When we visited Japan earlier this year, we visited the famous Jigokudani Monkey Park (which you can read more about here), a place where Japanese macaques bathe in natural hot springs.

I thought it was pretty funny that the monkeys were so spoiled in such a human way; the monkeys bathe in the same kind of tub a person would use.

What I didn’t realize until recently was that monkeys aren’t the only animals in Japan who get treated to a relaxing, hot bath.

At Nagasaki’s Bio Park, its collection of capybara, a type of rodent from South America, get spoiled with a hot bath in the winter time.

In the summer, the capybara get another seasonal treat: watermelon.

At Bio Park you can actually walk up and pet the adorable, docile capybara as evidenced by this video:

But not everything is rosy for Bio Park’s capybara. During feeding time they have to compete with their greatest natural enemy—the swan:

Strangely, Bio Park’s capybara aren’t the only ones in Japan who get special treatment. Up in Ishikawa, its zoo’s capybara also get to enjoy hot baths in the winter:

And in Fukuoka’s Torias Hisayama Zoo, the capybara lounge with other animals (like kangaroo and meerkats) in front of a heater to keep warm.

All in all, I’d say life is pretty good for capybara in Japan. Even though they’re far from their native South America, they get the royal treatment.

Wallpapers & Animated GIF

Once again, our illustrator Aya has provided desktop backrounds and animated GIFs. Enjoy!

Wallpaper (1280×800)
Wallpaper (2560×1440)

Animated GIF (700×438)
Animated GIF (1280×800)

Japan, more than any other country, seems to have mastered the art of using adorable pets for internet fame. In the past we’ve covered some of Japan’s greatest cat videos (including the incomparable Maru), and the adorable combination of an old Japanese lady and her odd-eyed cat, and a little Japanese boy and his best friend.

So I wasn’t surprised when I discovered Purin the Super Beagle, an extremely talented dog owned by a man living in Shibuya, Tokyo. Purin is, embarrassingly enough, probably smarter and more talented than I’ll ever be.

Purin (Japanese for “custard”) first caught my eye when I found this video of her catching a ball in mid-air with her paws. It’s a cute video, not only because of Purin’s talent, but the softly excited「やった！」from the owner with each successful catch.

Beagles are notoriously smart, so it makes complete sense that Purin’s range of tricks doesn’t stop there. She can also jump rope:

Skateboard:

And maybe most impressively, she can catch a sword. The trick is based on an old samurai trope called 真剣白刃取り, where somebody stops a sword at the last minute with their bare hands.

Fortunately, Purin’s owner uses a foam sword, which is probably for the best since Purin seems to want to bite it anyway.

You can find more pictures and videos on Purin’s YouTube channel, and her Facebook page.

Despite only owning a cat, I’ve always considered myself a dog person. More specifically, a Japanese dog person. Yes, I’m totally dogist against non-Japanese dogs (okay, Chow Chows and Malamutes are alright). On top of that, small dogs freak me out (so puntable). There are a couple of problems with loving Japanese dogs, though. First, many breeds are very rare even in Japan, which makes them expensive and, well, rare. The other problem is that if you can’t find one in the country you live importing them is full of its own problems. In some cases it’s impossible.

So, for now I’ll just have to share with you my love for Japanese dogs via the internets. Yes there will be some puppies. Hopefully in the future I can grace you with real life puppy videos after I retire and become a Shikoku Inu breeder / tea farmer.

The Japanese Dog Breeds Map

Native Japanese dogs are “Spitz” type dogs, meaning they tend to have thick fur, pointed ears, and muzzles. Their tails are also curled like a little spring. In Japan, many of the native dog breeds are named after the area in which they came from. For example, the Hokkaido-inu is from Hokkaido. The Shikoku-inu is from Shikoku. The Shiba-inu (perhaps Japan’s most well known dog thanks to the Shiba-inu cam) isn’t really from anywhere in particular, but it’s still very cute.

This little map should give you a little bit of an idea of where these dogs came from. Let’s look at them a little more closely.

Native Japanese Dog Breeds

Japanese dog breeds are some of the most ancient in the world. If you want an “old world” dog, most of the native Japanese dog breeds will do the trick. Have you noticed how many of them look pretty wolfy? That’s a pretty good sign in terms of how old the breed is, I’m guessing.

