Japan
Kabocha Harvest
In the spring, when I put in the kabocha, eggplants, green peppers and tomatoes, I didn’t think much would happen.
The peppers yielded about a dozen, the eggplants produced a pair of fruits every week, and the tomotoes still haven’t stopped yielding.
The bochan kabocha suprised me by its growth and yield. When I put the started plant in the soil, it was just a tiny, sickly little 100 yen shop plant. With the summer heat, it grew tentacles across the garden, climbed over the wall, strangled the peppers, and started to wind itself around the gas meters. I went at it with scissors, hacking back the long arms and pulling the tendrils off the other plants. Under the giant leaves were yellow flowers. So far, I’ve harvested a dozen pumpkins.
The pumkin is small, but it has lots of meat, and the seeds are great toasted in the frypan. I’m going to try to make soup this weekend out of a few.
Happy autumn!
節分 Setsubun welcomes spring!
Chibaraki has been a bit quiet for a few months. It’s been hibernating this winter while I was busy working and changing my life.
I was wondering to myself, what experience or turning point or milestone could mark a revival of my blog?
Setsubun! This word literally means “seasonal division”, but most commonly it marks 立春, risshun, the beginning of spring. Today, I was lucky to have a rare midweek day off, and on a bicycle ride through rural Kashiwa City, I saw children rushing to 香取神社 Katori Shrine to stretch out their hands to receive beans from city fathers in the Bean Throwing Ceremony.
I got a packet of beans and a 5 yen coin wrapped with red and white chords, auspicious colours for an auspicious coin denomination. The crowd was not that big, and participants diminutive (children with their mothers), so I hung back and waited for the goodies to get flung my way. I saw baseballs and wooden toys fly into the crowd. 
This contemplating arhat at the gate of the neighbouring temple looks how I feel – meditating on the spring, and dreaming of the new green growth that will come so soon.
If you can’t imagine the coming growth, there are hints of it. An orchard on the road to the Izumi area of Kashiwa City has plum blossoms bursting. They’re fragrant, too. The warm sun and the plum fragrance was a delight today. Happy early spring!
More Moriheiya, and recipes
Tonight’s dinner had to be more moriheiya. My dear student had given me a big bag of it. She told me a few times that I make soup of it. So, again, another search on the ‘Nets turned up a few recipes for mulukhiya, the traditional north African dish. The dish is a bit more labour-intensive than I can manage in my small kitchen, so I improvised and adapted.
With what was at hand in the fridge, this is my far-Eastern flavoured version of the dish.
- in a fry pan, heat half and half olive and sesame oil
- finely chop half an onion, and fry with a tablespoon each of grated garlic and ginger
- when all are golden on the edges, pour in a tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 1/2 cups water, and then add Chinese gara soup powder. Perhaps a tablespoon is enough.
- Add one cup finely chpped mulukhiya (moroheiya) leaves
- season with pepper, a teaspoon of Chinese tobanjan (a type of spicy miso paste) and basil (coriander, too, if you have some). Cook on low heat for 10-20 mins.
- Serve over steamed brown rice.
The little salad of broccoli and kabotcha pumpkin salad is super easy, too. I don’t like nuked food usually, but this is an exception because it’s fast, easy and tasty.
- A quarter or half kabotcha pumpkin comes in a plastic bag in the 99 yen shop. Poke a wee hole for a vent and microwave it until tender. The same can be achieved with a quarter or half pumpkin in a covered dish.
- Similarly, nuke a broccoli tree in a covered dish just until it glows green.
- Combine these two and dress with a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a sprinkle of crushed sesame, pepper and the secret ingredient (a pinch of gara soup mix) and blend well.
Mmm…oishii.
Tega Marsh post typhoon
After the typhoon last week, a ride out to Tega Marsh with the wind blowing was a relief.
Nishiki with Tatsumura Koho in Kyoto
I had the opportunity to visit Tatsumura Koho’s workshop in Kyoto during my August trip to Japan in 2009. This workshop makes Nishiki style Orimono, which is a type of Japanese weaving.
Nishiki orimono is extremely high quality, extremely beautiful, and therefore extremely expensive. If you can get a chance to visit their workshop I would highly recommend it. They seem to be open to giving tours, and they have a gift shop inside, so I bet they would be receptive if you just gave them a call and said you were interested. My visit was arranged as part of a study tour.
