Bakuhatsu
My wife’s midden name, I mean, maiden name is Backhaus. It’s
a strong Austrian/German name full of English double entendres and, you
know, outhouse humor. I am sure she is hating this post already. There
are very few Backhaus’ in Canada and I spent the majority of the
last two days hanging out with all of them.
Japanese people typically don’t sign their name with curly-ques
and flourishes as westerners do. They have a stamp. Oddly that seems fitting.
The “sign-your-name-here” stamp is called a hanko and the
artistry behind its creation is very much an amazing process. There are
ivory hankos, metal ones, and various types of wood. The Japanese characters
that make up a name are then twisted, shaped and re-worked into a single
character unique to the individual. Hanko artists are held in great regard
and esteem as they are pretty much responsible for how your signature
looks in Japanese. And of course so very much of your personality is tied
up in your signature… cough, cough.
If you haven’t gotten the direction of this post yet, I recommend
stopping right now, turning off the computer, filling up the bathtub (put
that nice, raspberry scented foamy stuff you got for Christmas from a
great Aunt) and then splash around with Mr. Toaster while he’s plugged
in. Sorry, that was bitter. Electrifyingly bitter.
The characters of Ba, Ku, Ha and Tsu were the closest I could get, in
Japanese, to M-C’s last name and she really wanted a hanko for her
father. Imagine my eye-widening expression when I find out that Bakuhatsu
is a word in Japanese. What does it mean? It means, literally, Kaboom.
In other, genuine words, it ain’t a word. So if you can imagine
my expression, indicative of surprise, imagine the shock on the hanko
artist’s face when we politely asked for the characters that make
up the Japanese equivalent of “kaboom.”
Then we went to the bank and made a withdrawal, yo. Signed, sealed and
delivered.
Kyle
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