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The Japanese writing system is composed of two syllabic scripts, called 平仮名 Hiragana and thousands of Chinese characters, called 漢字 Kanji. The three scripts basically have different functions. Hiragana is used mostly to write grammatical elements, such as inflectional verb endings, and sometimes for writing native Japanese words. For example, in 見た mita the kanji 見 represents the stem of the verb 見る miru 'see' and た ta is a verb ending for forming the past tense. The kana endings attached to a kanji base or stem are called 送り仮名 okurigana.
Kanji are used to write the core of the Japanese vocabulary. This includes words, especially nouns, of Chinese origin and words coined in Japan on the Chinese model, such as 山脈 sanmyaku 'mountain range', as well as native Japanese words, such as 山 yama 'mountain'. Kanji have three basic properties: form, sound, and meaning. Each character may be pronounced according to its Chinese derived on reading, or one of several native Japanese kun readings, and each reading may have numerous meanings associated with it.
A running Japanese text consists of a mixture of kanji and kana, with the latter normally outnumbering the former. For example:
漢字を組み合わせることによって多数の熟語が作り出せます。
Kanji o kumiawaseru koto ni yotte tasū no jukugo ga tsukuridasemasu.
Numerous compound words can be formed by combining Chinese characters.
In the above sentence, particles such as を o (object marker), as well as verb endings (-わせる -waseru in 組み合わせる kumiawaseru 'combine'), are written in hiragana, whereas nouns, such as 熟語 jukugo 'compound word', are written in kanji. Hiragana characters serve as natural borderlines that help the reader segment the text into meaningful units. For this reason, a Japanese text is easier to read than a running Chinese text, which consists of Chinese characters only.
We can custom create any form or setting incorporating any of the two Japanese writing forms.
Please contact us for details regarding custom Kanji or Hiragana jewelry at 213-628-7865. |
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Cleaning - On site cleaning services, it is recommended that you have your pieces cleaned at least twice every year, depending on use.
Appraisal - Certified appraisals
Custom Remount - If you purchased loose stones or settings from the internet and need to mount the stones, we also provide mounting services and stock a wide array of settings.
Manufacturing - Custom creations from dreams or that special design from the past, we can create or recreate any setting for your precious stones.
For information on any of the services above or if you have any further questions, please contact us at 213-628-7865 |
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Kamon was born in the Japanese tradition and cultural climate and is the symbol of a family or a group. In addition, a symbol similar to the family crest is an emblem of national as well as local government bodies including prefecture, city, town and so forth, uniquely designed in consideration of the tradition and cultural background specific to the respective region. Also, religious facilities like shrines, Buddhist temples, various enterprises, educational organizations like universities, colleges, high schools etc. have got their own emblems designed to represent their own tradition and background, and they are regarded as important properties of their own.
According to an authority, in Japan, there are as many as 30,000 different family crests. Most of them are images of plants followed by images of animals. This could explain that the traditional Japanese way of life had been closely associated with the natural surroundings.
It appears that by drawing various images of nature that were seen or used in people's everyday life for usage as decorative articles for clothes, furniture etc. and with the repeated use of such images, gradually it became the family symbol or crest. This is probably how the Japanese family crest was born.
After the 2nd World War, along with a fast change of the "nuclear family" system, which is the decentralization of family members according to the new democrat social system enforced after the war, people's strong emotional attachment to "family" had been lost and eventually, recognition of Kamon as family symbol has also lost much ground.
A typical Japanese family would have two family crests, the father’s & mother’s side. If you are the daughter of your family, you receive the crest from your mother’s side (Okasan - mother or Obachan - grandmother).
If you are the son of your family, you receive the crest from your father’s side (Otosan - father or Ojiichan - grandfather).
The crests do not necessarily go by last names, even you have same sir name, It does not mean that you have same family crest, it depends upon where your family originated, related family ,occupation, social class etc.
If you would like to find your family crest or would like to have a custom kamon, hiragana or kanji creation, please call 213-628-4077 or come in to Firefly located in Little Tokyo 330 E. 2nd Street Suite #A Los Angeles, California 90012 |
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