＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・動物の名前は漢字で書くほうが想像しやすく、名前の由来もわかる！
After World War II, when using animal and plant names as “scientific names,” the use of katakana became common, resulting in a lack of kanji representations of animal and plant names.
However, it’s interesting to find that the origins of animal and plant names, which are unclear in katakana, become much clearer when written in kanji.
Previously, in an article titled “Spartan Education and Athenian Education,” I introduced examples such as “Yotsuboshi Keshikisui” (four-spotted sap beetle) being written as “四星芥子木吸” (four-starred mustard tree sap beetle). This time, I’ll introduce some other interesting examples.
1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Katakana, Kanji, and Hiragana Notation
(1) Katakana Notation
Impression: Academic, specialized
Advantages: Names can be distinguished from the surrounding text. Anyone can read it. Allows for a unified notation.
Disadvantages: The origin of the name is difficult to understand.
(2) Kanji Notation
Impression: Literary, archaic
Advantages: The origin of the name is easy to imagine.
Disadvantages: Many difficult-to-read kanji are used. Names of plants and animals of Ainu origin or foreign language origins cannot be directly written in kanji.
(3) Hiragana notation
Impression given: Colloquial, soft impression
Advantages: Anyone can read it
Disadvantages: Difficult to distinguish from the surrounding text. The origin of the name is unclear.
2. Animal names whose kanji writing is surprisingly unknown
(1) Oniyanma (Japanese Giant Dragonfly)
The largest dragonfly in Japan, the Oniyanma, is written in kanji as “鬼蜻蜓” or “馬大頭”. While it’s an ateji (phonetic equivalent), “馬大頭” is humorous and interesting.
(2) Planthopper
Planthoppers are a general term for insects belonging to the family Planthopperidae in the order Hemiptera. They are about 5 millimeters long and use their proboscis to suck sap from rice plants and other crops. They can cause significant damage to rice crops in large numbers.
People raised in cities may not know about them, but for those raised in rural areas or with farming experience, they are considered “hated pests.”
The Japanese name for planthopper is written with the kanji characters for “floating dust（「浮塵子」）.” The way these tiny planthoppers fly around certainly resembles dust floating in the air.
(3) Crane fly
Crane flies are insects that closely resemble mosquitoes（「蚊」）. Crane flies belong to the family Tipulidae in the order Diptera. Unlike mosquitoes, crane flies do not bite or suck blood from humans.
Adults mainly feed on flower nectar, but they are sometimes seen resting motionless on walls inside houses. Their lifespan is about 10 days.
The Japanese name for crane fly is written with the kanji characters for “large mosquito（「大蚊」）.”
(4) Water strider
Water striders are insects belonging to the family Gerridae in the order Hemiptera, commonly found in puddles and ponds.
They are written in kanji as “水黽,” “水馬,” “飴坊,” and “飴棒.”
The original meaning is “飴棒,” with “飴” (ame) referring to the candy-like smell emitted from their scent glands, and “棒” (bo) referring to their long, slender bodies.
(5) Sea anemone
Anemones are a general term for six-lobed corals, meaning “a creature that lives on the shore and resembles a drawstring purse（「磯に棲む巾着のような生物」）.”
The name comes from the fact that when prey touches the tentacles at the tip, the tentacles retract to trap the prey, creating a shape like a drawstring purse.
They are written in kanji as “磯巾着” or “菟葵”.
(6) Newts and Geckos
Newts and geckos are often confused and easily mistaken for each other, but the difference becomes clear when you see their kanji characters.
Newts are written as “井守” (imori), and geckos as “家守” (yamori).
The geckos that are often seen clinging to the walls of houses are reptiles, while newts are amphibians that live in ponds and rivers.
It’s helpful to remember that newts are called “井守” (imori) because they live in water and “guard wells,” and geckos are called “家守” (yamori) because they live inside houses and “guard houses.”
