Understanding Japanese Writing in Spirited Away

Understanding Japanese Writing in Spirited Away Hayao Miyazakis critically acclaimed movie Spirited Away (Ã¥ Æ'㠁 ¨Ã¥ Æ'Ã¥ °â€¹Ã£  ®Ã§ ¥Å¾Ã©Å¡  Ã£ â€") won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film at the 75th Annual Academy Awards ceremony. It tells the story of 10-year-old Chihiro, who is accidentally thrown into another dimension, a spirit world. While working at a bathhouse catering to spirits and gods, she tries to rescue her parents from a spell that transformed them into pigs. It is the highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history, surpassing Titanic. When it was shown on TV in January 2013, it had the highest audience rating ever for a movie. 46.2% of households in Japan tuned in. Reading subtitles would distract viewers from the amazing visuals, and the English dubbed version features a voice cast and translators who did their jobs with sensitivity. Although the overall atmosphere of the film endures, Spirited Away is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, so something gets lost in translation for viewers who miss out on the sounds of Japanese in the original Japanese dialogue. Understanding the Japanese language a little better can help you better appreciate certain aspects of the film. Understanding the Japanese Title The Japanese title is Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. Sen (Ã¥ Æ') and Chihiro (Ã¥ Æ'Ã¥ °â€¹) are the names. To (㠁 ¨) is a particle which connects nouns. It translates into and. Kami (ç ¥Å¾) means god or spirit, and kakushi (éš  Ã£ â€") is the noun form of the verb kakusu (to hide). Kamikakushi (ç ¥Å¾Ã©Å¡  Ã£ â€") means hidden by spirits, hence the English wordplay of Spirited Away. How Does Chihiro Become Sen? When Chihiro is forced into slave labor at the bathhouse which Yubaba rules, she writes down her name, Ogino Chihiro (è  »Ã©â€¡Å½Ã¥ Æ'Ã¥ °â€¹) in the contract. (In Japanese the family name comes first.) Yubaba steals three characters from her name. The one character left (the third one) becomes her new name. The reading of this kanji character is sen (Ã¥ Æ') as well as chi. Translating Significant Japanese Characters The character written on the curtain at the front gate of the bathhouse is the hiragana yu. It means bath. The kanji character for yu is also seen on the chimney of the bathhouse. The bathhouse is called Aburaya (æ ² ¹Ã¥ ±â€¹). (Abura means oil, and ya is the suffix used for a store.) The kanji sign Aburaya is seen above the gate of the bathhouse. The flag on the bathhouse also has the kanji character for abura (æ ² ¹). The Theme Song, Itsumo Nandodemo Here are the lyrics of the theme song â€Å"Itsumo Nandodemo (㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€šÃ¤ ½â€¢Ã¥ º ¦Ã£  §Ã£â€šâ€š) for the movie. â€Å"Itsumo† means â€Å"always,† amd â€Å"nandodemo† means â€Å"any numbers of times.† å‘ ¼Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  §Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€¹ èÆ' ¸Ã£  ®Ã£  ©Ã£ â€œÃ£ â€¹Ã¥ ¥ ¥Ã£  §yondeiru mune no dokoka oku de 㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€šÃ¥ ¿Æ'è º Ã£â€šâ€¹ Ã¥ ¤ ¢Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¨ ¦â€¹Ã£ Å¸Ã£ â€žitsumo kokoro odoru yume o mitai 㠁‹ã  ªÃ£ â€"㠁 ¿Ã£  ¯ æ• °Ã£ Ë†Ã£  Ã£â€šÅ'㠁 ªÃ£ â€žÃ£ â€˜Ã£â€šÅ'㠁 ©kanashimi wa kazoekirenai keredo 㠁 Ã£  ®Ã¥ â€˜Ã£ â€œÃ£ â€ Ã£  §Ã£  Ã£  £Ã£  ¨ 㠁‚㠁 ªÃ£ Å¸Ã£  «Ã¤ ¼Å¡Ã£ Ë†Ã£â€šâ€¹sono mukou de kitto anata ni aeru ç ¹ °Ã£â€šÅ Ã¨ ¿â€Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€šÃ£â€šâ€žÃ£  ¾Ã£  ¡Ã£  ® 㠁 Ã£  ®Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ³ 㠁 ²Ã£  ¨Ã£  ¯kurikaesu ayamachi no sonotabi hito wa 㠁Ÿã   Ã© â€™Ã£ â€žÃ§ © ºÃ£  ® é â€™Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€™Ã§Å¸ ¥Ã£â€šâ€¹tada aoi sora no aosa o shiru æžÅ"㠁 ¦Ã£ â€"㠁 ªÃ£   é â€œÃ£  ¯Ã§ ¶Å¡Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¦Ã¨ ¦â€¹Ã£ Ë†Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã£ â€˜Ã£â€šÅ'㠁 ©hateshinaku michi wa tsuzuite mieru kedo 㠁“㠁 ®Ã¤ ¸ ¡Ã¦â€°â€¹Ã£  ¯ 光をæŠ ±Ã£ â€˜Ã£â€šâ€¹kono ryoute wa hikari o dakeru 㠁•ã‚ˆã  ªÃ£â€šâ€°Ã£  ®Ã£  ¨Ã£  Ã£  ® é â„¢Ã£ â€¹Ã£  ªÃ¨Æ' ¸sayonara no toki no shizukana mune ã‚ ¼Ã£Æ' ­Ã£  «Ã£  ªÃ£â€šâ€¹Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£   Ã£ Å' è€ ³Ã£â€šâ€™Ã£ â„¢Ã£  ¾Ã£ â€ºÃ£â€šâ€¹zero ni naru karada ga mimi o sumaseru 生㠁 Ã£  ¦Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€¹Ã¤ ¸ Ã¦â‚¬ Ã¨ ­ ° æ ­ »Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  §Ã£ â€žÃ£  Ã¤ ¸ Ã¦â‚¬ Ã¨ ­ °ikiteiru fushigi shindeiku fushigi èŠ ±Ã£â€šâ€šÃ© ¢ ¨Ã£â€šâ€šÃ¨ ¡â€"ã‚‚ 㠁 ¿Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ªÃ£ Å Ã£  ªÃ£ Ëœhana mo kaze mo arashi mo minna onaji

