Learn about the Year of the Ox and how the ancient the traditions of 十二支 are still thriving in Japan.

Note: This article has a lot of vocabulary in it. You can find translations of all Japanese words in the vocabulary listings, as well as a translation next to each word if holding the mouse pointer over the white space between the brackets.

New Calendar Designs

Around the end of October, you can find some things for the upcoming year, such as カレンダー (karendaa – calendar) and 手帳 (てちょう – techou – pocket planner) at 本屋 (ほんや – honya – book store) and 文房具店 (ぶんぼうぐてん – bunbougu ten – stationary shop). They have different designs, but you might notice the same animal featured regardless of the design. For example, now it’s 2008 when I’m writing this article, and you would notice some different 牛 (うし – ushi – ox/cow) on things for 2009. That means, 2009 is 丑年 (うしどし – ushi doshi – the Year of Ox), but guess what?

There is an animal cycle called 十二支 (じゅうにし – juuni shi), and the twelve animals are as follows. Can you spot them in the picture on the right side?

Animals of the cycle, as written in ordinary Japanese:
ねずみ － nezumi – rat
牛　－　うし – ushi – ox
虎　－　とら – tora – tiger
兎　－　うさぎ – usagi – rabbit
辰　－　たつ – tatsu – dragon
蛇　－　へび – hebi – snake
馬　－　うま – uma – horse
羊　－　ひつじ – hitsuji – sheep
猿　－　さる – saru – monkey
酉　－　とり – tori – rooster
犬　－　いぬ – inu – dog
猪 － いのしし – inoshishi – wild pig, boar

Each of these animals comes in order, so it’s easy to know which one for the particular year. 2009 is 丑年 (うしどし – ushi doshi – the Year of Ox) as I mentioned, and 2010 is 寅年 (とらどし – toradoshi – the Year of Tiger).

As Western people do at Christmas time, we send 年賀状 (ねんがじょう – nengajou – New Year’s Card) in December, which is delivered 元旦　（がんたん – gantan – the first of January). You can buy 年賀状 (nengajou, New Year’s Card) at 郵便局 （ゆうびんきょく – yuubinkyoku – post office), 本屋 (honya – book store), 文房具店 (ぶんぼうぐてん – bunbougu ten – stationary shop), コンビニ (conbini – convenience store) and so on, and you can find different designs of 牛 on the cards. It’s fun to choose which cards to buy, and it’s fun also to receive cards with
some different 牛 in 2009 from different people. Some of them might draw 牛 by themselves, instead of just sending a simple printed one. Some of them might take a picture of the paticular 動物 (どうぶつ – doubutsu – animal) at 動物園 (どうぶつえん – doubutsuen – zoo), and paste it on the 年賀状. But it’s quite difficult to take one of a dragon…

If you have an アルバム (arubamu – album), it might have pictures or drawings of the animal of your birth year. For example, 2009 is 丑年 (the Year of Ox), and 12 years ago of it, namely 1997, was 丑年 as well. If you were born in 1997, and if your parents bought the アルバム for you at that year, it might have ox/cow drawings. We often talk about the birth year with the animal, and such topic brings us interesting discussion, pleasant feelings and disappointment at times. When you realized that a person was born in the same animal year as you although you had no idea about his/her true age, you may start thinking the age while adding 12 years or the opposite, lol. Since most of your classmates were born in the same animal year, the topic may move to your school age if the speakers realize that they have the same animal year, or one nearby.

Year of the Ox

If now it’s 丑年, and if you were born in 丑年, it means that you are 年男 (としおとこ – toshi otoko – man of the year) or 年女 (としおんな – toshi onna – woman of the year) depending on your gender. That doesn’t have special meanings maybe, but at least it’s easy to count your age for others, lol. Actually we tend to enjoy the topic like this, and even TV news announce the number of 年男 and 年女 of the year at the beginning of the year.

If you like 占い (うらない – uranai – fortune-telling), you can enjoy this matter more. Some books say that each of the animals symbolizes the character of a person, or tells you something good possibly. For example, if you were born in 蛇年 (へびどし – hebidoshi – the Year of Snake), you might have luck with money regardless of the specific year. I’ve heard it said that if a company or an working office has three persons who were born in 蛇年 (the Year of Snake), the company will be successful economically. Interestingly, the number should be “three” exactly. Two persons are not enough, and four or more is too much, it seems. And a person who was born in うさぎ年 (うさぎどし – usagidoshi – the Year of Rabbit) is quieter and tends to like being alone, it’s said. Therefore, if two persons who were born in うさぎ年 (the Year of Rabbit), they won’t get married, or will be quite “quiet” couple, a book says.

