Discover Japan!Discover Japan!This blog is all about Japan. I give you new descoveries of Japan. Articles
Annoucement
2008-05-07 13:56:00 Thank you for visiting my blog :) I like providing everything about my culture, Japan. Also, I think this is great to share ideas with you from all over the world.Now, for some personal reasons, I will take a short break here. Hopefully, I can write my blog soon :) I will be back again!Thanks for reading.
The Soul of Japan, Bushido
2008-04-20 09:29:00 If you are ever fascinated by Samurai or Ninja, you definitely should read this book, called ?Bushido (???)?. This book is not only talking about Samurai but also about how Japan ese interprets matters and how they act against it.Bushido is the book about ?The Soul of Japan?. You could know the basis of Japanese soul a (Behavior, Loyalty, Duty, Education, Etiquette etc), and how special country Japanese is from this book. For example, when you give a present for someone, what do you say or do? Probably, you tell the person how nice the present is. However, Japanese people say ?Tsumaranai Mono Desuga(??????????)? which means ?Please accept my small gift? which might sound strange to some of you. Japanese people think that no gift is enough for the person who receives it. The gift is like a symbol of feeling toward the person.The writer of Bushido is Inazo Nitobe (?????) who was painted in Japanese 5000 yen bill before. He was born in 1862 in Morioka prefecture, Northern Japan. He beca...
Yokohama Bay Stars V.S. Hanshin Tigers
2008-04-12 15:55:00 I went go baseball game again! Today's game was Japanese professional baseball game. Hanshin Tigers V.S. Yokohama Bay Stars in Yokohama stadium. Again, Japanese charactors on the board. Does anyone feel strange? lolThis is how Japanese baseball fun cheer up their teams. They sing all the time... I was at Bay Stars side. You can see blue color all over. That's the team color. The other side is Tigers'. Yellow is all over!And this picture is after the moment Takahiro Arai in Hanshin Tigers acheived his 1000th hit! Yokohama Bay Stars' Dance performance. The charactors look cute :) Their faces are star.Today's game was awsome. After Arai's 1000th hit, Timonori Kanemoto acheieved his 2000th hit!! What a great show! He is 37th player who made the 2000th hit record in Japan. Omedeto!! More About: Sports
Sakura in Shinjukugyoen
2008-04-06 09:47:00 I went to see Sakura (cherry blossoms) in Shinjukugyoen (????) whish is huge and histrical park in Shinjuku ward in Tokyo. Here is about Shinjukugyoen. Shinjukugyoen has 58.3 ha and the perimeter is about 3.5 km. Here is the map.It was clowdy when I went there, but Sakura bloomed beautifully. It was a garden for the Imperial Household, but became national park after war. I think Japanese people are most crazy nation for Sakura. People love to just watch and do Hanami party under the trees. You can get in the part at 200 yen for an adult. I think sports stuff is not allowed, but you can lay down on the ground and relax, and even lunch :)
MLB Opening Game in Tokyo on March 25th!!
