Japan is nothing if not a land of contradictions, where you can connect to the Internet via a high speed cellular connection while speeding on a fast shinkansen, and yet there are still fish-sellers who ride around on bicycles selling fish to households door-to-door, where technology is embraced while traditions, even stupid ones like the guy coming to each house in our neighborhood to collect our 2000 yen NHK fee every month, are preserved. I always enjoy making trips to Tokyo, where you can see an incredible range of on the train with you: the salaryman, the teenager rapidly thumbing her keitai (portable phone), high school girls talking in their own world...and then a gothic lolita, a cute girl wearing a 19th century maid uniform, staring out the window as she waits for her stop. I thought Japan was supposed to be famous for conformity? I guess I don't have this place figured out yet...
If you ever want to learn a subject well, I recommend you try teaching it. When I came to Japan to teach English as a Second Language, I had no idea how much of my own language I didn't understand, and yet in order to do right by my students I had to learn. For better or worse, the Japanese usually study English with a focus on grammar and vocabulary, since that's what appears on university entrance exams (none of this namby-pamby "communicative" English for them, thanks). When a student asks why an infinitive verb (futeishi) is used in a particular sentence instead of a gerend (domeishi), you want to give him an answer more substantive than "it just sounds better that way." One especially difficult part of English are two-word verbs like "take out" "take off" "take over" and so on. Why does "throw up" mean something different from "throw out"? My time as a teacher gave me a lot of respect for anyone who can tackle something as difficult as English, with its dizzying mix of cris- crossing rules and exceptions.
The Japanese have really embraced online culture, as seen by the grown of mammoth communities like famous 2ch BBS (pronounced "ni channel"). In addition to spawning the true story of Densha Otoko, in which an geeky otaku found love with a beautiful woman by asking for advice from readers of the BBS, 2ch is also a popular place for ASCII-art creation, the most famous being the Mona Neko cats. Mona Neko (whose name comes from the Japanese phrase Omae mo na! or "The same to you!" used in online flame wars on 2ch) and his friends have become such a popular symbol of Internet culture in Japan, we decided to make some wacky T-shirts as a tribute, which are on the site now: an image of the Mona Neko cats drinking their sake (they love sake), and a fun tribute to "panchira" (which all men love, whether they admit it or not) Be sure to check out the wacky Japanese Numa Numa video here, with attempts at matching the words with Japanese meanings, here. (It's really cool, I watch this silly thing a few times a day.)
One of the most anticipated snack treats from Japan is finally here: the delicious winter-only Melty Kiss, delicious fudge cubes coated with cocoa powder that are heavenly to eat. The name is also one of the most bizarre and fun bits of wasei eigo (lit. "made in Japan English"), capturing the image of a warm stolen kiss with snow falling all around you. We've got all three flavors for 2005 in stock: Precious Cocoa, Matcha (Green Tea) and Strawberry!
Friday, November 25, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
The nuances of "Ogenki desu ka?" and a new movements in Japanese politics
Ogenki desu ka? This is one of the first phrases a student of Japanese encounters, and it corresponds to the greeting "how are you?" although "are you well?" is a better translation as it's a yes/no question. In the context of this greeting, genki means "fine" or "well" and you can reply to this greeting by saying Hai, genki desu (Yes, I am fine). But genki can have other meanings, such as describing children running around ("energetic"), or someone beaming with happiness about something, or someone getting healthy after an illness. The word can also refer to a man in state of, er, woodiness. The o on ogenki desu ka is an honorific prefix that shows respect, and it's often found on family titles (okaasan = mother, obaasan = grandmother), Buddhist words (otera = Buddhist temple), and "cute" words often around kids or babies (oshiri = a cute-sounding word for a person's rear end).
The newest theme in Japan's political world is eliminating waste, and Japanese municipalities are nothing if not good at wasting the public's money. Although the concept of company employees enjoying guaranteed lifetime employment faded during the 1990s, Japan's sprawling layer of bureaucratic komuin (koh-MOO- een), public employees who work in city and prefectural offices, have never had to fear recessions or budget cuts or risutora, the Japanese word for layoffs (from the English word "restructure"). Due to the lack of oversight and years of poor planning, there are too many public employees, three million in the entire country of 120 million, and their salaries add up to a whopping $180 billion a year. Engaging in "bashing" of public employees is a popular pasttime by average Japanese, and my wife is always happy to tell me how slow the clerks moved in the City Office when she went to pick up an official copy of a document. When someone from the city needs to come out to J-List to check on, say, a telephone pole, you can be sure that at least three engineers will show up, two more than are probably needed. Before I started J-List in 1996, I was fortunate to get to work for five months in the local City Office, and I got to see first hand how municipal government worked from the inside. My job was to publish a newsletter for the English-speaking residents of our city, and to act as a bridge between Japanese employees in the city government and foreigners who couldn't speak the language. Having seen both sides of the coin, I can say that there is a lot of room for improvement in Japan's municipal government.
Among the many unique products J-List offers are the DVDs, photobooks and magazines of Yulia Nova, a beautiful Russian model who was discovered by a Japanese photographer and became a sensation both here in Japan as well as on the Internet. Her next three DVDs are coming soon, and we've posted them for preorder now. The new titles feature all new footage shot over the past year that allows fans to see Yulia in a variety of amazing scenes through three seasons: Moscow in the Winter, Spring and Summer. The new titles are long playing (85 mins. each) and are mosaic-free, too!
J-List sells our wacky original T-shirts with funny slogans in Japanese, as well as unique Japan-related designs. While many stores only stock the most popular sizes of T-shirts (typically M-XL), J-List goes out of our way to make as many sizes as we can available, from S (and even XS, on some of the girl's shirts) to 2XL and 3XL for the men's shirts and hoodies. We've posted 3XL sized shirts for our popular kanji shirts (Gaijin, Ecchi and Sakebito), so if you need a larger size, come visit J-List now. We've also got many close-out designs that we're clearing out to make room for new shirts, so if you're on the large side, be sure and browse our site for some bargains!
The newest theme in Japan's political world is eliminating waste, and Japanese municipalities are nothing if not good at wasting the public's money. Although the concept of company employees enjoying guaranteed lifetime employment faded during the 1990s, Japan's sprawling layer of bureaucratic komuin (koh-MOO- een), public employees who work in city and prefectural offices, have never had to fear recessions or budget cuts or risutora, the Japanese word for layoffs (from the English word "restructure"). Due to the lack of oversight and years of poor planning, there are too many public employees, three million in the entire country of 120 million, and their salaries add up to a whopping $180 billion a year. Engaging in "bashing" of public employees is a popular pasttime by average Japanese, and my wife is always happy to tell me how slow the clerks moved in the City Office when she went to pick up an official copy of a document. When someone from the city needs to come out to J-List to check on, say, a telephone pole, you can be sure that at least three engineers will show up, two more than are probably needed. Before I started J-List in 1996, I was fortunate to get to work for five months in the local City Office, and I got to see first hand how municipal government worked from the inside. My job was to publish a newsletter for the English-speaking residents of our city, and to act as a bridge between Japanese employees in the city government and foreigners who couldn't speak the language. Having seen both sides of the coin, I can say that there is a lot of room for improvement in Japan's municipal government.
Among the many unique products J-List offers are the DVDs, photobooks and magazines of Yulia Nova, a beautiful Russian model who was discovered by a Japanese photographer and became a sensation both here in Japan as well as on the Internet. Her next three DVDs are coming soon, and we've posted them for preorder now. The new titles feature all new footage shot over the past year that allows fans to see Yulia in a variety of amazing scenes through three seasons: Moscow in the Winter, Spring and Summer. The new titles are long playing (85 mins. each) and are mosaic-free, too!
J-List sells our wacky original T-shirts with funny slogans in Japanese, as well as unique Japan-related designs. While many stores only stock the most popular sizes of T-shirts (typically M-XL), J-List goes out of our way to make as many sizes as we can available, from S (and even XS, on some of the girl's shirts) to 2XL and 3XL for the men's shirts and hoodies. We've posted 3XL sized shirts for our popular kanji shirts (Gaijin, Ecchi and Sakebito), so if you need a larger size, come visit J-List now. We've also got many close-out designs that we're clearing out to make room for new shirts, so if you're on the large side, be sure and browse our site for some bargains!
Monday, November 21, 2005
The Old West comes to Karuizawa, and World Peace through Japanese verb conjugations
This weekend we all got in the car and headed off to Karuizawa ("ka-roo-EE-za-wa"), our favorite mountain getaway, for a dip in the hot springs at the foot of volcanic Mt. Asama. Driving through the town, we stopped off at the Cowboy House restaurant, a hilariously overdone recreation of an Old West steakhouse complete with barbecue sauce, baked beans and even Coors beer. The cowboy atmosphere was so complete that a funny thing happened when we left: I momentarily forgot which side of the road I should be driving on. It seems my subconscious had somehow analyzed all the American stuff around me and decided to go into "America mode." Fortunately I caught myself and got back on the right (left) side of the street.
Japanese is an "agglutinating" language, which basically means that it puts lots of information (past tense, passive voice, etc) inside the verb form, which is good because you don't have a lot of helping verbs flying around ("he would have been able to help her if she'd told him"), but a little difficult because you have to memorize more verb forms. Most of the time learning the verbs is not a problem since they follow reliable patterns. For example, three verbs you learn early on are the formal verbs tabemasu (to eat), nomimasu (to drink) and ikimasu (to go), which act as both simple present and future tense (both "I go (every day)" and "I will go" in one verb conjugation). Change the masu to mashita and you have the formal past tense ("I went") -- very easy. Some other forms that exist are informal present tense (iku), also called dictionary form since this what you find in dictionaries; an informal past tense; a command form; and the useful "te" form which you can use to make requests (tabete kudasai, please eat) or join words together (take + come combine to form "bring").
Another verb ending students of Japanese learn early is masho, which corresponds to "let's...," as in "let's eat" (tabemasho), "let's drink" (nomimasho), or "let's go" (ikimasho), to use the above examples. This is more than just a handy suffix to allow you to say many things in Japanese -- it's actually a reflection of Japan's unique group-centric culture. In a non-smoking area in the U.S., you'd probably see signs saying something like "do not smoke," giving you no choice in the matter. In Japan, however, it's common for such notices to use the gentler "masho" ending, effectively saying "let's not smoke in non-smoking areas," (tobacco o yamemasho), "let's put our telephones into vibration mode" (manner mode ni shimasho) and so on. It seems to be part of the Japanese psyche that they respond better to an inclusive request rather than a specific command or rule. This "let's request" form has a very soft sound to it, and parents and care-givers use it to make even the most stubborn child do what's asked of them.
Remember that J-List is brimming with great 2006 calendars
right now, with more than 200 different anime, JPOP, swimsuit idol, nature photo, desktop, sports, and other items in stock. In addition to very popular calendars -- Studio Ghibli, Howl's Moving Castle, Mihiro, Reon Kadena -- we also make it our mission to provide an amazing selection of other calendars that are only sold in Japan, from the esoteric to the bizarre to the just plain fun. Studying Japanese, or just like the aesthetic look of kanji? We've got several calendars that feature Japanese words and slogans, beautiful kanji proverbs, and more. Interested in Japanese contemporary art? We've got some great art calendars in stock this year. Love Japan's attractive actresses or swimsuit models? We've got many to browse through. A word of warning though: Japan is a very seasonal place, and these great calendars are only available now. The best time to make your 2006 calendar order is now!
Japanese is an "agglutinating" language, which basically means that it puts lots of information (past tense, passive voice, etc) inside the verb form, which is good because you don't have a lot of helping verbs flying around ("he would have been able to help her if she'd told him"), but a little difficult because you have to memorize more verb forms. Most of the time learning the verbs is not a problem since they follow reliable patterns. For example, three verbs you learn early on are the formal verbs tabemasu (to eat), nomimasu (to drink) and ikimasu (to go), which act as both simple present and future tense (both "I go (every day)" and "I will go" in one verb conjugation). Change the masu to mashita and you have the formal past tense ("I went") -- very easy. Some other forms that exist are informal present tense (iku), also called dictionary form since this what you find in dictionaries; an informal past tense; a command form; and the useful "te" form which you can use to make requests (tabete kudasai, please eat) or join words together (take + come combine to form "bring").
Another verb ending students of Japanese learn early is masho, which corresponds to "let's...," as in "let's eat" (tabemasho), "let's drink" (nomimasho), or "let's go" (ikimasho), to use the above examples. This is more than just a handy suffix to allow you to say many things in Japanese -- it's actually a reflection of Japan's unique group-centric culture. In a non-smoking area in the U.S., you'd probably see signs saying something like "do not smoke," giving you no choice in the matter. In Japan, however, it's common for such notices to use the gentler "masho" ending, effectively saying "let's not smoke in non-smoking areas," (tobacco o yamemasho), "let's put our telephones into vibration mode" (manner mode ni shimasho) and so on. It seems to be part of the Japanese psyche that they respond better to an inclusive request rather than a specific command or rule. This "let's request" form has a very soft sound to it, and parents and care-givers use it to make even the most stubborn child do what's asked of them.
Remember that J-List is brimming with great 2006 calendars
right now, with more than 200 different anime, JPOP, swimsuit idol, nature photo, desktop, sports, and other items in stock. In addition to very popular calendars -- Studio Ghibli, Howl's Moving Castle, Mihiro, Reon Kadena -- we also make it our mission to provide an amazing selection of other calendars that are only sold in Japan, from the esoteric to the bizarre to the just plain fun. Studying Japanese, or just like the aesthetic look of kanji? We've got several calendars that feature Japanese words and slogans, beautiful kanji proverbs, and more. Interested in Japanese contemporary art? We've got some great art calendars in stock this year. Love Japan's attractive actresses or swimsuit models? We've got many to browse through. A word of warning though: Japan is a very seasonal place, and these great calendars are only available now. The best time to make your 2006 calendar order is now!
More random pictures for you to browse. This is Dairy Domo-kun and Cabbage Domo-kun, a rural version of NHK's famous mascot to advertise Gunma's good quality foods.
Daughter holding rabbits at the petting zoo slash farm we went to.
Hey, this is where they sell the Frower Angels.
Pizza Hut's pizza is not bad, but darn if their salads aren't the best in all Japan.
I was amused to see what was written on my salad dressing.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Unique businesses that exist in Japan, Rubik's Cube, and more Funny English Words
Japan is a unique place, and the economic forces that cause this kind of business or that to spring up can be quite interesting to observe. During my 14 years in Japan, I've seen quite a few businesses that don't exist in the U.S., or if they do, I've certainly never come across them. One convenient service are the daiko, or replacement driver taxis, basically a taxi with two drivers; if you drink too much while at a bar, one will drive you home while the other follows in your car, so you have it in the morning. Near my house there is a company called Orange Hat, which is basically a building with nothing but vending machines of every kind inside, from video games to UFO Catchers (e.g. crane games) to dispensers that sell you microwaved meals. Since the business can be operated with just one caretaker employee, it's a profitable concept even in very rural areas. Nearly all Japanese homes and apartments have bathtubs and showers, but a couple of decades ago this wasn't the case, and people went to a sento (public bath; the kanji is 銭湯, so named becuase it used to cost one sen, or 1/100 or a yen, to go there) a few times a week to keep clean; nowadays, sento provide a place to relax and bathe socially. What you may think of as an Internet Cafe is usually called a Manga Kissa (Manga Coffee Shop) here in Japan, a place where customers can sit and read manga, surf the net, play online or console games, study and of course have a cup of coffee. And for those times when couples feel the need to be alone, there are always Japan's famous Love Hotels, where you can enjoy a clean, private environment with or without the Arabian Nights theme.
Japan is experiencing a revival of the classic Rubik's Cube, with sales of the addictive and frustrating (to me) puzzle cube soaring through the roof. The 2005 Rubik's Cube Championship was recently held at Disney World in Florida, and among the 145 contestants was Yuki Hayashi, a well known Rubik's Cubist from Japan, who managed solve the standard 3x3x3 cube in 12 seconds. These guys can solve a Rubik's Cube with blindfolds on -- it's really amazing to see!
