I feel that New Year has arrived when I receive the New Year postcard from them.


One of my students did a presentation paper on "New Year in Japan". In the paper was the following paragraph about New Year postcard.

Nengajou 年賀状
The end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest times for the Japanese post offices. The Japanese have a custom of sending New Year's Day postcards (年賀状, nengajō?) to their friends and relatives, similar to the Western custom of sending Christmas cards. Their original purpose was to give your faraway friends and relatives tidings of yourself and your immediate family. In other words, this custom existed for people to tell others whom they did not often meet that they were alive and well.
Japanese people send these postcards so that they arrive on the 1st of January. The post office guarantees to deliver the greeting postcards on the first of January if they are posted within a time limit, from mid-December to near the end of the month and are marked with the word nengajō.
Conventional nengajō greetings include:

* kotoshi mo yoroshiku o-negai-shimasu (今年もよろしくお 願いします?) (I hope for your favour again in the coming year)
* (shinnen) akemashite o-medetō-gozaimasu ((新年)あけまし ておめでとうございます?) (Happiness to you on the dawn [of a New Year])
* kinga shinnen (謹賀新年?) (Happy New Year)

2012, the Year of the Dragon - Happy New Year !

As I do every year, I challenged to make an origami dragon for the year 2012.

Sumo Dragon

Several years ago, my niece in Japan sent me a small paper craft of Sumo arena and a couple of sumo wrestlers. I used that sumo arena as a prop to display the new origami dragons as fighting dragons.

Origami Puppy Diagram

At the request of a few internet followers, I am posting this diagram. The diagram was found in one of the origami paper packets I bought some time ago.

The head part and body part are two separate sections.

Head Section

Body Section

Yoko's Song: ヨーコのうた

　 ”この愛の歌を私の親愛なる韓国の友、ヨーコが歌ってくれた。
　 ヨーコはもう遠い所に行ってしまったが、
　 俺はヨーコの真の友情をあれからずっと大切にするようになった。”


今学期は韓国から来た特別な学生に出会った。その学生はとても厳しい先生の上級レベルの日本語クラスをとっていた。とても優秀な学生で、そんなに勉強する必要もないほど頭がよいのに、テストがある前の晩には徹夜で勉強する人だった。日本語を学ぶ意欲がすごくあって、俺のもとで長い時間勉強することが一週に一度はあった。期末のテストの前の日には長時間その学生の勉強の手助けをした。その時、２，３日風邪気味で、俺の体調はそんなに良くなかったのだが、そんなに勉強したいという意欲を無視できなかった。こうゆうことは普通やらない。２年前の夏季講座以来だ。その時は毎日２時間、連続８週間にかけて二人の学生を教えた。

今回は毎週一度は２、３時間程日本語の予習や復習、または教科書にも無いものも教えるようになっていた。その期末試験の前日には午後一時頃から夜にかけて７時間にわたって日本語勉強の指導をした。体調が良くなかったのでちょっと辛かったがなんとかやりとげた。そのお陰もあったが、そもそも優秀な人だったので、その学生はクラスのトップに終わった。そのことを教授からの連絡があった時はとても喜んでいた。

その学生とは時には勉強しながら昼メシもコーヒーも一緒する間柄になっていた。それで、お互いに特別な友情関係を感じるようになった。俺のような　「じいさん教師」　と気軽に昼メシや茶などを一緒にする若い学生なんていないんだが、この人は普通の若者とはちがっていた。とても優しくて、思いやりもあって、なかなか良い性格の持ち主だった。だからこそ、俺にそれ程なついてくれたのだろう。

そんなある日、その人は韓国の歌を歌ってくれた。その時はその韓国語の歌詞は全然解らなかったが、次の日ケイタイで自分で録音した二行ほどの歌をメールで送ってくれた。それと韓国の人気歌手が歌っている同じ歌のYouTubeのリンクも送ってくれた。それが、下記のとても美しい歌だった。これをみて、歌詞の内容もわかった。それは悲しい別れのラブソングだった。恐らく、その学生はもうすぐお別れの日が来るのがわかっていたのだろう。

Note:　「ヨーコ」という日本の名は学生の韓国の名前が「ヨー＜なんとかなんとか＞」なので、俺が付けた日本の名前だった。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KxHQxJmUhc

Lyrics, English translation: How Are You Doing? Hwayobi

How are you doing? After you left my presence?
Are you still as beautiful as you were?
Still, forgetting you, pushing you out of my memories is so hard

In the small alley where it continues to rain,
With the music which we treasured so much,
I'm happy for a while, at times like that,
Tears of happiness flow

Sometimes, is it hard for you as well?
Do you hear about me from people?
The person who is at your side now,
Does she not hurt you? No, probably she wouldn't.

