Japan is an exotic land that is situated far from us. That’s the country with amazing traditions, culture, and language. The country that preserved its ancient tradition despite of the today’s realities. One of the Japanese traditions is to choose the hieroglyph of the year.
It has to characterize the year that has already passed. For example, 2015 was called the year of Japanese welfare and well-being because during this year a lot of marriages were registered. Local people decided to choose a corresponding hieroglyph – love.
The Centre for Japanese Language and Culture Learning at Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University has presented such a tradition. The head of Japanese Culture Community, Halyna Zinovieva organized this event. Japanese Centre at our University has been working since 2004. Students have an opportunity to learn Japanese language and traditions of Japanese culture at this center.
Taking into consideration today’s Ukrainian realities, several variants of hieroglyphs, which could represent the year that passed, were proposed to Halyna Zinovieva. Among them were hieroglyphs that symbolize reforms and another one for the victory. But the best choice was the one that represents integration. The participants of the presentation supported this idea.
“There are four treasures for a person who draws hieroglyphs. Ink, stone for ink, brushes and of course, rice-paper. Why exactly rice-paper? That’s because it is thin and tough at the same time, that’s the best material for hieroglyphs’ drawing. The main principle of drawing hieroglyphs is that we should do it in one breath,” explains Halyna Zinovieva.