The Japanese do like English, and use it to add spice to their speech, but some of the words are changed so much you might not recognize them. For example, the word "my" is used to indicate ownership of something, and banks might use the term to advertise special rates on a "My Home Loan" (home mortgage) or "My Car Loan" (a loan for that special automobile you've been pining for). Various other simplified words abound, for example, a child's crib is a "baby bed," screwdrivers come in "plus" and "minus" varieties, and when a man no longer wants children he's likely to get a "pipe cut." Titles of Western movies can also be hard for Japanese to remember, so they're sometimes reduced into simpler English. "The Professional" was retitled "Leon," "I Know What You Did Last Summer" became simply "Last Summer," and "Honey, I Shrank the Kids" became "Micro Kids."
At J-List, we genuinely love Japan and want to help people around the world learn more about this enigmatic place. During my time in Japan, I've made heavy use of a powerful tool for students of Japanese: Canon's Wordtank electronic dictionary. A great dictionary that's packed full of great features for serious students, including 11+ different complete dictionaries, full English menus, and a handy compact size despite the easy to use QWERTY keyboard that makes looking up words very speedy. We're happy two announce two new models of Canon's excellent Wordtank in stock, the brand new C50 and deluxe G55, two excellent brand new dictionaries for you.
Christmas is coming, and J-List has stocked up on thousands of amazing and unique gifts for the Japanophile on your shopping list (even if it's just you). From our original kanji T-shirts to wacky plush toys to calendars you can only find in Japan and much more, J-List has that unique gift you're searching for. Since most of J-List's products ship from Japan, it makes sense to browse our site and make your order right now, since shipping can slow down around Christmas.
Japan is experiencing a revival of the classic Rubik's Cube, with sales of the addictive and frustrating (to me) puzzle cube soaring through the roof. The 2005 Rubik's Cube Championship was recently held at Disney World in Florida, and among the 145 contestants was Yuki Hayashi, a well known Rubik's Cubist from Japan, who managed solve the standard 3x3x3 cube in 12 seconds. These guys can solve a Rubik's Cube with blindfolds on -- it's really amazing to see!
The Japanese do like English, and use it to add spice to their speech, but some of the words are changed so much you might not recognize them. For example, the word "my" is used to indicate ownership of something, and banks might use the term to advertise special rates on a "My Home Loan" (home mortgage) or "My Car Loan" (a loan for that special automobile you've been pining for). Various other simplified words abound, for example, a child's crib is a "baby bed," screwdrivers come in "plus" and "minus" varieties, and when a man no longer wants children he's likely to get a "pipe cut." Titles of Western movies can also be hard for Japanese to remember, so they're sometimes reduced into simpler English. "The Professional" was retitled "Leon," "I Know What You Did Last Summer" became simply "Last Summer," and "Honey, I Shrank the Kids" became "Micro Kids."
At J-List, we genuinely love Japan and want to help people around the world learn more about this enigmatic place. During my time in Japan, I've made heavy use of a powerful tool for students of Japanese: Canon's Wordtank electronic dictionary. A great dictionary that's packed full of great features for serious students, including 11+ different complete dictionaries, full English menus, and a handy compact size despite the easy to use QWERTY keyboard that makes looking up words very speedy. We're happy two announce two new models of Canon's excellent Wordtank in stock, the brand new C50 and deluxe G55, two excellent brand new dictionaries for you.
Christmas is coming, and J-List has stocked up on thousands of amazing and unique gifts for the Japanophile on your shopping list (even if it's just you). From our original kanji T-shirts to wacky plush toys to calendars you can only find in Japan and much more, J-List has that unique gift you're searching for. Since most of J-List's products ship from Japan, it makes sense to browse our site and make your order right now, since shipping can slow down around Christmas.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Wedding bells in the Imperial Palace, beautiful autumn in Kyoto, and George Bush in Japan
Every autumn in Japan the leaves change to beautiful shades of red and yellow and vermillion, a spectacle called koyo (紅葉, lit. "crimson leaves"). And just as the leaves are starting to turn, we know we'll be tempted with a barrage of TV commercials by Japan's JR train line promoting Kyoto in the fall, showing incredible images of the city with autumn-colored leaves all around, along with the very effective slogan, So da! Kyoto e iko! ("Hey, I've got an idea! Let's go to Kyoto!"). Well, there's a very famous guest in Kyoto right now: none other than George W. Bush, who is in Japan for a two-day meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi. Last night the two leaders took in Kinkakuji, the famous Golden Pavilion, and today they're going to be discussing issues ranging from Iraq to U.S. bases to bird flu. The U.S. is also expected to press Japan to resume beef imports, which have been on hold since 2003 over Mad Cow. Mr. Bush will be the first guest in the newly completed Kyoto State Guest House, a sprawling facility constructed to house international events and foreign dignitaries. I wonder if he got to take a Japanese bath and sleep in a real futon? That would be so cool. As far as world leaders go, I can't think of anyone who needs to be exposed to some outside ideas more than Bush, and maybe he can realize there's an actual world outside of Texas and Washington in Japan. Fingers crossed that there will be no projectile vomiting on any Japanese Prime Ministers this time around...
Japan has been seized with a bout of "wedding mania" after the happy marriage of Princess Nori, daughter of the current Japanese Emperor Akihito, to an employee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The ceremony, while beautiful, was remarkable because it was just another Japanese wedding, despite the royal status of the bride. After a very traditional Shinto ceremony at the Meiji Jingu Shrine in which Norinomiya-sama wore a juni-hitoe, a traditional 12-layer kimono dating back to the 10th century, the happy couple had a fairly unremarkable reception at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. The news was all over the story, from interviewing some of the the 6000 people who lined up on the street just so they could wave to the princess as she drove by to giving full report on what was served during the reception. The reception itself followed the well-defined mold of Japanese weddings, starting off with a speech by the groom's boss (in this case, Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara, who you may remember is the guy who wrote "The Japan That Can Say No" a decade ago) and ending with an emotional speech by the bride, thanking her parents for raising her and promising to find happiness in her new life. Princess Nori's husband is a sports car collector and loves driving his Lotus Elise, and the newscasters were laughing at the image of a the demure former Japanese princess zooming around at high speeds with her husband.
Over the years, J-List has been honored to bring anime fans from all over the world a direct link to Japan. Because we're fans of Hayao Miyazaki's films, we've always gone out of our way to bring great Studio Ghibli products to everyone. Today we're happy to announce the release of Howl's Moving Castle
on DVD, complete with full optional subtitles in English, French and Japanese, and full dubbed tracks in English and French as well. We've got both versions, too, the normal 2-disc set and the super deluxe 4-disc collector's edition, with making of, interviews with the director and more. Howl's Moving Castle is the story of a plain girl whose life is touched by the mysterious wizard Howl, and it's a great story for all fans of Mr. Miyazaki! (The DVDs are zoned for region 2, however, and we recommend the excellent region free DVD players we stock, starting at just $68).
Japan has been seized with a bout of "wedding mania" after the happy marriage of Princess Nori, daughter of the current Japanese Emperor Akihito, to an employee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The ceremony, while beautiful, was remarkable because it was just another Japanese wedding, despite the royal status of the bride. After a very traditional Shinto ceremony at the Meiji Jingu Shrine in which Norinomiya-sama wore a juni-hitoe, a traditional 12-layer kimono dating back to the 10th century, the happy couple had a fairly unremarkable reception at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. The news was all over the story, from interviewing some of the the 6000 people who lined up on the street just so they could wave to the princess as she drove by to giving full report on what was served during the reception. The reception itself followed the well-defined mold of Japanese weddings, starting off with a speech by the groom's boss (in this case, Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara, who you may remember is the guy who wrote "The Japan That Can Say No" a decade ago) and ending with an emotional speech by the bride, thanking her parents for raising her and promising to find happiness in her new life. Princess Nori's husband is a sports car collector and loves driving his Lotus Elise, and the newscasters were laughing at the image of a the demure former Japanese princess zooming around at high speeds with her husband.
Over the years, J-List has been honored to bring anime fans from all over the world a direct link to Japan. Because we're fans of Hayao Miyazaki's films, we've always gone out of our way to bring great Studio Ghibli products to everyone. Today we're happy to announce the release of Howl's Moving Castle
on DVD, complete with full optional subtitles in English, French and Japanese, and full dubbed tracks in English and French as well. We've got both versions, too, the normal 2-disc set and the super deluxe 4-disc collector's edition, with making of, interviews with the director and more. Howl's Moving Castle is the story of a plain girl whose life is touched by the mysterious wizard Howl, and it's a great story for all fans of Mr. Miyazaki! (The DVDs are zoned for region 2, however, and we recommend the excellent region free DVD players we stock, starting at just $68).
Monday, November 14, 2005
All about Japanese TV, the fun of variety shows, and respect I've gained for American medicine
One of the fun things about living in Japan is getting to watch Japanese television. There are 5 national television networks in Japan, NTV, Fuji TV, TBS, TV Asahi, and TV Tokyo, and most viewers enjoy a variety of entertainment from these five channels. Our family watches news (Newsstation 23, World Business Satellite), dramas (my wife is watching the current Fuji drama with heart throb Mokomichi Hayami), sports (my wife's father watches baseball every day, and sumo when it's on), and anime (we never miss Sazae-san on Sunday nights). In addition to the traditional TV stations, there are upstart satellite broadcasting networks like SkyPerfectTV, which carries American programming like CNNj and Fox Japan (for fans who can't wait for the latest episodes of 24 to show up at the DVD rental shop).
A big staple of Japanese television is the variety show, which by definition features a wide variety of subjects, from asking non-bilingual Japanese to answer questions in broken English while a translation of what they're really saying appears on the screen, to shows that challenge people to live for a month on just $100, to "truth or dare" contests where they make popular actresses get into a bathtub of very-hot water for 30 seconds. Often these variety shows go for shock value, like the show I caught that made swimsuit idol Otoha climb to the highest point of the the 509-meter tall Tapiei 101 Tower in Taiwan -- on the outside of the building. Another show offered to grant wishes sent in by viewers, as long as they were interesting. One boy said he'd always wanted to take a bath in a giant vat of caramel custard pudding (aka flan), so the producers got a hundred volunteers from his town to prepare it for him; but in the end, the boy decided he didn't want to jump into the custard since everyone had worked so hard to make it, so they all ate it instead. Another man had always wanted to fly while holding helium balloons, but it takes hundreds of balloons to lift a man off the ground. The show constructed a giant net for him to wear on his back then filled it with balloons until he was able to "fly" 10 cm off the ground, finally fulfilling his dream. Variety shows like to capture bizarre moments of kawaii too, like when one show dressed cute-as-a-button Yuko Ogura as a baby seal took her to the polar bear tank at the zoo. The results were pretty hilarious -- see the video here (Windows Media required)
No matter how much I like living in Japan, there's just no replacement for good old American medicine when I'm sick, and whenever I go back the the States I always pick up Nyquil, Advil, Alka-Seltzer and other medicines I think I might need back in Japan. While my wife usually prefers Japanese medicine -- which is usually too weak for my big gaijin body -- she's starting to see the benefits of the stronger American remedies. Last month when she caught a head cold, she didn't waste any time asking me for "the strong stuff," and she was on her feet in no time. In addition to U.S. medicines being stronger than their Japanese counterparts, there's another difference: Japanese medicine bottles aren't required to have child-proof caps on them. As a result, Japanese almost never know how to open a child-proof cap, and I usually have to step in and help my wife when she's trying to get the bottle open.
When my children were small my mother bought us a book we've come to value a lot: Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, which contains English versions of all the famous children's stories that Japanese know, like Momotaro (Peach Boy) and the Old Man who made the Flowers Bloom. Happily, we've got this excellent book in stock in San Diego, and I heartily recommend it to all parents who want to treat their kids to some great stories from Japan. The book even comes with an audio CD, too!
A big staple of Japanese television is the variety show, which by definition features a wide variety of subjects, from asking non-bilingual Japanese to answer questions in broken English while a translation of what they're really saying appears on the screen, to shows that challenge people to live for a month on just $100, to "truth or dare" contests where they make popular actresses get into a bathtub of very-hot water for 30 seconds. Often these variety shows go for shock value, like the show I caught that made swimsuit idol Otoha climb to the highest point of the the 509-meter tall Tapiei 101 Tower in Taiwan -- on the outside of the building. Another show offered to grant wishes sent in by viewers, as long as they were interesting. One boy said he'd always wanted to take a bath in a giant vat of caramel custard pudding (aka flan), so the producers got a hundred volunteers from his town to prepare it for him; but in the end, the boy decided he didn't want to jump into the custard since everyone had worked so hard to make it, so they all ate it instead. Another man had always wanted to fly while holding helium balloons, but it takes hundreds of balloons to lift a man off the ground. The show constructed a giant net for him to wear on his back then filled it with balloons until he was able to "fly" 10 cm off the ground, finally fulfilling his dream. Variety shows like to capture bizarre moments of kawaii too, like when one show dressed cute-as-a-button Yuko Ogura as a baby seal took her to the polar bear tank at the zoo. The results were pretty hilarious -- see the video here (Windows Media required)
No matter how much I like living in Japan, there's just no replacement for good old American medicine when I'm sick, and whenever I go back the the States I always pick up Nyquil, Advil, Alka-Seltzer and other medicines I think I might need back in Japan. While my wife usually prefers Japanese medicine -- which is usually too weak for my big gaijin body -- she's starting to see the benefits of the stronger American remedies. Last month when she caught a head cold, she didn't waste any time asking me for "the strong stuff," and she was on her feet in no time. In addition to U.S. medicines being stronger than their Japanese counterparts, there's another difference: Japanese medicine bottles aren't required to have child-proof caps on them. As a result, Japanese almost never know how to open a child-proof cap, and I usually have to step in and help my wife when she's trying to get the bottle open.
When my children were small my mother bought us a book we've come to value a lot: Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, which contains English versions of all the famous children's stories that Japanese know, like Momotaro (Peach Boy) and the Old Man who made the Flowers Bloom. Happily, we've got this excellent book in stock in San Diego, and I heartily recommend it to all parents who want to treat their kids to some great stories from Japan. The book even comes with an audio CD, too!
Friday, November 11, 2005
Educational game shows, winter coming to Japan, and the eerie, sad story of Minako Honda
I've always been impressed with how serious Japan is about education, and a lot of energy is spent on coming up with ways to teach children more effectively, especially with so few of them popping out these days. Recently, Japan's test scores have been on the decline, indicating that the country is losing out to other Asian nations on the education front. Scores on the TOEFL, which tests academic English, were especially embarrassing, with Japan tied with North Korea at the bottom of the list -- although to be fair, 140,000 Japanese took the test, compared with just 50 students from the Kingdom of Bhutan, which isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. In order to combat the fall in Japanese test scores, there's been a slew of TV programs designed to improve knowledge of subjects like history, math, English and kanji. One show I caught a few days ago placed famous "talents" (actress/singer/idols) in a mock-up of an Indiana Jones-style ore car, hurling down a bluescreened mine shaft. Questions popped up in front of them, and the people in the ore car had to choose the answer by leaning left or right. If they chose correctly they escaped from the mine, but if they chose wrong, their ore car was cast into a pit of flaming CG lava.
Japan is grieving right now after the tragic death of Minako Honda, one of the brightest JPOP stars of the 1980s (right up there with Seiko Matsuda and Akina Nakamori). The 80s were a special time in Japan, when people were filled with an unstoppable optimism about the future of their nation, and the bouncy, fun pop stars of the era left a deep impression on everyone. Japan can be a superstitious place, and a lot of beliefs about how luck is generated revolve around a person's name. There are lucky and unlucky kanji, for example, and even the number of strokes in a person's name are believed to affect their karma. For example, when we named our daughter, my wife made sure to choose kanji that had the same number of strokes as her own name, so her daughter would share in her own good luck (since she was lucky enough to meet me, ha-ha). Last December, Minako officially changed her stage name to Minako Honda. (本田美奈子.), with a period as part of her actual name (similar to the way JPOP group Morning Musume is always written with a small circle at the end). Her goal was to improve her own personal luck and aid her stage career, but this was not to be: tragically, she was diagnosed with acute myelocytic leukemia a month later, which has many superstitious Japanese (including my wife) nodding knowingly about the dangers of trying to influence your own destiny through artificial means.
