太宰府天満宮参道の店で見えたもの、英語にする!!参道にはお土産を始めて、日本的な食べ物とか沢山売っています。しかし、英語で説明しようとなると、難しいです。ちょっと、英語の説明を作ってみました。

太宰府天満宮参道の店で見えたもの、英語にする!!

1 お土産屋で目についたもの、そのものではなく、それを題材にしてデザインしたもの、で英語にすぐに説明できそうにないのを集めまて、英文を作りました。

2 太宰府限定のお土産物もありますが、どこの観光地に行ってもありそうなもの、例えば、招き猫とかダルマ、とか、もあります。

3 日本人は言葉遊びで名前に付けるパターンが多くて、苦労しています。五角箸(合格箸)とかです。

具体的に英語で説明してみました。

招き猫ひょうたん下駄甘酒置くとパス五角箸(合格箸)合格精神注入棒合格鉢巻きあまおう(を使ったチーズケーキ)木刀和風スターバックス明太子トトロ巾着健康踏み竹ダルマ梅の香ひじき和傘棒天/串天ぷら団子鬼瓦最中けん玉お地蔵様久留米かすり鯉のぼりちりめんひな人形がまぐちハローキティー厄年八方ふさがり背守りおかき/あられ/せんべいもつ鍋ガチャガチャ易学曼荼羅匂い袋うそ熊手梅ヶ枝餅和菓子

招き猫  Beckoning Cat: A figurine of a cat sitting upright with a raised front paw like a gesture of beckoning.   One of the lucky charms.  A raised right paw beckons money while a left one beckons people. 

ひょうたん  Gourd: A container made of a dried fruit of a “hyoutan”, gourd in a shape of a letter 8 (the lower circle is much bigger), with its flesh removed. It is also a lucky charm item.   It is often designed in dishes, paintings, kimono and others.   Sennari hyoutan, a species of hyoutan bearing a lot of fruits.   It was used for Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s military sign pole, and later the image got a lucky charm for victory.   

下駄  Geta: A wooden footgear with no overcover like sandals. A flat wooden base with a thong on the upper side and two teeth for the men’s use or two flat pieces for the lady’s use on the sole side.  Few wear a pair of geta today, but you can see some wearing them and yukata for a summer festival costume. 

甘酒  Sweet Sake: Sweet drink made by fermenting rice with mold.  It is called Sake, but in most cases, it has no alcohol.  It is often served or sold in temples and shrines on festivity days like the New Year.

置くとパス(オクトパスOkutopasu: Small red stuffed doll in a figure of an octopus, which the name comes from.  The Japanese pronunciation “Okutopasu” is the same meaning as the sentence “Place and pass.” More clearly put, “If you put it somewhere in the place where you study, you can pass the examination.”  This is a lucky charm souvenir at Dazaifu Shirine, which a lot of people visit to pray for their success in passing the examinations.

五角箸(合格箸Gokaku Bashi: Chopsticks in a shape of a pentagonal prism.  Gokaku, meaning pentagonal prism has a pun for the word meaning “pass the exam.”  Like Okutopasu, it is also a lucky charm souvenir at Dazaifu Shrine. 

合格精神注入棒  Gokaku-Seishin-Tyunyu-Bo: A flat stick for hitting like the one used for Zazen mediation.   An encouragement or prayer phrase like “Don’t lose your concentration,” or “I wish for the academic achievement.” is written on the stick.   Another lucky charm souvenir at Dazaifu.   

合格鉢巻き  Gokaku-Hachimaki: Hachimaki is a Japanese headgear made of thin cloth.  It is sold at souvenir shops of Japanese goods with a Japanese phrase on it.  In Dazaifu, the phrase is “Gokaku.”  A lucky charm for passing the examination.  

あまおう(を使ったチーズケーキ)  Amaou: A Fukuoka brand of strawberries. In Fukuoka, this is often used for toppings on the cake or stuffings inside.  A-Ma-O-U is an acronym of Akai (red), Marui(round), Okii(big) and Umai (delicious).  And you will find it is indeed A-Ma-O-U when you eat one. 

木刀 Wooden Sword:  For no clear reason, Bokuto, wooden swords, are often sold at souvenir shops in sightseeing spots.  Actually, a lot of boys on school trips were (or maybe are) attracted by this item.  That may be why the wooden swords are placed there.  

和風スターバックス  Starbucks in a style of a Japanese house: This shop of the world chain coffee sstores is located on the approach road to Dazaifu Shrine.  It was designed by a famous architect, Kengo Kuma. The upper side of the shop has a lot of wooden beams stretched and crossed, and even the entrance is surrounded by a lot of thrusted wooden beams in a combination.    

明太子  Spicy Cod Roes:This red-color roe sack (in a small size) covered with chili peppers is called “Mentaiko.”  It is good with steamed rice.  One of the Fukuoka Specialty foods.   

トトロ  Totoro: It is a character from the animation “My neighbor Totora” produced by Ghibli Studio.  Totoro is a big monster like a bear, meek and kind.    It is so popular that it is used for a motif of stuffed dolls.   

