When asked what the kanji with the most strokes was I originally thought that the upper limit was around 30. I had a look on the net and in fact it goes way higher than that although it is debatable into which is officially recognized as a kanji. More about that later. Here are some examples of kanji comprised of 30 strokes ( randomly taken from jisho.org)
（らん）Ran – A mythical bird
（ライ、り、レイ）Ri – A Chinese oriole ( a kind of bird )
Some kanji characters are formed by repeating the basic radical character two, three or even four times such as 林 or hayashi or 晶. My personal favorite is 姦 “kashimashii” which is made up from the basic radical for woman written three times. It means “noisy”. Here are a few more examples of kanji with repeated radicals.
（ショウ）Shou – Many horses – 30 strokes
（ セン ）fresh – 30 strokes
large group of horses traveling in a line – 34 strokes
In the following kanji, the basic radicals have been repeated four times to produce 64 strokes.
(てつ）Many, numerous (words)
The big hitters in the kanji stroke department are the following. This kanji (おういちざ) – has an incredible 79 strokes.
But the winner here weighing in at an incredible 84 strokes is “Daito”:
According to this site, the last two kanji (ouichiza and daito) were invented by a playwright for a play during the Edo period. However this fact hasn’t been substantiated so it is doubtful as to whether this could be recognized as an official kanji. It doesn’t appear in any of the dictionaries I have checked and is not in popular use or even known about by most Japanese people.
According to jisho.org䯂 is the kanji with the highest number of strokes at 34. However for a kanji with a high stroke order which is in common use, 鬱（うつ） at 32 strokes is a safe bet.
All of this information is not a definitive guide and is posted to inspire anyone who has the time and resources to look into this further. I also wrote this for fun and because I hadn’t found any articles about this in English.
Try this quiz to test your knowledge of Japanese particles. This is for low intermediate students of Japanese. (Level three of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test)
As Japan is becoming a popular destination amongst foreigners for skiing, more and more people are finding what Japan has to offer in the form of hiking. With 70% of Japan’s land mass covered by mountains there is everything from easy forest walks to advanced ice climbing. Recently there has been an increase in English language blogs on hiking and climbing in Japan. Here are a few that might help you to plan a hike in Japan
The first blogs are written by the prolific Wes Lang, a highly experienced climber who has climbed all Hyakumeisan (100 famous mountains) in Japan.
1) http://hikinginjapan.com
Hiking in Japan is a guide written by Wes packed with information on mountains and trails in Japan. He has over 100 mountains listed on his site.
Japanese uses different levels of politeness for dealing with specific situations. The vocabulary you use when speaking to your boss is different when speaking to your friends or children. One telling example of the importance the Japanese place on respect and hierarchy is found in the seven different words they have for saying “you”. Here are some examples.
あなた Anata
This is the politest way to say you in Japanese. Housewives also use “anata” when talking to their husbands. The plural form is “anatagata”. In some cases it can aso be a little rude, for example: あなたはどう思いますか – anata wa dou omoimasu ka – What do you think,is sometimes best not used when talking to your boss. Instead どう思いますか or 田中さんはどう思いますか would be better where you simply omit the “anata” and use the person’s name.
君 Kimi
Kimi is a familiar term used between friends. It is also used when speaking to children. The plural form is “kimitachi” usually used when speaking to a group of children.
お前 Omae
Omae is usually used by men between very good friends. As it is quite an abrupt way of saying “you” it can vary from friendly and casual to rude depending on the situation and tone you use.
あんた Anta
Anta is a little old fashioned these days so it is usually used by older people when speaking to friends or younger people.
われ Ware
Now we are getting into the realms of fighting talk. Ware actually has a few meanings but in terms of “you” it is very abrupt and quite rude. it is usually used by angry men in Osaka.
てめえ Temee
Again, this is quite an aggressive way to say “you” usually used by men when tempers are flaring.
貴様 Kisama
Interestingly enough, kisama was originally used as a term of respect. “SAMA” on its own is used as a term of respect after someone’s name. For example ありがとうございます田中様 – arigatou gozaimasu tanaka sama – Thank you very much Mr Tanaka. However, KISAMA is close to calling someone a wretch in English and best avoided if you are not looklng for a fight.
So good luck in working out which word to use. When in doubt ANATA is usually a good bet. It may be a mistake but you certainly won’t offened anybody.
This is a picture of Shibuya crossing. As you can see I had the camera on the wrong setting and it was horribly over exposed. However I liked the effect and proudly saved it to the memory card on my camera.
And then I get stopped by the police.
“Excuse me, is that your bike?”
“Yes”
“Well there have been a lot of bike thefts in the area, can we check the registration of your bike?”
I wasn’t exactly in a position to say no.
“Sure go ahead”.
The cop had a look at the registration lable on my bike.
“This bike is registered in Osaka”
“Yes, I used to live there”
“So where do you live now?”
“I live here in Shibuya, but I just moved from Chiba and before that I lived in Osaka” I replied.
“Wow”
I’m not sure what was so “wow” about that but I guessed he was half doing his job and half looking for a conversation with a foreigner. I changed the subject.
