Discovering the meanings of Hanami 花見

4 May 2021

At our April Kanji Club group, we celebrated Spring with Hanami 花見, the Japanese custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, often cherry blossoms. 

We explored the visual meanings of the two kanji and sounds, as well as some other kanji characters and their radical parts, and we practiced related vocabulary. Also we enjoyed our lighthearted kanji quiz which helped bring sounds, connections and meanings to each of the kanji parts and so make more sense when brought together as various kanji. 

Also we read some kanji, katakana and hiragana in sweets packaging Blair had collected – the cute and sugary Koala’s March! 

The next date is May 10th (the second Monday of the month), here is the Eventbrite link –
https://kanji-club-may-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

Celebrating 雛祭り Hinamatsuri at Kanji Club

1 April 2021

The theme for March was 雛祭り Hinamatsuri Dolls’ Festival. Otsukaresamadeshita – well done to those who joined! 

Hinamatsuri was on March 3rd – it is a popular festival known as the Girls’ Festival or Dolls’ Festival. Impressive carpeted platforms display beautiful ornamental dolls of the Emperor, Empress, knights, musicians and offerings in Heian period clothes – most households have one, and some of them can be really large and colourful. 

After Blair discussed the kanji and history and meanings and sounds, we wrote them in kanji and also hiragana, and looked at the the parts of the kanji and the radicals, before enjoying some related vocabulary practice and then fun quiz time with some very varied kanji and words.

Tanoshikatta ne – and we hope you also enjoyed it! 

Please join us at any of our Kanji Club groups on zoom, you don’t need any language or writing experience.

Our next online session by Zoom↓😉
Monday 12th April 7.00pm – 8.30pm UTC+1
https://kanji-club-apr-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

The last day of winter 節分 Setsubun

1 March 2021

At our cultural and language group Kanji Club on zoom we enjoyed marking 節分 Setsubun – the end of winter in the Japanese calendar – even although many of us had snow and ice where we were! 

A couple of us followed tradition and threw some cooked beans at demons to keep out the bad luck and bring in good fortune. In Japanese culture oni demons are much loved, often cute with horns and red bodies.

We learned about the parts of each kanji character, and how to write them in Kanji (Chinese characters, also used in Japan) and Japanese Hiragana. We also practiced pronunciation of this and the chosen vocabulary for the month, before Blair brought out the fun and educational Kanji Quiz game!

Our next online session by Zoom↓😉
Monday 8th March 7.00pm – 8.30pm UTC+0
https://kanji-club-mar-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club

Discovering Japanese and Chinese characters at 漢字 Kanji Club

2 February 2021

The theme for our first Kanji Club was お正月 Oshougatsu – New Year! It was a lively and lovely group, thanks to everyone who took part and embracing the language and cultural elements of the class.

We learned about Japanese and Chinese characters, finding out from Blair how to engage with them, and looking at the fascinating history and evolution of styles over thousands of years. 

We had time for our writing practice, and vocabulary related to New Year and the chosen kanji for the group, and our enjoyable kanji quiz game which opens up the meanings and sounds of the characters. 

Category: Art Groups Tags: Kanji Club