Amusing Japanese words
This made me laugh so much earlier, while I was looking for Japanese terms that I could use as chapter titles in my dissertation...
"Shudō (衆道), the tradition of love bonds between a seasoned and a novice samurai was held to be "the flower of the samurai spirit" and formed the real basis of the samurai aesthetic. It was analogous to the educational Greek pederasty and an honored and important practice in samurai society. It was one of the main ways in which the ethos and the skills of the samurai tradition were passed down from one generation to another.[citation needed]
Another name for the bonds was bidō (美道 "the beautiful way"). The devotion that two samurai would have for each other would be almost as great as that which they had for their daimyo. Indeed, according to contemporary accounts, the choice between his lover and his master could become a philosophical problem for samurai. Hagakure and other samurai manuals gave specific instructions in the way that this tradition was to be carried out and respected. After the Meiji Restoration and the introduction of a more westernised lifestyle, the practice died out."
And in more blatant terms, courtesy of Wikipedia again...
I kind of want to use the term Shudō or bidō in my dissertation, but I'm not entirely sure that they will fit with the rest of it... especially not as I will probably need to put what the words mean either as part of the chapter heading or as part of an appendix. It would be ok if I didn't divulge any other information...
Although I have quite a list of fun Japanese words, I'm not sure how many can be used, so I currently have: Kendo 'the way of the sword' and Bushido 'way of the warrior' to use. I could use Samurai 'to serve' but I really don't want to do that, as I'm talking about The Last Samurai.
Nihonjinron is a cool word meaning 'theories/discussions about the Japanese' but I don't know where I could use that. There's hundreds of terms related to music (which ironically is the chapter I'm struggling with a name for... purely because for the music terms theres not just one type of music used in the film).
I think weapons are out, but I might have to mention katana just for the hell of it (thats the weapon that's synonymous with the Samurai... that sword... yes, you know the one. They think katana is the samurai's soul)
Kimono literally means 'something one wears'
Kensho means 'seeing the nature' as in one's true nature.
Mārga means the 'path' to enlightenment.
Gendai budō means 'modern martial way'
Koryū bujitsu means 'old style martial art/science'
Jodo means 'the way of the stick'
Then there's things like the festivals, Matsuri, or particular festivals like Hanami, the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Festival, which I could use, because Sakura are very symbolic in Japan, and Katsumoto talks about them in the film.
There's also terms like ikebana - the Japanese art of flower arrangement, and ukiyo-e 'pictures of the floating world'
So I'm a bit stuck. If you know any Japanese, or you have any ideas that you'd like me to see me get into my dissertation, (names wise preferably) please let me know. No I can't use Shudō to get F1 slash turned Japanese into it, I've already been asked that one!
"Shudō (衆道), the tradition of love bonds between a seasoned and a novice samurai was held to be "the flower of the samurai spirit" and formed the real basis of the samurai aesthetic. It was analogous to the educational Greek pederasty and an honored and important practice in samurai society. It was one of the main ways in which the ethos and the skills of the samurai tradition were passed down from one generation to another.[citation needed]
Another name for the bonds was bidō (美道 "the beautiful way"). The devotion that two samurai would have for each other would be almost as great as that which they had for their daimyo. Indeed, according to contemporary accounts, the choice between his lover and his master could become a philosophical problem for samurai. Hagakure and other samurai manuals gave specific instructions in the way that this tradition was to be carried out and respected. After the Meiji Restoration and the introduction of a more westernised lifestyle, the practice died out."
And in more blatant terms, courtesy of Wikipedia again...
I kind of want to use the term Shudō or bidō in my dissertation, but I'm not entirely sure that they will fit with the rest of it... especially not as I will probably need to put what the words mean either as part of the chapter heading or as part of an appendix. It would be ok if I didn't divulge any other information...
Although I have quite a list of fun Japanese words, I'm not sure how many can be used, so I currently have: Kendo 'the way of the sword' and Bushido 'way of the warrior' to use. I could use Samurai 'to serve' but I really don't want to do that, as I'm talking about The Last Samurai.
Nihonjinron is a cool word meaning 'theories/discussions about the Japanese' but I don't know where I could use that. There's hundreds of terms related to music (which ironically is the chapter I'm struggling with a name for... purely because for the music terms theres not just one type of music used in the film).
I think weapons are out, but I might have to mention katana just for the hell of it (thats the weapon that's synonymous with the Samurai... that sword... yes, you know the one. They think katana is the samurai's soul)
Kimono literally means 'something one wears'
Kensho means 'seeing the nature' as in one's true nature.
Mārga means the 'path' to enlightenment.
Gendai budō means 'modern martial way'
Koryū bujitsu means 'old style martial art/science'
Jodo means 'the way of the stick'
Then there's things like the festivals, Matsuri, or particular festivals like Hanami, the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Festival, which I could use, because Sakura are very symbolic in Japan, and Katsumoto talks about them in the film.
There's also terms like ikebana - the Japanese art of flower arrangement, and ukiyo-e 'pictures of the floating world'
So I'm a bit stuck. If you know any Japanese, or you have any ideas that you'd like me to see me get into my dissertation, (names wise preferably) please let me know. No I can't use Shudō to get F1 slash turned Japanese into it, I've already been asked that one!