Is this finally the end? Is it really?
The days we promised each other,
Did you love me? Or did you not?
Though now this doesn't matter for you

I know, that we couldn't do anything about it,
That you were in pain as much as me.

Are you listening? Though it might sound funny,
You, who left me, I still, love you

박화요비 - 어떤가요
Park Hwayobi - Oddongayo

어떤가요 내곁을 떠난이후로

대 아름다운 모습 그대로 있나요

아직까지 당신을 잊는다는게

기억 저편으로 보낸다는게 너무 힘이드는데

하루 종일 비내리는 좁은 골목길에

우리 아끼던 음악이 흐르면

잠시라도 행복하죠 그럴때면

너무 행복한 눈물이 흐르죠

가끔씩은 당신도 힘이드나요

사람들에게서 나의 소식도 듣나요

당신곁을 지키고 있는 사람이 당신

당신을 아프게하진 않나요 그럴리 없겠지만

이제 모두 끝인가요 정말 그런가요

우리 약속했던 많은 날들을

나를 사랑했었나요 아닌가요

이젠 당신에게 상관없겠죠*

알고 있어요 어쩔수 없었더는걸

나만큼이나 당신도 아파했다는 걸

듣고 있나요 우습게 들릴테지만

날 떠난 당신 아직도 그대를

(keyword: yeo Korean love song)

2011 Summer: Morning Glory

今年のアサガオ

今年の夏は暑さがひどく数ヶ月も雨が降っていない。例年通り五月に私の好きな夏の花「アサガオ」の種を蒔いた。ところが、暑さと水不足でその成長はあまり好ましいものではなかった。二種類のものがあって、小さい色とりどりの花を咲かせるのが八月ごろから咲くようになった。

Every year I plant morning glory seeds in May. However, because of the extreme hot weather we had this year, morning glory did not grow like before. Growth was slow. I planted two types of seeds; one was "Mixed Morning Glory" and the other "Heavenly Blue". Mixed Morning Glory is as the name indicates, the flowers are mixed colors of red, purple, light blue, and light pink. While, Heavenly Blue flowers are large and deep blue color. Both types are my favorite summer flowers. The Mixed Morning Glory started to bloom in August. When September came and, finally, in mid-September Heavenly Blue started to show signs of flowers. The buds started to grow. A few days ago, I saw a couple of deep blue beautiful flowers.

"Heavenly Blue"という青い大きい花を咲かせる品種はなかな育たなかった。でも、あきらめずに、暑さに耐えられるように毎日のように水をまき続けた。九月になって、夜には少しは気温も低くなるようになったころ　つぼみが出始め、そして、２、３日前にやっと２、３の花が咲いた。　それで、カメラを庭に持ち出したものの、写真にむいているのは見つからなかった。　写真におさめたのは前から咲いていた小さい赤や水色や薄ピンク色のアサガオだった。これらなら前に撮れたのだが、"Heavenly Blue" というのが咲くのももうすぐだと思っていたのでカメラを庭に持ち出すことは今まで無かった。小さいのが好きではないということではない。綺麗な色とりどりの花を咲かせるので、"Heavenly Blue"と違った魅力がある。

１、２週間後ぐらいには"Heavenly Blue"って云う奴も写真にいい花を見せてくれるだろうとを楽しみにしている。　だが、アサガオの季節ももう終わりに近ずいている。最後まであきらめねーぞ。だからお前も”がんばれ”よオー。いい写真を撮ってやるからな、、、。

Next morning I brought out my Canon camera (Canon 20D) to take a few photos. I waited this long for Heavenly Blue to bloom. But that day, photos I took were those of Mixed Morning Glory. Mixed Glory flowers were showy and better subject for the photos. In a couple of weeks, Heavenly Blue morning glory flower should present me with beautiful ones for my photos. I can hardly wait for them.

keywords: Morning Glory "Heavenly Blue" flowers　アサガオ　朝顔　”夏の花”