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The
University
of
Jordan
and the Embassy of Japan co-organized the Seventh
Annual Japanese Speech Contest for students who have recently learned
Japanese, under the patronage of H.E. Professor Abdullah Al-Musa,
President of the University and H.E. Mr. Koichi Obata, Ambassador of
Japan. The event
co-organized by the
Language
Center
of the University and the Embassy took place at
Mohammed Ali Bdeir Auditorium at the
University
of
Jordan
on 13 March.
In celebrating its seventh anniversary and
on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the
diplomatic relations between
Japan
and
Jordan
, the organizers of the contest took “Haiku”,
Japanese poetry, as a theme. The
affection of the Arab people to poetry is well known and it has a long
lasting tradition of Qasida. The
Japanese people also have the time-honored style of poetry since the
6th century, but the Japanese verse consists of only five lines in 31
syllables in the pattern 5-7-5-7-7. It
is a great opportunity for the participants not only to deepen their
knowledge and understanding of
Japan
but also to rediscover their own tradition.
Haiku is extremely short poem with
17-syllable which gradually developed from the 31-syllable style. It
is written in three lines, which depict the world of nature or human
emotions, using code words to call to mind one seasonal moment.
For instance, Kobayashi Issa, a master of Haiku in the 17th century,
captured the moment using visual image in his Haiku such as;
Cha no hana ni
Kakurembo suru
Suzume kana.
See the sparrows,
Playing hide-and-seek
Amongst the tea blossoms
In this verse, tea blossoms are code for winter.
The three lines of Haiku must consist of five, seven, and five
syllables showed in the above verse such as 5 syllables (Cha, no, ha,
na, ni), 7 syllables (Ka, ku,re, m, bo, su. ru) , and 5 syllables (Su,
zu, me, ka, na).
More
than twenty students participated in the contest and recited Japanese
poems in Japanese and presented their impressions of them in Arabic
and English. Japanese language study in the
University
of
Jordan
has started since 1993 and steadily developed with foreseen vision of
the President Office and
Language
Center
in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan and Japan International
Cooperation Agency.
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