Tatsumura-san told us that creating the Genji piece was quite a challenge. The biggest issue wasn’t weaving the piece or creating the art itself, but it was doing the research to gather enough information so that the scene from Genji Monogatari could be created as accurately as possible.
Not only was general accuracy an issue, the scene needed to be vague enough as to not attract complaints from the literary academic community. For example, special care was taken so that the kimono you see in the picture used colors that could have been worn during any season. There were special rules about the different styles and colors of kimono that would have historically been in which season, but the exact time that this scene in Genji Monogatari took place is not clearly known and apparently still debated in academic circles. Therefore, they chose a kimono color and style scene that arguably could have been used in a variety of situations and at any time of the year.
This is a picture from the gift shop I mentioned. Even the neckties were way out of my price range (about $150 USD). Pretty awesome though. Someday… someday…
This is a piece depicting a bonsai tree. If you didn’t already, click the Genji Piece above so you can get a close up look at how intricate the weaving is on the orimono, it’s really amazing.
This piece is more abstract, but actually uses gold in the piece itself, if I remember correctly it cost more than 10,000 USD. Fancy stuff!
You can see more of Tatsumura-san’s work on this official museum site. http://www.tatsumura.co.jp/ There is also an online gift shop where you can get those too-awesome neckties I mentioned!
Enjoy!
Harvey
Autumn Menu
My lovely student gave me a few handfuls of this herb called mulukhiya, or in Japanese, moroheiya. I’d never heard of this herb, the essential ingredient of a soup eaten in Egypt for thousands of years, and was surprised to find that all the class members were aware of the high nutritional value of this plant. The plant happily grows here in Japan and is an annual. I’ll attempt to grow some next spring.
They told me to put it in soup and boil it. Wouldn’t that kill off the nutrients this leaf was said to be so rich in? I wondered. I looked around the ‘Net for ideas on how to prepare it, and found a recipe for moriheiya miso soup. My adapted soup recipe has grated ginger, sliced onions, moriheiya and generous tablespoons of miso paste.
I’m on a budget this year, and am challenged to stretch Y1000 as far as I can. The meal I made has a little pork in it, and the remainder of the meal is all kinds of vegetables. On the tray is moriheiya miso soup, ginger carrot pickles, broccoli and pumpkin salad, and yakiudon. The moriheiya, or mulukhiya, despite the press and the caution from my students, wasn’t slimy so much as wilted in the soup. When I added the moriheiya and the miso paste, I was careful not to boil it, which I think prevented it from going all gooey.
I still had a lot of moriheiya and various vegetables in the fridge, so I made tomato pork shogayaki over rice and put a handful of moriheiya over it as it was nearly cooked. It looks pretty with a little bit of carrot pickled and salad (I’m reusing plastic boxes for bentos as you can see in the picture below).
Teganuma Marsh recovery?
The previous post, about Konbukuro Pond and the museum park that surrounds it, mentions that the spring is one of the sources for the Ohori River and Teganuma Marsh.
Today, the marsh supports a lot of wildlife and looks pretty, but the water quality is poor. Before the 1950s, the spring-fed marsh had clear, clean water and children could swim in it in the summer. However, with the population growth, household waste water and agricultural runoff began to take their toll on the quality of the lake water. The marsh suffered eutrophication. This process, which happens when a body of water or an area of land receives too much fertilizer, can cause the natural ecosystem to be adversely altered. In the case of the marsh, the overfertilization from waste water caused blue-green algae to take over, and the fish stocks suffered.
In 2005, Japan for Sustainability reported on Abiko City’s effort to rehabilitate Teganuma Marsh. As JFS reports, “…Lake Teganuma has also been known for its disgraceful record of having been the most polluted lake in Japan for 27 consecutive years starting from 1974, when the then-Environment Agency (now the Ministry of the Environment) began nationwide surveys of lake and marsh water quality. Since fiscal 2001 Abiko City has made Lake Teganuma the focus of a municipal promotion campaign on the theme of “Birds and people living in harmony in Abiko, on beautiful Lake Teganuma.”
To improve the quality of the water and reduce eutrophication, the national and prefectural governments funded dredging of the river mouths to increase the volume of fresh water coming into the marsh, and a new water treatment plant, which you can see on the south side of the marsh, and a massive channel was constructed from the Tone River to the marsh to bring more fresh water.
The JFS report indicates that the oxygen levels in the lake improved, but were still nowhere near healthy.
