寅年 – Tora Doshi 2022 is the Year of the Tiger
2022 is the year of the Tiger! Known as Tora Doshi in Japanese. This is the third animal in the Chinese Zodiac. If you are interested to learn more you have come to the right place.
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Writing Tora Doshi in Japanese Kanji
The Chinese Zodiac uses a special Kanji character for Tora Doshi. That Kanji is 寅年. The word for tiger in Japanese is 寅. And 年 means year. Usually, though, you write tiger in Japanese with a different Kanji character, 虎. It may also just be written in Hiragana as とら or Katakana as トラ. You would write 寅 only when talking about the year of the tiger in the Chinese Zodiac.
The animal symbols in the Chinese Zodiac mean more than just years. The Kanji, 寅 also represents direction and time. That is, the 30 degrees to the North of East, or Eastern North-East. and the time period of the day from 4 am to 6 am. Before today’s current way of representing time, people in Japan used the Chinese Zodiac to tell time and direction.
The Chinese Zodiac is comprised of 12 animals. In Japan, the Chinese Zodiac is mainly something th...Japanese Universe
Which Birth Years are Tora Doshi?
If you were born in any of these years, then you are Tora doshi.
1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022
I have several other posts on this blog talking about various topics on the Japanese Language. Happy New Year!
Resources
- Chinese Zodiac (Japanese)
- 寅 (Weblio – Japanese)
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