Shiba-Inu

Almost certainly the most well known Japanese dog.  You may know of this type of dog from the Shiba-inu puppy cam that took the world by storm.

They’re a medium sized dog, have a thick double coat, and has pointed ears with a curly tail (it’s a spitz, after all). They’re one of the  oldest dog breeds, so they tend to be harder to control and don’t do great with children and other dogs without good training. Also, they’re fairly independent and are also known to enjoy running away.

Still, they’re particularly nice dogs and keep themselves nice and clean. I wouldn’t mind having a Shiba-inu if Shikoku-inus and Akita-inus didn’t exist.

Akita-Inu

There are several different types of Akita-Inu, including a fairly distinct looking American Akita breed. It has the traits of the Spitz breed, but is one of the larger Spitz dogs. They actually almost went extinct during WWII when soldiers would kill them for their warm coats. An interesting book on this subject is “Dog Man.” It’s about the guy who brought the Akita back from near-extinction. Also, this was the dog in “Hachiko: A Dog’s Tale” starring Japan’s favorite actor of all time, Richard Gere.

The Akita is a combination of dignity, courage, alertness, and devotion. It is however fairly territorial and may not be good with strangers. That being said, it’s also known for “having an affinity for children, just as retrievers have an affinity with sticks and balls,” so, uh, I guess just make sure you don’t toss your child across a field when an Akita is around.

Just like a Shiba, they’re also very clean even licking themselves and cleaning their face after eating, making them my ideal dog.

Hokkaido Ken

Photo by Yukun615

This is a medium sized dog, kind of like a Shiba-inu. It is known for loving its owner, bravery, and its thick coat (it is from Hokkaido after all). Most unusually, it is able to fight the Hokkaido Brown Bear by attacking the bear’s back, holding on to the bear’s neck until the bear runs off. It’s also a good hunter so… not a great farm dog if you want your chickens to stay alive.

Oh, and if you’re wondering where you may have seen this dog before, maybe it’s from reading about these Softbank commercials?

Kai-Ken

Photo by Yamabouzu

The Kai-ken is an interesting breed. It’s a medium sized dog  with a harsh feeling coat. It’s known for its tiger-stripe fur. They’re definitely very wild looking. They’re intelligent, agile, alert, and brave. They’re hunters and guard dogs, and do well with their owners but are reserved around strangers without good training.

Shikoku Inu

Photo by Elektra96

A little bigger than a Shiba, more wolfy, and from the Shikoku area of Japan. The thing that differentiates this breed from Shiba-inus is that they’re a lot less aloof and a lot more alert to what’s going on. That’s pretty much the reason why I like these dogs the most, though they’re harder to come by. They’re loyal, cautious, brave, and are known to chase wild boars for fun. They’re good for more active people since they need to run a lot, so don’t get one and let it sit around in your apartment all day long.

Kishu Inu

The Kishu-inu is usually white, has a thick coat, and is a one person / family kind of dog (aka they’re super loyal). They’re good hunters and like to chase prey, but will usually do fine with other dogs if socialized properly. Because of all these things, you’ll want to be an active owner if you own one of these dogs. They need to runnnn.

“Imported Into Japan” Breeds

There are a number of breeds that are considered “Japanese” but were obviously imported. You can tell because they’re as not awesome anymore.

Japanese Chin

Ugh, here’s where my dogism shines through. This dumb looking dog is small, has long hair, and is supposedly pretty calm despite being a tiny dog. They were originally brought over from China though Japan created their own distinct version of the breed. Noble houses would keep this breed as a companion / house pet, as it had no actual useful function beyond this. Seriously, though. What a derp-fest that face is.

Japanese Spitz

The Japanese Spitz is a fluffy small to medium sized Spitz breed dog that was developed in the 1920s by mixing various spitz dogs together. They’re active, loyal, and fairly smart. They’re good with children, too. One thing that makes them stand out is their longevity. These dogs live 10-16 years, making them one of the longest living dog breeds.

Japanese Terrier

The Japanese Terrier is a small dog that’s “lively and cheerful” in character… aka, it’s probably yappy and annoying. They were brought over via Dutch merchant ships in Nagasaki. They became popular lap dogs in their time, though now they’re a fairly rare breed in Japan.