2008-03-26 12:01:00 Tokyo Dome. It looks really beautiful at night with light up. It was really crowded... I saw many people had snacks, bento, and beer in their hand. Before people enter the dome, they had baggage check. People, people, people!! All seats are sold out on this day, of course. Manny Ramirez in Boston Red Sox.Kurt Suzuki in Oakland Athletics. His grandparents are from Japan. He is originally from Hawaii. I think nobody in Japan know about him until this match that there is a Japanese player in Athletics. Here are Daisuke Matsuzaka! Dice-K seemed pretty tense at the very begining of the game. he got a home run in the first inning. This is the moment, you really can's the ball though. Is this information is only in Japan? My foreign friend said this is very Japanese. The game was nice. I was concentrated on eating hot dog at first :P Anyway, I stayed there till 8th inning. I wanted to stay there but I had to leave there early to avoid crowed. In 10th inning, Okajima in Boston Red S... More About: Tokyo , Opening , Game , March
MLB Opening Game in Tokyo
2008-03-23 02:30:00 On March 25th and 26th, there will be season openers in 2008 of Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics in Tokyo , Japan.This is third time to have the opening game in Japan (NY Mets vs. Chicago Cabs in 2000, NY Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays in 2004)Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox will be a starting pitcher.I will watch the game on 25th. Hopefully I can show you some photos and write about the game soon! More About: Sports , Opening , Game
White Day?-It?s Boys Turn-
2008-03-13 14:21:00 Just right one month later of Valentine?s Day on March 14th, there exist ?White Day? in Japan.Girls present chocolate to boys on Valentine?s Day (refer to Valentine?s Day) and it is the day that girls confess their love to boys. Then what is White Day? If you receive chocolate on Valentine?s Day, you ?have to? give them back sweets like candy, marshmallow and white chocolate to girls. This day is originally born in Japan.These days, I see boys are buying sweets preparing for White Day. It is said that it is manner to give back to girls something deserves three times. So, boys simply can?t give cheep sweets to girls.White Day custom is carrying out in Taiwan and Korea as well. I know there are black day, yellow day, rose day etc about love romance in Korea. What about in your country? More About: Culture , Boys , Turn
The Japanese Sword Museum
2008-03-09 09:01:00 Ninja, Samurai, Daimyou?People outside Japan are fascinated by the Japanese culture, especially boys.There is one maniac museum in Shibuya word, The Japanese Sword Museum (??????). Katana (Japanese swords) are displayed all over in the museum. It has a collection of 120 pieces of swords and sword fittings including National Treasure and important Cultural Property.The fee is 525 yen for an adult and you can get brochure in English. The title of brochure is ?Manual of How to Handle and Take Care of Swords?. I found it is quite interesting even you don?t have any Katana. For instance, ?Whether drawing out a Tachi or Katana, one must hold the cutting edge up and grasp the scabbard from underneath in the left hand in a forward holding position. Then, hold the hilt from above with the right hand? quotation from the brochure. I admit the Katana are shinny and beautiful. There are even art. However, I felt it was OK because only Katana are displayed (there is an old Japanese armor displaye...
The Hip-Hop Black Guy Who Finds Japanese Soul
2008-03-01 09:34:00 ???(JERO, Jerome White, Jr) is such an awesome black guy who made his debut as an Enka singer in Japan!??? was born in 1981 in the Pittsburg, the U.S. His grandmother was Japanese (already passed away), and he was affected by her who loved Enka (??, a traditional-style Japanese popular song).The guy who learned how great Enka from his grandmother went to Pittsburg University majored in science. Since he was fascinated by Enka a lot, he came to Japan to be an Enka singer in 2003. While he worked as a computer engineer in Japan, he was keep singing as an armature Enka singer. In February, 2008, he made his debut as a professional singer with the song, ???(Umiyuki, ocean snow)? from Victor Entertainment.Here is his first song music video, ?? by Jero. Check this out!!You would believe ?Japanese? sings this song if you hear only the song itself. The gap with Jero?s appearance which is just like hip-hop guy attracts people in Japan. Jero himself and that singing style (even hip-hop dance... More About: Music , Soul , Black
Happy Valentine's Day
2008-02-17 01:55:00 It's a bit late, but I wish you had had happy Valentine's day! Here is the link about Valentine's day in Japan from my old post. How was your valentine's day? Did you have good time? Valentine's Day More About: Happy
Okinawa Sweet, Chinsukou
2008-02-09 08:47:00 I?ve never been to Okinawa (south island in Japan), but I am into Okinawa sweet, Chinsukou (?????) recently. When people went to Okinawa, they definitely would buy it as a Okinawa souvenir.Chinsukou is one of the traditional sweets in Okinawa. It is made of flower, sugar and lard mainly. It is like a crunchy sweet cookies and good much with Japanese green tea. In acient time, only a royal family and nobles were allowed to eat it when they have some celebrations.There are so many kinds of Chinsukou; cheese, chocolate, purple sweet potato, pine apple, nuts, raw sugar, salt and so on. Now that Chinsukou is famous Okinawa sweet, you can buy it in Tokyo or Kanagawa easily. It probably isn?t sold in small supermarkets, but you can find one in big ones.See more Chinsukou More About: Sweet
Out with the demon and in with fortune!
