Questions about Japanese quotations, or about the grammar of quotation.
0
votes
3answers
324 views
How to write “Aikido Wa Ichiban Budo Desu” [closed]
"Aikido Wa Ichiban Budo Desu" is supposedly a quote from 植芝 盛平, Ueshiba Morihei (founder of Aikido).
Most people translate this as "Aikido is first and foremost a true Budo".
My question is: how are ...
4
votes
2answers
267 views
Japanese saying meaning “It's always the darkest under the lighthouse”
What is the original Japanese saying meaning, "It's always the darkest under the lighthouse"? (reference)
1
vote
2answers
205 views
Which kana/kanji are used to write Yoshitoshi's death poem?
Browsing for art late at night, I came across this beautiful poem by Yoshitoshi, said to be his death poem:
yo o tsumete
terimasarishi wa
natsu no tsuki
translated as:
holding back ...
9
votes
1answer
305 views
Making sense out of Japanese proverbs
I was never able to make any sense out of the following Japanese proverbs or idiomatic expressions:
豆腐の角に頭をぶつけて死んでしまえ。
'Hit your head against a corner of a cake of tofu, and die.'
...
5
votes
1answer
382 views
と、て、って Quoting Particle Usage
と、て、って
What's the difference between these three quoting particles?
Is there any grammatical difference, or are they just casual/formal variations of one another?
田中さんは行きましょうと言った
田中さんは行きましょうて言った
...
2
votes
1answer
181 views
Which kanji and/or hiragana are used to write this snippet of Japanese that appears in the novel Gravity's Rainbow?
It purports to be a kamikaze chant, and appears near the end of the book. Being basically a Gravity's Rainbow nerd, I have always wanted to be able to write it out in order to impress other literary ...
1
vote
1answer
154 views
幼いときに老けて、老いて子供に戻る。Can anyone explain the nuances of this sentence?
幼いときに老けて、老いて子供に戻る。
I can make a few guesses as to the specific meaning but I'm not sure which one is right.. does anyone know what would be the most correct translation of this sentence?
3
votes
1answer
110 views
Is と necessary after a quoted phrase?
Hi all I was wondering if we want to treat a quoted phrase as a "noun", is it necessary to put a と particle behind the quoted phrase?
For example:
A) The "received" in "received from Tom"
...
1
vote
0answers
212 views
Looking for the original japanese of this haiku [closed]
I'm sure this is a translation of a haiku but I'm not able to find the original text or even the author.
As the sun
goes down the birds
land one by one.
I've been trying to Google it ...
5
votes
2answers
139 views
What does 「父なる砂漠」mean?
There is a line in the 「この涙 星になれ」, which is a song of ZARD (Sakai Izumi):
父なる砂漠 コイン投げて 明日を占おう
I don't understand the meaning of 「父なる砂漠」. It's quite strange to think of it as the desert that has ...
5
votes
1answer
171 views
“感動した！(like ex-primeminister Koizumi)” Where does this reference come from?
After showing a project to a Japanese coworker, he answered me the following:
感動した！、小泉元総理風
I found this amusing, but I couldn't get the Mr.Koizumi reference. Is there a story behind this?
