Classical Japanes

Does anyone know what Masayoshi was talking about - classical Japanese? is it a lot of kanji or something else entirely? What's the difference btwn classical Japanese and the language today?


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In case anyone was interested, I have scanned one of my best maps of
Kyoto and have posted it under "Photos". I hope that you guys can put
it to good use. Btw, I was intrigued at how close Mibu and the
Nishi-Honganji temple are to Shimabara...

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, GCW wrote:

> Does anyone know what Masayoshi was talking about - classical
Japanese? is it a lot of kanji or something else entirely? What's
the difference btwn classical Japanese and the language today?

Classical Japanese, or "Bungo" ("Literary-language"), as it's called,
basically uses an incredible amount of kanji and kana (syllabary
characters) that have been dropped as of 1868. Also, the type of
spoken bungo depended on what social class the person was from. So, a
farmer would talk differently than a samurai, the shogun would talk
differently than a ronin, and the Emperor's bungo was so archaic that
even when Showa Tenno (Emperor Hirohito) delivered his surrender
speech over the radio in 1945, most of the people had no idea what he
was talking about.

By the way, the word "Bungo" in this case is not to be confused with
the former province of Bungo (now Oita Prefecture) in Kyushu...

--M.

You know what they say "location is everything"...most of the
Shinsengumi were a bunch of well paid bachelors anyways...what do
you expect :)
But ofcourse I'm sure they all had good excuses like "we have to go to
the red-light district to gather information" because after all I'm sure the
Ishin Shishi frequented these same areas too...

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "Shimazu Masayoshi"
wrote:

> In case anyone was interested, I have scanned one of my best maps of
> Kyoto and have posted it under "Photos". I hope that you guys can put
> it to good use. Btw, I was intrigued at how close Mibu and the
> Nishi-Honganji temple are to Shimabara...
>
> --- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, GCW wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know what Masayoshi was talking about - classical
> Japanese? is it a lot of kanji or something else entirely? What's
> the difference btwn classical Japanese and the language today?
>
> Classical Japanese, or "Bungo" ("Literary-language"), as it's called,
> basically uses an incredible amount of kanji and kana (syllabary
> characters) that have been dropped as of 1868. Also, the type of
> spoken bungo depended on what social class the person was from.

So, a

> farmer would talk differently than a samurai, the shogun would talk
> differently than a ronin, and the Emperor's bungo was so archaic that
> even when Showa Tenno (Emperor Hirohito) delivered his surrender
> speech over the radio in 1945, most of the people had no idea what he
> was talking about.
>
> By the way, the word "Bungo" in this case is not to be confused with
> the former province of Bungo (now Oita Prefecture) in Kyushu...
>
> --M.

Attracts the Christians, too, eh? So THAT's what Amaksa Shogo & his
puritan sister were doing in Shimabara (in RK). Was there a
Walgreen's on every other corner, too, with a feed & water station
(Meiji gas station) opposite? ;-)

phil (feeling way too frisky)

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "Tiffany" wrote:
> You know what they say "location is everything"...most of the
> Shinsengumi were a bunch of well paid bachelors anyways...what do
> you expect :)
> But ofcourse I'm sure they all had good excuses like "we have to go
to
> the red-light district to gather information" because after all I'm
sure the
> Ishin Shishi frequented these same areas too...
>
> --- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "Shimazu Masayoshi"
> wrote:
> > In case anyone was interested, I have scanned one of my best maps
of
> > Kyoto and have posted it under "Photos". I hope that you guys can
put
> > it to good use. Btw, I was intrigued at how close Mibu and the
> > Nishi-Honganji temple are to Shimabara...
> >
> > --- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, GCW wrote:
> >
> > > Does anyone know what Masayoshi was talking about - classical
> > Japanese? is it a lot of kanji or something else entirely?
What's
> > the difference btwn classical Japanese and the language today?
> >
> > Classical Japanese, or "Bungo" ("Literary-language"), as it's
called,
> > basically uses an incredible amount of kanji and kana (syllabary
> > characters) that have been dropped as of 1868. Also, the type of
> > spoken bungo depended on what social class the person was from.
> So, a
> > farmer would talk differently than a samurai, the shogun would
talk
> > differently than a ronin, and the Emperor's bungo was so archaic
that
> > even when Showa Tenno (Emperor Hirohito) delivered his surrender
> > speech over the radio in 1945, most of the people had no idea
what he
> > was talking about.
> >
> > By the way, the word "Bungo" in this case is not to be confused
with
> > the former province of Bungo (now Oita Prefecture) in Kyushu...
> >
> > --M.

> Attracts the Christians, too, eh? So THAT's what Amaksa Shogo & his
> puritan sister were doing in Shimabara (in RK). Was there a
> Walgreen's on every other corner, too, with a feed & water station
> (Meiji gas station) opposite? ;-)

No, not the same Shimabara. Amakusa Shougo's Shimabara is in Kyushu.
That was the site of the bloody Shimabara Uprising of the 1630s, where
the Tokugawa slaughtered the entire Christian population of Shimabara
down to the last man...I may love the Tokugawa in many ways, but this
is definitely _not_ one of them.

I have no idea why the red-light district in Kyoto is called Shimabara.

--M.

Speaking of Japanese Christians, I have something to say about Maro
(everyone's freaky Go player).

Is it just me, or is he based on Amakusa Shiro (the _real_ leader of
the Shimabara Uprising)? He looks like most of the portraits of
Amakusa that I've seen. Plus, I've seen several crosses in scenes with
Maro or that spellcaster. And , in Episode 17 of PMK, Maro is burned
alive-- much like the "mino odori" ("raincoat dancing") torture with
which many of the Japanese Christians died-- forced to wear straw
coats and then set alight...seeing that was almost too creepy for me...

--M.

OH, there's a nice image to go to bed with. If I have nightmares
now, Masayoshi, I'm blaming you. :-) Quick someone... give me a
nice Saitou fantasy to take instead. (Of course, I realize no one
may see this until AFTER I wake up in the morning... )

phil (who didn't need this on top of working with the Ripper murders
all evening... sheesh!)

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "Shimazu Masayoshi"
wrote:

> Speaking of Japanese Christians, I have something to say about Maro
> (everyone's freaky Go player).
>
> Is it just me, or is he based on Amakusa Shiro (the _real_ leader of
> the Shimabara Uprising)? He looks like most of the portraits of
> Amakusa that I've seen. Plus, I've seen several crosses in scenes

with

> Maro or that spellcaster. And , in Episode 17 of PMK, Maro is burned
> alive-- much like the "mino odori" ("raincoat dancing") torture with
> which many of the Japanese Christians died-- forced to wear straw
> coats and then set alight...seeing that was almost too creepy for

me...

>
> --M.

>Quick someone... give me a
> nice Saitou fantasy to take instead. (Of course, I realize no one
> may see this until AFTER I wake up in the morning... )

Um...fundoshi pics, anyone? Phil needs a Saitou fantasy.

--M.