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Event Description
KAKIZOME
It’s the Year of Boar out of 12 animal signs of Japanese zodiac. As Japanese characterize people by the year born, typically the Boar represent one who tends to dash straight forward toward goal without hesitation or stopping. Aggressive and/or brave rather than timid and/or careful. You’d recognize someone just like that. Then Chinese call it a Year of Pig. When you talk about the differences in character of the two, while they are in the same family thus they share similar behavior, you know pigs are not known as a kind of animal who would dash like a boar. My guess is that when the zodiac calendar was introduced to Japanese, they probably couldn’t think of anything that much significant in the pig’s character so it was replaced by boar. That is my guess which is not proven anyhow. By now, you may realize Japanese in old times enjoyed playing with characterizing things pretty much everything.
Letters were also well played in old days in Japan. Writing shows each writer’s character just like driving a car. Kakizome is not the day you’d practice writing but the very day you’d show your best and characteristic writing filled with your skill and strength, presenting that you’re ready to face the New Year bravely. It is, however, very difficult for the participants to do that since they didn’t have a chance to practice prior to this Kakizome day. I am hoping that, if we could keep doing Kakizome for many more years, we’d eventually be able to focus more on each participant’s “character” in writing.
I’m pleased to say today’s Kakizome was another success. Thank you everyone whom volunteered today.
Midori Shinye
Project Leader
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