The marsh has a lot further to go on its road to recovery, and there are many people actively promoting interest in this body of water. You can participate in the Teganuma Eco-Marathon in October, and any time, you can enjoy the cycling road, and on rainy days, you might want to check out the Abiko Bird Museum (full of stuffed dead birds, but informative).
Take a moment to read the webpage of this Teganuma fan, Mr. Nakamura, who, as he says on the webpage, walks the marsh to keep his heart in good shape. He’s got some information about the geology and history of the marsh, too.
Konbukuro Pond Museum Park
Only a few years ago, the area around Kashiwa no Ha was farm fields and thickets. When I used to cycle through there, I brought snacks and water, as there were not many shops or convenience stores away from National Route 16, and I preferred cycling on the quiet country tracks. It was quaint, a little wild and refreshing to wander about. I knew this was the last chance to see it the way it was, as the new train line to Tsukuba, under construction for nearly 10 years, would soon change the landscape.
With the opening of the Tsukuba Express in 2005, Kashiwa City began a comprehensive plan to develop Kashiwa no Ha campus around Kashiwa no Ha Station as a place with ample public, private and academic zones in a green and sustainable environment that protects quality of life. It’s a great idea, but there isn’t much information available to non-Japanese readers. The University of Tokyo has a description of the campus plan, Mitsui Real Estate describes the residential plan.
The execution of the plan looks rather piece-meal to my eyes, but maybe that is because the area has so much farther to go before it is a truly pleasant place to live and work. To be fair, the apartment towers are not quite finished yet, so the true character of the area is yet to be seen.
The park, Kashiwa no Ha, is beautiful, but the forest that lies just outside the park to the east, Konbukuro Pond, is a treasure. It has a spring that feeds the Ohori River and Tega Marsh. In the Heian Period, the spring was the watering hole for the region.
There is a legend concerning the origin of the spring’s name. The tale goes that, one day, a young man whose habit it was to visit the spring cupped his hands to drink, and in the corner of his eye, he saw something glittering in the water. He reached out, and saw a konbukuro, a cloth purse, and tried to take it from the surface of the pond. The water rippled as he reached further. He found a stick and attempted to draw the purse to himself, but the water churned and the purse sank from view. He rushed back to the village, telling everyone that he’d seen a konbukuro at the watering hole. Some elders were amazed – it was not just a cloth purse, they said, but perhaps the spirit of the spring, or some valuable object offered by the spirit, or the spirit itself. He had been shown the treasure of the spring and ever after, the spring has been called Konbukuro Pond.
The area around the pond has for centuries been a semi-cultivated area called satoyama. A satoyama is the borderland between forests, hillsides and cultivated land. For centuries, Japanese farmers have carefully cultivated these intermediate zones, thinning trees, pulling out brush, and harvesting wild food. The satoyama is not a destructive interference with the wild – in fact, satoyama, carefully maintained, provides a variety of landscapes through which animals and plants to migrate. Forest under stories provide space to incubate new trees, and less dense margins of forests allow deer and other animals to roam. Two threats to satoyama are urban encroachment and the dwindling rural population needed to maintain satoyama.
The United Nations University and the Japanese Ministry of the Environment produced this documentary which expains the tradition and value of the satoyama.
The Konbukuro Pond satoyama remained, but so much building has altered the water table, sections of the Ohori River which it feeds have been directed into culverts. Inevitable waterworks have pushed rainwater into drains and storm sewers, and as a result, the level of the pond has dropped from historic levels. The satoyama was neglected, the land encroached on by development, and the surroundings used as an illegal garbage dump.
To protect this resource, in 2004 Kashiwa City declared the area Konbukuro Museum Park. The concept for the park is called the 100 Year People’s Forest, a place where people can interact with the satoyama landscape.
When I visited on Sunday afternoon, I was sad to see the water level of the spring’s head so low. There is moisture, indicated by the muddy bed of the pond, but no depth. When I rounded the corner to the main pond, I was surprised to see the level high, and then I noticed the bamboo sluice trickling water into the pond. Following the bamboo pipes led to the forester’s shack at the entrance of the park,I met an elderly man with a weed cutter. I asked him about the water issue, and he described a combination of changing geology under ground over the last 1000 years and human activity as the culprits behind the low water level of the pond. He showed me the modern well head that is the source of water which helps top up the pond. The water level is that much lower than the pond’s original feed. This summer, we had nearly two months of no rain, which further diminished the water supply.
