Festive Kanji - Reflections on a Seven Faced Bird

[Martin Holman]

I suppose it is appropriate that a response to the turkey question should
come from Massachusetts, though from the opposite end of the state from
Plymouth Rock.

According to the Kokogo Daijiten, the "seven-facedness" of the shichimenchou
comes from the changeable colors of the bird's featherless head when it is
disturbed or excited (as well many of them might be at this time of the
year). The dicitonary also offers "kimochi no kawariyasui hito" as an
additional definition. The term "shichimen" appears in many other contexts
in Japanese to refer to something multifaceted or changeable, including
"Shichimen Daibosatsu" in Nichiren Buddhism.

I guess we can justified this exchange by considering the color-changing
turkey head as a kind of moving image.

For what it's worth.

Best holiday wishes.

Marty Holman
____________
Martin Holman
Japanese Language, Literature, and Theatre
Department of Asian Languages and Literatures
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003

Tel.  (413) 545-4953
E-mail: mholman at asianlan.umass.edu
www.asianinterstage.com



Jasper Sharp wrote:

> Not exactly relevant to the field of cinema, but something that I've been
> pondering over for the past few days, since I established that no one in
> Japan will actually be having turkey this Christmas.
> The Japanese for 'turkey' is 'shichimenchou', a composite kanji meaning
> 7-faced bird. Can someone please explain to me why a turkey is known as a
> 7-faced bird in Japan? I assume that turkeys are not indigenous to Japan,
> and so this name must be of fairly recent invention, unless imported from
> the Chinese word.
> Sorry if off topic, but I've no idea where else to turn. Every Japanese
> person I've asked so far says they've never given the matter a second
> thought .
>
> Merry Christmas,
>
> Jasper Sharp
>
> Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
> www.midnighteye.com