Tosa Inu

Some would call this a Japanese breed, though it’s a bit in between. It’s a mix between the Shikoku-inu and European dog breeds (such as the Old English Bulldog, Mastif, St. Bernard, German Pointer, Great Dane, and Bull Terrier. So, there’s many different kinds and they don’t look like Native Japanese dogs, though they are half. This breed is somewhat known to be a “dangerous dog,” though I’m sure with proper raising it’s just as nice as every other dog everyone’s afraid of. It was also raised to be in dog fights back in the day, so, well, yeah, that.

Sakhalin Husky

Not sure if this is really a Japanese dog or not, but it is related to the Akita inu. They were used in the ill-fated 1958 Japanese Antarctic research expedition. The dogs were left behind due to the researchers thinking a relief team would come to save them, but no relief team ever came. These dogs are very rare in Japan right now, probably because they were all left in Antarctica.

Getting A Japanese Dog

No matter what the breed it’s definitely harder than easier to get one outside of Japan. The Shiba-inu is probably the most  common outside of Japan, but everything else is somewhat rare. Akitas and Shikoku-inus aren’t impossible to find, but then you run into the Kai-ken and Hokkaido Inu, which are really really tough to find. If you look around you’ll find breeders for a lot of these dogs, but just be prepared to travel a few hours to get to them unless you’re lucky. If you’re unlucky you won’t find any breeders at all. Some of these dogs are Japan-only because they’re “national treasures.”

Importing a Japanese dog from Japan has its own challenges as well. You’ll have your work cut out for you in terms of finding a breeder first of all willing to export their dog overseas, let alone to someone who’s not Japanese. They’re Japanese dogs so many Japanese breeders want to keep them in Japan. The dogs are so rare already.

No matter what you do be prepared to pay up the nose. The most common type of Japanese dog, the Shiba, is probably the cheapest. Still, that will run you ~$1000+. It basically goes up from there. Shikoku-inus will run you a couple thousand. And, if you’re planning to import from Japan be prepared to pay an extra $1000+ to get them shipped. Even if you do it yourself via the airline it’s a few hundred dollars, and there are many hoops around this you’ll have to jump through.

So, basically it’s really hard to import. It’s also hard to find many of these breeds in your own country. It’s not impossible, but if you want a Japanese dog be prepared to spend a lot of money and run into a lot of obstacles.

Any of you have native Japanese breed dogs? I’m guessing it’ll be Shibas and Akitas all around, but would be really interested to hear if anyone has any of the other types of dogs out there. Please don’t tell me you have a Japanese Chin, though. Please, for the love of all that is good and holy please…

P.S. Did you notice the “inu” and “ken” thing after each dog’s name? They’re both readings of the kanji for dog: 犬. The kun’yomi reading is いぬ (inu), and the on’yomi reading is けん (ken). Sometimes they can be switched and that’s okay, so you’ll see DOG+ken and DOG+inu a lot. Just know that if you see either it probably has to do with dogs, not Ken dolls.

Bonus Wallpapers!

1280 x 800, 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050, 1920 x 1200

The “Hibagon” (ヒバゴン), also known as “Hinagon” (ヒナゴン) is a mythical (or is it?) cryptic hominid hailing from the Bigfoot / Yeti family, though it lives in Japan. Although similar to these other creatures, it has some unique features of its own either making its existence more or less believable (I’ll let you decide). Having come from the Pacific Northwest, I’ve always been a staunch Bigfoot (aka Sasquatch) believer so it’s not too big of a jump to think that this sort of thing could exist in Japan.

So, this article is dedicated to the most mysterious of creatures, the Bigfoot, the Sasquatch, the Yeti, the Abominable Snowman… and of course, let’s not forget the cute little Hibagon. If anything isn’t a myth, it’s that all things in Japan are both smaller, cuter, and more efficient. Let’s find out about this little guy now.

Hibagon Traits

Perhaps you find yourself near Hibayama hiking around the woods. You hear a rustle in the bushes. Is it a wildman? Is it a deserter from the Japanese army? Is it a Hibagon? Well, if you knew the traits of the Hibagon perhaps you’d be able to tell. Good thing you read this post so you know for sure.