There is a Connection to Directions and Time as Well 

As each of the animals corresponds with the particular year, each does with the particular time as well. For example, 子の刻 (ねのこく – ne no koku – the time of rat) means 12:00 midnight. In addition, each animal indicates a particular direction; for example, the rat stands for 北 (きた – kita – north). If you encounter the mysterious expression like this when reading novels in 江戸時代 (えどじだい – edo jidai – Edo period), that’s it. But these expressions are not used in the modern life mostly.

Names of directions:
東　（ひがし – higashi – east)
西　（にし – nishi – west)
南　（みなみ – minami – south)
北　（きた – kita – north)

But Where is the Cat?

By the way, I am a cat lover, and I used to be wondering why a cat is not a member of this cycle. And I heard of a story. Once upon a time, a god told animals to come to a 神社 (じんじゃ – jinja – shrine) one particular day. They should start at the same time, and the first twelve animals who arrive at the shrine can get the “position” of 十二支. A ネズミ (nezumi – rat) wanted to arrive there at first, but he is a little animal you know. So, he jumped on the back of a 牛 as soon as animals started to the shrine. Besides, the rat hated a ネコ (neko – cat), so he told the cat a false day actually. Thus, the cat was sleeping all the time during the competition.

As the rat expected, the first winner was supposed to be the ox. But since the rat jumped down the front of the god before the ox does, eventually the winner was the rat. On the other hand, the cat realized that he was cheated by the rat after things had finished completely. Since that time, a cat started to chase a rat, it’s said. I’m wondering if Tom and Jerry know this Eastern tale?

Language Notes

In Japanese, the gender of animals is often ignored. As for 牛, we can’t distinguish if the animal is male (ox) or female (cow), and normally we don’t care about that at all. However, we have some words which correspond with English ones such as 雄牛 (おうし – oushi – ox) and 牝牛 (めうし – meushi – cow). These are found mainly on translated Japanese books from English or other Western languages, or books about animals for example.

You might be aware of different kanji used for the same animal in the text above. In fact, an animal has often several kanji, and each of them is used differently. In our daily life, the kanji 牛 is used commonly as the animal cow. But when we talk about 十二支, another kanji 丑 is adopted. The twelve special kanji for the animals in the 十二支 are as follows:

子 (rat),　丑　(ox), 寅 (tiger), 卯　(rabbit), 辰　(dragon), 巳　(snake), 午 (horse), 未　(sheep), 申　(monkey), 酉　(rooster), 戌　(dog), 亥 (wild pig, boar)

But even when talking about 十二支, we often say 蛇年 (hebidoshi – the Year of Snake), for example, in daily conversation, not 巳年 (みどし – midoshi – the Year of Snake).

Apart from the reason above, animal names in Japanese can be written in different ways. Animals that were introduced to Japanese rather recent, mostly have their names written in katakana, like ペンギン (pengin – penguin). But if the animal had existed from early times in Japan, the name is written in kanji, hiragana or katakana depending on the situation or author’s taste etc. In books for children, animals are often written in katakana like サル (monkey) and ネコ (cat) for example.

Vocabulary

• カレンダ　karendaa – calendar
• 手帳　　　てちょう – techou – pocket planner
• 本屋　　　ほんや – honya – book store
• 文房具店　ぶんぼうぐてん – bunbougu ten – stationary shop
• 牛　　　　うし – ushi – ox/cow
• 丑年　　　うしどし – ushi doshi – the Year of Ox
• 十二支　　じゅうにし – juuni shi
• 鼠　　　　ねずみ　nezumi – rat
• 虎　　　　とら – tora – tiger
• 兎　　　　うさぎ – usagi – rabbit
• 辰　　　　たつ – tatsu – dragon
• 蛇　　　　へび – hebi – snake
• 馬　　　　うま – uma – horse
• 羊　　　　ひつじ – hitsuji – sheep
• 猿　　　　さる – saru – monkey
• 酉　　　　とり – tori – rooster
• 犬　　　　いぬ – inu – dog
• 猪　　　　いのしし – inoshishi – wild pig, boar
• 丑年　　　the Year of Ox
• 寅年　　　とらどし – toradoshi – the Year of Tiger
• 年賀状 　　ねんがじょう – nengajou – New Year’s Card
• 元旦　　　がんたん – gantan – the first of January
• 郵便局　　ゆうびんきょく – yuubinkyoku – post office
• 本屋　　　ほんや – honya – book store
• 文房具店　ぶんぼうぐてん – bunbouguten – stationary shop
• コンビニ　conbini – convenience store
• 動物　　　どうぶつ – doubutsu – animal
• 動物園　　どうぶつえん – doubutsuen – zoo
• アルバム　arubamu – album
• 年男　　　としおとこ – toshi otoko – man of the year
• 年女　　　としおんな – toshi onna – woman of the year
• 占い　　　うらない – uranai – fortune-telling
• 蛇年　　　へびどし – hebidoshi – the Year of Snake
• 巳年　　　みどし – midoshi – the Year of Snake
• うさぎ年　うさぎどし – usagidoshi – the Year of Rabbit
• 子の刻　　ねのこく – ne no koku – the time of rat
• 北　　　　きた – kita – north
• 江戸時代　えどじだい – edo jidai – Edo period
• 神社　　　じんじゃ – jinja – shrine
• ネズミ　　nezumi – rat
• ネコ　　　neko – cat
• 雄牛　　　おうし – oushi – ox
• 牝牛　　　めうし – meushi – cow
• ペンギン　pengin – penguin
• サル　　　monkey

