Nani doshi desu ka? What's your sign? If you were born in 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, or 2002, you were born in the year of the horse. You are open-minded and active, smart, talented and talkative (sometimes to the point of being argumentative).
Amy Chavez of Japan Lite wishes a fond farewell to the year of the snake and explains some of the attributes of those born in the year of the horse.
Asking someone their sign is a polite way of asking their age. M2 and I were both born in the year of the monkey, albeit 12 years apart.
Asides
While looking for something else I came across these old photos from the 1920s and 1930s. Japanese old photos from 1926 to 1942.
The annual events at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine look interesting. I don't think I could handle the New Year's crowds, though. However, I'd love to see the archers exorcise the demons on January 5th.
The Japan Toy musuem north of Himeji, is having a special exhibit of horse toys in honor of the year of the horse. It continues through January 15, 2002. We all enjoyed the Toy Museum in London last summer and this one looks much larger. I love old toys. I wish I had the very first Japanese doll I remember seeing when I was 6. It was a small geisha doll with 4 wigs. In my memory, the head had four different faces painted on...but this might just be a trick of my imagination.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
December 31, 2001
Share Your Thoughts
The compound juunishi means "twelve horary signs"...that is, the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. This coming year, 2002, is the year of the horse.
The first two characters mean "twelve" (1 "ten" and 2 "ones"). The third character, SHI, means "support" or "branch" (like in branch office). The 12 animals of the zodiac are supporting characters to the 10 main characters (jikkan) in a 3000 year-old Chinese system of expressing dates.
The kanji for the year of the horse is uma. Actually, as the dictionaries put it, it is the "horary" sign, applicable to the days as well as years. The day is divided into twelve 2-hour periods. The period between noon and 2PM is the hour of the horse.
The kanji for horse is uma. They sound the same but are "spelled" differently. This is no more confusing than in English where "horse" means something different than "year of the horse". You can ride a "horse", but not you cannot ride a "year of the horse". You can be born in the "year of the horse", but not be born in the "horse".