Soogi's Story (1)

Soogi's Story (1) 

"Soogi" no Monogatari (1)

My name is Soogi.

  Boku no namae wa Soogi.

I was born in 1843, in Kagoshima, Japan.

  Sen happyaku yonju san nen ni Kagoshima de umaremashita.

I was born into the Satsuma clan.

  Satsuma-han to iimasu.

My country has a Shogun.

  Boku no kuni niwa Shogun ga imasu.

In Kagoshima, we also have our lord Shimazu Nariakira.

  Kagoshima niwa Shimazu Nariakira to iu tonosama mo imasu.

My family is samurai.

  Boku no ie wa samurai desu.

I will learn the way of the samurai, and train in sword fighting.

  Takusan benkyou shite

I will become a great samurai warrior.

  rippana samurai ni narimasu.

First, let me tell you about my everyday life.

  Mazu, boku no mainichi wo shoukai shimasu.

スギのものがたり（１）

ぼくの名前は　スギ。

1843年、日本の鹿児島で生まれました。

薩摩藩といいます。

ぼくの国には　将軍がいます。

薩摩藩には島津斉彬という殿様もいます。

ぼくの家はさむらいです。

たくさん勉強して　剣のけいこをして

りっぱなさむらいになります。

まず、ぼくの毎日を紹介します。

+++++++ About Soogi and this story ++++++++

This is a story modeled after the life story of Yoshinari Hatakeyama, one of the pioneers of Japan/US relationship and the Japanese modern educational system. "Soogi" is his American nickname, an alias for his true name, Kozo Soogiwoora. Please see Nagamimi's website for more information about him.

People who know the Japanese Romaji system may wonder if "Soogi" is supposed to be "Sugi". However, this was before Dr. Hepburn's English alphabetical system of Japanese called "Romaji", or Romanization, was established. His name was spelled in the way English speakers might come up with the sound. At present, Dr. Hepburn's Romaji system is most common system of writing Japanese in western alphabet.

To learn more about Dr. Hepburn, see Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity.
You can find more information about the Romanization of Japanese in wiki.

Words:

Shogun: the ruler of Japan during the Edo period (1603~1868) and also in the periods of Kamakura (1192-1333) and Muromachi (1336-1573). Simply the biggest samurai lord who ruled all the feudal lords of different regions. Tokugawa family ruled Japan in the Edo period, Ashikaga family was the ruling family of the Muromachi, and the Kamakura period was established by Minamoto family and later carried by Hojo and court nobles.

Satsuma-han or -clan: in the Edo period, so to say there were 300 lords in Japan. Each lord ruled his region called "han". Some lords had a big land and some had a small one. Lords are basically succeeded in the family or the clan. Satsuma is the south most region of Japan ruled by Shimazu family/clan, it is mostly nowadays Kagoshima prefecture.

Samurai: is originally the warriors but it became only the class, not real warrior since no battles after the Tokugawa family settled to be the ruler. They mostly occupied the regional government posts. In Edo period Japan had 4 classes: from the top to the bottom, samurai, farmers, craftsmen and then merchants. There are two classes below the merchants who are not recognized as the citizen. Each class is strictly fixed although there had been slightest chance to go up the class by marriage or adopting but almost impossible. Samurai was the top of the hierarchy, privilege, non-democratic, etc.