<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hello, Paul--I think what you are getting at is not "take action" as in the case of the verb/noun "kôdô" / 行動 which means "action" on<DIV>behalf of some cause or crusade. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Rather, as in a TV or movie filming, "action"<DIV>is a cue for the actors to get ready to perform or to be filmed. In that case, the natural Japanese circumlocution is "honban" (or "honban desu" or</DIV><DIV>"honban ni hairimasu"). </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span">The characters are <FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px;">本番 （本番です / 本番に入ります）</SPAN></FONT>。</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The "ban" in the same ban as in "ichi-ban" ("Number 1" / 一番). </DIV><DIV>It combines with "hon" (which does not mean "book" in this case) to mean "the real number" or "the real turn." In other words, the performance at hand is the real thing</DIV><DIV>or the serious film shot as opposed to a rehearsal number. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>When a director wants his/her actors to perform as though the show were</DIV><DIV>the real thing, s/he will announce this is the "honban". I hope this is what you meant and that this helps. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Aug 8, 2007, at 12:25 AM, Paul Arnold wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">Hello, My name is Paul Arnold. I am, among other things, an actor and stage manager. Right now, I'm working for a theatre in Texas, USA. I actually really love listening to the Japanese language in film. I think the cadences of the language are so different and musical from any of the European languages. <BR><BR>One of the shows I'm working on at the moment is using some Asian influence in the designs. I've been trying to find the Japanese calligraphy character(s) that equates to the way an English-speaking film director might use the word "action!" Even the spelling of the appropriate word in the Latin alphabet would be helpful (the Romanji spelling, I think is the term). <BR><BR>Thank you in advance.<BR><BR>Paul Arnold<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">William J. Tyler</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Associate Professor, Japanese Language & Literature</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Ohio State University</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">398 Hagerty Hall</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">1775 College Drive<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Columbus, OH 43210-1340</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">USA</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Telephone (direct) 614-292-3184</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:tyler.20@osu.edu">tyler.20@osu.edu</A></FONT></P> </DIV><BR></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>