Japanese Monument

culture icon Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto-1

Kyoto flourished as the capital of Japan for as long as 1000 years after 794. Thirteen temples, 3 shrines and the Nijo Castle are all registered as world heritage sites. Rokuon-ji Temple, commonly known as "Kinkaku-ji" or Golden Pavilion, was constructed in 1224 as a second house for an aristocrat. Later, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) took it over as his residence, and after his death, it was converted into a temple. This 3-tiered building facing the pond is a rare construction with each successive tier designed in a different style. Its stunning image embossed with gold leaf and reflected in the pond, is indescribable. The famous novel "Kinkaku-ji" by Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) is based on an incident in 1950 when a young monk, obsessed by the temple's beauty, set fire to it and burnt it down. (Japan Tourists Organization).

Practice Katakana Words カタカナのことば (カタカナの言葉)

Many Katakana words are created by shortening the English words.

apartment house アパート
department store デパート
air conditioner エアコン

Some words also have a different meaning than the English wordst they appear to be based on.

slim スマート
underwear パンツ
physical contact スキンシップ

Writing Practice Writing Practice

Read through the questions below and think of ways to answer them using complete sentences in Japanese.

1. きのう、おどりましたか。(昨日、踊りましたか。)

2. きょう、がっこうまで、あるきましたか。(今日、学校まで、歩きましたか。)

3. せんしゅうのどようびに、いとこに あいましたか。(先週の土曜日に、従兄弟に 会いましたか。)

4. きのう、ハンパーガーを たべましたか。(昨日、ハンガーガーを 食べましたか。)

5. きのう、みずを のみましたか。(昨日、水を 飲みましたか。)

6. きのう、おばあさんに てがみを かきましたか。(昨日、御祖母さんに 手紙を 書きましたか。)

7. きょねん、カリフォルニアに いきましたか。(昨日、カリフォルニアに 行きましたか。)

8.  たんじょうびに、たくさんプレゼントを もらいましたか。(誕生日に、たくさんプレゼントを もらいましたか。)

9. せんしゅう、たくさんおかねを もらいましたか。(先週、たくさんお金を もらいましたか。

10. きのう、たくさん たべましたか。(昨日、たくさん 食べましたか。)

Graded Assignment Graded Assignments

Please return to the Section 1 Tasks & Assignments folder to complete the graded assignments for Section 2, Part D.

Then go to Section 3