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Learning from Japanese picture books (3) Karasu no Panya-san

This column introduces recommended Japanese picture books, along with related terms and culture that foreigners living in Japan may find useful. Most titles can be found in bookstores or libraries throughout Japan.

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“Karasu no Panya-san,” written and illustrated by Satoshi Kako (Published by Kaisei-sha Publishing Co., 1973)

Story outline

This is a story about a family of crows (called “karasu” in Japanese) who run a bakery in a forest where many crows live, joining forces to make the bakery a success. Four chicks are born in the bakery’s house, and they are named Mochi (rice cake), Lemon, Ringo (apple) and Choco (chocolate), based on their body colors. The father and mother crows are busy making bread and taking care of the four. As they get bigger and bigger, the young crows start snacking on the burnt and half-baked bread that cannot be sold.

Vocabulary, culture tips

Makkuro — “Kuro” means “black.” “Makkuro” literally translates to “pure black,” or “pitch black.” Other colors that can be expressed similarly are “aka” (red) as “makka,” “shiro” (white) as “masshiro,” “ao” (blue) as “massao,” and “kiiro” (yellow) as “makkiiro.” In this picture book, the expression “makkaka” also appears, which is an emphasized form of “makka.”

Mushamusha — This is an onomatopoeia used to depict chewing food. Similar words include “mogumogu” and “pakupaku.” These three expressions often appear in stories but are rarely used in everyday conversation among adults. “Mushamusha” is often used for animals, such as a horse munching on grass. When used for people, it gives the impression of being a bit ill-mannered. “Mogumogu” represents chewing with one’s mouth closed, and “pakupaku” creates the image of a person opening and closing their mouth as they eat more and more food.

Kobashii — This adjective refers to the pleasant aroma of scorched roasting or baking food, especially bread, meat, coffee and so on. We can use this word during a meal, for example, “Kono oniku wa kobashikute oishii desu ne” (The meat has a savory aroma and is delicious.)

Popular children’s hero made of bread

The word “pan-ya” in the title of this picture book refers to a bakery. In Japanese, “pan” means bread and “ya” means occupation or the house in which the occupation is performed. The book has a spread page showing many types of bread in unusual animal, plant and other shapes — turtle, tulip, snowman, giraffe and watermelon, to name a few — and when they come to the page, my children are very excited, saying, “I want this one, I want that one, and this one too!” Japanese bakeries, in fact, offer a wide variety of bread, and one of the most typical items is “anpan,” a bun with “anko” (sweet red bean paste) in it. This type of bread is associated with a well-known superhero popular among young Japanese children: Anpanman. Those raising children in Japan are sure to come across the character in TV cartoons, bookstores and toy stores.

Anpanman, whose face is made of anpan was created by the late picture book author Takashi Yanase. There are many Anpanman picture books, and they have been adapted into numerous animated cartoons and movies. The general storyline of each episode is that Anpanman defeats the constantly misbehaving Baikinman (“baikin” means “germ”). There are a huge variety of characters in the series, and my eldest son’s favorites were Currypanman and Tendonman. The former’s face is made out of curry bread, the latter’s face is made out of “tendon,” or a tempura rice bowl.

The Anpanman series is especially popular among young children up to about age 5. My sons, aged 7 and 5, have little interest in Anpanman anymore, which makes me realize that they are growing up. I would pass the many Anpanman books and toys we have at home to my young nephew, but my second son doesn’t seem to want to part with them just yet!

(This is Part 3 of a series. The next “Learning from Japanese picture books” story will be published on April 5.)

(By Risa Koshiba, The Mainichi Staff Writer)

Profile: Risa Koshiba is a mother of two boys and loves picture books. She believes that picture books can help improve literacy, and says they helped her children learn how to read and write Japanese. She is also interested in teaching Japanese to foreigners, and tutored students in Japanese and taught the language to children when she was a university student in the United States.

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