Winter is threatening to descend on Japan in earnest. Because Japanese homes lack central heating, it can be hard to keep warm, especially for a San Diego gaijin like me. We've turned on our kotatsu, which is a low table with a blanket over it and a heater inside; you put your legs in the kotatsu, which warms your whole body, and for the complete Japanese winter experience, drink hot green tea and eat mikan (mandarin oranges) at the same time. In lieu of central heating, we use stand-alone kerosene heaters called "stoves" (suto-bu), or electric-kerosene heaters that blow heated air (called "fan heaters"), the latter being better for you since they have a built-in 3 hour reminder to open a window and let some fresh air in. Kerosene heaters are economical, but the smell they make when you turn one on or off can give you a headache, and don't get me started on the freezing agony of having to go outside and refill the kerosene tank when it runs out.
Glico has declared that November 11 is Pocky Day, because of the way 11 11 looks like Pocky sticks lined up. In celebration (?) of this day, we've added stock of several flavors of Japan's most favorite snack. Remember, you can always buy Pocky by the shrinkwrapped case and get 15% off.
Japan is grieving right now after the tragic death of Minako Honda, one of the brightest JPOP stars of the 1980s (right up there with Seiko Matsuda and Akina Nakamori). The 80s were a special time in Japan, when people were filled with an unstoppable optimism about the future of their nation, and the bouncy, fun pop stars of the era left a deep impression on everyone. Japan can be a superstitious place, and a lot of beliefs about how luck is generated revolve around a person's name. There are lucky and unlucky kanji, for example, and even the number of strokes in a person's name are believed to affect their karma. For example, when we named our daughter, my wife made sure to choose kanji that had the same number of strokes as her own name, so her daughter would share in her own good luck (since she was lucky enough to meet me, ha-ha). Last December, Minako officially changed her stage name to Minako Honda. (本田美奈子.), with a period as part of her actual name (similar to the way JPOP group Morning Musume is always written with a small circle at the end). Her goal was to improve her own personal luck and aid her stage career, but this was not to be: tragically, she was diagnosed with acute myelocytic leukemia a month later, which has many superstitious Japanese (including my wife) nodding knowingly about the dangers of trying to influence your own destiny through artificial means.
Winter is threatening to descend on Japan in earnest. Because Japanese homes lack central heating, it can be hard to keep warm, especially for a San Diego gaijin like me. We've turned on our kotatsu, which is a low table with a blanket over it and a heater inside; you put your legs in the kotatsu, which warms your whole body, and for the complete Japanese winter experience, drink hot green tea and eat mikan (mandarin oranges) at the same time. In lieu of central heating, we use stand-alone kerosene heaters called "stoves" (suto-bu), or electric-kerosene heaters that blow heated air (called "fan heaters"), the latter being better for you since they have a built-in 3 hour reminder to open a window and let some fresh air in. Kerosene heaters are economical, but the smell they make when you turn one on or off can give you a headache, and don't get me started on the freezing agony of having to go outside and refill the kerosene tank when it runs out.
Glico has declared that November 11 is Pocky Day, because of the way 11 11 looks like Pocky sticks lined up. In celebration (?) of this day, we've added stock of several flavors of Japan's most favorite snack. Remember, you can always buy Pocky by the shrinkwrapped case and get 15% off.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
The challenge of the Japanese toilet, how place names work in Japan, and words for "I"
There are many challenges for foreigners who come to Japan: learning the unwritten social rules (which probably don't apply to you anyway, as a visitor); coping with large, easy to read signs explaining where you're supposed to go (too bad they're in kanji); and learning to enjoy food even though you might not know what it is. Another difficulty that must be overcome is the washiki toire, or Japanese-style toilet, seatless toilets usually found in restaurants, train stations and other public places that you squat over to use. Although Japanese love them because they keep your body away from touching anything dirty, foreigners generally have difficulty with them, since you can't exactly ask for instructions. Well, here's a handy link that that should give you some pointers in case you encounter one of these babies:
Place names in Japan are another interesting subject. The names of the various towns, cities and prefectures are nearly always written in kanji, however all name kanji tend to have many different readings, which can cause confusion. While almost all Japanese can read the standardized kanji everyone learns in school, it can be quite difficult to read kanji place names in another region of Japan. When I take a trip to Northern Japan or the Kyoto area, I know my wife will suddenly become unsure how to pronounce the names of the towns we're passing through, even though she's Japanese. There's another complication: most every part of Japan has both a modern name and an old (Edo period) name, the result of the massive changes during the Meiji Restoration, when the old feudal domains (han) were replaced by a modern system of prefectures (ken) patterned after France. Gunma's old name is Joshu, and neighboring Nagano's old name is Shinshu, and these names pop up from time to time (for example, a ramen shop advertising the "old taste of Joshu").
In Japanese, words can carry a lot of hidden nuances specific to each gender. There are different versions of the first person pronoun for men and women in Japanese, and which word a person chooses to use carries information about how that person views himself. For women, the words for "I" are watakushi (in formal situations), watashi (neutral, slightly feminine) or atashi (very feminine and cute). If a girl is tomboyish she might use a "boys" word for I, boku, and if she's trying to project an extremely cute image, she might even refer to herself in the third person. My daughter, who is eight, calls herself "Rina-chan," although some women in their 20s do this, to the annoyance of many around them. Men will use watakushi (formal), boku (neutral, slightly polite), or if they want to project a "manly" image, ore (OH-reh). Words for "you" include anata (slightly formal, and a little romantic if used by a wife to her husband), kimi (used when talking to someone younger than you), and for men only, the masculine word, omae (oh-MY-ae). A common alternative to using a second-person pronoun is to refer to the person you're speaking to by his name, e.g. Tomo or Fujita-san, if you were talking to Tomo.
We're proud to take the wraps off a new section on the J-List: Japanese textbooks & books about Japan, where we'll be carrying many great new books to help you study Japanese, learn grammar, practice your kanji and kana, and learn about Japanese culture. Look for books on contemporary Japanese home design, learn to play Go or Mah Jong, and much more! For your convenience, these new books are stocked in San Diego, and can be shipped to you in a very short time. Browse our new selection of Japan-related books today!
Place names in Japan are another interesting subject. The names of the various towns, cities and prefectures are nearly always written in kanji, however all name kanji tend to have many different readings, which can cause confusion. While almost all Japanese can read the standardized kanji everyone learns in school, it can be quite difficult to read kanji place names in another region of Japan. When I take a trip to Northern Japan or the Kyoto area, I know my wife will suddenly become unsure how to pronounce the names of the towns we're passing through, even though she's Japanese. There's another complication: most every part of Japan has both a modern name and an old (Edo period) name, the result of the massive changes during the Meiji Restoration, when the old feudal domains (han) were replaced by a modern system of prefectures (ken) patterned after France. Gunma's old name is Joshu, and neighboring Nagano's old name is Shinshu, and these names pop up from time to time (for example, a ramen shop advertising the "old taste of Joshu").
In Japanese, words can carry a lot of hidden nuances specific to each gender. There are different versions of the first person pronoun for men and women in Japanese, and which word a person chooses to use carries information about how that person views himself. For women, the words for "I" are watakushi (in formal situations), watashi (neutral, slightly feminine) or atashi (very feminine and cute). If a girl is tomboyish she might use a "boys" word for I, boku, and if she's trying to project an extremely cute image, she might even refer to herself in the third person. My daughter, who is eight, calls herself "Rina-chan," although some women in their 20s do this, to the annoyance of many around them. Men will use watakushi (formal), boku (neutral, slightly polite), or if they want to project a "manly" image, ore (OH-reh). Words for "you" include anata (slightly formal, and a little romantic if used by a wife to her husband), kimi (used when talking to someone younger than you), and for men only, the masculine word, omae (oh-MY-ae). A common alternative to using a second-person pronoun is to refer to the person you're speaking to by his name, e.g. Tomo or Fujita-san, if you were talking to Tomo.
We're proud to take the wraps off a new section on the J-List: Japanese textbooks & books about Japan, where we'll be carrying many great new books to help you study Japanese, learn grammar, practice your kanji and kana, and learn about Japanese culture. Look for books on contemporary Japanese home design, learn to play Go or Mah Jong, and much more! For your convenience, these new books are stocked in San Diego, and can be shipped to you in a very short time. Browse our new selection of Japan-related books today!
Monday, November 07, 2005
Successful foreign companies in Japan, and the story of Coca-Cola, vending machines and more
Japan is a unique place, and it's not always easy for foreign companies to succeed here. There are many barriers to making it in Japan, from the confusing multi-leveled tonya distribution system to the often-quirky tastes of Japanese consumers. Still, many famous gaishi-kei" (foreign capital") firms have built successful businesses here, with some companies like Nestle, Proctor & Gamble and Northwest Airlines having been in the marketplace for so long people often don't realize they're foreign (Northwest has been flying commercially to Japan since 1947). The Japanese have a lot of respect for the icons of America and Europe, and happily embrace brands such as BMW, Michelin, Jack Daniels and Harley-Davidson, all of which have found a great deal of success here, and when a famous brand finally claims "mind share" in the Japanese marketplace, it usually enjoys long-term success. On the other hand, Japan is a very competitive place to do business, with many companies actively pursuing every market, and Japanese consumers are especially demanding of high quality. But the benefits of succeeding in Japan can be enormous: some companies, such as Louis Vuitton and AFLAC, have encountered so much success when they expanded into Japan that it basically springboarded the rest of their company to new heights worldwide.
One of the most incredible success stories of any gaishi firm is that of Coca-Cola. Along with Hershey's chocolate and Levi's, Coke was an enigma to Japanese of the occupation era, a mysterious treat enjoyed by the victorious American soldiers. Over the course of a decade, Coca-Cola overcame the Byzantine, almost Soviet-style regulatory hurdles it had to to face in order to flourish in Japan, and now Coke has something like 90% of the cola market to itself (spikes from Pepsi Star Wars bottlecaps notwithstanding). The rise of Coca-Cola in postwar Japan went hand-in-hand with the popularity of vending machines (there's one for every 23 people here), and Coca-Cola solidified its position in part by taking the lead in developing the most innovative vending machines of any company (including one I saw the other day that let you watch current Coke TV commercials on a built-in LCD screen). Now Coke is somewhat analagous to Toyota in the U.S., a large, smart outside competitor to Japan's Big Four beverage companies (Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory).
Foreign companies provide an interesting alternative to working at more traditional Japanese establishments. Foreign companies in Japan have an image of being more socially progressive than Japanese firms, and women interested in seeking serious careers might consider working for American or European firms operating in Japan. The idea of semi-guaranteed "lifetime employement" came to an end in Japan the 1990s, but it's still common for most full-time employees to expect to stay at the same company their entire lives. Japanese who decide to work for a foreign company generally expect more performance-based pay than they might find at traditional Japanese corporations, along with opportunities for advancement beyond those based on age and seniority, which is still quite rare in more traditional Japanese companies. On the other hand, there's apt to be less stability at a gaishi-kei company, which is an important factor in conservative Japan.
Among other things, J-List sells hundreds of amazing DVDs of all types from Japan. While most of our DVDs are issued as "region free" (meaning you can play them on any DVD player), many of the indies, anime and other discs are zoned for region 2, meaning you need a special player to watch them. Happily, J-List carries three excellent region free DVD players that make it easy to enjoy *all* DVDs from Japan, including PAL discs from Europe. We have the full-featured DIVX-compatible DVD-7050, the handy portable M280, and the great half-height Karaoke-enabled DVD-7880K. Just in time for the busy Christmas season, we've dropped our price on the affordable 7880K to just $68! All players are very well made, are manufacturered for the North American market, feature international power supplies, and come with full 1 year manufacturers warranties. Also, all players are shipped double-boxed by our loving San Diego.
One of the most incredible success stories of any gaishi firm is that of Coca-Cola. Along with Hershey's chocolate and Levi's, Coke was an enigma to Japanese of the occupation era, a mysterious treat enjoyed by the victorious American soldiers. Over the course of a decade, Coca-Cola overcame the Byzantine, almost Soviet-style regulatory hurdles it had to to face in order to flourish in Japan, and now Coke has something like 90% of the cola market to itself (spikes from Pepsi Star Wars bottlecaps notwithstanding). The rise of Coca-Cola in postwar Japan went hand-in-hand with the popularity of vending machines (there's one for every 23 people here), and Coca-Cola solidified its position in part by taking the lead in developing the most innovative vending machines of any company (including one I saw the other day that let you watch current Coke TV commercials on a built-in LCD screen). Now Coke is somewhat analagous to Toyota in the U.S., a large, smart outside competitor to Japan's Big Four beverage companies (Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory).
Foreign companies provide an interesting alternative to working at more traditional Japanese establishments. Foreign companies in Japan have an image of being more socially progressive than Japanese firms, and women interested in seeking serious careers might consider working for American or European firms operating in Japan. The idea of semi-guaranteed "lifetime employement" came to an end in Japan the 1990s, but it's still common for most full-time employees to expect to stay at the same company their entire lives. Japanese who decide to work for a foreign company generally expect more performance-based pay than they might find at traditional Japanese corporations, along with opportunities for advancement beyond those based on age and seniority, which is still quite rare in more traditional Japanese companies. On the other hand, there's apt to be less stability at a gaishi-kei company, which is an important factor in conservative Japan.
Among other things, J-List sells hundreds of amazing DVDs of all types from Japan. While most of our DVDs are issued as "region free" (meaning you can play them on any DVD player), many of the indies, anime and other discs are zoned for region 2, meaning you need a special player to watch them. Happily, J-List carries three excellent region free DVD players that make it easy to enjoy *all* DVDs from Japan, including PAL discs from Europe. We have the full-featured DIVX-compatible DVD-7050, the handy portable M280, and the great half-height Karaoke-enabled DVD-7880K. Just in time for the busy Christmas season, we've dropped our price on the affordable 7880K to just $68! All players are very well made, are manufacturered for the North American market, feature international power supplies, and come with full 1 year manufacturers warranties. Also, all players are shipped double-boxed by our loving San Diego.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Japanese vs. American houses, and lots of fun with Japanese onomatopoeia sounds
(It looks like Wednesday's update had some trouble going out to everyone. If you missed it, please go to the J-List main page and scroll down to read it.)
There are many differences between my house in Japan and our home in San Diego. My Japanese house includes a large genkan (a lowered area by the front door to take your shoes off), a tatami room (for receiving guests, although it's usually cluttered with stuff), and a wide veranda (for hanging clothes out to dry, as Japanese don't usually use clothes dryers). There's no basement or attic, as these are difficult to build in Earthquake-prone Japan, and we lack central heating, too. Another big difference is the lighting in our house: while our San Diego home is lit with a variety of lamps and a few built-in spotlights here and there, almost every room in our Japanese house sports at least one oversized fluorescent light in the ceiling, which makes the room very bright. The Japanese are big fans of fluorescent lighting, due (I've heard) to the government promoting the use of low-energy lighting after an Earthquake in the 1970s caused gas and electrical fires. I prefer to have lots of light when I'm sitting in a room, and the Japanese have developed soft yellow fluorescent lights that are very pleasant.
