Onomatopoeia

And continuing with the theme of SOUNDS....

The other day we had fun trading onomatopoeia with a friend who is learning English.

Some of the most common word-sounds in Japanese are:

doki doki (dough-key, dough-key) =  nervous (like the sound of a beating heart)

pecha-kucha (peh cha coo cha) = the sound of girls giggling and chatting

za za (zah zah) = the sound of heavy rain

waku waku (wa coo wa coo) = excited

goku goku (go coo go coo) - glug glug (while drinking)

And then we got talking about the sounds animals make!

wan wan = ruff ruff
nyaa nyaa (knee-yah, knee-yah) = meow meow

And my favorite:

ko ke ko kou (coh kay coh coooooh) = cock-a-doodle-do!

Can you think of some onomatopoeia in English? :)

Ishiyaki Imo

Another sound we sometimes hear outside is a plaintive, slow, sing-song, chant, "shi..... yaaaaa kiiiii... iiii mo..o...o..." which is difficult to describe but you know it when you hear it!  It is played over a loudspeaker from a truck moving very slowly down the street.  I guess you could compare it to an icecream truck in the United States.  There seem to be at least several in our neighborhood, and they appear in the afternoon and evenings.

Mmmm... but does this look like an icecream truck?

Look closely and notice the fire burning in the back!

The driver is selling not icecream, but.... sweet potatoes!    This is an Ishiyaki Imo truck.


Ishi (stone), yaki (grilled), imo (sweet potato). The potatoes are cooked right in the back of the truck.

The other day on my way home from errands, I stopped at one truck to get Kaela an after-school snack:

The woman lifted up the lid of the roaster to reveal the delicious potatoes.  The potatoes you see on the little shelf are for demonstration only - to show the two types available.

I chose my type of potato, she showed it to me for my approval, weighed it, and put it into a paper bag.    

 Add a little brown sugar, and... yum!

Setsubun

Setsubun marks the day before the official start of spring.  It is recognized on February 3rd by...  bean-throwing!

In shops and homes, people toss roasted soybeans into the air while chanting "Out with evil, in with good fortune!"  The idea is to chase away bad things and invite good things in.

In a family with young children, the father may wear a Devil or Goblin mask while the children throw beans at him - just for fun of course!

Some of the shops in our neighborhood had window displays, such as this one at a shop called Blue and White:

 The display features depictions of goblins: 

It is said that, after tossing the beans in your home, you should eat the number of beans that corresponds with your age, to invite good health for the coming year.

Friday morning in my neighborhood, shops were busy preparing for Setsubun.  I bought some roasted soybeans - we enjoyed them but I confess we didn't keep careful count of how many we ate!

I sent some beans to Noelle in college, but I wonder how she'll feel about the idea of tossing beans up in the air in her dorm room! 

Tokyo Quilt Show

"Wishes" by Yoko Ueda - in response to 3/11

The Great Tokyo International Quilt Festival draws huge crowds every January.  I went twice and it was exhausting, but inspiring.

  I was happy to be tall while navigating my way through the crushing crowds at the vendor area!

This year the show included many quilts created in response to 3/11 -  the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.  Here are several I thought RSS students would like:

"Life Goes On" by Akane Sakamoto

"With a Single Mind" by Misaki Okabe

"You Are Not Alone" by Ryoko Fujimoto

 (I included more of these 3/11 quilts on my other blog:  aquilterbynight.blogspot.com.)

Another mysterious sound...

Last time I posted about a sound we hear outside each night - the fire prevention volunteers.

There's another sound that was a mystery until recently, when one of Tommy's school friends explained it.

Every evening at 5:00 pm we hear a short (maybe 10 seconds) instrumental tune being played, from a loudspeaker.  It sounds a bit like the music on a carousel, but it's slower and gentler.

It turns out that the tune is a signal for children in the neighborhood to go home (presumably for dinner).

Children of all ages here freely walk around, play in the park, and take trains or busses home alone to and from school.  It is not unusual for me to be on a bus and see just one young child traveling alone.  This is perfectly natural here and not considered unsafe.

So, the 5:00 pm broadcasted song indicates a sort of curfew.  I imagine that Japanese Moms are home cooking and they know that when the song is played, their children will hear it and immediately get home.  Sounds like a great system to me!