There is still a great deal of beauty in the park today. Along the edge of the pond, there are wild hydrangeas, magnolias and purple orchid like flowers (the sign indicated murasaki shikibu, and perhaps this is it?). When I was there in July, I spotted the purple flowers and also some orange lilies along the paths.
Sadly, the park is in bits and pieces, much like the greater Kashiwa no Ha campus plan. The park is cut in half by commercial development, and right in the middle is a love hotel, and to the west is a major hospital. On the east side, there is an industrial yard accessed by a gravel road, on the margins of which people have dumped mattresses and other household waste. Konbukuro Pond Museum Park needs protection, and when you visit, you can contribute to this effort by dropping a few hundred yen in the collection box at the park gate.
Do you know the lyrics to Sakura?
So we’ve all heard the famous Japanese tune Sakura countless times. Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics? I took some time with a Japanese friend and hacked through the lyrics a while ago. Pretty interesting epic, and not so easy, so here’s some knowledge sharing for ya!
There are actually two versions of the lyrics to Sakura. I’ve listed them below with some romaji as well. I’ve added some explanations when they would help.
Sakura Lyrics, Version 1:
さくら さくら sakura sakura
やよいの空は yayoi no sora ha
見わたす限り miwatasu kagiri
かすみか雲か kasumi ka kumo ka
匂いぞ出ずる nioi zo izuru
いざや いざや izaya izaya
見にゆかん mi ni yukan
Notes:
やよい is the month of March in old Japanese. The third month of the lunar calendar. The kanji for yayoi is 弥生. Other months also have old school names as well, for example October is 神無月. You can see a full list of the names of the months according to the old school calendar on Wikipedia here. Here is another quick reference for the old school month names.
かすみ is fog. 霧 is like mist.
いざやいざや is like, “Let’s, let’s (do something).”
見にゆかん is actually 見にゆかむ, but in verbal speech, and means “let’s go see.”
So a basic literal translation of the lyrics would be something like…
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms…
The March sky,
as far as you can see…
Is it fog or is it clouds?
The “smell” (i hear it’s not actually smell but more like appearance) is coming out…
Let’s… let’s…
go and see…
Enka legend Misora Hibari breaks it down.
Sakura Lyrics, Version 2:
This next version is the more popular version of the lyrics that were redone in 1941 (Showa 16) and are used in most music textbooks in Japan now. (According to Japanese wiki anyway.)
さくら さくら
野山も里も noyama mo sato mo
見わたす限り
かすみか雲か
朝日ににおう asahi ni niou
さくら さくら
花ざかり hana zakari
A literal translation of the lyrics:
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms…
The hills and fields, and the countryside…
as far as you can see…
Is it fog or is it clouds?
The smell of cherry blossoms in the morning sunshine (not so literal, heh.)
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms…
Blooming flowers
And there you have it! Now, sing along!
If you find any other nice YouTube videos of Sakura or other useful info, please share in the comments!
- Harvey
Related Links:
Sakura on Wikipedia (Japanese)
This version has extended lyrics!
Some day I will be able to do this:
Listen to Shitakiri Suzume over and over again
When you listen to a story that you know in your target language over and over again, you learn. It’s a proven fact!* So, put said story on your iPhone or iPod and listen to it on your commute, or while grocery shopping. Guaranteed results. Listening to Shitakiri Suzume (The Cut-tongue Sparrow) will improve your Japanese, and will also introduce you to some Japanese folklore that every Japanese person knows, increasing your cultural knowledge! This is a new audio-only product from TheJapanShop.com team, I checked it out, and can vouch for its awesomeness.
For $8.99 you’ll get 11 mp3s that present the Japanese knowledge locked inside Shitakiri Suzume in a variety of formats. You can also purchase each mp3 individually for just 0.99 cents. If your Japanese is beginner-intermediate and you only have $1.99 to spend, I would recommend getting the “Shitakiri Suzume in Japanese Normal Speed” MP3, and the “Line by Line Japanese and English Part 1″ MP3. This way you can hear the entire store start to finish all in native-speed Japanese, and also hear it broken down and translated line by line. Good stuff. If you’ve got a little more cash I would take a look at the audio Vocab lists.
For $8.99 cents you get…
- The story read in Japanese by a native speaker at normal speed.
- The story read alternating sentences in Japanese and English, both by native speakers.
- The story read in Japanese by a native speaker at slow speed.