It's fun to learn Japanese onomatopoeia, which come up in anime quite a lot and are very colorful. If someone guesses the correct answer to a question, you can say pin-pon! which is a verbal represenatation of the "correct answer" bell on game shows (it sounds like the English word Ping Pong, but is totally unrelated). The opposite of "pin-pon!" is a low-pitched buuu! buzzer sound. Animal sounds also have onomatopoeia assigned to them, and they sound different to Japanese ears than they might to us: nya nya, wan wan and "kero kero" correspond to "meow meow," "ruff ruff" and "ribbit ribbit." Instead of saying "moo moo," Japanese cows say moh moh, and one of the classic jokes in Japanese is to draw a cow saying something like moh yamete! ("please stop, already"), since the cow sound moh sounds like the word that means "already." I've seen quite a few political posters making use of this famous Japanese pun.
Similar to onomatopoeia, which are based on our perception of actual sounds, are gitaigo, words which sort of assign a sound to describe a state or action. If you go to the doctor because you've got a headache, he might ask you if it hurts gan gan (a pounding pain), jiito (a constant, slow pain) or perhaps zukin zukin (a throbbing). If you're very happy about something, you might use the word uki uki (OO-ki OO-ki) to describe yourself, but the feeling of frustration would be ira ira (EE-ra EE-ra). Japanese are very health conscious, and there are TV shows informing people what they should eat if they want their blood to be sara sara (smooth-flowing) instead of doro doro (thick and syrupy). These words often add information about how how an action is performed, for example, koso koso (sneaking around), kotsu kotsu (slowly, one step at a time) and giri giri (doing something in the nick of time). Don't worry, these won't be on the test.
J-List brings you our amazing Japanese T-shirts and hoodies, with cool messages printed in kanji. It's really cooled off, which means it's a great time for you to consider one of our high quality hoodies, soft cotton hooded sweatshirts that will provide plenty of warmth during the cooler months. By customer request, we've added a new hooded sweatshirt
to our lineup: sake-bito ("alcohol-person"), a parody of the famous Okinawan shima-bito ("island-person") shirt which could be translated as "I love alcohol" -- great for anyone who likes to throw one back now and again. Our hoodies are soft, warm and very well made.
There are many differences between my house in Japan and our home in San Diego. My Japanese house includes a large genkan (a lowered area by the front door to take your shoes off), a tatami room (for receiving guests, although it's usually cluttered with stuff), and a wide veranda (for hanging clothes out to dry, as Japanese don't usually use clothes dryers). There's no basement or attic, as these are difficult to build in Earthquake-prone Japan, and we lack central heating, too. Another big difference is the lighting in our house: while our San Diego home is lit with a variety of lamps and a few built-in spotlights here and there, almost every room in our Japanese house sports at least one oversized fluorescent light in the ceiling, which makes the room very bright. The Japanese are big fans of fluorescent lighting, due (I've heard) to the government promoting the use of low-energy lighting after an Earthquake in the 1970s caused gas and electrical fires. I prefer to have lots of light when I'm sitting in a room, and the Japanese have developed soft yellow fluorescent lights that are very pleasant.
It's fun to learn Japanese onomatopoeia, which come up in anime quite a lot and are very colorful. If someone guesses the correct answer to a question, you can say pin-pon! which is a verbal represenatation of the "correct answer" bell on game shows (it sounds like the English word Ping Pong, but is totally unrelated). The opposite of "pin-pon!" is a low-pitched buuu! buzzer sound. Animal sounds also have onomatopoeia assigned to them, and they sound different to Japanese ears than they might to us: nya nya, wan wan and "kero kero" correspond to "meow meow," "ruff ruff" and "ribbit ribbit." Instead of saying "moo moo," Japanese cows say moh moh, and one of the classic jokes in Japanese is to draw a cow saying something like moh yamete! ("please stop, already"), since the cow sound moh sounds like the word that means "already." I've seen quite a few political posters making use of this famous Japanese pun.
Similar to onomatopoeia, which are based on our perception of actual sounds, are gitaigo, words which sort of assign a sound to describe a state or action. If you go to the doctor because you've got a headache, he might ask you if it hurts gan gan (a pounding pain), jiito (a constant, slow pain) or perhaps zukin zukin (a throbbing). If you're very happy about something, you might use the word uki uki (OO-ki OO-ki) to describe yourself, but the feeling of frustration would be ira ira (EE-ra EE-ra). Japanese are very health conscious, and there are TV shows informing people what they should eat if they want their blood to be sara sara (smooth-flowing) instead of doro doro (thick and syrupy). These words often add information about how how an action is performed, for example, koso koso (sneaking around), kotsu kotsu (slowly, one step at a time) and giri giri (doing something in the nick of time). Don't worry, these won't be on the test.
J-List brings you our amazing Japanese T-shirts and hoodies, with cool messages printed in kanji. It's really cooled off, which means it's a great time for you to consider one of our high quality hoodies, soft cotton hooded sweatshirts that will provide plenty of warmth during the cooler months. By customer request, we've added a new hooded sweatshirt
to our lineup: sake-bito ("alcohol-person"), a parody of the famous Okinawan shima-bito ("island-person") shirt which could be translated as "I love alcohol" -- great for anyone who likes to throw one back now and again. Our hoodies are soft, warm and very well made.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
All about dogs and dog names in Japan, and many way to say "I like you" in Japanese
Yesterday was November 1, designated as Inu no Hi (ee-NOO-no-HEE), or Dog Day, the official day for dog owners and their pets, because 11/1 sounds like wan wan wan or a dog's bark. People here really love canines of all types, and it's quite common to see shoppers walking around with their "brand dogs" (famous breeds like Shiba Inu, Akita Inu, and Chihuahuas). Products that help you pamper your dog abound in Japan, right down to the Louis Vuitton Pet Carriers. The ranking for dog names in Japan, if you happen to be curious, is as follows:
10. Mocha
9. Sora (meaning sky)
8. Nana (meaning nothing in particular)
7. Rin (ditto)
6. Koko (ditto, just sounds cute)
5. Hana (flower)
4. Sakura (cherry blossom)
3. Marron (French word for chestnut)
2. Momo (peach)
1. Choco
Suki desu ka? One of the first useful words a student of Japanese learns is how to say "like" (suki), which is pronounced quickly so that it sounds rather like "ski," leading all students to immediately say Sukii ga suki desu ka? (Do you like to ski?), since the words sound similar. The word suki is often a student's introduction to the concept that a word or idea in one language might have many possible meanings in another language, depending on the situation. Right off the bat, suki can mean "like" (in the context of your favorite food or hobby) or "love" (when said in reference to another person). Like all Japanese words, there can be some ambiguity involved, which is the subject of more than a few melodramatic misunderstandings in anime or television dramas. "(I) like (it)" is Suki desu, and "Do (you) like (it)?" is Suki desu ka? Often Japanese speakers will fill in who is liking what (e.g. Boku wa ninjin ga suki desu, "I like carrots"), but it's usually too cumbersome to add all those words and grammatical particles when the person you're speaking to will understand what you mean anyway. Other phrases you might encounter include suki na hito ("a person you're in love with") and dai-suki (meaning "big like," for when you really like something), although guys should be careful about over-using the latter, since it tends to be onna-kotoba (language used by females). A couple of years ago I saw a variety show in which former JAV actress-turned-novelist Ai Iijima walked around New York, asking Americans Kyonyu suki? which sounds like "Can you ski?" in English, but is really asking if they prefer women with, er, shapely figures. It was funny to see the Americans on the show nodding their heads for the camera. Try it on your friends!
Mars is very close to the Earth right now, so I'm taking off early today, packing the kids into our Mazda Bongo Friendee and heading up to the mountains to visit the Gunma Prefectural Telescope, where we can go gaze at the heavens. See you when we get back!
10. Mocha
9. Sora (meaning sky)
8. Nana (meaning nothing in particular)
7. Rin (ditto)
6. Koko (ditto, just sounds cute)
5. Hana (flower)
4. Sakura (cherry blossom)
3. Marron (French word for chestnut)
2. Momo (peach)
1. Choco
Suki desu ka? One of the first useful words a student of Japanese learns is how to say "like" (suki), which is pronounced quickly so that it sounds rather like "ski," leading all students to immediately say Sukii ga suki desu ka? (Do you like to ski?), since the words sound similar. The word suki is often a student's introduction to the concept that a word or idea in one language might have many possible meanings in another language, depending on the situation. Right off the bat, suki can mean "like" (in the context of your favorite food or hobby) or "love" (when said in reference to another person). Like all Japanese words, there can be some ambiguity involved, which is the subject of more than a few melodramatic misunderstandings in anime or television dramas. "(I) like (it)" is Suki desu, and "Do (you) like (it)?" is Suki desu ka? Often Japanese speakers will fill in who is liking what (e.g. Boku wa ninjin ga suki desu, "I like carrots"), but it's usually too cumbersome to add all those words and grammatical particles when the person you're speaking to will understand what you mean anyway. Other phrases you might encounter include suki na hito ("a person you're in love with") and dai-suki (meaning "big like," for when you really like something), although guys should be careful about over-using the latter, since it tends to be onna-kotoba (language used by females). A couple of years ago I saw a variety show in which former JAV actress-turned-novelist Ai Iijima walked around New York, asking Americans Kyonyu suki? which sounds like "Can you ski?" in English, but is really asking if they prefer women with, er, shapely figures. It was funny to see the Americans on the show nodding their heads for the camera. Try it on your friends!
Mars is very close to the Earth right now, so I'm taking off early today, packing the kids into our Mazda Bongo Friendee and heading up to the mountains to visit the Gunma Prefectural Telescope, where we can go gaze at the heavens. See you when we get back!
A picnic up in the mountains. Our car is a Mazda Bongo Friendee, which is a really cool sort of MPV which has a top that opens up.
Us having our lunch in our car.
My son eating his bento. You can buy bento at convenience stores, which is quite convenience.
Trying to photograph my wife through the "communication hole" between the top section and bottom.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Halloween in Japan, some funny Japanese English words, and all about Daylight Savings Time
Happy Halloween from all of us at J-List. Yesterday was the big Halloween Party at my son's experimental elementary school, where 70% of the classes are taught in English although the school itself follows the standard Japanese curriculum. Despite the fact that all the students are Japanese and Halloween is a very foreign idea here (the Japanese love of cosplay notwithstanding), it was a big success, and all the kids had fun dressing up in various costumes. When my kids were younger, we made a special trip to the U.S. in October so they could experience an American-style Halloween, and they just loved it. Somehow the school managed to rustle up some orange pumpkins (which are usually hard to find in Japan, as the Japanese idea of a pumpkin is green and squash-shaped) and the kids got to carve them. My son smelled that oddly sweet smell of candle-burning- pumpkin-flesh and declared that this smelled like America to him (kind of like the smell of Mr. Bubble bubble bath). I'm happy to report that my son, who was dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi, won the award for best hand-made costume.
Language is a fluid thing, and every country makes use of words that suit its particular needs and sensibilities. Often I've encountered "English" words in Japan which didn't make any sense to me for one reason or another, and it took me a while to remap the words in my mind. A person's fanny will often be referred to as the hip in Japan, while a woman who is well-endowed is called glamor (guramaa), which always sounded like the word grammar to my ear (quite unrelated). Like the British, the Japanese use the word "muffler" to describe what you wear around your neck to keep warn in the winter, what I'd always called a scarf. If it's hot out, you turn on the cooler (also known as aircon), and if you need to dial a # key on your phone, be sure and hit the "sharp" button (as in musical notation). When reaching for a screwdriver, you can choose between minus (regular) or plus (Phillips), which is quite logical, really. If you park your car so that it blocks your neighbor's driveway, he might come over and claim (kureemu) -- somehow the English word claim shifted slightly in meaning, so that it now refers to verbally complain about something. A mansion is Japanese-English for an apartment or condominium that is owned, not rented. And if you practice dema you are spreading lies about someone (from the English word "demagogery").
If you're in North America you probably set your clock an hour back on Sunday. Most people grumble about having to remember to set their clocks forward and back in the spring and autumn, this isn't a problem in Japan, the only industrialized country that has not adopted the Daylight Savings Time system in one form or another. Instead, we have to deal with the other extreme -- if I stay up past 3 a.m. watching Japan's bizarre late-night TV, I often have to fall asleep while ignoring the sun lightening the sky outside, which isn't much fun.
Calendar season is in full swing at J-List, and we've currently got over 200 great 2006 Japanese anime, JPOP, bikini idol, sports, and other calendars on the site. As usual, this year the anime calendars lead the pack, with the always popular Studio Ghibli 2006 Calendar (which includes twelve fabulous *all original* illustrations from Hayao Miyazaki's films) again our top seller. Other hit anime calendars this year are Mahou Teacher Negima, Howl's Moving Castle, and all the Naruto calendars. On the JPOP scene, Gackt is in the top spot, followed by Aya Ueto, and the always-cute Morning Musume. For our "beautiful women of Japan" category, Idols in Kimono is the surprise hit, followed closely by Yuko Ogura, Reon Kadena and Misaki Itoh. Finally, our "impressions of Japan" calendar category are very popular this year -- top sellers are Japanese Heritage (traditional scenes of Japanese culture), Haruyo Morita's amazing contemporary kimono girls, and Garden of Four Seasons and Castles of Japan.
Remember, you can easily check the top J-List products using any RSS reader via our XML/RSS feed, which is a very handy way to watch your favorite websites to see when they've been updated. The links to the J-List/JBOX feeds are along the left side of the screen.
Language is a fluid thing, and every country makes use of words that suit its particular needs and sensibilities. Often I've encountered "English" words in Japan which didn't make any sense to me for one reason or another, and it took me a while to remap the words in my mind. A person's fanny will often be referred to as the hip in Japan, while a woman who is well-endowed is called glamor (guramaa), which always sounded like the word grammar to my ear (quite unrelated). Like the British, the Japanese use the word "muffler" to describe what you wear around your neck to keep warn in the winter, what I'd always called a scarf. If it's hot out, you turn on the cooler (also known as aircon), and if you need to dial a # key on your phone, be sure and hit the "sharp" button (as in musical notation). When reaching for a screwdriver, you can choose between minus (regular) or plus (Phillips), which is quite logical, really. If you park your car so that it blocks your neighbor's driveway, he might come over and claim (kureemu) -- somehow the English word claim shifted slightly in meaning, so that it now refers to verbally complain about something. A mansion is Japanese-English for an apartment or condominium that is owned, not rented. And if you practice dema you are spreading lies about someone (from the English word "demagogery").
If you're in North America you probably set your clock an hour back on Sunday. Most people grumble about having to remember to set their clocks forward and back in the spring and autumn, this isn't a problem in Japan, the only industrialized country that has not adopted the Daylight Savings Time system in one form or another. Instead, we have to deal with the other extreme -- if I stay up past 3 a.m. watching Japan's bizarre late-night TV, I often have to fall asleep while ignoring the sun lightening the sky outside, which isn't much fun.
Calendar season is in full swing at J-List, and we've currently got over 200 great 2006 Japanese anime, JPOP, bikini idol, sports, and other calendars on the site. As usual, this year the anime calendars lead the pack, with the always popular Studio Ghibli 2006 Calendar (which includes twelve fabulous *all original* illustrations from Hayao Miyazaki's films) again our top seller. Other hit anime calendars this year are Mahou Teacher Negima, Howl's Moving Castle, and all the Naruto calendars. On the JPOP scene, Gackt is in the top spot, followed by Aya Ueto, and the always-cute Morning Musume. For our "beautiful women of Japan" category, Idols in Kimono is the surprise hit, followed closely by Yuko Ogura, Reon Kadena and Misaki Itoh. Finally, our "impressions of Japan" calendar category are very popular this year -- top sellers are Japanese Heritage (traditional scenes of Japanese culture), Haruyo Morita's amazing contemporary kimono girls, and Garden of Four Seasons and Castles of Japan.
Remember, you can easily check the top J-List products using any RSS reader via our XML/RSS feed, which is a very handy way to watch your favorite websites to see when they've been updated. The links to the J-List/JBOX feeds are along the left side of the screen.
Son hanging out with his friends
Pretty pathetic haul by American standards. I told the kids there how I used to take a pillow cover and fill it with candy, since it was the only thing sturdy enough to avoid ripping.
