Bilingual Switching

The other day I was sitting in a jacuzzi, pretending I was in a bubbling onsen hot springs bath back in Japan. (To an onsen otaku like myself, being away from home for so long has been really hard.) There was a girl of nine years old or so sitting in the water with me, and presently her mother came over and told her, in Spanish, that it was time to get out of the water. The girl replied in rapid Spanish back to her mother, but as I listened, she peppered her speech with English phrases like, "is that okay?" or "just a little more." (I got the impression that she switched to English when she was trying to get her mother to agree to something.) In linguistics this is known as code-switching, moving from one language to another when both parties understand both languages. I do the same thing in Japanese, speaking English to my kids or other gaijin friends who understand Japanese, but switching to Japanese at random times -- for example, when mentioning numbers in Japanese, or if I want to use a specific word.

Bilinguals often switch, say, zwischen Deutsch und Japanisch.  

The "Correct" Way of Doing Things in Japan

One aspect of Japan that appears odd to us free-thinking foreigners is how strict the educational system can be, especially elementary and junior high school, which is the extent of compulsory education. (High school is "optional" although nearly everyone goes.) It was quite interesting, witnessing the education of my half-Japanese, half-American children as they passed through the Japanese school system. I remember on one of the many parents' days that were held -- parents in Japan are a lot more involved with school than has been my experience in the U.S., at least in my own case -- I saw a poster on the wall that taught children "the correct way to sit in a chair while studying." I can't remember back far enough to recall if they had similar posters in my own elementary school, but I'm pretty sure they didn't. There can be drawbacks to trying to get every child to do things the same way. I don't think it's done any more, but in decades past left-handed children certainly felt subtle pressure to use their right hands, like everyone else in the class.

There's often a "correct" way of doing things in Japan.

The Anime "Year of Tears"

It was a year ago Saturday that Crayon Shin-chan creator Yoshito Usui died after falling 100 meters down a sheer cliff, oddly enough in J-List's home of Gunma and not Saitama, the Japanese prefecture he helped make famous all over the world. Although the masukomi (what the media is called in Japanese, from "mass communications") was happy to imply he slipped and fell to his death, it's likely he chose to take his own life, perhaps feeling trapped and depressed by his own success. Usui-sensei's death seemed to usher in a "Year of Tears" for anime fans all over the world, with many great names leaving us forever: Kazuhiko Kato, the composer of the epic Macross song "Do You Remember Love?"; visionary Voltron producer Peter Keefe; voice of Speed Racer Peter Hernandez; unparalleled animation director Satoshi Kon; someone very dear to our own J-List; and of course the "Gene Roddenberry" of anime himself, Carl Macek. Let's hope and pray that this period of sadness is over soon, and we can have happier times -- we need this to end, immediately.

Saturday is the meinichi or anniversary of Usui-sensei's death (T_T).

Japan Population, +1

The subject of Japan's shrinking birth rate -- called shoshika in Japanese -- is something I write about a lot, since it's talked about often in Japan. While most modern democracies have low birth rates, Japan's is among the lowest with just 1.22 children per couple, which compares with 2.05, 1.66, and 1.89 for the U.S., U.K. and France. But why are so few babies being born in Japan? Well, there are many different trends at work, including the hyper-urbanized world where most Japanese live today, the changing roles of women in society, and the ongoing effects of Japan's long economic crisis. People definitely get married and start having children later than they used to, too -- back when I arrived in Japan in 1991, it was common for girls to worry about being "Christmas Cakes" if they didn't get married by the age of 25, since no one wants to buy a Christmas Cake after December 25th. With so many options available to Japanese people these days, this kind of thinking is unheard of now. Japan's stressed-out society doesn't help the situation either, and I know of several women who are undergoing fertility treatment to get pregnant.

But J-List's staff isn't taking the problem Japan's falling population lying down. No, we're doing our part to raise the population, and we've got good news: Tomo, the J-List employee who keeps our site stocked with interesting DVDs, Blu-Ray discs and other products, is the proud father of a new son, little Motoharu, who was born safely to his mother yesterday. Congratulations to the proud parents!

Japan is running out of children as its birth rate falls. But J-List isn't giving up!

Cheap Places to Stay in Tokyo

Japan is an expensive place, and travelling inside the country can be costly, although there are some good ways to keep travel costs affordable. I recently suggested that anyone traveling inside Japan consider minshuku, a kind of local version of a youth hostel or a bed-and-breakfast that might offer a more authentically Japanese experience than lodgings picked from a guidebook for foreigners. There are some other inexpensive ways to stay in Japanese cities, too. Like the 24-hour saunas found near the train stations of most major urban areas, where you can take a really excellent bath and get hot in the sauna, then pull up a corner of floor and sleep in the "relaxation room" with a hundred or so other yukata-clad men. (Hope you don't mind snoring.) Or try Japan's famous capsule hotels, which give you a cozy space with everything you need except room to stand up in. Each will set you back around $35 a night, unbelievably cheap considering you're in the middle of a big city like Tokyo. One note, the sauna establishments will be for men only, and 90% of the capsule hotels I've seen have also been male only, although a few do have a floor for women to stay on.

