Cultural Life
Explore Japanese words for festivals, family, music and food. Every word comes with its script, romaji to help you say it, and the English meaning.
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Cultural Life
Cultural life is about festivals, family, food, music and traditions. In this module you will learn the key Japanese words for them. Japanese uses its own scripts. Every word below is shown with its script, the romaji in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning.
Key words (1)
Learn these four cultural words:
Match each word to its meaning
- お祭り おまつり (omatsuri)
- 家族 かぞく (kazoku)
- 音楽 おんがく (ongaku)
- 食べ物 たべもの (tabemono)
- festival
- family
- music
- food
What ongaku means in Japanese
What does the Japanese word 音楽 おんがく (ongaku) mean?
- music
- food
- family
- festival
Key words (2)
Now four more words about celebrations:
Match each word to its meaning
- 踊り おどり (odori)
- 伝統 でんとう (dentou)
- 歌 うた (uta)
- お祝い おいわい (oiwai)
- dance
- tradition
- song
- celebration
Cultural life
Select the TWO things that are part of cultural life.
- Celebrating festivals with family
- Enjoying music and dance
- Ignoring all traditions
- Never celebrating anything
Choose the Japanese word
In Japanese, the word for 'family' is _____, and the word for 'music' is _____.
Three scripts
Japanese uses three scripts together: kanji (漢字 かんじ, meaning-based characters), and the two phonetic sets hiragana and katakana. The romaji in brackets shows the sound. Festivals like お祭り おまつり (omatsuri) bring communities together with food, music and dance.
A special day
What does the Japanese word お祭り おまつり (omatsuri) mean?
- festival
- homework
- school
- the weather
Cultural life in action
Think about how cultural life works, using the words you have learned.
- During a festival, families gather to share...
- The Japanese word 音楽 おんがく (ongaku) refers to...
- Traditions, 伝統 でんとう (dentou), are...
One more
The Japanese word for 'food' is _____, and the word for 'festival' is _____.
Your turn: write in Japanese
Write two or three sentences IN JAPANESE about a festival or celebration. Write in kana and kanji - the romaji in brackets is a reading aid only and earns no marks in the exam.
- Name it: お祭り おまつり (omatsuri) or お祝い おいわい (oiwai)
- Say what you like with 私は〜が好きです。(わたしは〜がすきです - I like ...)- 音楽 おんがく (ongaku), 踊り おどり (odori), 歌 うた (uta), 食べ物 たべもの (tabemono)
- Say who you are with using と: 家族 かぞく (kazoku)
- Mention 伝統 でんとう (dentou), and end every sentence with 。