- A audio vocab list in which the word or phrase is read in Japanese, and then followed by the English meaning.
- All of these are separate mp3 files so you can easily select your study method. You can also purchase them individually for $0.99 each.
All the audio is recorded by the folks at TheJapanShop.com, so if you have used their ridiculously popular Japanese Phrases App (free version) you’re going to be hearing some familiar voices!
Even if you don’t want to spend 8 bucks on the entire package, just getting the normal speed story mp3 at $0.99 is a ton of value for the price in my humble opinion! Check it out.
- Harvey
*Probably. I dunno. It worked for me anyway!
Drill Japanese Listening Comprehension on your iPhone
Hey everyone!
I’ve been slacking on my Read More or Die #tadoku partly because I had another project distracting me… Well, it’s finally done and has been released in all its version 1.0 glory, I bring you, Japanese Listening for iPhone!
Despite the boring name, it’s actually pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
The basic idea is simple, so there’s not much to explain. Basically it simulates those listening comprehension tests you’ve probably had if you study Japanese with any sort of structure at all. I think this usually shows up on the JLPT as well. You see some images, hear some Japanese, and have to pick out which image the Japanese is talking about. We’ve also provided the full text of everything being said in the study mode, so you can sentence mine it for your SRS if you like! Also, there is no romaji to be found. I know people will appreciate that.
Check it out. After I add more content I may raise the price a bit, so if you’re interested get it while it’s cheapish. I need to try to break even on the cost of getting the illustrations done – otherwise my wife will kill me. (That’s her in the recordings by the way!) Japanese Listening will never cost more than our popular Particles App though, so if you’re still on the fence, rest assured it will never exceed $5.99. It’s about the price of a lunch. And, this is brain food, so hey, it’s like lunch for your brain – but you can eat this one over and over again!
Anyway, let me know what you think, and enjoy!
Oh, and if you don’t already, sign up for TheJapanShop.com newsletter, I may be giving away some promo codes through their newsletter sometime this month!
- Harvey
RADWIMPS
Some J-Rock for ya. RADWIMPS.
My brother-in-law introduced me to this band, so I guess it’s the kind of music that 20-something Japanese guys are into these days!
RADWIMPS are a four-member rock band with record label EMI Music Japan. Japanese who are in the know shorten their name to RADdo (ラッド). I’m getting this from RADWIMPS Japanese Wikipedia entry, check it out for more details.
In case you’re wondering, RADWIMPS really did mean for their name to be like, “rad. wimps.” The wikipedia entry gives some meanings of their band name in Japanese, and they used words like…
「かっこいい弱虫」kakkoii jyakumushi cool weak bug.
「見事な意気地なし」migotona ikujinashi spineless wonder.
「非常に怖がり」hijyouni kowagari extremely chicken.
「マジスゲーびびり野郎」Freakin’ amazingly chicken sh*t.
That was fun to translate…
Here’s another one of their songs.
Lyrics for the same song here:
You like?
- Harvey
Japanese Nose Straightener
Weird gadgets, especially ones in the beauty category, are definitely something Japan is famous for. This little gadget right here is supposedly a nose straightener!
It’s made by Omni and it’s supposed to both lift and straighten your nose by sending small electric vibrations into your nose. It’s yours for 6,800 JPY (approximately $83).
I call bullshit, but if you have some money left over and a nose you’re not 100% happy with, why not give it a try?^^ It’s supposedly quite popular in Japan, but then again, so are face rollers…
Via William Andrews, JapanTrends
The World’s Shortest Escalator
The world’s shortest and most pointless escalator can be found in Kawasaki, Japan, just so you know.
It’s even in the Guinness World Records book^^
Podcasts for Japanese language learners
This is my first (and hopefully not the last) guest post here at yonasu (thanks for the opportunity!) Moreover, this is the first time I’m trying to post two related articles at the same time, one as a guest post, and one on the NihongoUp Japanese language & culture blog. I hope this experiment works well, and helps our readers discover more interesting blogs about Japan and Japanese.
On the NihongoUp Blog, I’ve posted an article on how to use discover, organize, and listen to podcasts on Windows Phone 7 devices. This, the sister article to that post, will focus on selecting the best content to put on your mobile device. Of course, these podcasts aren’t limited to just WP7 devices, and you can also subscribe to them with Miro, iTunes, or download directly on their websites.