巾着  Drawstring Purse: It is a traditional bag for coins and small items.  The open top is shut and bundled up with a string.  The bags are often designed with the patterns typically Japanese.

健康踏み竹  Bamboo Stepper for Health: It is a cut-off piece of a bamboo in a shape of half cylinder, the curved side of which people step on repeatedly to keep healthy.  Some oriental medicine says there are a lot of acupuncture spots on foot soles.  Therefore, it is good for health to step on this bamboo gear to stimulate them.   

ダルマ  Dharma Doll: Dharma is the name of a legendary Buddhism Zen monk, but when we use this word, we often refer to the figurine representing him.  The legend says he lost his arms and legs while he meditated for nine years (facing the wall), so the Dharma figurine consists of only a red body with a big white face. This doll is made in the way when it is forcefully slanted sideways, almost horizontally, it soon returns to its sitting position, so it got a symbol of never-give-up spirit.  A big dharma is often sold with no pupils painted in the eyes, and when one will begin something big, he often gets one and paints only one pupil as a prayer for success.  After he fulfills it, he paints the other pupil.  A kind of lucky charm, too.

梅の香ひじき  Dried Hijiki Seaweed in a Flavor of Pickled Plum: The shop named Fukutomi sells this food in Fukuoka.  It is made by mixing soy-sauce tasted dried hijiki seaweeds, crunchy pieces of sour pickled plum and white sesames.  It is a very good furikake for steamed hot rice.  Furukake is a finely chopped or powdered food sprinkled (furikakeru) on hot rice to add a good flavor. 

和傘  Japanese Umbrella: Japanese traditional umbrellas are made of mainly bamboo as a frame and oil-coating Japanese paper as a canopy.  They have their own beauty.  Unlike Western umbrellas, Japanese ones pass light through, and the sunlight makes their patters and water marks uniquely more beautiful.  

棒天/串天ぷら  Skewered Tempura : Bou-ten means “stick tempura.”  In this case, tempura is not what tempura nonorally means.  Tempura is made by frying and grilling fried fish cake.  This tempura in a shape of a thin long box is sold with a stick.  Fast food good for eating while walking around.     

団子  Dango Dumpling: It is a kind of Japanese traditional sweets.  Two or three small round dumplings, made mainly of glutinous rice, are skewered and grilled.   It is eaten with sweet sauce like ‘mitarashi,’ sweet teriyaki sauce, ‘azuki,’ sweat bean paste or ‘kinako’, powdered soy beans with sugar. 

  There is a phrase, “Hana Yori Dango,” literally meaning “Dango over Flowers.”  It refers to a practical person who doesn’t care about surficial beauty, and sometimes to a girl who is more interested in eating food than love romances

鬼瓦最中  Monaka in a shape of Oni Gawara: It is a name for the sweets sold in the shop named ‘Tenzan’ in Dazaifu.  Monaka is a kind of traditional Japanese sweets, wafers, made of glutinous rice, sandwiching azuki sweet bean paste.  This shop’s monaka is characteristic of wafers in a shape of Oni Gawara.  Oni Gawara is a tile placed at the edge of a rooftop, representing a face of Oni, an scary ogre.  This scary face is said to drive away the evil. 

けん玉  Kendama: A toy, Cup and Ball.  It is a Japanese traditional toy, consisting of a small hammer-shaped handle with a spike on the top and a string tied with a ball at the end.  Both edge ends of the handle are cup-shaped.   A player shakes it, throw a ball up in the air, try to place the ball on a cup or through the spike.  There are many tricks from easy ones to super hard ones, for Kendama.  Believe it or not, a world cup tournament of kendama is held to compete the players’ skills.     

お地蔵様  Jizo-san: Jizo is a Buddha statue on a roadside or in a temple. San is affectionately added to the name.   It is so popular that you can see it everywhere.   It is often thought to be a god for watching child growth.  To wish for this, people often put a hood and a red apron on a Jizo-san to make it look more like a small child.  Jizo is a kannon god, who changes its figure to save the people’s soul.

久留米かすり  Kurume Kasuri: Kasuri refers to a weaved pattern or a cloth with that pattern.  The pattern is characteristic of the way some parts are kasuri, scraped.  It got very popular for kimono in the Edo period and developed uniquely in some places.  Kurume is one of them.  The feature is the cotton indigo cloth weaved with white or blue patterns.

鯉のぼり  Koinobori, Carp Streamer:  It is customary to hang up Carp Streamers outdoors on May the 5th, Child Day.  It is for praying for the growth or future promotion of a young boy.  It is based on a Chinese story of a carp that goes up water falls and turns into a dragon.  Carp are a symbol of promotion.

ちりめん  Chirimen, Silk Crepe: It is an expensive type of silk cloth with tiny wave wrinkles.  Tango, today’s Shiga Prefecture, is a main place for producing Chirimen. 

