crafting in japanese
March 14th, 2006 by heatheri fully believe in learning by doing. i was always one of those kids who would get frustrated when someone would be showing me something, i wanted to grab a hold, and say, ‘let me do it!’ and i think learning while doing is important for language learning. that is the idea behind the japanese recipes at j! j!
but i’m keen on learning japanese terms for crafting, and i think there’s alot of other people who might find this helpful. in the crafting community, japanese crafts books are really popular. see ‘crafting japanese’ to see the community grown up around them. even if people don’t read japanese. did i mention these books are popular? the styles, the projects, and the books’ photographs are leading a new direction in crafting. so i’m in a great position (in japan) to learn japanese and craft and the same time, and hopefully share some of what i learn. (not that you need japanese to use these books, since the instructions are so well done!)
i was going to write it in my craft blog, but it’s going to be mainly japanese related, i think, so it belongs here.
one thing i have to say first is that i go through the book with language exchange partners and they don’t even know some of the words i’m coming across, so it’s a bit esoteric!
Notes
人形 - にんぎょう- ningyou (person-shape) = Doll
作りたい / つくりたい / tsukuritai / (i) want to make
この人形を作りたいです. / このにんきようをつくりたいです. / I would like to make this doll.
My shopping list of Materials - 材料 / ざいりょう / zairyou = Materials
1. 布 / ぬの / nuno / fabric 55 x 40cm
綿 / めん men = cotton
無地 / むじ / muji = plain
白 / しろ / shiro
綿無地の白
めんむじ の しろ
men muji no shiro = plain white fabric
2. 化繊 / かせんめん/ kasenmen / Stuffing, 50g
this is funny, it’s a hard kanji, my partner could not write it without looking it up. she said a more common word is パンヤ , which sounds to me like pan-ya or bakery. i think craft books use かせんめん, but in the shop i would say パンヤ。
3. 毛糸 / けいと / keito / Wool yarn, 15g/strong>
4. 刺繍糸 / ししゅういと / shishyuuito / Thread
茶色 / ちゃいろ / cha-iro / brown
赤 / あか / aka / red
Next, I need buy these things down at the shop.
After this, I’m planning on posting some of the instructions as I do them.
April 20th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
My names leon and i’ve been learning japanese for five years (and getting pretty good at it). Im sixteen and im going to japan in two years. I hope world issues like fuel reserves running out and global warming dont stop me from enjoying all the exciting cultural aspects of Japan.
I hope to be fluent by the time i’m 20.
im also pretty kick ass at french and german as well. If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?
April 21st, 2006 at 10:53 am
Its me again, i thought of another question. How would you answer the question “why have you come to Japan?” or “why are you studying japanese?” because it’s a bit weird if you just say “i saw it in a film and thought it was cool” or “ooh im a j’wannabe”. for me the answer is probably that i really like languages and i wanted to learn an asian language because it’s completely different in stucture from the european ones. Also, it has an edge on someone who can only speak a european language.
There is also the aspect of Japanese culture that is completly enthralling. Because it’s so far away and relatively unthought about in Europe or America, it makes it almost wondrous and your curiosity catch fire.
Tell me if i’m getting a bit carried away.
Arigato gozaimasu (my computer can’t type japanese)
ps. how fluent are you in speaking and writing?
May 9th, 2006 at 9:50 pm
こんにちは！ ウパコと申します。
日本語を勉強されているようで、感動しました！！
頑張ってくださいね♪
人形つくりにチャレンジされているのでしょうか？
私は千代紙と言う和紙で人形を作るのが大ｽｷです☆
Hello! I’m a japanese girl,Upako.
I found your BLOG and i was glad to see how you’re learning Japanese.
I’ve benn trying to learn English but it’s tough….to me.
Are you intersted to make japanese dalls?
I can’t make it by fabric but I like to make japanese dolls by japanese paper,called “Chiyo-Gami”(a kind of “Washi”)
I’m sorry for my poor English!!Hope-you could understand what I’m writting here…!!
December 23rd, 2006 at 2:28 pm
hi, my name is novi and i’m from indonesia.
i was googling about japanese craft dan found your site.
how cute nina-chan is!
btw, i was interesting in making japanese doll, but using japanese paper (washi or chiyogami) and i read that upako-san (the one who left comment before me) also likes to make japanese paper doll.
i would like to ask you a favor, can you inform me upako-san’s email? because i want to contact her about japanese paper doll. please?
thank you very much ^_^