昔

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 昔、ここに大きな森がありました。▶ —
   Long ago, there was a great forest here.
2. 昔話を聞かせてください。▶ —
   Please tell me an old tale.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Mukashi (昔) is the noun / adverb "long ago" — a far longer time horizon than saikin (recent days-to-months); mukashi spans years to many decades. Mukashibanashi (old tale / folk tale) cluster: "mukashi mukashi aru tokoro ni..." (Once upon a time, in a certain place...) is the default Japanese fairy-tale opener. Korean "yet-nal yet-jeok-e," English "Once upon a time," Chinese 从前从前 share the narrative-opener code. Natsukashii (nostalgic) often collocates: mukashi no uta (an old song) is frequently described as natsukashii. Time-depth vocab: oomukashi (very long ago / antiquity), hitomukashi (a decade or so ago, "one age"). Kanji 昔 = 廿 (twenty) + 日 (day) — "many days stacked into the past."

Quick check

1. Standard opener of a Japanese folk tale?

   • "Mukashi mukashi aru tokoro ni..." — Once upon a time...
   • "Ima, koko de..." — Now, here...
   • "Shourai wa..." — In the future...
   • "Korekara..." — From now on...