OneMinute Japanese
Although the whole ‘product’ feels quite polished, this podcast leaves a lot to be desired. Why did I use the word product? The lessons are stilted and the non-native’s accent is frankly terrible. The language that you learn in this podcasts is unnatural to say the least, there are only ten episodes, and Radio Lingua Network tries to sell a premium edition of the very same ten lessons with bonus content like lesson guides and quizzes for whopping £10. My advice is to save the money for a month of premium NihongoUp or Japancast and probably avoid this altogether.
Japancast
Although a relative newcomer, this series already reached the number one position among Japanese video podcasts on iTunes, and for a reason. It is very well presented, the hosts are great, fun and personal, and the lessons are getting better and better with every episode. Each video starts with interesting news from Japan, and then moves onto truly interesting, natural, and useful Japanese phrases and vocabulary. If you can afford it, certainly consider making a donation to get access to some additional lesson content…
JapanesePod101
You’ve probably heard about JapanesePod101 already, but if you haven’t, here’s the lowdown. This is quite possibly the most popular Japanese podcast, and it certainly has a lot of value. There are literally thousands of audio and video lessons with many different professional-grade hosts and well researched content. I often find them too commercial in nature, and somewhat impersonal, but definitely do check them out to form your own opinion – and probably skip the tedious intro every time!
Japanese with Beb and Alex
If you’re not a fan of video, this mostly audio-only podcast is something you should definitely check out. Lots of language lessons, cultural episodes, interviews, and all kinds of other Japanese and Japan-related content. The lessons aren’t really oriented at beginner learners, and so it’s probably better to wait until you learn at least some basic Japanese, but they become a really useful asset at the time when you decide to dive into some more advanced, uncommon, and colloquial Japanese.
Osaka dialect
This is one of the best podcasts for intermedia-advanced Japanese learners. All episodes are presented by a native Japanese Osaka-ben speaker, at natural speed, using natural colloquial Japanese. Also, unlike any of the other podcasts discussed in this post, the transcripts of all episodes are freely available on the website, with expressions unique to Osaka-ben clearly indicated and given standard Japanese alternatives in parenthesis.
I hope you liked my post, and found some new interesting podcasts to help you spice-up your spoken Japanese and bolster your aural comprehension. If you know any other cool Japanese podcasts you’d like to share, or if you’d like to read any more guest posts of mine here, please let me know in the comments.
A 7-story Sex Shop in Akihabara, Tokyo
Akihabara, the famous electric town of Tokyo is not only known for the tech gadgets, maids and toys, it’s also the one place for porn and sex toys. And the Japanese are not shy when it comes to sex. Right in the heart of Akihabara, you’ll find a 7-story sex shop called m’s, selling everything from lingerie to 600,000 yen sex dolls.
In the video below you’ll see the cute Alex Sim-Wise pay a visit to the store and make use of the discount you get by trying on a costume and letting the staff take pictures of you in it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy took a couple of extra shots for his own collection^^
What mobile phone company do you use, DoCoMo, au, Softbank or other?
What mobile phone company do you use, DoCoMo, au, Softbank or other?
This month’s Japan Blog Matsuri theme is "Famous Japanese Events". You’ve got till February 22nd to submit your entries.
This month’s Japan Blog Matsuri theme is “Famous Japanese Events”. You’ve got till February 22nd to submit your entries.
Japan Blog Matsuri – The February 2011 Theme | LLP
www.loneleeplanet.com
The Japan Blog Matsuri is a blog carnival where everyone is invited to participate! It is a monthly round-up of articles motivated by the announcement of a Japan-related theme with the intention of creating a list of inspiring articles and images about Japan based on that theme.
Hiragana or katakana – which did you learn first?
Hiragana or katakana – which did you learn first?
A Perfume Fan in his 50s
Ever heard of perfume444? No? His real name is Frank Evins and he’s an American fan of the Japanese electropop group Perfume. Frank’s got quite an audience and rightfully so. His videos are incredibly hilarious! After all, seeing a guy in his 50′s totally obsessing over a group of young Japanese girls can’t be anything but fun.
He’s definitely a bit of an oddball but that’s what makes his videos so great. Some of them are a bit creepy, perhaps because of his age, but put that fact aside and just laugh with him, or don’t and laugh at him… Whichever way you choose to do it, don’t bully him 
Here are a few vids to start off with, although he’s got 92 videos at the time I’m writing this so I strongly recommend subscribing to his channel and take some time to look at his other videos^^
Via Dean
How to go to Japan from the USA
- Go to Google Maps and click get directions.