Martial Tells the Story of Gladiators Priscus and Verus

Martial Tells the Story of Gladiators Priscus and Verus In 2003, BBC produced a television docudrama (Colosseum: Romes Arena of Death aka Colosseum: A Gladiators Story) about Roman gladiators that The Naked Olympics writer Tony Perrottet reviewed, in Television/DVD: Everyone Loves a Bloodbath. The review seems fair. Here is an excerpt: The early phases of the show are squarely embedded in the time-honored tradition of gladiator movies, so much so that there is an inevitable sense of dà ©j vu. (Is that Kirk Douglas slaving away in the quarries? Doesnt that gladiator look a bit like Russell Crowe?) The rustic prisoners first glimpses of imperial Rome, the initial matches in the gladiatorial schoolall are part of the tried-and-true formula. Even the music seems familiar.Still, this new foray into the genre quickly distinguishes itself from its forebears. That final sentence bears repeating. I would recommend watching this hour-long show if it ever comes back to television. The climax of the show is a dramatization of a known Roman fight between gladiators Priscus and Verus. When they fought each other it was the highlight of the games for the opening ceremonies of the Flavian Amphitheater, the sporting arena we usually refer to as the Roman Colosseum. The Gladiator Poem of Marcus Valerius  Martialis   We know of these capable gladiators from a poem by the witty Latin epigrammatist Marcus Valerius Martialis aka Martial, who is usually referred to as coming from Spain. It is the only detailed such as it is description of such a fight that has survived. Youll find the poem and an English translation below, but first, there are some terms to know. ColosseumThe first term is the Flavian amphitheater or Colosseum which was opened in 80, a year after the first of the Flavian emperors, Vespasian, the one who had built most of it, had died. It does not appear in the poem but was the events venue.RudisThe second term is rudis, which was a wooden sword given to a gladiator to show that he was freed and released from service. He might then start his own gladiatorial training school.The FingerThe finger refers to a type of end to the game. A fight could be to the death, but it could also be until one of the combatants asked for mercy, by raising a finger. In this famous fight, the gladiators raised their fingers together.ParmaThe Latin refers to a parma which was a round shield. While it was used by Roman soldiers, it was also used by the Thraex or Thracian style gladiators.CaesarCaesar refers to the second Flavian emperor, Titus. Martial XXIX English Latin While Priscus drew out, and Verus drew out thecontest, and the prowess of both stood long inbalance, oft was discharge for the men claimed withmighty shouts; but Caesar himself obeyed his ownlaw: that law was, when the prize was set up, tofight until the finger was raised; what was lawful hedid, oft giving dishes and gifts therein. Yet was anend found of that balanced strife: they fought wellmatched, matched well they together yielded. Toeach Caesar sent the wooden sword, and rewards toeach: this prize dexterous valour won. Under noprince but thee, Caesar, has this chanced: whiletwo fought, each was victor. Cum traheret Priscus, traheret certamina Verus, esset et aequalis Mars utriusque diu,missio saepe uiris magno clamore petita est; sed Caesar legi paruit ipse suae; -lex erat, ad digitum posita concurrere parma: - 5 quod licuit, lances donaque saepe dedit.Inuentus tamen est finis discriminis aequi: pugnauere pares, subcubuere pares.Misit utrique rudes et palmas Caesar utrique: hoc pretium uirtus ingeniosa tulit. 10Contigit hoc nullo nisi te sub principe, Caesar: cum duo pugnarent, uictor uterque fuit. Martial; Ker, Walter C. A London : Heinemann; New York: Putnam