If you come to Japan, try staying in a "capsule hotel," they're fun!

Japanese and Omiyage (Souvenirs)

If you ever visit Japan, it's good manners to bring gifts called omiyage (oh-mee-YAH-gay) to Japanese you will be visiting or who you might encounter. Some items, like boxes of chocolates, beef jerky, and macadamia nuts from Hawaii are so famous that they're almost cliched, but will still be appreciated by anyone who receives them from you. Yasu recommends you bring some items that Americans take for granted but which Japanese might find quite unique, like A-1 Steak Sauce or rare flavors of bubble gum. I think anything from your part of the world would make a good gift, and if your city or state is famous for something, a gift representing that is a good idea. One word of warning: giving gifts can expose you to a "gift war" in which you end up getting many more gifts than you can use, as Japanese are very serious about o-kaeshi, or giving a return gift when they receive one. I'll be returning to Japan soon, so I'm on the lookout for interesting souvenirs for the J-List staff, who have worked so hard during my extended trip to the U.S. What cool American stuff you think I should bring them?

Which omiyage would you like?

Japanese and English Grammar

There are many approaches to studying a foreign language, including the Communicative Method, stressing verbal communication with other students, or the Natural Approach, which tries to imitate the way children acquire language. When the Japanese study English, they do it with lots of grammar and translation, attempting to understand the mechanics of the language analytically, with functional use being less important than passing the all-important University Entrance Exam. While no one can accuse the Japanese of being the best linguists in the world, my students were known to teach me a thing or two about English grammar back when I was a teacher. For example, they are consciously aware of when to use 'the' (rhyming with 'uh') and 'the' (rhyming with 'three'), and how words like record, present and suspect are always stressed on the first syllable if they're nouns, but on the second when used as verbs. And 'whom'? The Japanese have it down, even though I haven't used the word since the third grade. Since Japanese people always expect native speakers to know every vocabulary word and bit of grammar that exists, they're usually disappointed when we come up short.

The Japanese often know English grammar better than native speakers.

Virtual Girlfriend Tour in Atami

About 100 km south of Tokyo there's an interesting resort town called Atami, whose onsen (volcanic hot spring baths) have been famous for more than 1200 years. Ever since the Tokyo land bubble burst back in 1989, the area's hotels has been hard hit by the drop in tourist traffic, but this has changed recently thanks to the popular game Love Plus. In the new sequel to the game, you can take your virtual girlfriend -- the pure and lovely Manaka, tsundere Rinko and the grown-up Nene -- to a Japanese inn in Atami, and the city has embraced this, encouraging fans to come and take pictures in the places that appear in the game and of course, spend money on limited Love Plus bento lunches and such. Some establishments have reported that a quarter of their business is coming from this odd "otaku tourism," which has rejuvenated the local economy. While some may be surprised at the extent Japanese fans take their obsessions, I think it's a harmless way to have fun, and not really any different than a Beatles fan traveling to the UK to visit the famous Abbey Road crosswalk -- it's just a new medium for people to be obsessive about.

Take a trip with your virtual girlfriend, but not Nene -- she's mine.

Unhealthy Food

It's interesting being back in the U.S., because I get to experience that rarest of sensations, reverse culture shock, when things I see in my home country surprise me because of my years spent in Japan. I am often surprised at how unhealthy food is advertised at people by companies, such as AM/PM Mini Mart telling us that we should all live the "good life" and treat ourselves to a candy bar today, and that "more is more, at AM/PM." Or Taco Bell promoting "Fourthmeal," a meal between dinner and breakfast that supposedly we should all be eating. I'm a big fan of brewed iced tea, and make sure to drink it whenever I'm grabbing lunch, even if it's in a fairly unhealthy place like McDonald's or Taco Bell. But several times this trip I've found myself being told sorry, we don't have unsweetened iced tea, would I like Raspberry Blast™ Super Sweet Iced Tea instead? It brings a tear to my eye, really. If you're looking for a refreshing and healthy drink, we recommend Japanese mugi cha (barley tea), a great gift from Japan to the world.

You don't see this kind of unhealthy food advertising in Japan.

