It's not easy to retain vocabulary and expressions when studying a language, and it's challenging to get words out on the spot when you're having conversations. I hope these weekly posts could be good practice for your Japanese studies!!
The question for today is: How do you say "Rainbow" in Japanese??
The answer is...
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虹 [Niji]
The origin of the word
虫 [mushi] is the kanji for insects.
For example,
蝶々 [Chouchou] is a butterfly in Japanese
蜂 [Hachi] is a bee in Japanese
And it may be confusing as to why 虹 has "虫" in it.
The reason why 虹 [Niji] has the insect kanji in it is because snakes used to be considered an insect. According to old Chinese myths, snakes become dragons after a certain period in their lives, and when they fly through the skies, they are said to create rainbows. Although this is just a theory on the origin of rainbows, many people believe this is where the name 虹 [Niji] comes from.
Writer's note: I suppose they can look like little worms sometimes, but I don't think I would ever consider huge snakes an insect. I guess Japan simply never had huge snakes and people just went with it. weird.