Sakura and Ohka - Japanese translation

[fallenangle]

For years I've been under the impression that the purpose designed WW2 Japanese kamikaze rocket aircraft named "Ohka" was translated as meaning cherry blossom.

However a few months ago whilst talking about Japanese RPGs on another forum somebody said that sakura, as in Sakura Wars, also meant cherry blossom.

I looked this up online and used Jap/Eng dictionaries etc and indeed sakura does mean cherry blossom. Finding the 'real' meaning of ohka has proven more difficult.

Everywhere the "Ohka" aircraft is mentioned it says it means cherry blossom yet put it into a Jap/Eng online dictionary and it generally comes up with nothing. I'm wondering if this is a mis-translation which has spread from the original sources (likely WW2 history books) because nobody repeating it has actually verified the meaning.

The question is then what does ohka actually mean? Maybe it is cherry blossom too and it's like the subtle differences between flowers, floweret, petals and blooms in English but if so why isn't it in the dictionaries as such.

I'm hoping a Japanese speaker or somebody else here might know.

[abigsmurf]

synonyms ftw

Google search for ohka pretty much confirms it means Cherry blossom

[noobish hat]

桜花　(ouka) - cherry blossoms
花 (hana) - flower/bloom/blossom
桜 (sakura) - cherry tree, cherry blossoms

in Japanese, characters have more than one reading. Sakura is the Japanese reading of the 桜 character, ou is the Chinese reading, hana is the Japanese reading of 花, ka is the Chinese reading. Chinese readings are usually used in compounds, like 桜花

[kryss]

Good answer! 9.5/10

ohka = ouka (nihonshiki vs mod. Hepburn Romanisation systems)

[noobish hat]

lol, I, thoroughly modern Tilley, only ever use wa-puro style.

[kryss]

I'm with you. "ti" instead of "chi" annoys the hell out of me. "wo" I can live with though.

[fallenangle]

So, if I've understood correctly, ohka is actually the, now old, Chinese version (reading) of the Japanese characters for cherry blossom. So how come the kamikaze aircraft was called that rather than using the Japanese reading ie. sakura?

I prefer the Allied name given to it anyway: baka, which apparently means idiot although I suspect somebody here is going to tell me that's not right either.

[Darwock]

桜花　(ouka) is a different word. 桜　(sakura) has only the one character. They just have the same meaning.

[noobish hat]

Woah! Rewind! It's not an 'old' reading. Well, actually, in a way it is, because Chinese characters were 'borrowed' from China a long time ago, over a long period of time, and from different regions (this is why most characters have many different readings). But these readings are still used now.

Baka does indeed mean stupid, and let me tell you about the characters, because I quite like it.

馬鹿　(baka) - idiot
馬 (uma) - horse
鹿 (shika) - deer

A stupid person is someone who would mistake a deer for a horse! If that isn't the epitome of idiocy, I don't know what is!

[kryss]

I've never liked the "chinese readings" bit. That's what they get called (by some people, I prefer "onyomi" myself) but yet chinese sounds nothing like it.

[noobish hat]

Yeah but nobody would know what I was talking about if I said onyomi or kunyomi lol

[randombs]

You should never use 'wo'. Always use 'whoa' as it adds emphasis. 'Ti' does drive me a bit nuts, not least because that's what some Japanese friends will use when texting me, and it'll sometimes throw me off for a second. Same with 'zya' for 'ja'.

nobody would know what I was talking about if I said onyomi or kunyomi lol

I'd think you're talking about food

A stupid person is someone who would mistake a deer for a horse! If that isn't the epitome of idiocy, I don't know what is!

Is that specifically with regards to the animals themselves, or would an idiot see 馬鹿　as 馬馬 or 鹿鹿, or perhaps even 鹿馬? What about someone who was dyslexic? I think they should've sat down and thought about it for a little while before committing to such a far-reaching umbrella term as horse deer, and the 'idiotic' implications it brings with it.

Humour aside, it got me wondering about dyslexia and learning Japanese, and I found this and this.

[Darwock]

I've been teaching in elementary and junior high schools for the first time since April and what surprises me is that the two schools are right next to each other but teach conflicting methods of romaji to the kids.

They spend their elementary school years learning to write sya/syo/syu etc so that when they get to junior high they can fail all the tests where they are expected to write sha/sho/shu. Is it any wonder the English education in this country is in an absolute state?

[randombs]

Is it true that they prefer to have Japanese people teaching the kids English? Or is that something someone may have just ranted about at their particular school?

[kryss]

You should never use 'wo'. Always use 'whoa' as it adds emphasis.

That just sounds odd.