ひな人形  Hina Dolls: Dolls decorated for Hina Festival Day, March the 3rd.  They represent a society of the ancient imperial court.  On the steps carpeted with red cloth, dolls are placed.  From the top, emperor and empress, three court ladies, five musicians, guards, furnish and others.

がまぐち  Gamaguchi, Purse: It is a change purse with a metal clasp. This clasp, opened widely,  looks like a big mouth (Kuchi) of a toad (Gama). 

ハローキティー  Hello Kitty: The general term for the characters of the goods, mainly stationeries, produced by Sanrio Company.  The main character is Kitty White, called “Kitty-chan.”  This is a white cat character wearing a red ribbon on its left ear.  This character data is set:

  Sex: female

  Birthday: November 1st, 1974

  Birthplace: in the suburbs of London

  Height: five apples high

  Weight: three apples heavy

  Blood Type: A

  Good at :baking cookies

  Favorite food: apple pies made by Mom

Now Hello Kitty is very popular around the world, and it has become a symbol of “kawaii” culture in Japan.

厄年  Yakudoshi, Unlucy Age: It is believed some ages in life time are unlucky years: 25, 42, 61 for males, 19, 31, 61 for females (normally according to the old method of counting ages). You can have this bad luck driven away by the rituals done by temples or shrines.

八方ふさがり  No way in all the eight directions: It comes from some Chinese Astrology.  This astrology tells the good direction or bad direction of every age to each individual.  And it says some ages have no good direction, that is, no good luck in all the eight directions.   Shinto Shrines take care of this bad year by offering the rituals.  It also refers to a bad situation with no solution to get out.

背守り  Lucky Charm on Back: A patch of cloth is stitched on the back bottom of the collar of the clothes worn by a young child.   The thread is of a different color, or some mark or image is on the patch to make it stand out. 

おかき、あられ、せんべい  Okaki, Arare, Senbei/Three kinds of Rice Crackers: Okaki and Arare are made of sticky glutinous rice.  Okaki is big and Arare small.   Senbei is made of less sticky ordinary rice. 

もつ鍋  Motsunabe, Giblets Pod Dish: It is a pod dish whose main ingredient is giblets.  Other ingredients are vegetables (cabbage, garlic chive, red chill pepper and garlic), tofu and noodles (added toward the end).  It is cooked with soy sauce or miso soup.  It used to be the food in the Fukuoka City area, and now it is eaten all over Japan. 

ガチャガチャ  Gacha-Gacha, coin machine for capsule toys: A small vending machine.  You can check the content of the toys on the scription and picture on the machine, and see what are inside in the machine, and then, insert coins, turn the handle, and get one capsule.  But you never know which capsule it is until then. 

易学  Eki, Chinese Fortune Telling:  It is a fortune telling by picking up some bamboo sticks.  By reading the result of picking them up, the teller can show you the luck, with the idea of yin and yang.

曼荼羅  Mandala: This is a picture depicting the Buddhism gods systematically arranged to show the world of enlightenment, the Pure Land, in the teachings of esoteric Buddhism.  In the center of the picture is the biggest image of a god Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana), which is surrounded by some of the second biggest images of gods, which are surrounded by more of the third biggest images, and so on.  It can be considered not only a teaching but also an art.

匂い袋  Sachet: A small bag of scent.  The bag made of excellent texture contains flavor materials such as clove, musk and sandalwood.  Some ladies carry one with them as a perfume, or others place one in the drawer of clothes. 

うそ  Woodcraft of a bird Uso: The English word for Uso is bullfinch.  This woodcraft is sold as a lucky charm in Dazaifu souvenir shops. A legend says that when Mitizane Sugawara offered a ritual to drive the evil, numerous bees coming up stung the participants, and then bullfinches flew up and ate them all to save the people.  Dazaifu shrines hold a ritual named this bird by bringing and changing the woodcrafts every year.  This is called Uso-Kae (change bullfinches), which can mean Lie Change.

熊手  Kumade, Rake: A fan shaped-bamboo rake which looks like a hand of a bear.   It is one of lucky charms, because it is considered to a tool for raking up blessings.  It is ornamented with lucky things like a treasure boat and big gold coins.  It is sold in a Torinoichi Festival. 

梅ヶ枝餅  Umegae-Mochi: A grilled rice cake named Umegae-Mochi.  Umegae means a twig of plum tree.  This comes from a story of Mitizane Sugawara.  He was deep in sadness, kept indoors in Dazaifu, so an old lady wanted to cheer him up and give mochi food.  But as he was confined inside, to make mochi reach him, she stuck it to a twig of plum tree and offered it to him. 

和菓子  Wagashi, Japanese sweets: There are a lot of Japanese sweets, but the word ‘wagashi’ specially refers to traditional Japanese sweets, characteristic of artistic handcraft.  The figures and colors are impressive.  They represent a variety of nature things or seasonal things.  In tea ceremonies, wagashi are served.  Their sweetness goes well with the bitterness of green tea.  When the tea is Usutya (weak infusion of tea powder), dried ones called “Higashi” are served.      

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