See, my last post and the Hone Vocabulary project was intended to CLEAR UP confusion. But that's not, apparently the result for me.
I decided to make my Japanese Hone Vocabulary page to help people with all those crazy words people throw around--it can be confusing to people looking at these hones, and I am no exception.
But in the process, what I've found is MORE confusion...there is just so much stuff floating around out there that is contradictory, unclear, or just plain wrong, it's almost enough to make a hone man cry. (See what I did there?)
Let's take, for example, the term "Asagi". The word itself translates as "light yellow." But the stones it is used to describe are, in fact, light BLUE. This seems to be common knowledge, and that's what I put in my vocabulary. But, hey hey, when I took the time to actually CHECK the word, it's not only light blue, but also DARK GREY!
What the heck is up with that?
And don't even get me started on Nashiji...ugh.
But I'm working on it, and every day I learn more, and while every question answered opens up two new questions, I am getting a grip on not only the terms but also on how to research them better. So the progress, while slow, is real.
But seriously. DARK GREY? That's like, the polar opposite of "light yellow."
4 comments:
I can only admire your determination to undertstand the terminology used to describe the different natural Japanese waterstones. I remember having a similar experience in trying to understand the descriptions and colours of Japanese carp. Another world of mystery to the Westerner.
Incidentally, I eventually found a book which came with superb pictures and descriptions. Being Japanese produced it was very expensive but at the time, I was more than happy to pay the price to gain the knowledge.
I’m sure that you could help finance your hobby in a similar way if you had a mind to.
English,
Indeed, it's an uphill, but satisfying, battle. I can't imagine how complex the Koi must have been--such a traditional, and varied, part of the culture.
I would LOVE to find a well researched book with lots of photos, and I do have a fairly meaty book already, but there are times when even the best descriptions are meaningless without concrete samples I can hold and touch and examine myself.
Next time I go to Kyoto, I'm putting my student hat on...
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Jim
Here it is the clue to resolve the confusion:
http://www.colordic.org/search.php?q=%E6%B5%85%E8%91%B1
One more idea:
葱 of 浅葱 is for welsh onion
so 浅葱 is color like welsh onion but somehow lighter
I have seen Shoubudani Mizuasagi Awasedo
Mizuasagi = 水浅黄 (the same as 水浅葱)
The color of this stone is rather close to light color of welsh onion
mixed with light gray.
Most digi-cams unable to catch this color correctly... but it is easy for human eyes.
Nikolay,
Thanks for that link!
That would make wonderful sense if it wasn't for the Kanji.
One really frustrating thing about Japanese is that the word you SAY, Asagi, depends on its kanji for meaning. So when you write Asagi like this: 浅黄 it means light yellow. When you write it like this: 浅葱 it means "Welsh onion" or "light blue-gray".
While the color of the stones does, in fact, resemble the color you linked to, the kanji 浅黄 is the one used on stones. So the kanji still translates as light yellow.
Although I certainly agree that 浅葱 would make much more sense, it's not the kanji used for stones, and the sourcve of confusion remains...
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