I arrived at the name, Kyoto Kanai, for my blog after much deliberation. I pondered for weeks and couldn't come up with a catchy and meaningful blog name. My husband said "You'll figure one out, it will just come to you." He was right! One evening the phrase Kyoto Kanai came into my head and I thought, this is it! I came upon this name while reflecting on our move to Kyoto, Japan and thinking of myself as somewhat of a housewife since I won't be working while we are living there.
Another influence for my name came from our recent trip to Italy where Joel was able to put his Japanese language skills to the test! On a ferry ride to Capri from Naples, we met four Japanese people who struck up a conversation with Joel after seeing his Japanese tattoo on his forearm. There were three Japanese women and one man. Of course Joel performed his newly found Japanese language skills beautifully, and made wonderful conversation. Of course I couldn't follow the conversation because I don't know any Japanese, however I could detect when Joel said something wrong. The three Japanese women started giggling and whispering to themselves, and of course the Japanese man was smiling and looking off into the distance because he was being modest. Apparently Joel referred to me as his "Kanai" which is a phrase that isn't as commonly used today. He was attempting to say that I was his wife, but instead used an outdated term. It was very comical for our new Japanese friends, and taught Joel a language lesson. Ever since then it has been an inside joke that I am Joel's 'kanai'.
Joel and I right after our ferry ride in Capri
Kanai in Japanese is thought of as an outdated term used for describing housewives. The majority of the Japanese use more modern terms like tsuma, which is probably the most common. Although I've read in some places that Kanai can be used by a husband describing his wife when he's talking to someone of higher stature.
The beautiful city of Kyoto, Japan
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