A lunch time session for officers at Portsmouth City Council

1. Intermediate
Japanese Language
Lunch-time sessions at PCC
By Peter Missen
Session 6
Japanese cuisine

2. Objectives for this session
Japanese Cuisine
Useful sentences
Customs at meal times
Grammar
Sentence endings
Culture – Japanese holidays Nov & Dec
Counters
Animals: big, small, and birds.

3. Japanese Cuisine
nihon ryouri 日本料理
ryouri = Cooking (2 Kanji: Cooking + Science)
In Japan their staple foods are rice and several
types of noodles
gohan 御飯 = Boiled rice
(2 kanji: honour + boiled rice )

4. Noodles
soba - thin, greyish-brown, buckwheat flour
udon - thick, white, wheat flour
Japanese noodles can be served hot or cold
with soy or dashi flavourings.
ramen - Chinese-style wheat noodles served
in a meat stock broth are now popular

5. Meals
gohan 御飯 can also mean meal.
asa gohan 朝御飯 = breakfast
(3 kanji: morning + meal)
hiru gohan 昼御飯 = lunch
(3 kanji: noon + meal)
ban gohan 晩御飯 = dinner
(3 kanji: evening + meal)

6. Ingredients found in Japanese cuisine
Rice
Plus lots of Seafood:
Beans
Finned fish
Eggs
Sea mammals
Flour
Shellfish
Fruits
Crab
Fu (wheat gluten)
Eel
Meats
Roe
Mushrooms
Processed seafood
Noodles
Seaweed
Soy products
Vegetables

7. Useful sentences - question
chiriso-su チリソース
ga が
arimasu ka ありますか
。
Do you have chilli sauce?

8. Useful sentences – possible replies
iie, arimasen.
いいえ , ありませ
ん。
No, we don’t have.
hai, arimasu.
はい , あります 。
Yes, we do have.

9. Useful sentences - question
chiriso-su wa チリソースは
doko ni どこに
arimasu ka. ありますか。
Where is the chilli sauce?

10. Useful sentences – possible replies
chiri so-su wa shita kara san dan me desu.
チリソースは下から三段目です
。
The chilli sauce is on the 3rd shelf from the bottom.
shita = below/bottom
dan = counter for shelves

11. Customs at meal times
Before starting to eat a meal say:
itadakimasu.
いただきます。
to humbly receive.
After the meal say:
gochisousamadeshita.
ごちそうさまでした。
"It was a feast“.

12. Customs at meal times
Eat what is given!
It is customary to eat rice to the last grain.
Being a picky eater is frowned on, and it is not
customary to ask for special requests or
substitutions at restaurants.
It is considered ungrateful to make these
requests especially in circumstances where
you are being hosted, as in a business dinner
environment.
Good manners dictate that you respect the
selections of the host

13. Customs at meal times
Chopsticks
Never stick your chopsticks vertically into a rice
bowl! This resembles incense sticks that are
usually placed vertically in sand during
offerings to the dead.
Using chopsticks to spear food or to point is
frowned upon.
It is very bad manners to bite chopsticks.

14. Grammar – Sentence endings
The are a couple of common sentence
endings for emphasis.
ne ね “ you agree with me don’t you”
though no reply is required!
yo よ “ I’m telling you so take notice”

15. Sentence endings – ne examples
ii tenki desu ne.
いい天気ですね。
Nice weather isn’t it?
sou desu ne.
そうですね。
Is that so?

16. Sentence endings – yo examples
honto desu yo.
ほんとですよ。
I am telling the truth!
honto = truth
densha ga kimashita yo.
電車が来ましたよ。
The train is here!

17. Culture section – holidays & festivals
November and December National holidays:
November 3rd Culture Day (bunka no hi):
A day for promotion of culture and the love of freedom and
peace. On culture day, schools and the government award
selected persons for their special cultural achievements.
November 23rd Labour Thanksgiving Day
(kinro kansha no hi): A national holiday for honouring labour.
December 23rd Emperor's Birthday (tenno no tanjobi):
The birthday of the current emperor is always a national
holiday. If the emperor changes, the national holiday changes
to the day of birth of the new emperor. The current emperor is
Akihito who became Japan's 125th emperor in 1989.

18. Culture section – holidays & festivals
November and December Non-national holidays:
November 15th Seven-Five-Three (shichigosan):
A festival for children: girls of age three and seven,
and boys of age three and five. During shichgosan
the Japanese pray for the good health and growth of
their children. On November 15th, or the closest
weekend, the children tend to visit a Shinto shrine
dressed in kimono.
Long bags of sweets that are decorated with turtles and
cranes are given to the children. Sweets, cranes, and
turtles, all symbolize longevity in Japan.

19. Culture section – holidays & festivals
November and December Non-national holidays:
December 24th and 25th Christmas:
Christmas was initially introduced to Japan with the arrival of
the first Europeans in the 16th century. While Christmas is
not a national holiday more and more people are taking up
traditions such as decorating their home, giving presents
to friends and celebrating the event with a special meal.
Retail stores and shopping malls seem the most enthusiastic
about Christmas, where trees, santa clauses, and other
seasonal decorations can be found several weeks in
advance. Some public places also feature Christmas
lights.
The traditional Japanese Christmas food is their version of a
Christmas cake, usually based on a sponge cake with
strawberries and whipped cream. Yumyum…

20. Culture section – holidays & festivals
November and December Non-national holidays:
December 31st New Year's Eve (omisoka):
On New Year's eve, toshikoshi soba (buckwheat
noodles), symbolizing longevity, are served.
A more recent custom is watching the music show
"kohaku uta gassen", a highly popular TV program
featuring many of Japan's most famous J-pop and
enka singers in spectacular performances.

21. Counting – Animals
Small animals (+ fish and insects) use suffix “hiki”. e.g. cats, dogs …
1 is ippiki 一匹
2 is nihiki 二匹
3 is sanbiki 三匹
4 is yonhiki 四匹
5 is gohiki 五匹
6 is roppiki 六匹
7 is nanahiki 七匹
8 is happiki 八匹
9 is kyuuhiki 九匹
10 is juppiki 十匹

22. Counting – Animals
Large animals use suffix “tou”. e.g. whale, giraffe, horse, cow…
1 is ittou 一頭
2 is nitou 二頭
3 is santou 三頭
4 is yontou 四頭
5 is gotou 五頭
6 is rokutou 六頭
7 is nanatou 七頭
8 is hattou 八頭
9 is kyuutou 九頭
10 is juttou 十頭

23. Counting – Animals
Birds use suffix “wa”.
1 is ichiwa 一羽
2 is niwa 二羽
3 is sanba 三羽
4 is yonwa 四羽
5 is gowa 五羽
6 is roppa 六羽
7 is nanawa 七羽
8 is happa 八羽
9 is kyuuwa 九羽
10 is juuwa 十羽

24. Final Wrap up
Language Learning & Development Community
It’s for all of us to use,
especially now the sessions have ended.
At the weekend there were 38 members
Thank you Barbara for putting up the scans…
Any feedback?
Homework
Nothing as this is the last session!!!
Enjoy your new found knowledge
Any questions ?
See you at Nara Sushi on Albert Road at 6:30 p.m. tonight.
Bring your own drink (Cash only)