Wordless Wednesday: Japanese Toilet Translation

Wordless Wednesday: Tell Us How

This Bird Helped Me Find Something

Sometimes When I Flip the Bird

Going  back through the files, I decide to do more research, to find current information.

This creature, a Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) has been seen on the blog a few times.

Once in awhile, I hook up my Japanese audience with links, they can read.

Sometimes, I get more information by, poking Japanese into Google search Japan.

A Latin nomenclature, might work or, I use Japanese to copy and paste for searches.

Fooling around with Japanese, which I'm fairly horrible at, can become time consuming.

How About a Japanese Picture Dictionary

That's what this bird helped me discover and, it's quite a handy tool.

Call it a "pictionary" if, you like. That's what I'm gonna do, from now on.

It has pictures, English, Japanese Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji listed.

Animals, birds, fish, insects and flowers, are what I'd use it for, mostly.

If you're lost for words in Japan, this site could help with almost anything.

They have astronomy, basic words, banks, bathroom, body organs, clothing, sports and more.

This is a goldmine, worth bookmarking because it has thousands of uses.

For example let's just say, you get upset because it's hard to find large size underwear in Japan.

Walk down the aisles until you find somebody, who looks friendly and say, "Help."

Then if, you saved this on your smartphone, show them a picture of what you want.

They'll point you in the right direction and, probably be amazed at this technology.

Get ready, get set, email this link to yourself  "Japanese Pictionary."  That's what I did !

Okinawan Folktale: Kouri Island -- The First Man and Woman

An Adam and Eve Sort of Legend

 

 

This photo of a mural comes from the front of a religious center on Kouri-Jima.

Inside the building are all sorts of mysterious things about the island.

There's a Japanese children's book with this story in it, you can purchase if, you like.

 Outside, facing the ocean is the adult version of the story and, some different artwork.

The first man and woman are wearing some clothes in this rendition.

When stuff, gets etched in stone, there might be some truth, to the myth.

So, lately, I've been Geo-tagging images and shooting any text, I find.

Behind the man and woman are some utaki (shrines) where people pray.

In the left side of this photo is a plaque inscribed with Japanese Kanji.

Using the Google Translate camera, a broken English version of the story was obtained.

Take this image and scan if for translation if, you like.

An easier (to understand) interpretation was found at Chicago Okinawa Kenjinkai.

The First Humans of Kouri-Jima

They came down from above and, lived naked on this small island.

The only source of food was rice cakes, which came down from the skies on a daily basis.

They figured it would be a good idea, to store some food, in case the supply got cut off.

Once they started stashing rice cakes, the daily delivery suddenly stopped.

They began, begging the full moon, to start sending food again because they were starving.

Their prayers weren't answered and, they had to hunt for food for themselves.

One day, they noticed a pair of dugongs swimming near the shore.

That's when they realized male and females had different body parts.

Somebody must have gotten embarrassed and, they decided to start wearing clothes.

Clothing didn't stop them from being the best of friends and, they made lots of babies.

And, when the babies got older, they carried on the family tradition, making more babies.

Now, you know, where all these people on Okinawa came from!

MORE OKINAWA FOLKLORE

5 More Action GIFs from an Eisa Festival and Drinking Afterwards

And A New Word in the Vocabulary

 

 

First, a little explanation about how these photos get done.

When I attend one of these events, I'm not out there having fun; it's work.

To get the best photos, you have to move around a lot.

The idea, for me, is to compose photos that make travelers want to visit these festivities.

My cameras, are never in Auto Mode.

All exposure settings are made manually so, I am continuously checking the light meter.

And, most of the time, using a tripod to steady the shots.

Sometimes, the camera gets ripped off the tripod and, I have to sit on the ground.

The knees and elbows become my bi-pod.

There's no telling who the lady in pink, might be but, she enjoyed having her picture taken.

 This part of the Eisa dance, I haven't figured out, yet.

One of these days, I'll have to ask one of my dance instructor friends about it.

Maybe, they are simulating the planting of rice.

After, shooting the photos above, I decided to move where the sun was behind me.

Not too wild about using flash, I wanted to get as many natural light shots as I could.

When the sun went down, I was in the office, downloading cameras.

After a few hours in the sun, air conditioning felt great.

Some amazing photos were captured so, it was a productive day for me and I'm happy.

Next Came Nominication Time

 

 

It's the way a lot of business is conducted in Japan.

Take the Japanese word for drinking: nomi.

Then, combine it with the English word: communication and you get: nominication.

Well, I have unknowingly been doing that for decades but, just learned the word, recently.

 Now, I know what to tell the missus, the next time I'm out 'til 4AM.

In this sort of business, you have to do plenty of nominicating ! 

If you think I'm joking: READ THIS

Plant Images: Shellplant (Alpinia zerumbet) in Bloom

Also Known as Shell Ginger

 

Research on this flower led me to the School of Chinese Medicine.

That's because Mrs. RyukyuMike made all kinds of claims about the stuff.

Sannin (Okinawan dialect) or Gettoo (Japanese) is a well known and popular herb.

She says, it keeps snakes away.  And I say the dogs can do that.

It keeps bugs away, too.

Well, I wonder why there's so many snakes and bugs in the jungle, then.

That's where I first noticed these white flowers blooming; in the dang jungles.

Spiders, snakes, gnats, mosquitoes, butterflies and all kinds of critters live in the jungle.

 

 

And, she tells me when you're 64, in Okinawa, you should eat mochi wrapped in those leaves.

I don't really like that sticky rice-paste-tasting stuff.

It reminds me of the slimy wallpaper paste they used before wood paneling was invented.

Anyway, I told her, it's too late.  I'm already 65 !

Thinking she's just trying to get me wasting money on another plant, I grabbed a camera and left.

They have these plants in lots of yards around my neighborhood.

So, I shot some with the Canon G12 handheld.

Some folks think the flowers look like seashells.

Here's one I found, just starting to open.

China Already Rules Half the World

 

And, I just learned, they have more English speaking people than the USA.

So, I Googled "Alpinia zerumbet, Plant, China, English" just for the heck of it. 

Bingo !

It got me into the Hong Kong Baptist University Library. The site is in English.

They use the shellplant to cure all kinds of things.

Malaria, belly aches, bad hearts, gas, the screaming willies, you name it and they have a cure.

Not to appear as some sort of traitor, I got the USDA site.

That's the United States Department of Agriculture and they speak English, too. 

Another great place to learn about these flowers is Dave's Garden.

Now, I have to pack-up and hit the trail.

Somewhere out there, one of these plants is waiting for me to dig it up and bring it home.

There's no sense letting the wife waste good beer money to buy one !