Deflation and Japan

For the past fifteen years, Japan has been fighting against the spectre of defure or deflation, in which prices decline in real terms rather than rise slightly year-to-year. While having things get cheaper sounds pretty cool, in reality deflation is bad because it can smother economic growth, cause factories to sit idle and cause the economy to shrink despite the fact that everyone is working hard. Since I visit the U.S. once or twice a year, I often notice when things get more expensive than they were the last time, but this certainly isn't the norm for Japan, where prices pretty rise rarely. Actually, I can only remember a few things that actually got more expensive in the nearly two decades I've lived in Japan: Coca-Cola went from 100 to 120 yen, the train fares got raised once, and the shop I've bought fried croquettes at for years raised the price from 50 to 60 yen. (The lady was very apologetic to me.)

It's rare for prices to rise in Japan.

The Most Famous Japanese Person In The World

The question of who the most famous Japanese person in the world is can be fun to debate. In previous eras the honor went to men like film director Akira Kurosawa, "Sukiyaki Song" creator Kyu Sakamoto, or composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Novelist Yukio Mishima was another Japanese persona who enjoyed widespread fame in his day, and he had what has to be one of the most unique deaths in the 20th century, trying to inspire a pro-Emperor coup d'etat among Japan's military then committing ritual disembowelment (Seppuku) when it didn't work out. So who is the most famous Japanese person in the world today? The answer will depend a lot on who you ask. Anime fans might pick animation director Hayao Miyazaki, while sports fans might choose pro golfer Ryo Ishikawa, and Hollywood superstar Ken Watanabe would also be a good candidate, especially with the success of Inception. But you never know who will be the most famous Japanese person among different groups. For example, in Indonesia the honor goes to saucy JAV film starlet Maria Ozawa, who is a household name in the country, for some reason.

Who do you think is the most famous Japanese person in the world?

Creative Like a Child

"If Burger King married Dairy Queen, their child would be Jack in the Box." This bit of wisdom was uttered by my Japanese son one day when we were visiting the U.S., and it seemed like a very astute thing for a (then) eight-year-old to say. Every parent knows how creative children can be, making up nonsensical new words in ways adults never could, bound as we are by social norms and expectations. The cool thing is, when you learn a foreign language like Japanese, you get to be just as creative, as you twist your new language this way and that, exploring the boundaries just like children do. This "linguistic second childhood" is also useful as a defense when someone wants to know why you're still watching Gundam or Macross or Evangelion at your age. Since I started learning Japanese in college in 1987, linguistically I'm still only 23 years old!

I'll ignore the obvious In n' Out joke.

Japanese Foot Superstitions

The other day I happened to see my newphew's bare foot, and I noticed that his middle toe was longer than his big toe, and I told him, "Well, it looks like you're going to go farther in life than your parents did." The Japanese superstition that you'll surpass your parents if you have a long middle toe has no basis in fact, but coming from the West it's one more wacky things to discover about the place. There are other foot-related superstitions in Japan, for example, if you cut your toenails at night, you won't be able to be with your parents when they die. Also, if you want to know the weather tomorrow, do what Japanese kids do and throw your shoe as hard as you can. If it lands upright, it will be sunny tomorrow; if on its side, it will be cloudy; and if upside-down, it will rain.

I your middle toe longer than your big toe?

Samurai in New York in 1860?

If you're in the New York area, you might consider checking out the exhibition Samurai in New York: The First Japanese Delegation, which features photographs and other mementos from the first group of Japanese who visited New York back in 1860, arriving on the Kanrin-maru, Japan's first steamship. This was just six years after Commodore Matthew C. Perry had forced open Japan's doors to trade with the U.S., and the delegation -- which included several of modern Japan's "founding fathers" including Yukichi Fukuzawa, who now appears on the 10,000 yen note -- was treated to parades everywhere they went. I've always been fascinated by this era in Japan's history 150 years ago. The country had been essentially closed to all contact for nearly 250 years, essentially frozen in time, and the arrival of those "Black Ships" must have been like first contact with UFOs. I wonder if there were any Japan otakus around back in 1860? (The exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York runs through November.)

The first samurais to visit New York in 1860 made quite a splash.

Skunks and Hummingbirds in Japan

I continue to enjoy my time in the U.S., zooming around San Diego in my Mazda Miata, my favorite car in the world. One drawback of a convertible like the Miata is that you're generally more acquainted with the smells around you as you drive, which in the U.S. often means passing a dead skunk and having to endure its unique aroma. This isn't a problem in Japan, as there are happily no skunks in the country -- that's a nice thing not to have. Hummingbirds, which often flit around my head when I work in the backyard in my house in San Diego, are another bit of fauna that's not found in Japan, and Japanese know of the unique creatures only through picture books. It makes me wonder what Japanese people think of when they imagine skunks or hummingbirds -- I'll bet it's very different from people who live alongside them.