Kazuki won the contest for best hand-made costume!
Wow, what a great costume, I thought, seeing this mother with a Thing 1 shirt on. I am a bit Seuss fan. Sadly, it was just a shirt she bought somewhere.
Sometimes a single TV commercial can make long-term waves in Japan's culture. These horses are a reference to a TV commercial for some product (I can't remember what it was) that showed back in 2001 or so. They look really good...
Friday, October 28, 2005
On stereotypes, how and why words jump from one language to another, and trying to recall the term "gynecologist"
Stereotypes are really not good, since they cause us to make assumptions about people from other countries before we've gotten to know them. When I taught English as a Second Language, I used to do a lot of part-time work, going to people's homes to teach their kids once a week, and I was able to meet a lot of people this way. One family I taught seemed to be a pretty average Japanese family on the surface: bustling mother overly concerned about her kids' education; bright daughter; younger son who loved Pokemon; and a salaryman father who often worked late. The father surprised me one day by showing me pictures of his journey from Vladivostok to Moscow on the Siberian Railroad, which had been a lifelong dream of his, and I was immediately sorry I'd assumed he was such an average guy. On the other hand, sometimes stereotypes can be eerily accurate. When I went to Germany I asked a man to take my picture, and when he couldn't work my camera, he let out a frustrated Ach! just like a parody of a monacled villain from a 1960s spy movie. In Italy, the gentle, matronly mother of a friend of mine punctuated every third sentence with Mama mia! Japanese are famous for saying ah, so (short for ah, so desu ka? or "oh, is that so?"), and they really do say it a lot. I'm always embarrassed when I inadvertently say this in Japanese when my American family is nearby, snickering.
It's common for words to jump from one language to another, and the mechanism of how this works is quite interesting to me. The Japanese have imported many words from other languages, especially technical terms (from English) or medical terms (often from German), and some old reliable Japanese words like tempura are actually foreign in origin (from the Portuguese, in this case). People seem to reach for foreign words when a new concept comes along that current terms don't cover well; for example, the English word address (adoresu) is used to describe an email address, since the Japanese term (jusho) only refers to an actual home address. Sometimes, there seems to be an emotional element in using a term from another language, which provides a certain je ne sais quoi. For example, only the Spanish term aficionado could adequately describe Hemmingway's love of bullfighting, and only the Japanese word otaku can cover the depth of the current generation's fascination with Japanese pop culture. It's common for the meanings of words to shift slightly when imported into a new language, too. For example, English speakers use the word manga to refer to printed comics, but in Japanese the word covers animation you watch on TV as well; the English word "propose" is only used for marriage proposals in Japanese, a potentially dangerous situation for Japanese women who might suddenly blush when you start your next business presentation; and the other day I borrowed my wife's Bvlgari "body shampoo" and, reading the bottle, noticed that the French word for shower is douche, which opens up a whole world of potential linguistic confusion.
One of my favorites from the "YBIJTLW" list: "You've been in Japan too long when it takes you several seconds of deep thought to recall the first name of the President of the United States." It's true -- you'd be surprised what living in a foreign country can do to your ability to recall seldom-used information, or even remember certain English vocabulary words. Try going years without ever hearing or uttering difficult words, like "gynecologist" or "irreplaceable" -- they can be quite difficult to dredge up from the depths of your memory, even if English is your native language. It's a strange feeling, not being able to recall a word you know you should know -- you stand there with a dumb look on your face while your brain googles your hippocampus, trying to find the term. It's especially bad for English teachers in Japan, because you can go for months without hearing any English except the simplified utterances of your students, which invariably begins to affect your language. You find yourself speaking too slowly, pronouncing words too carefully (like clearly annunciating the t in party instead of making it sound like a d), and avoiding some words you know listeners won't be able to understand. Over time, this can change your English, although never fear, it's only temporary.
At J-List, we love to bring cool new things from Japan to you. Today, we're posting some really excellent items to our "traditional" section: famous Kutani Ware teacups (yunomi) and rice bowls (chawan) from Japan, from the Kutani region of Japan, famous for high-quality pottery since 1655. The new items we've got in stock will really allow you to touch and feel Japan in a totally new way. See the items now!
Next, J-List makes dozens of great anime, manga, fashion, toy, sexy idol and other magazines available to you through our revolving magazine subscription service. The magazines J-List offers are colorful, filled with beautiful pictures, and are great for people not lucky enough to live here -- and you can always cancel a subscription at any time, since they're month-to-month revolving subscriptions. Today we're adding two new subscription items for car enthusiasts: Car and Driver Japan, a great all-purpose magazine for fans of Japanese "car life"; and Car Goods Press, a special version of Goods Press that features tons of information on accessories and interior customization options for your wheels.
It's common for words to jump from one language to another, and the mechanism of how this works is quite interesting to me. The Japanese have imported many words from other languages, especially technical terms (from English) or medical terms (often from German), and some old reliable Japanese words like tempura are actually foreign in origin (from the Portuguese, in this case). People seem to reach for foreign words when a new concept comes along that current terms don't cover well; for example, the English word address (adoresu) is used to describe an email address, since the Japanese term (jusho) only refers to an actual home address. Sometimes, there seems to be an emotional element in using a term from another language, which provides a certain je ne sais quoi. For example, only the Spanish term aficionado could adequately describe Hemmingway's love of bullfighting, and only the Japanese word otaku can cover the depth of the current generation's fascination with Japanese pop culture. It's common for the meanings of words to shift slightly when imported into a new language, too. For example, English speakers use the word manga to refer to printed comics, but in Japanese the word covers animation you watch on TV as well; the English word "propose" is only used for marriage proposals in Japanese, a potentially dangerous situation for Japanese women who might suddenly blush when you start your next business presentation; and the other day I borrowed my wife's Bvlgari "body shampoo" and, reading the bottle, noticed that the French word for shower is douche, which opens up a whole world of potential linguistic confusion.
One of my favorites from the "YBIJTLW" list: "You've been in Japan too long when it takes you several seconds of deep thought to recall the first name of the President of the United States." It's true -- you'd be surprised what living in a foreign country can do to your ability to recall seldom-used information, or even remember certain English vocabulary words. Try going years without ever hearing or uttering difficult words, like "gynecologist" or "irreplaceable" -- they can be quite difficult to dredge up from the depths of your memory, even if English is your native language. It's a strange feeling, not being able to recall a word you know you should know -- you stand there with a dumb look on your face while your brain googles your hippocampus, trying to find the term. It's especially bad for English teachers in Japan, because you can go for months without hearing any English except the simplified utterances of your students, which invariably begins to affect your language. You find yourself speaking too slowly, pronouncing words too carefully (like clearly annunciating the t in party instead of making it sound like a d), and avoiding some words you know listeners won't be able to understand. Over time, this can change your English, although never fear, it's only temporary.
At J-List, we love to bring cool new things from Japan to you. Today, we're posting some really excellent items to our "traditional" section: famous Kutani Ware teacups (yunomi) and rice bowls (chawan) from Japan, from the Kutani region of Japan, famous for high-quality pottery since 1655. The new items we've got in stock will really allow you to touch and feel Japan in a totally new way. See the items now!
Next, J-List makes dozens of great anime, manga, fashion, toy, sexy idol and other magazines available to you through our revolving magazine subscription service. The magazines J-List offers are colorful, filled with beautiful pictures, and are great for people not lucky enough to live here -- and you can always cancel a subscription at any time, since they're month-to-month revolving subscriptions. Today we're adding two new subscription items for car enthusiasts: Car and Driver Japan, a great all-purpose magazine for fans of Japanese "car life"; and Car Goods Press, a special version of Goods Press that features tons of information on accessories and interior customization options for your wheels.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
The Japanese and movies, learning Japanese through songs, and the famous food of Kyoto
The Japanese love movies, and watch a lot of them. Happily for gaijin like myself, they usually prefer watching U.S. movies in English with Japanese subtitles, rather than dubbed into Japanese -- quite different from countries like China, where all films are shown dubbed in the local language. Hollywood films are a staple of Japanese theatres, as you might expect, but except for big-budget productions that aim for global releases, movies often open in Japan several months after their debut in the U.S. -- for example, the Brothers Grim is just opening this week, no doubt repositioned as a Halloween film for the local market. There are always several Japanese films showing in our local theatre, such as the live-action adaption of Nana, a popular shoujo manga about two very different girls who share the same name, and the latest installment of the Masked Rider (Kamen Rider) franchise for the kids. Movies tied to anime are popular, such as the live-action version of Touch and the upcoming second Zeta Gundam movie (I've got to catch both of those). Japan's fascination with Korean film continues, with several films showing right now, including April Snow, which seems calculated to recapture the popularity of Winter Sonata. The trend towards foreign films seems to be widening -- in addition to one film in Cantonese, our local theatre is showing Heinahattu ja Vilttitossu, a film from Finland.
Succeeding at studying a language takes hard work, and one bit of advice I often offer to prospective students is, "find what floats your boat," i.e., try to come up with interests that will help move your study efforts forward a little each day. I worked hard to find Japan-related interests, including reading manga in Japanese, which gave me a constant stream of vocabulary words to absorb. Karaoke was another way to tackle the language -- it's always fun when a gaijin gets up to belt out a song in Japanese, and this feedback gave me a reason to learn more. If you're interested in learning Japanese through songs, I've chosen three excellent classics you might consider: Kampai (an emotional tear-jerker sung at weddings); Namida Sousou (a traditional Okinawan song turned into a pop hit); and the excellent Tsunami, which J-List's own Tomo is pretty good at belting out. See the songs and lyrics here.
If you ever make it to Kyoto, I hope you'll try kaiseki ryori, a memorable Japanese dining experience in which a great deal of care is taken with the presentation of the food, from the shape and color and texture to the elegant dishes everything is served on. The meal is very seasonal, and what you're served will depend on what time of year it is -- in the fall your meal with have a momiji (Japanese maple) motif, while sakura petals will adorn your food in the spring. Kaiseki meals are served in courses, similar to fine French dining, and includes sashimi, tempura, grilled fish, rice, and various other foods. To be honest, it's not uncommon to have no idea what you're putting in your mouth when you eat kaiseki, but don't worry, everything is good.
J-List carries Comic AG, an excellent magazine that brings you the best English-translated H manga ever seen outside of Japan. The publisher really has a passion for manga, and he features many of the most popular artists on J-List, faithfully translated into English. Best of all, he's recently accelerated his publishing schedule, with two issues coming out each month. We want to make it easier for fans to buy backissues of AG before they sell out, so we've created the new "AGSET" which lets you buy sets of 5 issues for a special discount. You can also get a subscription, and we'll send you each issue as they come in.
Succeeding at studying a language takes hard work, and one bit of advice I often offer to prospective students is, "find what floats your boat," i.e., try to come up with interests that will help move your study efforts forward a little each day. I worked hard to find Japan-related interests, including reading manga in Japanese, which gave me a constant stream of vocabulary words to absorb. Karaoke was another way to tackle the language -- it's always fun when a gaijin gets up to belt out a song in Japanese, and this feedback gave me a reason to learn more. If you're interested in learning Japanese through songs, I've chosen three excellent classics you might consider: Kampai (an emotional tear-jerker sung at weddings); Namida Sousou (a traditional Okinawan song turned into a pop hit); and the excellent Tsunami, which J-List's own Tomo is pretty good at belting out. See the songs and lyrics here.
If you ever make it to Kyoto, I hope you'll try kaiseki ryori, a memorable Japanese dining experience in which a great deal of care is taken with the presentation of the food, from the shape and color and texture to the elegant dishes everything is served on. The meal is very seasonal, and what you're served will depend on what time of year it is -- in the fall your meal with have a momiji (Japanese maple) motif, while sakura petals will adorn your food in the spring. Kaiseki meals are served in courses, similar to fine French dining, and includes sashimi, tempura, grilled fish, rice, and various other foods. To be honest, it's not uncommon to have no idea what you're putting in your mouth when you eat kaiseki, but don't worry, everything is good.
J-List carries Comic AG, an excellent magazine that brings you the best English-translated H manga ever seen outside of Japan. The publisher really has a passion for manga, and he features many of the most popular artists on J-List, faithfully translated into English. Best of all, he's recently accelerated his publishing schedule, with two issues coming out each month. We want to make it easier for fans to buy backissues of AG before they sell out, so we've created the new "AGSET" which lets you buy sets of 5 issues for a special discount. You can also get a subscription, and we'll send you each issue as they come in.
Monday, October 24, 2005
All about Commodore Perry, more on Japan's culture of "sho ga nai" and our "second house"
Hello again from Japan, the home of "rinse in shampoo" (which means shampoo that contains cream rinse in it).
One of the most dramatic events in Japanese history was the coming of Commodore Matthew Perry and his "Black Ships," who visited Japan in 1852 to demand that the country trade with the U.S. or face war. Perry and his ships forced the Tokugawa Shogun to open the country to the rest of the world, and forever burned themselves into the minds of the Japanese at the same time. Seeing how weak it was against foreign powers like the U.S. and Britain, the military government began a program of modernization with Western help, which caused the domains of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa (now Kagoshima, Yamaguchi and Kochi Prefectures) to rebel. Under the famous slogan sonno joi or "Respect the Emperor and Expel the Foreign Barbarians" (see our line of T-shirts and hoodies with this slogan on them), they defeated the shogun and created a new government around the Meiji Emperor, in effect restoring the power of the Emperor, who had been a figurehead throughout most of Japan's history. It didn't take long for the new government to realize that, oopsie, it needed help from foreign powers too, if it wanted to modernize Japan and become a strong nation that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the world.
All countries have what the Japanese call kokuminsei, sort of a national personality or set of beliefs and features seemingly shared by all members of that country, which could be thought of as the essence of what is is to be American, Japanese, etc. Whether you're from Germany, Canada, or South Korea, there's a lot that connects to you everyone else from the same place. One facet of the kokuminsei of Japanese people is their ability to endure unpleasantness by using the magic words "it can't be helped" (shikata ga nai, or more commonly, sho ga nai), not unlike the French c'est la vie or the Borg's "resistence is futile." On the one hand, shikata ga nai is a mechanism that makes society operate more smoothly, without getting snagged on every little problem or injustice, and Japan's famous lack of litigious culture is probably directly related to this mind-set. On the other hand, there are many problems with contemporary society that could be handled if they were met head-on.
One of our favorite places in Japan is Karuizawa, a resort town about two hours up the freeway from Tokyo that's quite popular -- so popular, in fact, that you have to sit in a 5-hour traffic jam to get there during the Golden Week holidays. The town features shaded streets that are great for bicycling, lots of nice restaurants and little shops, and my wife's favorite place, an American- style shopping mall with dozens of outlet stores. Well-heeled Tokyo-ites might purchase a bessou (meaning "second home") in Karuizawa and spend their weekends up there, but employees of companies can often enjoy these benefits too, as it's quite common for Japanese companies to maintain facilities that employees are free to use whenever they like. J-List rents a small "resort mansion" (a Japanese-English word meaning a glofied apartment) for our employees with a real hot springs bath, a gym, and plenty of fun mountain activities -- it's a nice place to get away from it all. On our way back from the mountains yesterday, we happened to see one of IBM Japan's bessou for its employees here. I wonder if IBM does this in the U.S.?
J-List strives to bring you an authentic piece of Japan every day, and we carry many wonderful traditional items, from cotton yukata to bento boxes to cool traditional footwear and more. Something we've always wanted to sell are the traditional Japanese wood dolls called kokeshi, which are beautiful hand-painted dolls that are great for collecting and displaying, and now we've gotten some of these great traditional items on the site for you!
Incredibly, we've got another volley of excellent 2006 calendars for you, including artist Haruyo Morita, Famous Castles of Japan, Negima, lovely actress Misaki Itoh, and many more! We also have the Perfect Diary daily planners, which are excellent daily diaries that make it easy to keep track of everything you need to do over the whole year, while enjoying some beautiful photos as the year slides by.