• Dark colored fur, brown or black. Sometimes there’s patches of white on its chest or hands
• “Deep glaring eyes” (if you have enough time to stare deep into them you’ll fall in love)
• A Snub nose
• A pointy cone head (perhaps its just an alien named Dan Aykroyd?)
• Approximately 180lbs
• Approximately 5 feet tall
• A foul stench not unlike the stench of rotting bodies
• Foot size / foot prints of around 10-11 inches
• The hair doesn’t grow from its butt, like a monkey

But, instead of thinking about all these things, you should whip out your camera phone and shake it while you take a picture so you can come up with a nice blurry shot, just like the only shot of the creature. If it ain’t blurry it ain’t real.

Not only is this image tiny, but it also looks like it was taken at night. On top of that, the Hibagon (if you can even see it) is hiding behind a persimmon tree. To me, it just looks like a tree, possibly hiding behind another tree. To certain Hibagon enthusiasts, though, this is the evidence that keeps them believing. I mean, I guess I can see the “dark fur” part?

Modern Hibagon Sightings

But, it’s not all terrible photographs. There have been multiple sightings lending some credence to its possible existence, though it has been a while since anyone’s seen one. Perhaps Tofugu will have to mount a great expedition to find and then befriend the creature, Harry and the Henderson’s style!

July 20, 1970: A man sees a “gorilla-like” creature bigger than a baby cow going across the road and disappearing into the woods while he’s driving his truck along the highway. This is near the dam district.

July 23, 1970: A farmer sees an adult-looking creature that’s covered in black fur with a humanish face. After this, other people see the same thing within a three kilometer radius around the dam.

December 1970-74: There were many sightings of the Hibagon, including footprints, all around the Hibayama area. Apparently sightings increase when summer starts rolling around.

August 18, 1974: A guy sees a man covered in black fur. The “man” gets scared by the guy’s car and disappears into the forest.

August 18, 1974: Someone’s able to take a picture of the Hibagon finally! Sadly, there have been no official sightings of the Hibagon since this photograph was taken.

So, the question is, is the Hibagon gone? Did it ever exist? Were they retrieved by the alien overlords that originally brought them here? I suppose we’ll never know.

The Original Hibagon?

Even before the Hibagon there was a yokai known as the Hihi (狒々). This monster is basically a large baboon that possesses superhuman strength (monkey strength!). Apparently, their fur was so strong it could deflect swords, making their eyes the only real vulnerable spot on their body. Some villages would sacrifice women to them to keep their village safe.

Although there are some differences in the description of these two creatures, they are too similar to ignore. The sightings in Hibayama were probably one or two Hibagons, so the fur pattern descriptions were very specific. When it comes to the Hibagon as a whole, though, variations have to be taken into account. The Hihi were big monkey-like ape creatures like the Hibagon.

Then you can think back even farther. If you assume that the Yeti is a real thing, you can see how they’d migrate into Japan. The first Japanese people came to Japan during the ice age when land bridges appeared between the two nations. It’s definitely possible that Yetis could have done the same, working their way up Japan. At the same time, Yetis could have worked their way up north and through the Bering straight then down through North America. They would all evolve differently because of the conditions. So, assuming Yetis are an actual thing (or at least were an actual thing), it’s not too hard to think the Hibagon came from the West, became known as the Hihi, then later got renamed the Hibagon. It’s all the same creature! The same goes for the Mongolian, Russian, and Chinese hominids as well. I’m guessing it went something like this. Not unlike the way that ancient man migrated across the world as well.

Sadly, as you know it’s been a while since there have been any sightings. Who knows if those sightings were real, too? Really there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to find the Hibagon yourself. Are you ready to waste your life away and lose all of your friends? Good. Let’s go to Hibayama.

Where To Find The Hibagon: Hibayama (比婆山)

As you can probably guess by now, the Hibagon gets its name from where it was spotted, which was around the town of Hibayama in Hiroshima Prefecture. Should you want to mount a grand expedition to find the hominid, you’d want to go here. After that, well, it’s going to have to be up to you as we at Tofugu tend to focus all of our efforts on capturing and interrogating kappa, so we’re not help to you here.

The town of Hibayama has embraced the Hibagon, too. It’s not uncommon for a town to really take to something and run with it. For example “Obama City” does the whole Obama thing. Hokota City made a sweet playground to commemorate the Utsuro bune UFO. Of course, Hibayama does the whole “Hibagon thing.”