2008-02-02 00:39:00 Setsubun???), the day before the calendrical beginning of spring, is one of the traditional events in Japan. The word ?Setubun? comes form ?dividing the season? originally.On February 3rd, Setsubun, people scatter roasted beans in the house saying ????????!/Oni-wa-Soto, Fuku-wa-Uchi! (Out with the demon and in with fortune!)? After scattering beans all over the house, people eat beans as the same numbers of their age. For instance, if you are 23 years old, you need to eat exactly 23 beans.Beans are considered to have power for cleansing a person of evil influences. Therefore, people take powerful beans into their bodies and it means that beans will have fortune in their house.Hey, it snowed today in Kanto area. This is my first time to see snow lie on this much here in Yokohama! More About: Culture , Fortune , Demon
Too Beautiful Politician
2008-01-26 12:02:00 Yuri Fujikawa (????) is getting into the news as a young and beautiful member of *Hachinohe city assembly. She looks pretty attractive and has idol-look face. *Hachinohe is the city in Aomori prefecture in Tohoku area.Yuri who has father formally member of Hachinohe city assembly ran for nationwide local elections in April, 2007, and she won the election top. She was born in 1980, and just 27 years old now.After graduation from Teikyo University, she started to work in an institution of caring old people for a few years. When she turned to be 27, her father tried to win at the election to be a member of the prefectural assembly but he failed. Then, she announced to stand as a candidate for member of city assembly after her father?s fail.Since people are attracted by Yuri?s youth and beauty, she got really popular and that even made her website down because of too much access.You will see how she is cute and beautiful visiting her official website. Yuri says she wants to work hard on... More About: People , Beautiful , Politician
7 Days and Planets
2008-01-19 03:34:00 Some of the readers here may already know how to say the day of the week, but I want to introduce them and how to remember them.Here is the list of the day of the week.??? ?????? / Nichiyoubi??Sunday??? ?????? / Getsuyoubi??Monday??? ????? / Kayoubi??Tuesday??? ?????? / Suiyoubi? ?Wednesday??? ?????? / Mokuyoubi??Thursday??? ?????? / Kinyoubi??Friday??? ????? / Doyoubi??SaturdayIn Japan, the week usually starts with Sunday. You can see most calendar has Sunday first.The only you need to remember is the word before ???/ Youbi?; ?????????????. Those words are called ??? / Shichiyou? and stands for 7 planets you can see with the naked eye.? = Sun? = Moon? = Mars? = Mercury? = Jupiter? = Venus? = SaturnPeople say just like?(Nichi)??(Getsu)??(Ka)??(Sui)??(Moku )??(Kin)??(Do) when they count the day of the week. For instance, you can say ???????????????????? / Do Nichi wa Yasumidesu? means ?I?m off on Saturday and Sunday.?I know Chinese call the day with numbers, 1, 2, 3 ?How do you call t... More About: Planets , Days
Matsushita, National, Panasonic ? ?Panasonic?
2008-01-13 03:24:00 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. has announced to change its company name to ?Panasonic ? to strengthen the world brand name on 10th January. (The company productions; Lumix for digital camera, Diga for blue-ray disk recorder, Viera for plasma TV etc?)Matsushita has distinguished the brand name for products; digital electrical appliances for abroad such as plasma TV are called ?Panasonic? and white goods for domestic is called ?National ?.The company is aiming to appeal the name in foreign markets to compete with other brand by uniting ?Matsushita?, ?Panasonic?, and ?National?.The origin of ?Panasonic? is the created word, ?Pan? and ?Sonic?. Pan means known throughout the country, and Sonic means sound. Therefore, it totally means/wishes to let the sound of company be known throughout the country.I think this is a good idea to unit all brand name in one, I somehow feel a bit sad to loose Matsushita and National name at the same time though. Anyway, it is likable to compete and... More About: Technology , Matsushita
Happy New Year
2008-01-09 13:07:00 Hi there, this is late but let me say Happy New Year ! I hope you will have great year.Here is a tip, how to say Happy New Year in Japanese.?????????? in Hiragana ?????????? in Kanji (Both are pronunced like "Akemashite Omedeto") So ?????????? everyone! I will start to write article again soon :)
Happy Holidays!