One of the most dramatic events in Japanese history was the coming of Commodore Matthew Perry and his "Black Ships," who visited Japan in 1852 to demand that the country trade with the U.S. or face war. Perry and his ships forced the Tokugawa Shogun to open the country to the rest of the world, and forever burned themselves into the minds of the Japanese at the same time. Seeing how weak it was against foreign powers like the U.S. and Britain, the military government began a program of modernization with Western help, which caused the domains of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa (now Kagoshima, Yamaguchi and Kochi Prefectures) to rebel. Under the famous slogan sonno joi or "Respect the Emperor and Expel the Foreign Barbarians" (see our line of T-shirts and hoodies with this slogan on them), they defeated the shogun and created a new government around the Meiji Emperor, in effect restoring the power of the Emperor, who had been a figurehead throughout most of Japan's history. It didn't take long for the new government to realize that, oopsie, it needed help from foreign powers too, if it wanted to modernize Japan and become a strong nation that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the world.
All countries have what the Japanese call kokuminsei, sort of a national personality or set of beliefs and features seemingly shared by all members of that country, which could be thought of as the essence of what is is to be American, Japanese, etc. Whether you're from Germany, Canada, or South Korea, there's a lot that connects to you everyone else from the same place. One facet of the kokuminsei of Japanese people is their ability to endure unpleasantness by using the magic words "it can't be helped" (shikata ga nai, or more commonly, sho ga nai), not unlike the French c'est la vie or the Borg's "resistence is futile." On the one hand, shikata ga nai is a mechanism that makes society operate more smoothly, without getting snagged on every little problem or injustice, and Japan's famous lack of litigious culture is probably directly related to this mind-set. On the other hand, there are many problems with contemporary society that could be handled if they were met head-on.
One of our favorite places in Japan is Karuizawa, a resort town about two hours up the freeway from Tokyo that's quite popular -- so popular, in fact, that you have to sit in a 5-hour traffic jam to get there during the Golden Week holidays. The town features shaded streets that are great for bicycling, lots of nice restaurants and little shops, and my wife's favorite place, an American- style shopping mall with dozens of outlet stores. Well-heeled Tokyo-ites might purchase a bessou (meaning "second home") in Karuizawa and spend their weekends up there, but employees of companies can often enjoy these benefits too, as it's quite common for Japanese companies to maintain facilities that employees are free to use whenever they like. J-List rents a small "resort mansion" (a Japanese-English word meaning a glofied apartment) for our employees with a real hot springs bath, a gym, and plenty of fun mountain activities -- it's a nice place to get away from it all. On our way back from the mountains yesterday, we happened to see one of IBM Japan's bessou for its employees here. I wonder if IBM does this in the U.S.?
J-List strives to bring you an authentic piece of Japan every day, and we carry many wonderful traditional items, from cotton yukata to bento boxes to cool traditional footwear and more. Something we've always wanted to sell are the traditional Japanese wood dolls called kokeshi, which are beautiful hand-painted dolls that are great for collecting and displaying, and now we've gotten some of these great traditional items on the site for you!
Incredibly, we've got another volley of excellent 2006 calendars for you, including artist Haruyo Morita, Famous Castles of Japan, Negima, lovely actress Misaki Itoh, and many more! We also have the Perfect Diary daily planners, which are excellent daily diaries that make it easy to keep track of everything you need to do over the whole year, while enjoying some beautiful photos as the year slides by.
Our "resort mansion" in all its glory.
The mountains are extra beautiful in the fall, when koyo season comes. Let's come to the mountains in koyo! Koyo! (this is a bad Japanese joke, since koyo can also mean "let's come")
Karuizawa is right at the foot of Mt. Asama, as in, the volcanoe that erupted last year. Here it can be seen practicing the Japanese tradition of "smokin' clean."
Karuizawa has lots of interesting shops and other stuff to check out. Here is a U.S. military surplus store selling all kinds of stuff, including Zippos from the Vietnam War era.
Friday, October 21, 2005
The joy of eating Cheetos, new crimes on the rise in Japan, and some really "radical" kanji for you
One of the benefits to living the expat life is coming to value the things from home you used to take for granted. But if you ever live in a place with no Root Beer, no Peter Pan Peanut Butter, and no Rold Gold pretzels (or whatever happens to be dear to you), you will learn to appreciate them in a hurry. The other day I got a care package from my mother which contained our Thanksgiving stuff (since Japan can be quite pumpkin-pie-and-mashed-potato-challenged when it wants to be), and there was a general work stoppage while the J-List staff stopped to check out the various goodies that Mom had sent along. The gaijiin staff of J-List was especially happy with the Cheetos that were in the box, and we eagerly devoured them. Sometimes it's the little things that mean a lot.
There's a new type of crime in Japan. A few days ago, a small battery-powered wireless camera was discovered attached to the wall above an ATM machine in a UFJ Bank in Tokyo. The device was capable of broadcasting out to a receiver located outside the building, where a man watched with a small television, recording the passwords people used to access their bank accounts. Happily, the culprit -- a 36 year old unemployed man -- was caught by police before he could do any damage. There are other types of updated crimes in Japan, one of the most famous being ore ore sagi ("it's me, it's me!" fraud), where a con-man calls an elderly man or woman, pretending to be their grandson and asking them to send money right away because of some trouble they're in. Then there's the related furikome sagi ("pay up" fraud), in which, say, a female con-artist might call the wife of a doctor and say that she'd been touched inappropriately (chikan sareta, for owners of our "Beware of Perverts" T-shirt) by her husband, and that she was about to go to the police. However, she might reconsider if the wife sends 2 million yen to the following account right away.
Kanji may not be the easiest thing in the world to learn, especially those who don't live in kanji-using countries, but neither is it the invention of the devil designed to confound students of Japanese. In fact, it's actually quite logical and organized. When you need to look a character up in a kanji dictionary, you have several ways to go about it, including looking it up based on the total number of strokes (the number of lines it takes to write that character), or using its pronunciation. The most logical way, however, is to use the radical, which are quadrants on the left, right, top, etc. of kanji, which group them together based on meaning. One common type of radical are kanmuri, which means "crown" (aside: Toyota Camry gets its name from this word, based on a strange fixation the company has for making cars with names that mean crown in various languages). One type is take-kanmuri (tah-KAY KAN-moo-REE) or "bamboo crown," and characters that contain radical this are often things made of bamboo, such as fude (writing brush) or hako (box). Similarly, the character for rain (ame, ah-MAY) appears as a radical in related words, such as snow, lightning, fog, cloud, and electricity. (The popular Wordtank electronic dictionaries that J-List sells have full kanji dictionary functions built into them.)
J-List is looking for a webmaster/blogger for our jmate.com review/interview website. If you've got experience with the products we sell, have good web skills and would like to write some interesting content, please contact us through the "contact J-List" link on the site.
There's a new type of crime in Japan. A few days ago, a small battery-powered wireless camera was discovered attached to the wall above an ATM machine in a UFJ Bank in Tokyo. The device was capable of broadcasting out to a receiver located outside the building, where a man watched with a small television, recording the passwords people used to access their bank accounts. Happily, the culprit -- a 36 year old unemployed man -- was caught by police before he could do any damage. There are other types of updated crimes in Japan, one of the most famous being ore ore sagi ("it's me, it's me!" fraud), where a con-man calls an elderly man or woman, pretending to be their grandson and asking them to send money right away because of some trouble they're in. Then there's the related furikome sagi ("pay up" fraud), in which, say, a female con-artist might call the wife of a doctor and say that she'd been touched inappropriately (chikan sareta, for owners of our "Beware of Perverts" T-shirt) by her husband, and that she was about to go to the police. However, she might reconsider if the wife sends 2 million yen to the following account right away.
Kanji may not be the easiest thing in the world to learn, especially those who don't live in kanji-using countries, but neither is it the invention of the devil designed to confound students of Japanese. In fact, it's actually quite logical and organized. When you need to look a character up in a kanji dictionary, you have several ways to go about it, including looking it up based on the total number of strokes (the number of lines it takes to write that character), or using its pronunciation. The most logical way, however, is to use the radical, which are quadrants on the left, right, top, etc. of kanji, which group them together based on meaning. One common type of radical are kanmuri, which means "crown" (aside: Toyota Camry gets its name from this word, based on a strange fixation the company has for making cars with names that mean crown in various languages). One type is take-kanmuri (tah-KAY KAN-moo-REE) or "bamboo crown," and characters that contain radical this are often things made of bamboo, such as fude (writing brush) or hako (box). Similarly, the character for rain (ame, ah-MAY) appears as a radical in related words, such as snow, lightning, fog, cloud, and electricity. (The popular Wordtank electronic dictionaries that J-List sells have full kanji dictionary functions built into them.)
J-List is looking for a webmaster/blogger for our jmate.com review/interview website. If you've got experience with the products we sell, have good web skills and would like to write some interesting content, please contact us through the "contact J-List" link on the site.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
On the creativity of children, social change in Japan, and what's up with Steven Seagal
Children are very creative, and it seems there's nothing that a child is incapable of imagining, especially when it comes to inventing new words. When I was learning Japanese in college, I discovered that you don't have to be a child to have a child's creativity with language. As I studied Japanese, I experimented with the language every day, completely mangling the grammar as I got each vocabulary word and useful phrase down, sometimes inventing something new and interesting in the process thanks to the universal phenomenon of "not knowing what can't be done." The process is not unlike the way a child experiments with its first language, often creating ingenious Dr. Seussian words for things. Just as most of us have a special place in our hearts for the things we loved when we were small, be they television shows or comic books or 8-bit video games, I still feel natsukashii (nostalgic) about the anime I was watching in my college years, which represent my childhood as far as learning Japanese is concerned. So if you ever want to enjoy a second childhood, consider learning a second language!
It's said that Japan is between ten and 25 years behind the United States and Europe socially, and viewed from a certain point of view, the statement seems to be eerily true. Various social institutions that you or I might take for granted have taken a while to appear in Japan, such as laws against "seku-hara" (harassment in the workplace) or laws protecting the privacy of individuals. Over the past few years, Japan has been renaming some job titles that had a sexist slant due to the kanji they were written with. For example, the old word for a preschool teacher, hobo (保母, literally "protecting mother") has been updated to hoikushi (保育士, a professional-sounding word that means care-giver), and the former term for nurse (kangofu, 看護婦, written with characters that meant "nursing wife") is now kangoshi 看護士, which makes no reference to male or female. Some words haven't been updated yet, though. A family with only one parent is often called boshi katei 母子家庭, which literally means "household of mother and child," but this word doesn't serve its purpose very well if the single parent is male. And Japanese who spend several years overseas then return to Japan are called kikoku shijo 帰国子女 or "girl-children who have returned to their home country." The term is used for males as well as females, despite the fact that the "girl" meaning is built into the word via kanji characters.
I was flipping channels while shaving this morning and happened to see Steven Seagal being interviewed in Japanese by Dave Spector, which was funny since they're both Americans. He was talking about his latest projects, including a Japanese detective film and an energy drink with his face on it. Seagal is popular in Japan because he's fluent in Osaka-ben, the dialect of Japanese that more or less corresponds to New York American English, and it seems I can't go a month without one of his action films being shown on Japanese television. For marketing reasons, most of his movies have been renamed into the "silence" series, for example, Under Siege is the Warship of Silence, On Deadly Ground becomes Fortress of Silence, and so on. I guess it makes it easier to sell a boxed set of his movies to Japanese fans.
J-List sells our wacky Japanese T-shirts, with messages like "Support the Emperor, Expel for Foreign Barbarians" (a political slogan from 19th century Japan, just about the most esoteric thing we could think of for a T-shirt). Our shirts are popular for their original wacky designs, but they're also excellent quality T-shirts, hand-screenprinted by our San Diego staff with 16 years of screenprinting. We use top quality 6.1 weight T-shirts, add a white under-layer which prevents the color of the shirt from showing through the design, and cure the shirt at 330 degrees to give it long life (far superior to the quickie heat-transfer printing used by those "other" online shops). Our hoodies are great too, made of 80-20 blends, much softer and luxurious-feeling than the cheap 50-50 blends sold elsewhere. Why not browse our T-shirts and hoodies today?
It's said that Japan is between ten and 25 years behind the United States and Europe socially, and viewed from a certain point of view, the statement seems to be eerily true. Various social institutions that you or I might take for granted have taken a while to appear in Japan, such as laws against "seku-hara" (harassment in the workplace) or laws protecting the privacy of individuals. Over the past few years, Japan has been renaming some job titles that had a sexist slant due to the kanji they were written with. For example, the old word for a preschool teacher, hobo (保母, literally "protecting mother") has been updated to hoikushi (保育士, a professional-sounding word that means care-giver), and the former term for nurse (kangofu, 看護婦, written with characters that meant "nursing wife") is now kangoshi 看護士, which makes no reference to male or female. Some words haven't been updated yet, though. A family with only one parent is often called boshi katei 母子家庭, which literally means "household of mother and child," but this word doesn't serve its purpose very well if the single parent is male. And Japanese who spend several years overseas then return to Japan are called kikoku shijo 帰国子女 or "girl-children who have returned to their home country." The term is used for males as well as females, despite the fact that the "girl" meaning is built into the word via kanji characters.
I was flipping channels while shaving this morning and happened to see Steven Seagal being interviewed in Japanese by Dave Spector, which was funny since they're both Americans. He was talking about his latest projects, including a Japanese detective film and an energy drink with his face on it. Seagal is popular in Japan because he's fluent in Osaka-ben, the dialect of Japanese that more or less corresponds to New York American English, and it seems I can't go a month without one of his action films being shown on Japanese television. For marketing reasons, most of his movies have been renamed into the "silence" series, for example, Under Siege is the Warship of Silence, On Deadly Ground becomes Fortress of Silence, and so on. I guess it makes it easier to sell a boxed set of his movies to Japanese fans.
J-List sells our wacky Japanese T-shirts, with messages like "Support the Emperor, Expel for Foreign Barbarians" (a political slogan from 19th century Japan, just about the most esoteric thing we could think of for a T-shirt). Our shirts are popular for their original wacky designs, but they're also excellent quality T-shirts, hand-screenprinted by our San Diego staff with 16 years of screenprinting. We use top quality 6.1 weight T-shirts, add a white under-layer which prevents the color of the shirt from showing through the design, and cure the shirt at 330 degrees to give it long life (far superior to the quickie heat-transfer printing used by those "other" online shops). Our hoodies are great too, made of 80-20 blends, much softer and luxurious-feeling than the cheap 50-50 blends sold elsewhere. Why not browse our T-shirts and hoodies today?
Monday, October 17, 2005
Community spirit, Japan style, and what to do with old schools you don't need anymore
J-List is based in a small city in central Japan, about 100 km north of Tokyo, and it has a real down-home feel to it. Yesterday the annual Green Festival was held, an all-day event where residents of our city could gather and engage in what's locally known as fure-ai (ふれあい, foo-RAY-aa-II). The word literally means "touching each other," and it calls up images of pleasant interaction with one's neighbors and getting to know each other a little better -- a very nice word (no sexual connotation). At the festival, a dozen groups set up tents with various activities that people could take part in. My daughter is in Girls Scouts, so we sat at their booth helping children make various crafts. Elsewhere, kids hammered away making wooden chairs or tables, learned tea ceremony, practiced outdoor activities with the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, ate local foods like yakisoba (the Japanese version of chow mein noodles), and browsed the flea market area (complete with the requisite misspelled sign proclaiming FREE MARKET). There were performances by several local clubs, too, including Japanese taiko drums, a brass band that played anime theme songs (that was pretty interesting to hear) and my favorite, the local Hawaiian Hula Club. It was a fun day of community-building, a regular Amish barn-raising, Japan-style.