Their town mascot is a Hibagon…

They make Hibagon products, which include Hibagon ”Eggs” (sweets), Hibagon green onions, Hibagon Ramen, and more…

In fact, I imagine much of their economy is reliant on Hibagon-related things, just like how several lodges and stores along the California Coast Redwood Forests are reliant on Bigfoot. There was even a movie made about the Hinagon (remember, that’s the alternate name) in 2005. I wouldn’t say Hibagon is as big of a deal as, say, Bigfoot, but it does keep the economy of a small town alive which is pretty neat in itself.

Anyways, I know I want to believe, but what about you? Perhaps someday they’ll find one and it will replace Pan-kun, since Pan-kun’s getting all face-attackish and angry? I want to believe. I want to believe. I want to believe…

Unlike a lot of people, I’m not really big on going to the beach. I know that there’s this idyllic vision of sun and sand and fun and that sort of thing, but what people fail to realize is that the beach is the gateway to the ocean, home to some of the most terrifying creatures ever known to humanity.

(For the same reasons, I don’t think I’ll ever take a cruise. What if a kraken or something pops up? I’m not going to take any chances.)

The Japanese don’t always have the luxury of getting to ignore the horrors of the ocean; while almost half of the states here in the US are completely landlocked, the sea is a pretty crucial part to Japan’s identity.

There are Japanese stories of sea monsters dating back centuries, covering all sorts of frightening creatures. Just take a look at the umibouzu, a massive sea spirit that haunts sailors and fishers; they’ve been a part of Japanese stories and paintings dating back for quite some time, and are still frankly very terrifying to this day.

But these mythical creatures were inspired by real life creatures which are still around today. After centuries of inspiring terror in sailors all over the world, a giant squid was photographed alive and captured for the first time ever by Japanese scientists just a few years ago.

The giant squid isn’t the only prehistoric-looking deep-sea creature that lives off the coast of Japan. In 2007, a frilled shark, a primordial-looking shark was recorded and captured in the waters near Japan. It looks less like Jaws and more like the love child a dragon and an eel.

Farther out in the waters though, there are even more bizarre, frightening things lurking in the ocean. In 1977, a Japanese fishing vessel called Zuiyo-Maru caught something unusual off of the coast of New Zealand. It was a dead, decomposing creature that they couldn’t quite identify.

Whatever the creature was, it was massive – over two tons and 30 feet long – but it didn’t look like any animal that the fishermen had ever seen. The only thing that came close was the Loch Ness Monster.

After some deliberation, the captain of the ship decided to throw is back into the ocean; he didn’t want the massive, decaying corpse to possibly contaminate the fish and generally just stink up the place. But before the Zuiyo-Maru threw the creature overboard, the crew snapped a few pictures, drew a few sketches, and took a few samples for scientists to analyze after they got back.

When the Zuiyo-Maru returned to port, the creature became a minor sensation in Japan. The Japanese called the creature “New Nessie” (ニューネッシー) after the Loch Ness Monster. The speculation about what the massive creature could be ran wild. Nobody seemed able to easily identify what it was — was it a plesiosaur, an ancient dinosaur that’d been hiding in the depths of the ocean? Or some entirely new creature that had never been seen before?

Within a year though, scientists were able to identify News Nessie as the rotted corpse of a basking shark. I can imagine that more than a few people were disappointed that New Nessie – a creature they thought could be something as fantastic as a dinosaur – turned out to just be a shark.

While it might be disappointing to discover that New Nessie was something so mundane, it certainly hasn’t been the last thing from the ocean to capture our imagination. Tons of different unidentified creatures from the sea (also known as “globsters”) have been found in the years since New Nessie, and caught people’s attention in the same way.

And when the mysterious fails, real, identifiable sea creatures can still take our breath away. I’m still fascinated by footage of a long armed squid taken off of the coast of the US:

For some people though, the real fails them altogether and they resort of stories and urban legends. There were some (completely unsubstantiated) rumors after last year’s tsunami that strange creatures had washed ashore from the sea. There have been faked videos of “bizzare animal[s] discovered in Japan.” There are stories of “ningen” humanoid creatures lurking in the deeps of the Antarctic.