2007-12-24 12:36:00 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays , everyone! I wish you happy new year. Lots of love. Christmas cake that I baked At my friend's houes We cooked special dishes for Christmas More About: Happy Holidays
Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility
2007-12-15 02:33:00 Have you heard of Asimo (???) before? Asimo is humanoid robot which Honda developed. The word Asimo comes from ?Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility ?. It is not a big surprise anymore that it can go up and down the stairs. The first Asimo was officially announced in 1996. It has 130 cm tall, and 52 kg. The speed of walking of ?Asimo 2005? is 2.7km/h, and can run 6km/h. It is not put on the market yet, but you can lease it from Honda at the cost of 20,000,000 yen per year. Asimo succeed in ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as the first creature besides human.In December, Honda announced new technology this year. The new Asimo can avoid people or leave his post to make way for them in front of him. Even some Asimo can exchange information each other by radio, so they cooperate together, for instance one Asimo lead a guest to the table and another asimo brings drink to the guest. What is more impressive, asimo charge buttery voluntarily before the buttery run out.... More About: Technology , Vance
New York Beauty
2007-12-07 16:26:00 I was traveling to New York for a week. This post may not be suitable for this blog theme, but let me show you photos of NY I took. New York Beauty More About: New-York
Family Tree in Japanese
2007-11-25 01:46:00 When you introduce yourself in Japanese , introducing your family might be necessary. Let?s look at a simple family tree in Japanese. You are ?Watashi?.Here is usuful expressions.I have a elder broterh.??(Watashi ni wa) Ani ga imasu. /???????????I have a elder sister and younger brother. ??(Watashi ni wa) Ane to Otouto ga imasu. / ?????????????How many brothers/sisters do you have? More About: Family , Language , Tree , Family Tree
Letter Art
2007-11-17 07:25:00 Now, here is a question for you. How can you see this Japanese word???You may see this person is bowling. Probably, it is easier to recognize it like this.???...???......??iiii? is just one of Hiragana letter in Japanese (it sounds "Pu"), but it looks like something different when you see it from another angle. Here is some arrangment of ??????????3 people are bowling at the same time.??.....iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiThis is bowling with many pins.These are very difficult to recognize this at first for native Japanesebecause they see it only as a letter.Here is a question for you. These are not Japanese letters but alphabet and mark. How can you see it??ii More About: Letter , Language
Hug Me Please!
2007-11-10 16:17:00 Recently, I just see many people who are holding a sign which says ?Free Hugs? at the really crowded place or park in Japan. I felt really weird when I saw it for the first time because I had no idea what the purpose of it.The origin of Free Hug is from the states in 2001. Jason Hunter walked along Miami with the sign after his mother?s dead. In 2004, Juan Mann from Australia started to Free Hug Campaign, and his achievement was recorded, broadcast on You tube, and then Free Hugs became famous.A photo from Akihabara. The sign says Free Hugs in Japanese.The purpose of Free Hugs is to share happiness and sadness with people you don?t know; however, since hug is not common custom, or the word, ?Hug? is not well-known in Japan, it seems to be difficult to get a hug from strangers or passengers.Here is video from You tube. Free Hugs in Japan.Do you see this campaign in your country? Have you ever given hug? I have never hugged with people who is holding the sign.*This is not appropriate ... More About: Culture
Moshi Moshi?
2007-11-03 14:51:00 When you call on the phone, how do you say in your country? In Japan, we say ?????(Moshi Moshi)? at the beginning like ?Hello? in English.At the very beginning of phone development in Japan, people used to say ?????(Oi Oi)? instead of Moshi Moshi. In 1890, telephone switching was stated in Japan. Since then, telephone operators started to use Moshi Moshi which is written as ???? in Kanji and it means ?I?m going to say.?Here is another tip. In business scene, it is better not to say Moshi Moshi. You start the conversation without Moshi Moshi. Only when you cannot hear well, you can use Moshi Moshi.Do you have any special word for the beginning of phone conversation in your country? More About: Language
Big Revision of Kojien
2007-10-27 17:28:00 Japanese people may look up a word in ???(Kojien) at least once in their life. Kojien is famous Japanese dictionary which is really thick published by Iwanami Shoten. It was published since 1955 and has been sold 11,000,000 copies.In January, new Kojien will appear, and its content will be revised dramatically. Young people?s sayings, slang are written in that. For instance, ???(Nīto), ???(Gyakugire), ????(Ikemen), ???(Uzai) and more. There will be 240,000 words in it, which is the greatest number in Kojien history.Do you know the all above words? I pick up slang from them and explain about it. ????, in short, stands for good-looking man. It is the shorten word of ????? (Iketerumen, ???? means nice, ? means face) and also considered as ???????(Iketeru Mens), ??? is an abuse word though.Especially, girls use this word when they find handsome guys. Definitely, girls say ?Ikemen!? to Orlando Bloom, Takuya Kimura and I Byeongheon. I would say it to Adam Brody from The O.C for sure :PIf ... More About: Language , Revision
Not To Be ?Sneezed?
