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March 21, 2022

A Blizzard of Snow Words

Are you ready to plough through some snow words? These are Japanese vocabulary words you should snow well.

Well, I think that's more than enough hilarious and clever puns for now. Let's get started.

First, the educational part. How do you say "snow" in Japanese? 

(ゆき)

yuki
snow

Kanji Study

Parts:

  • 雨 rain; weather event
  • ヨ snow shovel [Apparently, this originally represented a pig's head, but ... that's not helpful.]

Etymology:

  • A weather event that requires a snow shovel.

Yuki is also a very common girl's name in Japan, although the kanji is different. 

Enough useful information, let's move on to the fun stuff.


1

雪男(ゆきおとこ
Abominable Snowman)

MOOD SETTING

The secret rendezvous of the YUKI OTOKO with the YUKI ONNA was spoiled by a YUKI DARUMA starting a YUKI GASSEN. (Keep reading and you'll get it.)
Yuki otoko the abominable snowman in Japanese

雪男(ゆきおとこ)はビューティーコンテストに(なん)なく入賞(にゅうしょう)しました。

yuki otoko wa byu-ti-kontesuto ni nan naku nyuushou shimashita.
The Abominable Snowman won the beauty contest hands down.

  • 雪男 yuki otoko - abominable snowman; yeti [雪 (snow) + 男 (man); a regular "snowman" is 雪だるま yuki daruma (see below)]
  • ビューティーコンテスト by-ti-kontesuto - beauty contest
  • 難なく nan naku - without difficulty; easily
  • 入賞しました nyuushou shimashita - won a prize or place (in a contest) 

2

雪女(ゆきおんな
The Snow Woman)

ABOUT

The Yuki Onna is a traditional Japanese folktale of a woman who appears on a snowy night and uses her icy breath to kill trapped travelers. 
Yuki Onna the Snow Woman in Japanese Folklore

フロリダに()んでいる人々(ひとびと)にとって、雪女(ゆきおんな)はあまり(こわ)くないです。

furorida ni sunde iru hitobito ni totte, yuki onna wa amari kowakunai desu.
As for people living in Florida, the Yuki Onna isn’t very scary.

  • フロリダ furorida - Florida, USA
  • 住んでいる sunde iru - living [the でいる marks an ongoing action]
  • 人々 hitobito - people (plural) [the 々 marks repetition]
  • にとって ni totte - as for; concerning; regarding
  • 雪女 yuki onna - snow woman
  • あまり amari - not very [used with a negative verb]
  • 怖くない kowakunai - isn't scary

3

(ゆきだるま

snowman)

ABOUT

A Japanese snowman only has two parts, a head and a waist (no legs)
Frosty ended his Florida vacation

(ゆき)だるまのフロスティは、(ゆめ)だったフロリダ旅行(りょこう)()きましたが、それは悪夢(あくむ)()わりました。

yukidaruma no furosuti wa, yume datta furorida ryokou ni ikimashita ga, sore wa akumu ni owarimashita.
Frosty the snowman’s Florida dream vacation ended in a nightmare.

  • 雪だるま yuki daruma - snowman
  • 雪だるまのフロースティ yuki daruma no furo-suti - Frosty the snowman [the の is used when adding a descriptor to a name. クマのプーさん kuma no pu-san (Winnie the Pooh--literally, "Pooh, the bear"]
  • 夢だった yume datta - (Florida which) was a dream
  • フロリダ旅行 furorida ryoko - Florida trip
  • ni - to (shows direction)
  • 行きました ikimashita - went
  • が ga - but; however
  • それは sore wa - as for that
  • 悪夢 akumu - bad dream; nightmare
  • に終わった ni owatt - ended in

4

雪合戦(ゆきがっせん)

snowball fight)

ABOUT

snowball fight in Japanese

雪男(ゆきおとこ)雪合戦(ゆきがっせん)世界一強(せかいいちつよ)い。

yuki otoko wa yukigassen ga sekai ichi tsuyoi.
When it comes to snow ball fighting, the Abominable Snowman is the world’s best.

  • 雪男 yuki otoko - abominable snowman
  • 雪合戦 yukigassen - snowball fight
  • 世界一 se kai ichi – the world’s best [lit. world – one]
  • 強い tsuyoi – strong; often used in sports to mean one is better than the other team

OTHER SNOW WORDS :

  • 大雪 oo yuki – heavy snowfall
    NOTE: The OO means "big" or "great," and it refers to the quantity of snow


  • 人工雪 jin kou yuki – artificial snow
    NOTE: attaching JINKOU behind something makes it man-made


  • 初雪 hatsu yuki – the first snow of the season
    NOTE: The Japanese have a fondness for new things and things that happen first.  Other HATSU words include: 初夢 hatsu yume – the first dream of the year; 初恋 hatsu koi – first (puppy) love; 初場所 hatsu basho – the first day of a sumo tournament; 初耳 hatsu mimi – something heard for the first time


  • 吹雪 fubuki – snow storm
    NOTE: In spring, when the cherry blossoms come this word is recycled as 花吹雪 hana fubuki (falling cherry blossoms)


  • 雪祭り yuki matsuri – snow festival, often with ice sculptures
    NOTE: During the winter, a number of YUKI MATSURI are held, especially in Hokkaidou where it snows the most.

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