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Fujiwara no Sai
   

Fujiwara no Sai is a character in Hikaru no Go.

Pictures form Toriyama's world: [ext] http://www.toriyamaworld.com/hikago/covers/hikaru_cover_13.jpg and [ext] http://www.toriyamaworld.com/hikago/covers/hikaru_cover_6.jpg


The following discussion has been copied from another page:

Bill: Fujiwara no Sai is the old-old fashioned way of saying Fujiwara Sai. "No" (of) does not denote ownership, any more than "de" (of) in Hernando De Soto or Jeanne d'Arc.

splice: Actually, I disagree to some degree with Bill's statement. It makes a lot of sense to me that Hernando De Soto would mean Hernando of the Soto family, and Fujiwara no Sai would mean Sai of the Fujiwara family. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the origin of the old way of naming people. It does not necessarily denote ownership in any way, but it does denote inclusion in a group.

Migeru: In Spanish, 'de' often indicates geographic origin. 'de Soto' might mean 'from the town of Soto' while 'del Soto' would mean 'from the forest'. The same is true of the Italian 'da' and the French 'de', like 'Dupont'. When a geographic meaning is not apparent, it usually indicates noble origin, like the German 'von'.

Bill: Actually, splice, we agree. :-)

moonprince: Fujiwara no Sai is my favorite character as well, so I am spreading the 'Gospel according to Sai' to as many friends as I can *^_^* I am particularly vulnerable because I've been addicted to the Heian period of Japan ever since I read The Tale of Genji twenty years ago. Now I can show my friends a picture of Sai and they finally understand what I am blathering on about. My favorite picture of Sai is the black and white frontpiece of chapter 108 where he is sneering in determination. My second favorite picture is this one: [ext] http://toriyamaworld.com/hikago/gallery/screencaps/hika-anime-01.jpg

Regarding Heian naming practices, 'Fujiwara no Sai' would be translated as 'Sai of the Fujiwara Clan'. In Japanese grammar the particle 'no' shows a relationship between two objects, with the larger object coming first and the smaller object coming second. This style of naming is no longer used, today Sai would be called 'Fujiwara Sai.' (Surname comes first in Japanese.) The rendition 'Fujiwarano' in the Toriyama's World translations is awkward at best.

Fujiwara means 'wisteria bottom', a 'bottom' being a local word for a low lying or marshy piece of ground. Curiously, around here wisteria usually grows on the hillsides, not in the bottoms. (The Fujiwara were the pre-emininent aristocratic family of the Heian period.) But does anyone know what 'Sai' means?

A rough translation of "Sai" is benevolent (literally help-benefit or in order to help).-TimBrent



This is a copy of the living page "Fujiwara no Sai" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.