Father's Day and Election Day
Today is Father's Day in Japan, which as in the USA, is the third Sunday in June. In English there are many names for Father, including Dad, Daddy, Papa, Pop, Pa, to name a few. In Japanese, there are also many names for Father.
Otou-san お父さん
This may be the most common. Along with Otou-san, are Otou-sama (more polite) and Otou-chan (used by children). Use Otou-san to talk about someone else's father.
Chichi 父
This is the word you use to talk about your own father to someone else.
Papa パパ
Just like in English, Papa. In Japanese, it's a word that mostly children use.
Oyaji 親父 / おやじ
The kanji for this word mean parent (親) and father (父). In addition to a casual word for father, it is also a term used for middle-aged or elderly men.
Oton おとん
I've not heard this word used, but I understand it is used by people who speak the Kansai dialect, the Japanese used in and around Osaka.
Chichiue 父上
The two kanji mean father (父) and up (上). Used in the time of the samurai, it means something like "exalted father".
So, what do or did you call your father? Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, no matter what they are called.
Today is also election day where I live. There are two candidates in this race for the prefecture governor. Notice the fist and the candidate's age in the bottom photo. The photo on top is the incumbent, Heita Kawakatsu, who has held the office since 2009 and is now 72 years old.
He looks the same as he did four years ago!
There are three candidates for the second race, which might be the local representative to the prefecture senate or something like that?
I recognize this guy, Kenzo Yamaguchi, from an earlier election. I guess he didn't win so he is trying again. It looks like he is making his photo signs on his home printer.
I hope everyone can get out and vote today.
5 comments:
I think your incumbent may have been using that same photo for more than two elections! He doesn't look like he was in his 60s or 70s when that photo was taken. Or perhaps it is heavily photoshopped. A quick google for pictures of him show that he doesn't look like that in real life.
Our Father's Day is Sunday. My dad was -- Dad. Always was and always will be.
I call my dad 'Papa', but I think chichi is really cute too!
Election photographs are misleading!!!! What politician dares to show his/her real face!?
When I was little I called my father Pappa, which was standard at the time. In our teens, though, my brother and I changed and called our parets by their first name. I guess it was a trend in the 70s in Sweden, and it is still quite common.
Funnily enough, my brother and sister-in-law wanted their children to call them by their given names, but my niece and nephew preferred to say Mamma and Pappa! You just can't control children!!!!
My father was and is Dad, interestingly my sins call me Mum but their father by his christian name. I wonder how many years that man has been using the same photo for elections?
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