Some Chinese learners who come from the non-Chinese character cultural area say that Japanese have a great advantage to know Chinese characters before learning Chinese.
Yes, it is true that we Japanese know a lot of them.
But wait a minute.
Is it really an advantage?
In my opinion, it isn't sure.
For example, Chinese characters don't necessarily have the same meanings to both people.
For instance, the character "聞" means smelling in Chinese, but hearing or listening in Japan.
The word "手紙" means toilet paper in Chinese, but a letter in Japanese.
Chinese is to Japanese what Latin is to many European languages, and Japan used to adopt Chinese cultures, the government system, coins and so on as well as its characters.
Today, however, we can't say that the relationships between Japan and China is very good.
Anyway, it is obvious that Japanese has been influenced by Chinese, and Japan and China have been neighbours for a long time.
I suppose that they shouldn't forget it.
Lastly, I'd like to end my talk with a tanka, or a traditional Japanese short poem made by ABE-NO Nakamaro (701~770), who passed away when he was in China.
天の原ふりさけ見れば春日なる三笠の山に出でし月かも.
The moon in the sky now I looked up at in China is the one I had seen from Mt.
Mikasa in my hometown, Kasuga.
Since about a thousand years ago, we have seen the same moon.
August 2013
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