With lockdown starting and no job I decided to learn Japanese.
By Mandy Lay
Although I have been to Japan (and can’t wait to return), I have never studied the language. This was going to be an interesting undertaking.
After learning hiragana and katakana, two of the three sets of Japanese characters, I began the epic task of memorising Kanji. Kanji are based on Chinese characters which the Japanese adopted many moons ago.
It’s actually been surprisingly fun as each Kanji represents a word and then when combined with another Kanji you can work out the meaning without being told. For example child 子 added to cow 牛 means calf! Similarly rest 休 added to day 日 means holiday!
So when it came to designing some new signs it was easy to decide on the 4 seasons of Japan and a corresponding icon to match. And so became Summer 夏 (natsu) and the Japan sun, Autumn 秋 (aki) and a maple leaf , Winter 冬 (fuyu) and a snow flake and last but not least Spring 春 (maru) with a cherry blossom/sakura (桜).
In the video below, we quickly show some of the stages that your sign goes through as we craft a personalised item just for you. From engraving the design, to cutting the profile shape, and finally spraying with oil so your sign is ready to be hung inside or out. You choose!
We can also do just the engraving or profile cuts if you already have the wood you’d like to use. Just give us a call and we can discuss how we can help you out with this.