All I know is that all of these bizarre creatures, whether real, fake, or somewhere in between, are enough to keep me inland. There are enough terrifying things on dry land as it is!

Any keen fisher(wo)men among our readers?

Nowadays just about every phone is also a camera and a camcorder, so keeping a record of your latest catch is a trivial matter – and of course you’d want to, if only to avoid having to insist “I swear it was this big!” to disbelieving friends and family. But way back in the day there was no such technology available, so the Japanese had to get creative – and lo, gyotaku was born.

The oldest known gyotaku print is that of a carp, and is from 1839.

Gyotaku (魚拓) or “fish rubbing” dates back to at least the Tempou era, and is still in practice today. Gyotaku prints are appreciated as works of art, but have a practical aspect too: many fishing contests in Japan are still decided by gyotaku prints because photographs do not always express the true size of a catch.

The two main variants, namely the direct and indirect methods, both use inks to transfer the likeness of the fish to a sheet of paper or cloth. Finer details like the eyes are painted or drawn in by hand later. The following video demonstrates the direct method by Naoki Hayashi:

Mineo Yamamoto has been a gyotaku artist since 1973, and a great proponent of the indirect method. In the following video, where he instructs a student in the making of a gyotaku print, ink is dabbed onto the paper or cloth instead of being painted directly onto the fish:

As you might have guessed, a skilled gyotaku artist can produce incredibly detailed and lifelike images, especially if colored inks are used. Here are just a few examples I found on the interwebs:

Caught something that wasn’t quite a fish? No problem!

Hmm… I wonder what else we could gyotaku-fy…

So, has anyone tried gyotaku before? If you don’t fish, do you have a particularly docile cat or dog willing to stand in? Let us know in the comments!

Header image

The more you study kanji the more (and less) they start making sense. A method to all the madness begins to develop and you begin to notice things…dangerous things, perhaps (or perhaps not). One of those things I came across recently was a sort of “sound attachment” to animal-related kanji. This isn’t something that always or even usually happens, but there are a handful of kanji within the bird-animal-bug families that include a hint right inside the kanji as to what sound the animal makes in real life.

I saw some of these on the show 日本人の知らない日本語 (“Japanese that Japanese people don’t know”) and I did some research and found a couple more. Let’s go through them one by one to see how the magic happens.

鳩 (はと/Pigeon)

If you’ve been studying Japanese for a little bit, you may have already noticed that the kanji for bird (鳥) is right inside the kanji for pigeon (鳩). In fact, it’s one of two radicals. If you look at this kanji you can probably figure out that it has something to do with a bird whether or not you knew the kanji in the first place (so long as you know the bird radical/kanji). The interesting part is to the left, though. The second radical of this kanji is “nine” (九). Now why would that be there? Is it because pigeons fly around in groups of nine? No… Is it because it takes nine pigeons to make a pie? Maybe, though that’s a pretty big pigeon pie…

Actually, the reason that “nine” is there is because of the sound that the kanji 九 itself makes. One of the readings of 九 is く (ku). It also happens that pigeons (in Japanese/Chinese) make a “kuu kuu” noise. That 九 is there because it’s saying this is the bird (鳥) that goes kuu kuu (九). So, now you know what sound a pigeon makes in Japanese as well as how to read it (assuming you know the radicals). All of that information is encoded right into the character!

鵞 (が／Goose)

The Goose (also known as 鵞鳥, がちょう, gachou) also has a “bird” radical in it, just like in pigeon and the other bird-kanji on this list. The other radical on top, 我, means “I” or “oneself.” If you haven’t guessed it by now, the “oneself” meaning probably doesn’t have much to do with the meaning of the word itself. The “I bird” just doesn’t make much sense, that is, unless Apple was making minimalistic birds thousands of years ago when Chinese monks were still making kanji.

One of the readings of 我 is が (ga). Now, this could be indicating the on’yomi reading of the kanji itself (which is also が), but it also happens to be the sound a goose makes in Japanese (があがあ / gaa gaa). Once again, a kanji contains more information than you think – you just have to know how to decipher it. Next stop, Illuminati.

蚊 (か／Mosquito)

Let’s take a quick break from birds and take a look at bugs. Most bugs don’t make a ton of noise, but mosquitoes have a very distinctive buzzing tune. It’s more of a vibration, really, and to symbolize that sound the Japanese say ブ〜ン (buuun).

