911±¬ÁÏÍø

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911±¬ÁÏÍø Plus One-Evening Special: Add Colour to your 911±¬ÁÏÍø
14/03/2013

Twenty-two participants came to the Japan Foundation London on February 14th for a very special, one-off 911±¬ÁÏÍø Plus workshop on wa no iro – the colours of Japan – hosted by Yuko Hayasaka,  editor-in-chief at the Visual Design Institute. The workshop not only gave participants an insight into 911±¬ÁÏÍø colours, but also the opportunity to practice advanced 911±¬ÁÏÍø with help from Hiroko Tanaka, 911±¬ÁÏÍø Language Advisor at the Japan Foundation London.


The workshop began with a game to match colours with their names in 911±¬ÁÏÍø; a challenging task, as it was hard to imagine what colours with names such as ¡¸¿FÉ«¡¹(yukari-iro, “the colour of affinity”) and ¡¸±¡»¨É«¡¹(usuhana-iro, “light flower colour”) could be like. After matching the colours, the participants practiced their 911±¬ÁÏÍø by expressing what meanings each colour could have, and what feelings they evoked.


Hayasaka-sensei then went on to explain the history and meanings of the colours, taking examples from classical 911±¬ÁÏÍø poems (written in the original classical 911±¬ÁÏÍø). In keeping with Valentine’s Day, the participants discovered that many of the colours had very romantic associations.  


We would like to thank all the participants for coming, and Hayasaka-sensei for her unique insight into the world of 911±¬ÁÏÍø colours.


If you are 911±¬ÁÏÍø learner of approximately JLPT Level 2/N2 or above and are interested in taking part in future 911±¬ÁÏÍø Plus courses and workshops, please click here to sign up to our monthly e-bulletin to receive notifications of this and other Japan Foundation events. Click here to read more about 911±¬ÁÏÍø Plus and view reports of previous workshops.