At the festival, I was not surprised to attract a lot of attention, as I was the only gaijin present. Everywhere I went I ran into people who knew me, although in a few cases I couldn't remember who they were or where I'd met them -- but I smiled and used the all-purpose Japanese polite phrase, "Domo!" Kids, especially, flocked to me, curious about this strange foreigner who could speak Japanese, and before long I had a good group of Japanese kids trailing me, making me feel like the Pied Piper, or perhaps Jesus on the Mount. It sounds corny, but I'm always careful to present a positive view of America to Japanese children, answering any questions they have and asking what they know about my country. If I find myself around children when I'm wearing sunglasses, I take them off no matter how bright it may be outside. A big foreigner wearing dark sunglasses like a yakuza is likely to be a little scary for Japanese kids, and I'd hate for anyone to get a bad impression of foreigners because of me.
The festival was held in what used to be a local high school, which had been converted into a general-use community center. As Japan's population contracts, they need fewer schools to support the population of students, and so schools are decommissioned all too frequently. While many schools just sit there as creepy reminders of Japan's all-too-low low birth rate, this school had become quite useful, with the interior made available for community meetings and clubs and housing various municipal employees. They also turn it into a voting center on election days.
We've got a great new category of product for you at J-List: various types of traditional kimonos, which are still worn in a variety of places and situations in Japan. We have silky, stylish kimonos for men, great yukata (cotton kimonos) that can be worn anywhere or used as a bathrobe after a hot bath, and short cotton kimonos called happi (sometimes called "happy coats" for the benefit of foreign visitors) with colorful kanji designs on them. If you order with EMS shipping, you can get these items before October 31st, too (but hurry). See all our new kimono items on the newly renamed Traditional Footwear & Kimono category.
We've updated our "top 5" links which appear on the main J-List or JBOX.com pages, increasing the number of top-selling products that display when you click each category link. These links make it easy to browse the best-selling dating-sims, T-shirts, snacks, DVDs, Domo-kun toys, and other items on the J-List site, over the past 7 days. You can also browse all "top" items with the
new link we've placed at the bottom of the box. We'll also be updating the contents every other day, allowing you to browse different categories every time you stop by.
At the festival, I was not surprised to attract a lot of attention, as I was the only gaijin present. Everywhere I went I ran into people who knew me, although in a few cases I couldn't remember who they were or where I'd met them -- but I smiled and used the all-purpose Japanese polite phrase, "Domo!" Kids, especially, flocked to me, curious about this strange foreigner who could speak Japanese, and before long I had a good group of Japanese kids trailing me, making me feel like the Pied Piper, or perhaps Jesus on the Mount. It sounds corny, but I'm always careful to present a positive view of America to Japanese children, answering any questions they have and asking what they know about my country. If I find myself around children when I'm wearing sunglasses, I take them off no matter how bright it may be outside. A big foreigner wearing dark sunglasses like a yakuza is likely to be a little scary for Japanese kids, and I'd hate for anyone to get a bad impression of foreigners because of me.
The festival was held in what used to be a local high school, which had been converted into a general-use community center. As Japan's population contracts, they need fewer schools to support the population of students, and so schools are decommissioned all too frequently. While many schools just sit there as creepy reminders of Japan's all-too-low low birth rate, this school had become quite useful, with the interior made available for community meetings and clubs and housing various municipal employees. They also turn it into a voting center on election days.
We've got a great new category of product for you at J-List: various types of traditional kimonos, which are still worn in a variety of places and situations in Japan. We have silky, stylish kimonos for men, great yukata (cotton kimonos) that can be worn anywhere or used as a bathrobe after a hot bath, and short cotton kimonos called happi (sometimes called "happy coats" for the benefit of foreign visitors) with colorful kanji designs on them. If you order with EMS shipping, you can get these items before October 31st, too (but hurry). See all our new kimono items on the newly renamed Traditional Footwear & Kimono category.
We've updated our "top 5" links which appear on the main J-List or JBOX.com pages, increasing the number of top-selling products that display when you click each category link. These links make it easy to browse the best-selling dating-sims, T-shirts, snacks, DVDs, Domo-kun toys, and other items on the J-List site, over the past 7 days. You can also browse all "top" items with the
new link we've placed at the bottom of the box. We'll also be updating the contents every other day, allowing you to browse different categories every time you stop by.
This is the school-turned-community-center. It's a nice use to put a building to. Remind me to post something on Japan's "neo Chernobyl" building style for schools and other public buildings sometime.
The drummers in the taiko group were very good.
One of the sellers warms yaki-manjuu, basically a bun cooked over coals and painted with delicious miso sauce.
They had some interesting food items for sale, including the first shrink-wrapped hamburgers I've ever seen in my life.
There was plenty of cool used stuff for sale. I bought a Tamagotchi for my daughter, a killer Ultraman toy for myself (natch), and I managed to find some Rose of Versailles figures for ten yen each for my wife. Here someone is selling clothes with wacky English messages on them.
Friday, October 14, 2005
My son goes to a "juku," funny English the Japanese create, and various Halloween related stuff
My son has joined the millions of Japanese kids who attend a juku, the famous cram schools where students go in the evenings to take extra lessons. Actually, "cram school" isn't a very good term, since it implies students do nothing but cram for tests, when in fact my son just takes extra lessons in math, social studies, and his worst subject, kokugo (Japanese language). There are tens of thousands of these after-hours-and-weekend schools throughout Japan, with different reasons for the existence of each. Some just help students keep up with their normal classwork, effectively giving them a place to do their homework with a teacher's supervision, while others lay the groundwork for future academic achievement, eventually helping the student get into a high-ranking high school or university. My son mainly wanted to go to juku because his friends were going, but he also enjoys studying. One of the most famous juku systems in Japan is Kumon, which has quite a good track record for helping students raise their academic scores. Kumon has even successfully brought their study method outside Japan, with Kumon Learning Centers (there's even one near my house in San Diego).
Mastering Japanese involves learning hiragaka, katakana, and kanji, but you also have to re-learn some English, since the Japanese sometimes change the language beyond recognition. If you ask your boss for a raise, but he says no, it's "NG," which stands for "no good." A "blooper" on TV is also called an NG. The letter "W" stands for "double" to the Japanese, and there's a TV commercial for a video camera starring Maria Sharapova in which she says "W-OK" ("double okay"), referring to the fact that you can take still pictures and video at the same time. If you want to check your weight, ask for a "health meter" -- the English word "scale" is used in Japanese, but only meaning something's size in relation to something else, not as a way to check your weight. We're putting the finishing touches on an Obi Wan Kenobi costume for my son, and my wife emailed my mother in America asking how to fasten the "magic tape" (she meant velcro). If you want to tell someone to not worry about something, you can say "Donmai, donmai!" which comes from "Don't mind." Similarly, when someone is backing their car up, you can tell them it's okay to come back further by saying "Orai!" which comes from "Alright." Sometimes Americans are confused by strange English that's really British in origin -- for example, the Japanese call the hood of a car a "bonnet" just like the Brits.
Halloween is not too far away, and J-List would like you to think of us when looking for that perfect or wacky costume. In addition to adding some great new costume-themed products to the site today (see below), we've restocked popular items, such as the Hello Kitty kigurumi (full head) mask, the Jizou Buddha mask, the Shinto Shrine Maiden (aka Kikyo from Inuyasha) costume, our tattoo shirt that makes you look like a yakuza, our wacky "unchi" hat and more! Of course we recommend that you order them via EMS to make sure the items arrive in time. We also have excellent stock of Japanese candy if you want to splurge on something special for the neighborhood this year.
J-List works hard to bring you great original T-shirts with wacky designs on them. One of our favorite recent designs is our "Japanese words" shirt that presents fifteen educational Japanese words of cultural value. To compliment this shirt, we've made a new limited edition design which teaches you every "naughty" Japanese word you've ever wanted to know. The shirt is designed so that people who have no idea what the words mean won't be offended, but those who do will laugh their butts off.
Mastering Japanese involves learning hiragaka, katakana, and kanji, but you also have to re-learn some English, since the Japanese sometimes change the language beyond recognition. If you ask your boss for a raise, but he says no, it's "NG," which stands for "no good." A "blooper" on TV is also called an NG. The letter "W" stands for "double" to the Japanese, and there's a TV commercial for a video camera starring Maria Sharapova in which she says "W-OK" ("double okay"), referring to the fact that you can take still pictures and video at the same time. If you want to check your weight, ask for a "health meter" -- the English word "scale" is used in Japanese, but only meaning something's size in relation to something else, not as a way to check your weight. We're putting the finishing touches on an Obi Wan Kenobi costume for my son, and my wife emailed my mother in America asking how to fasten the "magic tape" (she meant velcro). If you want to tell someone to not worry about something, you can say "Donmai, donmai!" which comes from "Don't mind." Similarly, when someone is backing their car up, you can tell them it's okay to come back further by saying "Orai!" which comes from "Alright." Sometimes Americans are confused by strange English that's really British in origin -- for example, the Japanese call the hood of a car a "bonnet" just like the Brits.
Halloween is not too far away, and J-List would like you to think of us when looking for that perfect or wacky costume. In addition to adding some great new costume-themed products to the site today (see below), we've restocked popular items, such as the Hello Kitty kigurumi (full head) mask, the Jizou Buddha mask, the Shinto Shrine Maiden (aka Kikyo from Inuyasha) costume, our tattoo shirt that makes you look like a yakuza, our wacky "unchi" hat and more! Of course we recommend that you order them via EMS to make sure the items arrive in time. We also have excellent stock of Japanese candy if you want to splurge on something special for the neighborhood this year.
J-List works hard to bring you great original T-shirts with wacky designs on them. One of our favorite recent designs is our "Japanese words" shirt that presents fifteen educational Japanese words of cultural value. To compliment this shirt, we've made a new limited edition design which teaches you every "naughty" Japanese word you've ever wanted to know. The shirt is designed so that people who have no idea what the words mean won't be offended, but those who do will laugh their butts off.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Problems in Japan's business world, boneheaded moves by Seven-Eleven Japan, and all about futons
There's a fight brewing in Japan's business world, as investment fund Murakami Asset Management, the largest shareholder of the popular Hanshin Tigers baseball team, tries to take the team public. His goal is to allow Tigers fans to show their support by becoming shareholders, and of course earn his fund a nice return in the process. He's encountering significant resistance from the directors of the team, who don't want to see their crown jewel mishandled, and purist fans in Osaka are also angry about the cold world of business intruding on their love of baseball. The situation is similar to that of T-shirt-wearing president of Livedoor, Takafumi Horie, who had difficulties executing a leveraged buyout of Fuji TV, something that isn't done very often in Japan. The fact that there can be a controversy about something like this at all brings into question concept of "ownership" of a stock in Japan. The Hanshin Tigers won the Japan World Series this year and has been incredibly popular with Japanese fans.
In other business news, a staple of the Japanese retail industry is falling on hard times. Ito Yokado Group, the company that operates the national chain of department stores Ito Yokado as well as owning all Seven-Eleven and Denny's in Japan, has been having a bad couple of years. Sales at the company's flagship department stores have been falling, and 80% of the profit the $6 billion group earns comes from the 10,000 Seven-Eleven stores in Japan. There is nothing more finicky and hard to satisfy as a Japanese consumer, who demand both exceptional quality and low prices in everything they buy, and Ito Yokado is having a tough time of finding the right mix of fashion and value to delivery to its customers. It may be just me, but I think part of their problem might have to do with the boneheaded idea of changing the company name to "Seven & I Holdings" and replacing the famous dove logo on their department stores with the Seven-Eleven image. "Holdings" sounds like so much corporate felgercarb, and the idea of buying clothes from a building with a Seven-Eleven logo on the outside is just bizarre. Jack in the Box restaurants used to be operated by Ralston Purina, but if they put the famous dog food maker's logo on their restaurants, sales would fall pretty fast, I think.
Do you sleep in a bed or on a futon? Both are popular in Japan, although the trend is definitely towards Western beds among young people. Futons are sleeping mats large enough to sleep one person comfortably. They fold up into three sections for easy storage, and are useful to keep around when guests drop by unexpectedly -- just pull a spare futon out of the closet. Futons must be hung out to dry every few days or they'll accumulate moisture inside, which is unhealthy, and the Japanese believe the sun shining on your futon kills germs (they're certainly nice to sleep in after they've been hung out to dry). The Western "futon" is usually comprised of a large stuffed pad and a wooden frame, but like California Rolls, this is a completely made-in-the-the-West concept.
We've got another big volley of 2006 calendars in stock, with 40 or more anime, swimsuit idol, traditional and cultural, and men's calendars in stock and ready for your immediate order. Browse our stock right now!
In other business news, a staple of the Japanese retail industry is falling on hard times. Ito Yokado Group, the company that operates the national chain of department stores Ito Yokado as well as owning all Seven-Eleven and Denny's in Japan, has been having a bad couple of years. Sales at the company's flagship department stores have been falling, and 80% of the profit the $6 billion group earns comes from the 10,000 Seven-Eleven stores in Japan. There is nothing more finicky and hard to satisfy as a Japanese consumer, who demand both exceptional quality and low prices in everything they buy, and Ito Yokado is having a tough time of finding the right mix of fashion and value to delivery to its customers. It may be just me, but I think part of their problem might have to do with the boneheaded idea of changing the company name to "Seven & I Holdings" and replacing the famous dove logo on their department stores with the Seven-Eleven image. "Holdings" sounds like so much corporate felgercarb, and the idea of buying clothes from a building with a Seven-Eleven logo on the outside is just bizarre. Jack in the Box restaurants used to be operated by Ralston Purina, but if they put the famous dog food maker's logo on their restaurants, sales would fall pretty fast, I think.
Do you sleep in a bed or on a futon? Both are popular in Japan, although the trend is definitely towards Western beds among young people. Futons are sleeping mats large enough to sleep one person comfortably. They fold up into three sections for easy storage, and are useful to keep around when guests drop by unexpectedly -- just pull a spare futon out of the closet. Futons must be hung out to dry every few days or they'll accumulate moisture inside, which is unhealthy, and the Japanese believe the sun shining on your futon kills germs (they're certainly nice to sleep in after they've been hung out to dry). The Western "futon" is usually comprised of a large stuffed pad and a wooden frame, but like California Rolls, this is a completely made-in-the-the-West concept.
We've got another big volley of 2006 calendars in stock, with 40 or more anime, swimsuit idol, traditional and cultural, and men's calendars in stock and ready for your immediate order. Browse our stock right now!
Monday, October 10, 2005
December tests in Japan, my favorite place in my prefecture, and a cool Japanese artist
The month of December means many things: Christmas, spending time with loved ones, and what the Japanese call "shiwasu," that extra-busy two weeks at the end of the year when no one has enough time to do the things they need to do. December is also the month tens of thousands of foreigners will go to Tokyo or one of several other large cities in and outside of Japan to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (in Japanese, Nihongo Noryoku Shiken, 日本語能力試験). There are four levels to the JLPT, starting with level 4 (hiragana, katakana and around 100 kanji) all the way to level 1 (2000 "general use" kanji, along with listening, reading and grammar), and level 1 is what you need to get if you want to go to a Japanese university. I got level 1 a couple years after arriving in Japan, and it was nice to achieve that particular goal. I used to think of getting level 1 of JLPT was the ultimate goal a learner of Japanese could have, but I've had to revise this estimation as I encountered other challenges in the course of living in Japan. Currently, the most difficult thing I've had to do in Japanese is give the first (and longest) speech at the weddings of J-List employees, but one day I happened to witness what must truly be the ultimate test of a gaijin's Japanese ability, when I saw a foreign reporter asking a question of Emperor Akihito in Japanese at a press conference. Sadly, the poor gaijin didn't phrase his question well enough, and the Emperor had to ask him to repeat it in front of everyone. I could really feel that poor reporter's pain! (For anyone wanting to study for the JLPT, see our site as we have many resouces for you.)
