This week, we’ll continue our exploration of various occupations in Japanese. 料理人 (りょうりにん, ryouriin) – cook; chef 給仕 (きゅうじ, kyuuji) 1. waiting on a table; serving (at dinner) 2. waiter; waitress; waitperson; server; cabin boy; bellboy; page; pageboy 3. office boy; office girl ウェイター (ueitaa) – waiter ベルボーイ (berubooi) – bellboy ポーター (pootaa) – porter 弁護士 (べんごし, bengoshi) – lawyer;… Read more »
We’ll continue our exploration of how various occupations are called in Japanese. 写真家 (しゃしんか, shashinka) – Photographer カメラマン (kameraman) – cameraman; photographer; cinematographer 画家 (がか, gaka) – painter; artist 運転士 (うんてんし, untenshi) – driver; train driver; train engineer; motorman; taxi driver 歌手 (かしゅ, kashuu) – singer 作曲家 (さっきょくか, sakkyokuka) – composer プログラマー (puroguramaa) – programmer 技術者 (ぎじゅつしゃ, gijutsusha) – engineer;… Read more »
What’s your occupation? In this vocabulary list, we’ll learn the names of some occupations in Japanese. 仕事 (しごと, shigotou) – work; job; business; occupation; employment; vocation; task 職業 (しょくぎょう, shokugyou) – occupation; business Of course, we have to start off by learning what the word ‘occupation’ is in Japanese. As you might be able to tell from the word definitions, 仕事 is a more general… Read more »
Today’s kanji spotlight is on the word 歌! You may have seen this kanji around recently… Yup. It’s the kanji for song, and it appeared in the previous post as the Kouhaku theme for this year, “夢を歌おう”, or Sing the dream. Sing? Song? I’ll explain in a bit! But first, let’s look at how the kanji is written! Now back… Read more »
Ah the food of life! We all eat. To get nutrients, to satisfy our hunger… But how do you describe food in Japanese? This list will teach you just that. 味覚 (みかく, mikaku) – taste; palate; sense of taste 味 (あじ, aji) – flavor; flavour; taste What’s the difference between 味覚 and 味? 味覚 is referring to yourself, your sense of taste, whereas 味 is referring… Read more »
河豚 (ふぐ, fugu) – puffer fish; blow fish; fugu; globefish; swellfish 眼梶木 (めかじき, mekajiki) – swordfish (Xiphias gladius); broadbill 梶木 (かじき, kajiki) – marlin; swordfish; spearfish; sailfish 帆立 (ほたて, hotate) – Japanese scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis); Yesso scallop 螺貝 (つぶがいt, subugai) – whelk (esp. Neptunea and Buccinum spp.) 雲丹 (うに, uni) – sea urchin; sea urchin eggs 蛍烏賊 (ほたるいか, hotaru ika) – firefly squid (Watasenia scintillans); sparkling enope… Read more »
浅蜊 (あさり, asari) – Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) 赤貝 (あかがい, akagai) – blood clam (Scapharca broughtonii); ark shell 蛸 (たこ, tako) – octopus 海獺 (らっこ, rakko) – sea otter (Enhydra lutris) 鰻 (うなぎ, unagi) – eel (esp. the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica) 平目 (ひらめ, hirame) 1. flounder (esp. the large-tooth flounders of family Paralichthyidae, but also lefteye flounders of family Bothidae) 2. bastard halibut;… Read more »
海月 (くらげ, kurage) – jellyfish 蟹 (かに, kani) – crab 海鼠 (なまこ, namako) – sea cucumber (Holothuroidea spp.) 海馬 (かいば, kaiba) 1. seahorse; sea horse 2. walrus 竜の落し子 (たつのおとしご, tatsu no oto shigo) – seahorse; sea horse This is an interesting name for sea horse. It literally means ‘fallen child of the dragon’. 海豹 (あざらし, azarashi) – true seal (animal); earless seal 海驢… Read more »
貝類 (かいるい, kairoi) – shellfish 貝 (かい, kai) – shell; shellfish 魚介類 (ぎょかいるい, gyokairoi) – marine products; seafood; fish and shellfish 類 (るい, roi) means type, sort, kind… So 貝類 refers to all the various types of shellfish, and 魚介類 refers to all the various types of fish. 鮪 (まぐろ, maguro) – Tuna (Thunnus spp.) 魬 (はまち, hamachi) – young Japanese amberjack; young yellowtail 鯖… Read more »
海 (うみ, umi) – sea; ocean; waters 海面 (かいめん, kaimen) – sea level; (surface of) sea 海洋底 (かいようてい, kaiyoutei) – ocean floor; sea floor; seabed 藻場 (もば, moba) – seaweed bed; seaweed forest 魚 (さかな, sakana) – fish 鮫 (さめ, same) – shark 海がめ (うみがめ) – sea turtle 珊瑚 (さんご, sango) – coral 海老 (えび, ebi) – prawn; shrimp; lobster; crayfish 海星 (ひとで, hitode) – starfish; sea star;… Read more »