(7) Budgerigar
The Japanese name for budgerigar, “Sekiseiinko,” is written with the kanji characters “背黄青鸚哥” (back yellow blue parrot). This name originates from the fact that the first budgerigars to arrive in Japan had yellow and blue backs.
(8) Longhorn beetle
Longhorn beetles, also known as “gun bugs（「鉄砲虫」）,” are considered pests because they bore holes in trees to lay their eggs, sometimes killing the trees. They might be disliked for this reason.
The Japanese name for this insect is written with the kanji characters “髪切虫” (kamikirimushi). Many people mistakenly think it’s written as “嚙み切り虫” (kamikirimushi) or “紙切り虫” (kamikirimushi), but this is incorrect.
It can also be written as “天牛” (ten’yū), which refers to its long antennae resembling a cow’s horns.
(9) Field Cricket
The field cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) is the largest cricket species found in Japan, but even so, it’s only about 26-32 mm in length.
However, when viewed from directly in front, it has a terrifying face resembling the King of Hell（「地獄の閻魔様」）, hence its name.
It is written in kanji as “閻魔蟋蟀” (Enma-cricket).
(10) Field cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus)
The field cricket (Tsuzure-sase-koorogi) is a small cricket, measuring 13-22 mm in length. It makes a deep, resonant sound, “Gii-gii-gii” or “Rii-rii-rii.”
The name Tsuzure-sase-koorogi (field cricket) originates from the fact that ancient people interpreted its call as “Stitch your shoulders, stitch your clothes together（「肩刺せ、綴（つづ）れ刺せ」）,” thus meaning “Prepare your clothes for winter（「冬に向かって衣類を手入れせよ」）.”
It is written as “辻刺蟋蟀” in kanji.
(11) Click beetle (Kometsuki-batta)
“Kometsuki-batta” is another name for “Shoryo-batta” (Spirit Locust)（「ショウリョウバッタ（精霊蝗虫）」）. It gets its name from the way it moves its entire body up and down when grasped by its legs, resembling someone pounding rice.
It is written as “米搗蝗虫” in kanji.
Furthermore, because its body movements resemble rapid, repeated bowing, it is sometimes used as a derogatory term for someone who bows excessively to superiors or others in an attempt to curry favor.
(12) Ladybug
It is written in kanji as “天道虫” (Ten-do-mushi), “紅娘” (Beni-musume), or “瓢虫” (Hyo-mushi).
When it has nowhere else to go, such as standing on the tip of a branch, it has the habit of flying upwards. Its upward flight from bottom to top looks like it’s flying towards the sun (O-ten-do-sama), hence the name “天道虫” (Ten-do-mushi).
In Japan, it is considered a “guidepost god” that shows the way to heaven.
(13) Hippo
It’s written as “河馬” in kanji.
The name seems to have come from the meaning “a horse that lives near rivers and swamps.” However, visually, “河牛” (river cow) might be a more fitting name…
The English word for hippopotamus is “hippopotamus,” which comes from the Greek word “hippopotamus” (meaning “river horse”). In German, it’s “Flusspferd” (river horse), and in Dutch, “nijlpaard” (Nile horse).
Hippopotamus are animals that inhabit the African continent and were not originally found in Japan, so the kanji representation “河馬” came about based on its Greek and other origins.
A simple transliteration of the English or Greek word, “hippopotamus,” would have sufficed, but thankfully, people in the Meiji era translated it according to its etymology so that the animal could be imagined from the kanji.
(14) Seal
It is written as “海豹” in kanji.
In the manga “Shonen Ashibe” by Hiromi Morishita, a baby spotted seal named “Goma-chan” appeared, and it was later adapted into a television anime.
This led to spotted seals becoming affectionately known as “Goma-chan” to the general public, and also helped to increase the public’s awareness of this species.
“Tama-chan,” who appeared in the Tama River in August 2002 and became a hugely popular figure that soothed the hearts of people all over Japan, was a bearded seal.