But did you already notice the kanji makeup? On the left there’s the radical for “insect” (虫). On the right is the radical for “writing” (文). Obviously, this is not the “writing bug”… unless it’s writing messages on paper using your blood, ew… instead, that 文 contains the sound that the mosquito makes. 文 = ぶん (bun) = a mosquito’s buzzing sound. This is the “buunnnnn bug.” It would be like if we called a mosquito a “buzz bug.”

鴎 (かもめ／Seagull)

The seagull says くゎーくゎー (kwa kwa). I think their shriek is a bit higher pitched, though, if you want to try it out (don’t blame me if you accidentally do their secret mating call).

On the right you have the bird radical (鳥). On the left you have the “district” radical (区), which is read く (ku). I’ll have to admit, this one is pushing it a bit. く(ku) isn’t quite くゎ (kwa), but it’s similar, especially in Japanese. Most likely, this 区 radical is here to signify the on’yomi reading of 鴎 (which is also おう, just like 区‘s on’yomi reading). It’s also possible that a seagull is some kind of “district bird” only hanging out in certain (harbor, perhaps?) districts. All that being said, it also happens to be a similar sound to what a seagull makes.

All that being said, sometimes it’s good to look at the iffy ones. It reminds you that sometimes coincidences are coincidences. Doesn’t mean you can’t use them to help you to remember things and create mnemonics, though! ;)

Let’s try another one that’s more solid.

鴉 (からす／Crow, Raven)

Crows! Ravens! The invaders of Japan! Like the other kanji in the list, this one consists of two radicals: bird (鳥) and fang (牙). The reading for 牙 is が (ga). What sound does a crow make, boys and girls? It also goes “gaa, gaa” just like the reading of the radical. Hopefully you’ve started to notice a pattern by now. This is the “Ga Bird.”

猫 (ねこ／Cat)

Okay, so cats actually say ニャニャ (nyanya) in Japanese. But, Japanese people didn’t make kanji, the Chinese did. The left part of 猫 (cat) consists of the animal radical. The right part is 苗, which means “sapling” (has very little to do with cats). Now, in Chinese, the sound a cat makes is more similar to how we say it in the West (at least, that’s what I’ve heard). It’s kind of a Mao or Mau” sound. The reading for the right side radical/kanji inside of 猫 is ミョウ (myou), coming from the Chinese onomatopoeia of “meow.” It doesn’t quite work in Japanese, but you get the idea, I think. Basically, this is the “myou animal” (kind of like how a crow is a “gaa bird” and a pigeon is a “kuu bird”).

The Mystery Deepens

Now, you probably won’t be unlocking any ancient Buddhist secrets by deciphering kanji like this, but I think this sort of thing is fun. Definitely helps break up the monotony of kanji learning and makes you respect kanji a little bit more. I’m pretty certain I’m just scratching the surface here too. I’m certain there are other kanji with similar patterns. You just never notice them unless someone points them out to you or you go looking for them. There are hidden messages, meanings, and readings around every corner. Just keep your eye out and you’ll certainly notice one or two.

As for how useful this actually is? Well, probably not all that useful, though perhaps you will be able to read the kanji from this article more effectively now compared to five minutes ago. One thing that I keep thinking about, though. I wonder if there are any kanji for some long extinct animals where we don’t know what kind of sound it makes. Wouldn’t it be cool to figure out what kind of noise an animal made just via its kanji like this? Sounds incredible to me, and somewhat plausible. That’s what makes this so fun.

All that being said, these kanji sounds could be purely coincidence as well. The readings of the radicals on their own are the same as the animal sounds as well, though I think it makes some sense that you’d choose a radical with a reading that mimics the sound of the animal. So while all this seems plausible it’s hard to know for sure what was going on when these kanji were being created so many years ago. Perhaps next time we’ll figure out that 宙 has 由 in it because ancient aliens made a “yuu yuu” noise when they spoke. Giorgio would approve.

P.S. Are you interested in kanji? Want to learn them with radicals (like the ones mentioned in this article?). Sign up for the WaniKani closed beta on the WaniKani homepage. We’re sending invites out, now! The sooner you sign up, the sooner you’ll get one.

Header Image by mugumogu