- Write U.S.A. as your starting point.
- Write Japan as your destination.
- Go to the 31st point on your route.
Other points to take a look at: 35-36 and 46 (yep, you gotta do it twice).
Thanks ronin!
Arashi’s KDDI Android au CMs
In my previous post I wrote that Arashi will attempt to break a world record with 60 different KDDI au Android smart phone CM’s. Well, they are on YouTube!!!
Wow, I thought having an iphone was cool….I want this phone!! <3
The Bento Vol. 1
So, what do you do when you have many interesting pieces of information and/or random findings related to Japan but can’t figure out how to make each one a full sized blog post? I know! Gather them all up, organize, and write a post full of bite-sized articles for the reader to explore on their own. Perfect! So may I welcome you to The Bento!
Image taken from my local favorite Japanese restaurant, Honshu.
So, let’s get started.
Kirin has released a new Perfume CM on February 2 (today) right here, on this website. It went live at 18:00 JST. Perfume’s new song is entitled “Laser Beam”. Get HYPE! You can also view this CM down below.
Do you use Twitter and have an iPhone? ついっぷる (twipple.jp), a popular Japanese Twitter site has released their own Twitter application for the iPhone. I downloaded it on the Canadian app store and I am currently conducting very extensive tests on it. n_n My first impressions? I am digging the twipple sounds. Nice touch! Oh yah, it’s free.
The Scott Pilgrim manga series is finally being released in Japanese bookstores. I am a huge fan of the series and was excited to see the cover art for the first book (contains volumes 1 & 2; in stores now). Well, here it is…..
Keita Takahashi (creator of Katamari Damacy) has been updating his own personal blog for quite some time now. As an aside, his blog posts are written in Japanese and English. So just in case you want to keep up to date with this creative mastermind, check out Uvula. From what I hear, he plans on building a super rad playground in Nottingham, U.K. I definitely need to visit that playground once completed.
Love wasting time on the internet? Well, false.jp can certainly help in that area. And all you have to do is click and move your mouse. There are no games here, just different types of visual media to keep you interested. Everything from eggs, beer, ants, snow and dots will keep you interested for at least 5 minutes. (^_^)
Until next time guys and gals. (^o^)b
The Cat-friendly House by Asahi Kasei
Asahi Kasei has come up with a genius idea for people who love cats, a specially designed house where both people and cats can live together in complete harmony.
The house which has a very modern design includes hybrid cat/man toilets, shelves that work as stairs for cats, cat doors, an outdoor area and various hideouts and places for the cats to play around, or sleep in. As a cat lover myself, this looks a bit like a dream house to me! I wouldn’t be surprised if getting something like this is crazy expensive though.
Arashi to attempt to set 3 world records
According to Oricon, Sankei News and many blogs out there, Arashi will attempt to break three world records!
On January 27th, sixty versions of KDDI’s Android au IS03 mobile phone CMs will be aired and the group will try to break the record for:
- “Most number of versions of a TV commercial advertising the same product broadcast on regular TV within 24 hours”
- “Most number of versions of a TV commercial advertising the same product broadcast on one pay-TV channel within 8 hours”
- “Most number of versions of a TV commercial advertising the same product broadcast within one 30-minute TV show”
We put everything we had into every commercial, and it was a lot of fun. I hope people can watch them. – Jun Matsumoto
Each commercial will intr
oduce a different application or feature for KDDI’s au Android smartphone. One of the features include a Google Translate application. Masaki Aiba spoke into it during the KDDI event, sending group member Kazunari Ninomiya a message in another language.
“I love you, Kazunari”
“I don’t love you” Nino responded.
Aw, Nino! How can you not love Aiba!?
I think it’s a neat idea, however, no matter how much I LOVE Arashi, I think it would be annoying if all I saw were KDDI CMs during a 30 minute show. What do you say?
How often do you return to your home country?
How often do you return to your home country?
How often do you go to karaoke?
How often do you go to karaoke?
Did you watch Japan win the Asia Cup final last night?
Did you watch Japan win the Asia Cup final last night?
How much do you spend a day at convenience stores?
How much do you spend a day at convenience stores?
Do you play pachinko, TOTO, scratch cards, lotteries, or bet on races?
Do you play pachinko, TOTO, scratch cards, lotteries, or bet on races?