Whenever I have friends visit from overseas, I take them to one of my favorite places, the Gunma Prefectural Museum of History, which takes visitors through the 50,000-or-so-year history of our little corner of Japan. Crane-shaped Gunma is located smack in the center of the main Japanese island of Honshu, and while the lion's share of the cultural points of interest can be found in the Kyoto/Nara/Osaka area, our prefecture can hold its own when it comes to stuff that's a little more old school. Back in the Jomon Period, when the inhabitants of Japan were using flint knives and making the first pottery, Gunma's culture was very strong, and a nearby town called Iwajuku contains the oldest human artifacts found yet in Japan. Gunma was also very big on burial mounds back during the centuries before Chinese characters were imported from Korea, and often as not, when you see a small hill in our prefecture it's really an 1800 year old burial mound.
I've always been fascinated by the art of Mitsuo Aida (1924-1991), who created beautiful poetry using Japanese calligraphy. He crafted his amazing works using Chinese writing brushes, making creations which are pleasing to the eye and which express Zen-inspired short observations and messages about life, the universe and everything. We've got the Mitsuo Aida Museum's 2006 calendar on the site right now and hope you'll consider this beautiful example of his unique art!
Whenever I have friends visit from overseas, I take them to one of my favorite places, the Gunma Prefectural Museum of History, which takes visitors through the 50,000-or-so-year history of our little corner of Japan. Crane-shaped Gunma is located smack in the center of the main Japanese island of Honshu, and while the lion's share of the cultural points of interest can be found in the Kyoto/Nara/Osaka area, our prefecture can hold its own when it comes to stuff that's a little more old school. Back in the Jomon Period, when the inhabitants of Japan were using flint knives and making the first pottery, Gunma's culture was very strong, and a nearby town called Iwajuku contains the oldest human artifacts found yet in Japan. Gunma was also very big on burial mounds back during the centuries before Chinese characters were imported from Korea, and often as not, when you see a small hill in our prefecture it's really an 1800 year old burial mound.
I've always been fascinated by the art of Mitsuo Aida (1924-1991), who created beautiful poetry using Japanese calligraphy. He crafted his amazing works using Chinese writing brushes, making creations which are pleasing to the eye and which express Zen-inspired short observations and messages about life, the universe and everything. We've got the Mitsuo Aida Museum's 2006 calendar on the site right now and hope you'll consider this beautiful example of his unique art!
Sunday, October 09, 2005
What ordering a "tako" in Japan will get you, fun ways to learn Japanese, and our new kanji T-shirts
There are many interesting foods in Japan. One of our favorite treats is takoyaki, especially popular in the Osaka region. In stark contrast to the English word taco, tako is is Japanese for octopus; to differentiate the crustacean from the Mexican food, the Japanese always use the plural word "tacos" (takosu) for referring to the latter, even if they're talking about just one taco. Takoyaki are basically fried balls of batter that contain a piece of cooked octopus meat inside, painted with a delicious sauce. If you ever find yourself in Osaka, be sure to go to Otakoya, a takoyaki shop near the famous Glico neon sign in the Dotonbori area. Be warned though: you may have to stand in line for a couple of hours to be served -- that's how popular takoyaki is. Once in rural Japan we happened across a takoyaki vendor who decided to call his shop Tako Bell. My wife and I were completely floored with laughter at this unexpected sight. (Incidentally, we have some takoyaki making supplies on the site today.)
There are many ways to learn a foreign language: the Grammar-Translation method, the Communicative Approach, the Natural Method, Total Physical Response, and so on. Another time-honored way to learn a language is to "get attention" method, which I've labeled the Social Feedback Method to give it a cool-sounding name. Using this method, you learn enough phrases and words to passably communicate with the target group in such a way that you always get positive feedback, be it getting laughs from Japanese at a party, impressing cute Japanese girls, what have you. I had a friend who had taught English as a Second Language all around Asia, and he got incredible mileage from the phrase Shumi wa nan desu ka? which means "What is your hobby?" Another phrase you might try out is naruhodo, which means "I see" or "that's right" and implies having been convinced that the opinion of the person you're listening to has just made an impression on you. Another staple is honto (HONE-toh), which means "really" and can be used as a question (Honto?) or as an affirmation (Honto!). Another phrase that can be fun to know is "hen na gaijin" (lit. "strange foreigner"), but more on that below...
In Japan, instead of signing documents, you usually stamp them with a red "name stamp," called a hanko, that features your name in kanji, or in the case of a corporation, the company's name in kanji. While these name stamps can seem pretty odd to foreigners -- after all, what's to stop someone from stealing your stamp and taking all your money out of the bank? -- all in all the name stamp system seems to work pretty well. We've made two cool Japanese T-shirts that feature the unique name stamp design. The first shirt is for everyone who secretly wishes they had been born in Japan: Nihonjin ni naritai, "I Wish I Were Japanese." The second T-shirt features a phrase that all foreigners who come to Japan manage to learn within 24 hours, Hen na gaijin, "I'm a strange foreigner." Both shirts are in stock in standard sizes and ready for your order!
There are many ways to learn a foreign language: the Grammar-Translation method, the Communicative Approach, the Natural Method, Total Physical Response, and so on. Another time-honored way to learn a language is to "get attention" method, which I've labeled the Social Feedback Method to give it a cool-sounding name. Using this method, you learn enough phrases and words to passably communicate with the target group in such a way that you always get positive feedback, be it getting laughs from Japanese at a party, impressing cute Japanese girls, what have you. I had a friend who had taught English as a Second Language all around Asia, and he got incredible mileage from the phrase Shumi wa nan desu ka? which means "What is your hobby?" Another phrase you might try out is naruhodo, which means "I see" or "that's right" and implies having been convinced that the opinion of the person you're listening to has just made an impression on you. Another staple is honto (HONE-toh), which means "really" and can be used as a question (Honto?) or as an affirmation (Honto!). Another phrase that can be fun to know is "hen na gaijin" (lit. "strange foreigner"), but more on that below...
In Japan, instead of signing documents, you usually stamp them with a red "name stamp," called a hanko, that features your name in kanji, or in the case of a corporation, the company's name in kanji. While these name stamps can seem pretty odd to foreigners -- after all, what's to stop someone from stealing your stamp and taking all your money out of the bank? -- all in all the name stamp system seems to work pretty well. We've made two cool Japanese T-shirts that feature the unique name stamp design. The first shirt is for everyone who secretly wishes they had been born in Japan: Nihonjin ni naritai, "I Wish I Were Japanese." The second T-shirt features a phrase that all foreigners who come to Japan manage to learn within 24 hours, Hen na gaijin, "I'm a strange foreigner." Both shirts are in stock in standard sizes and ready for your order!
Saturday, October 08, 2005
What ordering a "tako" in Japan will get you, fun ways to learn Japanese, and our new kanji T-shirts
There are many interesting foods in Japan. One of our favorite treats is takoyaki, especially popular in the Osaka region. In stark contrast to the English word taco, tako is is Japanese for octopus; to differentiate the crustacean from the Mexican food, the Japanese always use the plural word "tacos" (takosu) for referring to the latter, even if they're talking about just one taco. Takoyaki are basically fried balls of batter that contain a piece of cooked octopus meat inside, painted with a delicious sauce. If you ever find yourself in Osaka, be sure to go to Otakoya, a takoyaki shop near the famous Glico neon sign in the Dotonbori area. Be warned though: you may have to stand in line for a couple of hours to be served -- that's how popular takoyaki is. Once in rural Japan we happened across a takoyaki vendor who decided to call his shop Tako Bell. My wife and I were completely floored with laughter at this unexpected sight. (Incidentally, we have some takoyaki making supplies on the site today.)
There are many ways to learn a foreign language: the Grammar-Translation method, the Communicative Approach, the Natural Method, Total Physical Response, and so on. Another time-honored way to learn a language is to "get attention" method, which I've labeled the Social Feedback Method to give it a cool-sounding name. Using this method, you learn enough phrases and words to passably communicate with the target group in such a way that you always get positive feedback, be it getting laughs from Japanese at a party, impressing cute Japanese girls, what have you. I had a friend who had taught English as a Second Language all around Asia, and he got incredible mileage from the phrase Shumi wa nan desu ka? which means "What is your hobby?" Another phrase you might try out is naruhodo, which means "I see" or "that's right" and implies having been convinced that the opinion of the person you're listening to has just made an impression on you. Another staple is honto (HONE-toh), which means "really" and can be used as a question (Honto?) or as an affirmation (Honto!). Another phrase that can be fun to know is "hen na gaijin" (lit. "strange foreigner"), but more on that below...
In Japan, instead of signing documents, you usually stamp them with a red "name stamp," called a hanko, that features your name in kanji, or in the case of a corporation, the company's name in kanji. While these name stamps can seem pretty odd to foreigners -- after all, what's to stop someone from stealing your stamp and taking all your money out of the bank? -- all in all the name stamp system seems to work pretty well. We've made two cool Japanese T-shirts that feature the unique name stamp design. The first shirt is for everyone who secretly wishes they had been born in Japan: Nihonjin ni naritai, "I Wish I Were Japanese." The second T-shirt features a phrase that all foreigners who come to Japan manage to learn within 24 hours, Hen na gaijin, "I'm a strange foreigner." Both shirts are in stock in standard sizes and ready for your order!
There are many ways to learn a foreign language: the Grammar-Translation method, the Communicative Approach, the Natural Method, Total Physical Response, and so on. Another time-honored way to learn a language is to "get attention" method, which I've labeled the Social Feedback Method to give it a cool-sounding name. Using this method, you learn enough phrases and words to passably communicate with the target group in such a way that you always get positive feedback, be it getting laughs from Japanese at a party, impressing cute Japanese girls, what have you. I had a friend who had taught English as a Second Language all around Asia, and he got incredible mileage from the phrase Shumi wa nan desu ka? which means "What is your hobby?" Another phrase you might try out is naruhodo, which means "I see" or "that's right" and implies having been convinced that the opinion of the person you're listening to has just made an impression on you. Another staple is honto (HONE-toh), which means "really" and can be used as a question (Honto?) or as an affirmation (Honto!). Another phrase that can be fun to know is "hen na gaijin" (lit. "strange foreigner"), but more on that below...
In Japan, instead of signing documents, you usually stamp them with a red "name stamp," called a hanko, that features your name in kanji, or in the case of a corporation, the company's name in kanji. While these name stamps can seem pretty odd to foreigners -- after all, what's to stop someone from stealing your stamp and taking all your money out of the bank? -- all in all the name stamp system seems to work pretty well. We've made two cool Japanese T-shirts that feature the unique name stamp design. The first shirt is for everyone who secretly wishes they had been born in Japan: Nihonjin ni naritai, "I Wish I Were Japanese." The second T-shirt features a phrase that all foreigners who come to Japan manage to learn within 24 hours, Hen na gaijin, "I'm a strange foreigner." Both shirts are in stock in standard sizes and ready for your order!
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Foreigners and Japanese living in Japan, all about name suffices, and more
Hello everyone! It's time for another slice of life from J-List.
It's fun living in Japan and observing Japanese life and society, and some days I like nothing better than to sit and watch the Japanese people around me while pretending to work on my Powerbook in a Famires (a "family restaurant"). It's also interesting to observe other foreigners living in Japan, and study the psyche of this "lost gaijin generation." First of all, it's been my experience that foreigners here are often jealous of other foreigners, especially of those who speak better Japanese than they do; hence, most are always willing to badmouth Dave Spector, an American "talent" who's been on TV for two decades and who speaks perfect Japanese (bastard). Lafcadio Hearn, one of the first Western writers about Japan, also had to endure more than a little criticism by other foreigners living in Japan at the time. There seem to be three or more "stages of eye eversion" that foreigners go through when meeting another foreigners on a train, which I haven't been able to understand. I've stuck up some interesting conversations with people from Ecuador to Iran to Sri Lanka, speaking Japanese when the gaijin in question didn't know English. As Japan's population continues to decline, the share of foreigners working in Japan can only go up, and I wonder how the dynamics of society will change when that happens.
You probably know some of the suffixes that are used at the end of names. The most famous is -san (SAHN, rhyming with "one") which is added to the last names for politeness (e.g. Fujita-san), and sometimes to the first name (Tomo-san) to show a little, but not too much, informality. The -san suffix is used in business settings, too: for example, when we call Canon to order more Wordtank electronic dictionaries, we refer to them as Canon-san, and they call us J-List-san. Two other suffixes that are heard often are -kun and -chan, for boys and girls respectively (e.g. Taro-kun, Hanako-chan). Someone who is older (senpai, or upperclassman) would generally use one of these with someone who was younger than him (kouhai, or underclassman); the younger person would use -san when speaking to the older person. One suffix that comes up in anime frequently is -sama, for addressing high-ranking persons, samurai lords and so on. Actually, -sama is rarely used in regular Japanese life except in certain situations (addressing letters, for example). There are several polite phrases that have the -sama suffix in them, though, such as otsukare sama deshita ("thank you for your hard work," said at the end of the work day) and gochisou sama deshita (lit. "it was a feast," said when you're finished eating).
One of the most popular category products in Japan right now are "candy toys," miniature models and figures that usually come with some kind of candy inside the box. Today we've got a great item for Star Trek fans everywhere: Star Trek Alpha, a new set of Federation and alien ships from Furuta, the premier miniature maker in Japan. We've got full sets of these amazing toys for you.
The new Download Editions of our PC dating-sim games are proving to be very popular with J-List customers, which makes us very happy. We've posted the rest of the download versions of the popular G-Collections titles, allowing you to choose between shrinkwrapped CD-ROM or download versions (whichever you prefer). All titles are ready for your immediate order!
It's fun living in Japan and observing Japanese life and society, and some days I like nothing better than to sit and watch the Japanese people around me while pretending to work on my Powerbook in a Famires (a "family restaurant"). It's also interesting to observe other foreigners living in Japan, and study the psyche of this "lost gaijin generation." First of all, it's been my experience that foreigners here are often jealous of other foreigners, especially of those who speak better Japanese than they do; hence, most are always willing to badmouth Dave Spector, an American "talent" who's been on TV for two decades and who speaks perfect Japanese (bastard). Lafcadio Hearn, one of the first Western writers about Japan, also had to endure more than a little criticism by other foreigners living in Japan at the time. There seem to be three or more "stages of eye eversion" that foreigners go through when meeting another foreigners on a train, which I haven't been able to understand. I've stuck up some interesting conversations with people from Ecuador to Iran to Sri Lanka, speaking Japanese when the gaijin in question didn't know English. As Japan's population continues to decline, the share of foreigners working in Japan can only go up, and I wonder how the dynamics of society will change when that happens.
You probably know some of the suffixes that are used at the end of names. The most famous is -san (SAHN, rhyming with "one") which is added to the last names for politeness (e.g. Fujita-san), and sometimes to the first name (Tomo-san) to show a little, but not too much, informality. The -san suffix is used in business settings, too: for example, when we call Canon to order more Wordtank electronic dictionaries, we refer to them as Canon-san, and they call us J-List-san. Two other suffixes that are heard often are -kun and -chan, for boys and girls respectively (e.g. Taro-kun, Hanako-chan). Someone who is older (senpai, or upperclassman) would generally use one of these with someone who was younger than him (kouhai, or underclassman); the younger person would use -san when speaking to the older person. One suffix that comes up in anime frequently is -sama, for addressing high-ranking persons, samurai lords and so on. Actually, -sama is rarely used in regular Japanese life except in certain situations (addressing letters, for example). There are several polite phrases that have the -sama suffix in them, though, such as otsukare sama deshita ("thank you for your hard work," said at the end of the work day) and gochisou sama deshita (lit. "it was a feast," said when you're finished eating).
One of the most popular category products in Japan right now are "candy toys," miniature models and figures that usually come with some kind of candy inside the box. Today we've got a great item for Star Trek fans everywhere: Star Trek Alpha, a new set of Federation and alien ships from Furuta, the premier miniature maker in Japan. We've got full sets of these amazing toys for you.
The new Download Editions of our PC dating-sim games are proving to be very popular with J-List customers, which makes us very happy. We've posted the rest of the download versions of the popular G-Collections titles, allowing you to choose between shrinkwrapped CD-ROM or download versions (whichever you prefer). All titles are ready for your immediate order!
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