映画

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 昨日新しい映画を観ました。▶ —
   I watched a new movie yesterday.
2. 日本の映画はストーリーが深い。▶ —
   Japanese films have deep stories.

Collocations

Mnemonic

えいが — 映画, Sino-Japanese. A Meiji-era coinage. Unpack the two kanji ── 映 (to reflect, to project) + 画 (picture) = 'a projected picture'. For the 19th-century technology of cinema, three East Asian languages each named it with different kanji ── Japanese 映画: 映 (project) + 画 (picture). Korean yeonghwa (映畵): the same kanji. Chinese 电影 diànyǐng: 電 (electricity) + 影 (shadow) = 'electric shadow'. For one technology, Japanese and Korean saw 'a projected picture', Chinese saw 'an electric shadow' ── a difference of gaze. Japanese film vocabulary ── 邦画 hougá (Japanese film), 洋画 yougá (Western film), 映画館 eigakan (cinema). The Korean readings yeong / hwa are sister to the onyomi えい / が.

Quick check

1. Japanese director who won the 2018 Cannes Palme d'Or?

   • Koreeda Hirokazu — Shoplifters (万引き家族)
   • Kurosawa Akira — Seven Samurai
   • Miyazaki Hayao — Spirited Away
   • Shinkai Makoto — Your Name