Monday, April 4, 2011

J-Word Play #15 [Answer]

Last week I posed the question "When is Meat Day in Japan?" Though it's a pun, this one is actually applicable to life in Japan, as some supermarkets will run special sales on meat for this day.

[Update: Sorry folks! I messed up big! Received a number of replies about this riddle, but had a mix-up with my email accounts. I honestly thought I had the blog's official email address forwarded to my personal email address, but looks like that option wasn't enabled. Again, my apologies to everyone who submitted! Below are some kudos, followed by the correct answer.

- Kudos to Alice of Super Happy Awesome Fun Time for getting the answer right. Check out her up-and-coming website for more Japan-related content.

- Kudos to Ali of Haikugirl's Japan - have a look at her latest post on sakura!

- Kudos to reader and Japanologist Theresa for her special answer*.

- Kudos to Renee of Shoujiki Shindoi. Still time left to participate and read about Project Hitori Jyanai on her blog!

- An additional kudos to Tokyo Five, another J-blogger; writing about his life in Tokyo with wife and kids.

- Nod and a wink to Chris, who shares a birthday with my mom.



Now on to the answer! Highlight below to check out the answer.

February 9th. This is because the Japanese for "meat" is 肉 (にく; niku). に = 2 and く = 9. Therefore "Meat Day" is 2/9.


Won't see any of this, though.

* Theresa's answer was delicious and punny, and must be shared. "Meat day" as ひにく (皮肉; meaning "sarcasm" or "irony"), because if you're just looking at the readings of the kanji, you might swap the 皮 for 日 (same pronunciation, but meaning "day"). Clever!
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9 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 4, 2011 at 8:35 PM

    Damn, iPhone won't let me highlight :( Did you get my emailed answer?
    -Alice

    ReplyDelete
  2. Blue ShoeApril 4, 2011 at 8:38 PM

    Alice,

    Ah, lame - doesn't seem to have gotten through to me. What was your answer?

    ReplyDelete
  3. RichardApril 4, 2011 at 11:11 PM

    Hey, I got the right answer too!!

    Maybe I should have sent to you through Twitter rather than email.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Blue ShoeApril 4, 2011 at 11:12 PM

    You sent it, too? Damn...let me check something.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ChrisApril 5, 2011 at 12:53 AM

    I always get beef on my birthday so it's a personal holiday :)

    Another 7/16'r....cool :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. TheresaApril 5, 2011 at 9:23 AM

    Wow, somehow I made this riddle much more complicated than it was supposed to be. xD
    Thanks for the mention! Although I don't have a blog (and it's really not because I lack the anecdotes, but rather because majoring in japanese studies eats up any private life you might have had like a starved tiger in a steak storage), may my brilliance (and overwhelming modesty) shine on the noble profession of japanology around the world! *beware the hiniku* ;D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Blue ShoeApril 5, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    Well if you ever get some time I think you should give it a go! I liked that hiniku answer - creative approach.

    Thanks, Theresa!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tokyo FiveApril 5, 2011 at 10:11 AM

    I guess you didn't my email...but I sent you the correct answer also.

    There are many of this word-play using numbers in Japan. Often used for dates and phone numbers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Blue ShoeApril 5, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    Aw, really? Ok, I'll give you an add! Sorry about that.

    ReplyDelete

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