4

Oh dear. I know much this site hates these sorts of things. Sigh. Here I go.

OK. I have a mug which a friend gave to me many long years ago. They weren't Japanese; they just thought it was a nice mug and figured I could read it. Which at the time, I couldn't. Here are four pictures showing the written text.

かち 読めない漢字 ことは 仲よき

I can actually read most of this: 仲よきことは？しきかち。

I have some guesses for the kanji I can't read: 美しい or 楽しい. In fact, a web search brings up the following

仲よきことは美しきかな

But I'm not sure that that character really looks anything like 美. I'm just guessing at 楽.

What say you all?

|improve this question
  • 4
    「仲よきことは美しきかな」 is almost certainly what it is. I have a painting with this phrase on it too (although it's preceded by 「いつの日も」. – istrasci Jul 14 '17 at 20:53
  • is the かな rhetoric? – Felipe Oliveira Jul 14 '17 at 21:10
  • 1
    「な」の変体仮名ですね。　benricho.org/kana/na.html　これ→　benricho.org/kana/kana-img/f4f0.gif – Chocolate♦ Jul 14 '17 at 23:26
  • 1
    Wiktionaryとか・・　ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%A5%BD　「楽」「異体字」でググると何か見つかるかも。(でも、この写真の湯呑には「仲よきことは美しきかな」って書いてありますね、istrasciさんの言うように。最初の2 strokes が大きくかかれてるんです) – Chocolate♦ Jul 14 '17 at 23:40
  • 1
    @Chocolate That's extremely helpful. Thank you. And, I learned a new word, 湯‌​呑. What a great word!!! – A.Ellett Jul 14 '17 at 23:52
4

Here, I may as well add this as an answer now.

「仲よきことは美しきかな」 is almost certainly what it is. This appears to be a well-known phrase, and it matches this print I have (although it's preceded by 「いつの日も」) .

phrase

Sometimes the 「かな」is written with the kanji 哉. Also, as pointed out by @chocolateさん, the な on your cup is a 変体仮名 which is why it's kind of looks like ち.

|improve this answer
  • such an interesting picture. any idea what the picture means: like, why is there a snake there? – A.Ellett Jul 15 '17 at 18:27
  • No clue. It was a present I received from my Japanese teacher probably 15 years ago. – istrasci Jul 15 '17 at 18:29
  • well, it's very nice. thank you for sharing. – A.Ellett Jul 15 '17 at 19:25
  • 干支がヘビ年だったとか・・・？ヘビの絵って、よくヘビ年に飾ってあるような気がする。なんか、絵馬も描いてあっておめでたい雰囲気。その巾着の中身はもちろん💰かな...? – Chocolate♦ Jul 16 '17 at 4:39
  • @Chocolate Thanks for the explanation. That totally makes sense, and so many clues to that too. :-) – A.Ellett Jul 16 '17 at 16:13

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.