Note: The system of 12 animals, often called the “Chinese Zodiac” in English, originated in China in relation to systems of divination. Scholars believe that this was some time before 1100 B.C. (BCE). It was brought to Japan, along with Buddhism, in the mid sixth century A.D. (CE).

Author

This article was written by Shizu

Edited by the StudyJapanese team.

This article gives you a brief introduction of one of the sections in the JLPT 4 test – the kanji and vocabulary section.

The JLPT is a well known Japanese language skills proficiency test.

Overview

The Kanji and vocabulary section is the easiest section on the test. In level 4 you only have 100 kanji characters or so to master. This can be easily done with some good old study. What is important to remember is to learn vocabulary rather than individual Kanji readings. So the he best way to learn Kanji for the JLPT is to learn words rather than individual Kanji readings. In the test you are not really tested on individual Kanji readings, but rather on ”Kanji vocabulary” readings. There is no point learning all the possible readings for 100 Kanji when you won’t be tested on theｍ anyway. It is far more beneficial and productive to learn vocabulary in context. So learning short sentences is a better way to learn Kanji and to learn how to read. Keep in mind you have about 800 words to learn for level 4 and 1500 words for level 3.

Let’s have a look at a question. Try answering the example question below. Choose the correct hiragana readings for each of the Kanji characters as quickly as you can.

Sample Question

肉　より　魚を　よく　食べる

A　肉           １　にっく         ２　にく           ３　ぎゅう          ４　ぎゅ

B　魚           １　さかな         ２　ざかな        ３　ぎょ             ４　ぎょう

C　食べる      １　のべる        ２　しべる        ３　くべる          ４　たべる

Answers (mouse over to display): A.２ にく,  B. １ さかな, C. ４ たべる

Did you try reading the sentence several times before looking at the Kanji readings. I am guessing you didn’t. The way the questions are written often make students focus only on the Kanji and neglect the whole question. Students all too often try to answer or guess the readings of the Kanji without spending enough time on reading the question. This is the wrong way to approach the Kanji and vocabulary questions. Two things are important for these questions, the content of the question and your first impression of the Kanji.

Read or try to read the question first before looking at answering the hiragana readings. Do this several times. If you can read it then you know you will be spot on and then you just choose the correct readings. If you understand only half of the question you then have a good chance of working out the rest from context. For example, in the question above if you knew the Kanji 食べる（たべる ) meant “to eat”  you then would have realized the other two Kanji 肉 and 魚 to represent  something that is eaten (or vis versa).  If you allow your mind to work a little you have better chances of recalling Kanji readings

The Kanji section is broken up into 4 sets of question. The first 2 sets of questions deal with Kanji and hiragana readings. You are being tested on your knowledge of Kanji and how to correctly read Kanji. The third set of questions tests your knowledge of vocabulary. The last set of questions deal with comprehension.

Important Tips for Section I Questions

1. Read (or try to read) the question or sentence several times before looking for answers. You will have a tendency to want to get to the answers quickly. Taking your time and pacing yourself is better than rushing through the questions. Understanding the Kanji in context will ensure you make the right choice.
2. Beware of long and short vowel Kanji. For example the word younger sister in Japanese – is いもと　or　 いもうと
3. Beware of the 　”　(だくてん)　- The small two lines  that mark hiragana to represent a change in the reading.  Here is an example　とand ど ( to & do). It is very easy to miss these. If you are not careful you can make the small mistake of  choosing the wrong answer

In the question below, please choose the proper pronunciations for the kanji used in the sentence.

