A short while ago, I started a series of pictures called “Niihama Guys.” Those were taken back in 2010 when I attended the Niihama Taiko Matsuri.
However, this is not a reason to forget about the Niihama Gals!
Actually, I will probably leave you with them for a few days, as while I will post during the next three weeks, I will do it much less frequently than usual because my parents are coming to visit me, discover Japan and meet 華. The good news is that while I may not have much to share with you for a few weeks, I will have plenty of fresh content very soon, as I will show them around Kagawa.
No worries! Enjoy the time with your parents and I bet they are looking forward to meeting the new addition to the family 🙂
Thanks.
They’re sleeping now, so I can spend some time online. 😉
However, I’m pretty exhausted from the day, and may call it a day soon too.
Lovely happy photo! Have a great time with your parents and looking forward to all your sightseeing blog posts.
Yeah, as I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’m not too comfortable taking pictures of random people. However, when they saw me and my camera, they started posing and all, and I’m the one who got a little shy (that day was my first attempt at shooting people in Japan), which is a shame because pretty much every teenager in town had outrageous hair and clothes that day.
Niihama is a pretty small town, and the Taiko Matsuri is such a big event that the town welcomes more visitors than there are people that week-end, so you can imagine the big event and excitement it is for the local teenagers.
Hi! Nice to meet you! I had to figure out who 華 is so I clicked on the link! She’s sooo pretty! 🙂 I’m sure your nights are a little more sleepless lately, no? 🙂
While the girls in the photo are very interesting to look at I’m too fascinated with your daughter’s name! 🙂 I’d only ever seen “Hana” written as 花 and it is my cat’s name. 😛 I’m sure you just wanted to give your little beauty a tougher name to write. 😉 Forgive my bad humor.
What is the difference between 花 and 華 though, if you don’t mind my asking? 🙂
I remember in a lot of Japanese dramas I’ve watched though, they are always introducing themselves and explaining which kanji is used to spell their name (if you can call it spelling) but still, I was surprised to see Hana written with a Kanji I never knew of. 😛
By the way, I’m brand new to your blog, but congratulations on your new beautiful little baby girl, and I will be following you!! I can’t wait to see the posts from showing your folks around!
Hello Alyse and welcome to the blog. Glad you like it.
Well, to answer your question I have little to no responsibility in choosing the Kanji for my daughter’s name, I definitely don’t know enough about Kanji for that.
Kanji are chosen according to a bunch of factors, I don’t know nor understand half of them. Among them, of course, the meaning matters, but also sometimes a link to the parents’ Kanji (not in our case), as well as the number of strokes (I can’t explain, I just know it’s a factor) as well as the aestheticism of the Kanji, something very subjective also, as well as very abstract for a non-Japanese, although I find myself liking more or less symmetrical Kanji better, but that’s just me.
Concerning my daughter’s name, while the meaning of “Hana” that foreigners know the most is “flower”, there are many more meanings to that word (including “nose”).
According to my wife, the Kanji for “flower” (花) is not that great – not sure according to what, but I also don’t find it “that great” just from its looks, so she chose 華 which means something along the lines of “beauty”. The only other person that I know who’s named Hana uses two Kanji for her name (don’t know which ones).
This is also the reason people sometimes explain what Kanji is used for their names, because every name has a meaning, but you cannot always (rarely actually) guess it without seeing it written.
Ahh! 🙂 I also love the way 華 looks with it’s symmetry. 😛 I agree that 花 is not as pretty and maybe it’s just because it’s so simple.
But then again, that’s part of the reason I like it. Engraving 花 on a pet tag is cheaper, haha!
Thank you so much for the great answer. 🙂 I wonder if I can find a good article on how parents choose the kanji for their childrens’ names… I will put that on my list of things about Japan I want to research, hehe!