Intermediate Japanese Language

Lunch-time sessions at PCCBy Peter Missen

Session 6

Japanese cuisine

Objectives for this session

Japanese Cuisine

Useful sentences

Customs at meal times

Grammar

Sentence endings

Culture – Japanese holidays Nov & Dec

Counters

Animals: big, small, and birds.

Japanese Cuisine

nihon ryouri 日本料理 ryouri = Cooking (2 Kanji: Cooking + Science)

In Japan their staple foods are rice and several types of noodles

gohan 御飯 = Boiled rice

(2 kanji: honour + boiled rice )

Noodles

soba - thin, greyish-brown, buckwheat flour

udon - thick, white, wheat flour

Japanese noodles can be served hot or cold with soy or dashi flavourings.

ramen - Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat stock broth are now popular

Mealsgohan 御飯 can also mean meal.

asa gohan 朝御飯 = breakfast(3 kanji: morning + meal)

hiru gohan 昼御飯 = lunch(3 kanji: noon + meal)

ban gohan 晩御飯 = dinner(3 kanji: evening + meal)

Ingredients found in Japanese cuisine

Rice Beans Eggs Flour Fruits Fu (wheat gluten) Meats Mushrooms Noodles Soy products Vegetables

Plus lots of Seafood: Finned fish Sea mammals Shellfish Crab Eel Roe Processed seafood Seaweed

Useful sentences - question

chiriso-su

ga

arimasu ka

Do you have chilli sauce?

チリソースがありますか。

Useful sentences – possible replies

iie, arimasen.

いいえ , ありません。

No, we don’t have.

hai, arimasu.

はい , ありま す 。Yes, we do have.

Useful sentences - question

chiriso-su wa

doko ni

arimasu ka.

Where is the chilli sauce?

チリソースはどこにありますか。

Useful sentences – possible replies

chiri so-su wa shita kara san dan me desu.

チリソースは下から三段目です。

The chilli sauce is on the 3rd shelf from the bottom.

shita = below/bottom

dan = counter for shelves

me = makes an ordinal number (st, nd, rd, th )

Customs at meal timesBefore starting to eat a meal say:itadakimasu.

いただきます。to humbly receive.

After the meal say:gochisousamadeshita.

ごちそうさまでした。"It was a feast“.

Customs at meal times

Eat what is given!It is customary to eat rice to the last grain.

Being a picky eater is frowned on, and it is not customary to ask for special requests or substitutions at restaurants.

It is considered ungrateful to make these requests especially in circumstances where you are being hosted, as in a business dinner environment.

Good manners dictate that you respect the selections of the host

Customs at meal times

Chopsticks Never stick your chopsticks vertically into a rice

bowl! This resembles incense sticks that are usually placed vertically in sand during offerings to the dead.

Using chopsticks to spear food or to point is frowned upon.

It is very bad manners to bite chopsticks.

Grammar – Sentence endings

The are a couple of common sentence endings for emphasis.

ne ね “ you agree with me don’t you”though no reply is required!

yo よ “ I’m telling you so take notice”

Sentence endings – ne examples

ii tenki desu ne.

いい天気ですね。Nice weather isn’t it?

sou desu ne.

そうですね。Is that so?

Sentence endings – yo exampleshonto desu yo.

ほんとですよ。I am telling the truth!honto = truth

densha ga kimashita yo.

電車が来ましたよ。The train is here!

Culture section – holidays & festivalsNovember and December National holidays:November 3rd Culture Day (bunka no hi):

A day for promotion of culture and the love of freedom and peace. On culture day, schools and the government award selected persons for their special cultural achievements.

November 23rd Labour Thanksgiving Day (kinro kansha no hi): A national holiday for honouring labour.

December 23rd Emperor's Birthday (tenno no tanjobi): The birthday of the current emperor is always a national holiday. If the emperor changes, the national holiday changes to the day of birth of the new emperor. The current emperor is Akihito who became Japan's 125th emperor in 1989.

Culture section – holidays & festivalsNovember and December Non-national holidays:

November 15th Seven-Five-Three (shichigosan): A festival for children: girls of age three and seven, and boys of age three and five. During shichgosan the Japanese pray for the good health and growth of their children. On November 15th, or the closest weekend, the children tend to visit a Shinto shrine dressed in kimono.

Long bags of sweets that are decorated with turtles and cranes are given to the children. Sweets, cranes, and turtles, all symbolize longevity in Japan.

Culture section – holidays & festivalsNovember and December Non-national holidays:

December 24th and 25th Christmas: Christmas was initially introduced to Japan with the arrival of

the first Europeans in the 16th century. While Christmas is not a national holiday more and more people are taking up traditions such as decorating their home, giving presents to friends and celebrating the event with a special meal.

Retail stores and shopping malls seem the most enthusiastic about Christmas, where trees, santa clauses, and other seasonal decorations can be found several weeks in advance. Some public places also feature Christmas lights.

The traditional Japanese Christmas food is their version of a Christmas cake, usually based on a sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Yumyum…

Culture section – holidays & festivalsNovember and December Non-national holidays:

December 31st New Year's Eve (omisoka):

On New Year's eve, toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles), symbolizing longevity, are served.

A more recent custom is watching the music show "kohaku uta gassen", a highly popular TV program featuring many of Japan's most famous J-pop and enka singers in spectacular performances.

Counting – AnimalsSmall animals (+ fish and insects) use suffix “hiki”. e.g. cats, dogs …

1 is ippiki 2 is nihiki3 is sanbiki 4 is yonhiki5 is gohiki 6 is roppiki7 is nanahiki8 is happiki 9 is kyuuhiki 10 is juppiki

一 匹二 匹三 匹四 匹五匹六 匹七 匹八 匹九 匹十 匹

Counting – AnimalsLarge animals use suffix “tou”. e.g. whale, giraffe, horse, cow…

1 is ittou2 is nitou 3 is santou4 is yontou 5 is gotou 6 is rokutou7 is nanatou8 is hattou 9 is kyuutou10 is juttou

一 頭二頭

三 頭四 頭五頭

六 頭七 頭八 頭九 頭十 頭

Counting – AnimalsBirds use suffix “wa”.

1 is ichiwa2 is niwa 3 is sanba4 is yonwa5 is gowa 6 is roppa 7 is nanawa8 is happa9 is kyuuwa 10 is juuwa

一 羽

二 羽

三 羽

四 羽

五 羽六 羽

七 羽

八 羽

九 羽

十 羽

Final Wrap upLanguage Learning & Development Community It’s for all of us to use, especially now the sessions have ended.At the weekend there were 38 members

Thank you Barbara for putting up the scans…

Any feedback?

HomeworkNothing as this is the last session!!!

Enjoy your new found knowledgeAny questions ?

See you at Nara Sushi on Albert Road at 6:30 p.m. tonight.Bring your own drink (Cash only)