Sample Question

土よう日に　妹と　買い物　に　行きます。

A　土よう日　１　とようび　　２　どようび　３　かようび　４　どようひ
B　妹　　　　１　おとうと     ２　いもと　　３　いもうと　４　むすめ
C　買い物　　１　かいぶつ　　２　がいもの　３　がいぶつ　４　かいもの
D　行きます　１　あきます　　２　うきます　３　いきます　４　ききます

Tip: A. beware of the だくてん (dakuten) and in B. the long vowles.

Answers (mouse over to display): A. ２ どようび, B. ３ いもうと, C. ４ かいもの, D. ３ いきます

Important Tips for Section II Questions

1. Read  the question or sentence several times before looking for answers. Because the whole sentence is written in hiragana you will have no trouble reading it.  Read it slowly and try to grasp the meaning in English.  Again, you will have a tendency to want to get to the answers quickly.
2. Eliminate choices you know are wrong.
3. Watch out for of swapped Kanji
4. Go with your instincts or first choice.
5. Think about the grammar of the sentence.

In the question below, please choose the proper kanji for the words given in the sentence.

Sample Question

きょねん　とうきょうに　すんだ。

A　きょねん　　　１　今年　　２　去年　   ３　来年   　４　毎年

B　とうきょう　　１　京都      ２　東京　　３　京東   　４　都京

C　すんだ　　　   １　休んだ　２　住んだ　３　済んだ　４　飲んだ

Tip: beware of swapped kanji in B

Answers (mouse over to display): A: ２ 去年 (kyounen, last year), B: 2.東京 (toukyou, Tokyo), C: 2.住んだ (sunda, lived[in])

Important Tips for Section III Questions

Read  the question or sentence several times before looking for answers. These questions are worth two marks each. In this section your vocabulary knowledge is being tested. Because the whole sentence is written in hiragana you should have no trouble reading it.  Read it slowly and try to grasp the meaning in English.  Again, you will have a tendency to want to get to the answers quickly.

Ask yourself focused grammar questions when looking at the question.

• Am I looking for a noun, and adjective and adverb ?
• What is the tense of the verb in the sentence or clause ?
• What is the subject; a person, an animal an object ?

Tips

1. Look at what comes before the underline.
2. Look at what comes after the underline.
3. What are the particles in the question; に、を、が、は、で
4. Watch out for ので,　ですが,　でも　and  から
5. Think in context to eliminate wrong choice.
6. Know your katakana – a katakana question is almost always in this part of the test.

Examples

In the questions below, please choose the most suitable word from the list below each question.

Sample Question

となりの　いぬは ＿＿＿＿＿＿。　いつも　ほえています。
１　げんき　　２　うるさい　３　かわいい　４　ながい

Tip: You are looking for an adjective describing a dog

Answer: 2. urusai (loud, noisy, annoying)

Sample Question

この　くるまは　ふるい　です　が、　よく　＿＿＿＿＿＿。
１　はしる　　２　とまる　３　こわれる　４　あるく

Tip: You are looking for a verb describing a car

Answer: 1. hashiru (goes/runs fast)

Sample Question

お母さんに　はなを　買って＿＿＿＿＿＿＿。
１　あげる　２　する　３　くれる　４　あがる

Tip: Who brought the flowers for who?

Answer: 1. ageru (give) “(I) bought and gave a flower to my mother” Note: kureru could also work, and the sentence would then mean that “my mother received a flower (by someone)”

Sample Question

さむいから　ヒーターを＿＿＿＿＿＿　ください。
１　けして　　２　かって　３ つけて　　４　きって

Tip: It is cold so what would you normally do with a heater?

Answer: 3. tsukete (turn on) “it’s cold, so please turn on the heater”. Note: 2. katte (buy) would also work, and would in that case mean “It’s cold, so please buy a heater”.

The 4th set of questions checks whether you can understand whole sentences. These ones are a little tricky and require more time than the other questions. Like the 3rd set of questions they are worth 2 marks each.

1. Read the underlined sentence over and over until you understand it. You need to read slowly.
2. Try to translate the sentence into English.
3. Ask yourself what you are looking for – what is the key word..
4. Read the other sentences and eliminate the wrong choices.

Sample Question

わたしは　やさいが　すきです。
１　いぬや　ねこなどが　すきです。

２　りんごや　バナナなどが　すきです。

３　トマトや　かぼちゃなどが　すきです。

４　サラダと　ジュースが　すきです。

Tip: Translated to English - I like vegetables
Answer (mouse over to display): 3. tomato ya kabocha nado ga suki desu

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