2007-10-20 09:55:00 ?????(Hakushon)! This is typical sound for sneezing in Japanese. Sneezing is translated into Japanese as ????(Kushami). I know in western country, people say ?bless you!? when someone sneezes. Japanese doesn?t say anything against it, however, people in middle ages used to say ????(Kusame)? as a spell. Around the ages, people believed sneezing let soul out from nose and people?s life span would be shortened. Therefore, people said ?Kusame? and since when don?t know, the word turned to be ?Kushami? then; sneezing itself is called ?Kushami? now.Here is Japanese superstition about sneeze. If you sneeze once, people think that somebody is gossiping about the person and it is good one. If it happens twice, that turns to be bad gossip, and even more in third time sneeze.Do you also have superstition about sneezing in your country? And I?m curious to know what you say when you sneeze.Here is a tip: ????????(Hakushon-Daimaou), old Japanese animation. Enjoy! More About: Culture , Sneeze
Unlimited Bubble Packing
2007-10-14 07:14:00 I am sure some people love to play with bubble packing by pushing them. Bubble packing is plastic materials with air in it, and usually used for as a wrapping of fragile things. This is funny but when people have bubble packing in their hands, they cannot help pushing them.Playing with bubble packing could be good for relax or get rid of frustration sometimes. Normally, it always has the end. When you push one, it?s done. However, Japanese toy company, Bandai was succeeded to produce endless bubble packing toy.The toy name is ?????? (Mugen Puchipuchi)? Bubble packing is called ???? informally in Japan, and ? means unlimited, which means you can play with bubble packing forever. Of course, sounds come out when you push it. There are 5 different color of it; white, blue, purple, orange and black. It costs 819 yen which is not expensive.Bubble packing company, Kawakami industrial Co, .Ltd shares large amount of bubble packing in Japan has heart shape one in thousand bubble packing. If ... More About: Toy , Unlimited , Packing
Newborn Culture in Akihabara
2007-10-07 18:10:00 One of new Japan sightseeing spots, Akihabara has queer but attractive air all over the town. Although now Akihabara is known as anime Mecca for people who love cartoons and other stuff like that, called Otaku, the place was originally famous as huge electric town before. You can buy every kind of electrical appliances, second hand items, of course, and even tiny electric parts for electric construction and amateur radio machine. Now, anima stores lines outstandingly on Main Street. Everything is related to animation; comic books, figures, novelty goods, games, CDs, magazines and costume! Another thing what Akihabara made famous is Meido?????, girls wearing housemaid costume. You can see these girls everywhere in Akihabara. Some wear it for solicitation of shops, and others wear it for have fun. Girls below are the later ones, and let people take photos of them. The sign they have says ??????(free hug)?, so one of my guy friends hugged them J I think I am going to write about Mei... More About: Culture , Newb
Japanese Slang ?KY-
More articles from this author:2007-09-29 16:53:00 ?KY? looks it comes from English or alphabet language, but this is Japanese slang.?KY (????)? is shortened word of ?Kuki Yomenai (??????)?. It is used for person who is unable to read a situation. For instance, a guy keeps talking to his favorite girl like forever. The girl is totally fed up with listening to his talking, and shows bored feeling on her face. However, he doesn?t notice that she is bored, and just doesn?t stop talking. The guy is KY like in this case. KY also has another meaning of Kuki Yome, saying a person to read a situation. It is used to describe a person mainly though.This slang was born on the Internet, and gradually started to be used in real by young people use KY, and old people don?t know/use this.By the way, do you know what is ?JK? shortened for? This is also new slang among young people. Hint: it is for girls who go to high school. More About: Language , Slang 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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