Kamakura in Kana

One of my goals for this year is to manage three blog posts a week. Three days out of seven doesn’t seem like much, but sometimes, it’s not so easy to get even three written. So, I’ve decided to use one of the Japanese writing systems to help me out.

Kana refers to the syllabic writing systems used in Japanese (as opposed to kanji, a logographic writing system). There are two, hiragana and katakana, and each consists of 46 symbols (well, 46 are used, but there are a few obsolete symbols, too), as well as extras made by adding ‘ ” ‘ or ‘゜’. Each post, I’ll use a hiragana symbol to help me find a topic as I share information about Kamakura.

For reference:

あ い う え お a i u e o

か き く け こ ka ki ku ke ko

さ し す せ そ sa shi su se so

た ち つ て と ta chi tsu te to

な に ぬ ね の na ni nu ne no

は ひ ふ へ ほ ha hi hu/fu he ho

ま み む め も ma mi mu me mo

や ゆ よ ya yu yo

ら り る れ ろ ra ri ru re ro

わ を ん wa wo n

**Shrine and temple information comes from pamphlets given out by the shrines and temples themselves, as well as from the following books:

Kamio, Kenji, and Willson, Heather. 2008. An English Guide to Kamakura’s Temples and Shrines. Tokyo: Ryokufu Shuppan.

Image source: pixabay.com