Most Japanese think the smell of a skunk comes from flatulance.

The Japanese Love to Buy American

Japan is absolutely one of the most pro-American countries in the world, with most people possessing a positive view of the U.S., a trait that's used by advertisers to sell various products. Japanese generally have the impression that America is kakko ii -- meaning "good style" or cool -- and are often open to owning items like Zippo lighters, a set of Coleman outdoor cooking gear and clothes from L.L. Bean. Branding your product as American can often bring a boost in sales, which is why companies like Jack Daniels or KFC wrap themselves in images of old Tennessee or Kentucky. Levi Strauss struggled to build a name for themselves in Japan during the 1970s, until they hit on the idea of using iconic Hollywood stars like James Dean, John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe to advertise their jeans (they came cheap, since they were dead), which has to have been one of the most successful advertising decisions ever. And of course Harley Davidson sells a huge number of bikes in Japan, and has many dedicated fans.

American imagery is powerful to the Japanese.

The Japanese and Simplified English

Whether you're talking about Singapore or South Africa, Jamaica or Japan, every country is going to adapt the English language to their own local needs. In Japan, people generally learn six years of English in junior high and high school, yet because no one really needs it once they've taken their college entrance exams, it often becomes more of a decoration for society. One pattern I've noticed is that English gets shortened or simplified in ways that might seem strange to us. For example, a student of mine wanted to tell me that she'd found out she was pregnant but didn't know how to say it in English, so she pointed at her abdomen and exclaimed, "Baby in!" Hair conditioner in Japanese is called "rinse" (shortened from "cream rinse"), so it makes perfect sense to Japanese people that "rinse in shampoo" would be what conditioning shampoo would be called. In Japanese a convertible like my Miata is known as an "open car," a name which gets the job done without adding any unnecessary complexity, while an RV your family can sleep in is referred to as a "camp car." One of my favorite Japanese word simplifications are Phillips and regular screwdrivers -- the Japanese just call them "plus" and "minus."

Would you like to wash your hair with "rinse in shampoo"?

By the Light of the Fireflies

It's funny how different inputs -- such as a simple song -- can push different emotional buttons depending on what culture you hail from. When most North Americans hear the Scottish folk song Auld Lang Syne we probably immediately think of New Year's Eve, of saying goodbye to the old year with a large beer in our hands. Hotaru no Hikari, or Light of the Fireflies, is the title of the Japanese version of this song, and in Japan it's sung at graduations. The chorus tells the story of hard-working students who wanted to study so much that they read books by the light of fireflies they'd captured in a jar, or the moonlight reflected off snow. It can bring a tear to the eyes of Japanese who hear it sung, and a totally different image from one we might conjure up in the same situation. Incidentally, the song is also played by stores as they're about to close, and if you've ever visited Japan and wondered why they were playing Auld Lang Syne over the store speakers, it was a polite request that you complete your purchase and leave.

In Japan, Auld Lang Syne is played at graduations and shops when its closing time.

Repeating Words Are Cute-Cute

One fun group of Japanese words consists of a single word repeated twice, which makes the words more charming and fun to use. For example, the word moe can be said to describe the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when contemplating your favorite anime character, but repeating the word -- e.g. moe moe-- adds an extra ingredient that makes the new word more playful and expressive. Likely based on the way Chinese kanji are sometimes repeated to create a plural or add additional meaning, the grammatical construction isn't limited to Japanese words. For example, a couple that shows affection for each other is called love-love in Japanese, and there's that ice cream with the cute name of Hello Hello. Some other repeating words include moshi moshi, how Japanese people answer the phone; tsubu tsubu, any candy or food with bits of fruit inside; pika pika, meaning brand sparkling new or in the case of Pikachu, crackling with energy; and my favorite caffeine gum, Black Black.

When two people are very close they are love-love.

A Bagful of Coins

Today I was doing some cleaning in my home in the San Diego when I came across a large bag of change containing U.S. coins. "Alright!" I exclaimed, then I sat down to count the money I'd discovered, but to my chagrin it came to less than $10. In Japan when you have a large bag of coins, you have some real money, thanks to the 100 and 500 yen coins (roughly corresponding to $1 and $5), which enable someone with a pocketful of change to buy pretty much anything they might need. Although the idea is not a popular one, I hope that America can start taking its iconic $1 bill out of circulation in favor of those awesome dollar coins they have these days, which make you want to start storing your money in treasure chests. Coins can be used for thirty years or more, compared to less than two for paper bills, and making the switch to $1 coins would save the U.S. government half a billion dollars a year. And after the conversion is done, having some coins in your pocket will mean you'll be able to buy lunch.

If you have a pocketful of yen, you have a lot of money.