“So are you guys busy this time of night?” (Obviously not otherwise they wouldn’t be on mess with the gaijin patrol).
“Erm…yes” he lied.
The conversation went from traffic safety to the best place to get lunch in Shibuya. He was quite polite and I actually enjoyed the somewhat bizarre natrure of the conversation.
He got a call on his radio. The bike registration did exist and I wasn’t a suspect anymore. He thanked me, gave a half bow and walked off.
In the Usbourne Book of the Future I used to read as a kid, there were two alternative pictures of futuristic life. One was of good looking people amongst shiny white towers being all happy and futurey. The other was a warning depicting a hellish world filled with jugger-naughts, smog and pollution. All the people were waring gas masks.
Skip forward a few decades to Tokyo and I find myself walking around Shinjuku wearing a surgical mask and sunglasses to protect me. It’s not so much from traffic pollution although it does play a role. It is the evil cedar pollen or 花粉 ( kafun ) in Japanese.
As one of the reported 20 million hay fever sufferers, this year has been absolute torture and the trains are packed with people like me, sneezing through their white masks and wishing they were somewhere else.
Tokyo isn’t in the top 10 most polluted cities in the world but the cedar pollen is a man made problem. After the war, there was a push to plant millions of cedar trees to deal with their timber shortage. Eventually imports became more economic and now Japan is left with huge swathes of cedar trees and the pollen that descends on the cities during February and March.
Pharmaceutical companies have been making a killing by supplying a range of products including, drugs, nose sprays, eye washes and even sprays to absorb the pollen from your clothes. I even saw a guy with a black hay fever mask looking like an urban hay fever ninja (which should be the name of my new band).
The Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, stepped in with a plan to fell 1.8 million cedar trees back in 2006 which so far has had no discernible effect. If anything it has got worse. Talking about dealing with the problem he said “The metropolitan government will take the first step” which presumably means “now go cut your own damn trees”.
All I can do is pray for rain to keep the pollen down or April when it all subsides. If I wear a mask, sunglasses and take the foreign non drowsy hay fever drugs I can almost cope. I feel like I’m in the movie “The Happening” where the trees give the humans a hard time, except with better acting.
A Maiko is a woman under 20 training to be a Geiko (or Geisha) in Japan. Tourists can have a one day maiko makeover in various make up studios around Kyoto. In this video we made for Learn Japanese Pod , you can see the amazing make up and beautiful Kimonos worn by the Maiko. This was filmed at Yume Koubou in Kyoto. http://yumekoubou.info
The video is sped up to see the whole process more quickly but it actually takes about 40 minutes. It costs around ¥10,000 ($100) which includes the full makeover and an album of professionally shot photos. Men can also dress up in samurai outfits with swords. If you want a different and fun day out this is worth a look.
Over the past month I’ve been going through the herculean task of apartment hunting in downtown Tokyo. After having lived in Japan for over 12 years this is now my third time although it doesn’t seem to get any easier. I wanted to share my experiences in the form of a guide to help those either moving here for the first time or people already here looking for their next apartment.
The zen of apartment hunting covers a wide range of issues so I’ll tackle them in small bite sized chunks. In this first article let’s take a look at the possible break down of cost which vary from from case to case.
敷金
Shikikin: This is a refundable deposit. How much you get back depends on the state of the apartment when you move out and the honesty of your landlord. Generally speaking you should get a majority of it back although this can vary form case to case. It is not uncommon to have to pay “敷金：２” or two months rent up front.
In Osaka and other parts of Japan 敷金 is called 保証金 hoshoukin. After moving out you can expect to be charged a cleaning fee which can be anything around 30,000 yen.
礼金
Reikin: 礼金 generally translates as “thank you money” and is a non-refundable deposit. Not only that but depending on the apartment, you might have to pay “礼金：２” or 2 months rent up front with no refund. This is where Japan gets it reputation being an expensive place to move apartments.
仲介手数料
Chuukaitesuuryo:A finder’s fee. You’ll usually use a 不動産 (fudousan) estate agent (realtor) to help you find a place. The finding fee is usually one month’s rent.
共益費
Kyouekihi: Monthly building management fee. This is a monthly cost to pay for general cleaning and upkeep of the building. It can vary from only 1000 yen ($10) to 10,000 yen ($100) or more. Make sure you add this onto the basic monthly rent.
保証会社
Hoshougaisha: To move into an apartment in Japan you need to have a guarantor. The guarantor is financially liable for any major damage or toruble you might cause. Your parents or company can be your guarantors. However if this is not possible you can use a Hoshogaisha or guarantor company. They usually charge 50% of one month’s rent to act as your guarantor.
Other costs
鍵交換代: kagikoukandan: This would be the costs for changing the locks which is about 30,000.
クリーニング代: Kuriiningu dai: Cleaning fee. 30,000 yen. This is usually paid when you move out
サッポートシステム: Support system: 15,000 yen a year for 24 hour emergency service dealing with things such as burst pipes or being locked out.
火災保険: kasaihoken: Apartment insurance which covers you for 2 years for about 15-20,000 yen.
So, let’s imagine you have found a desirable residence in town for about 100,000 yen or $1000 a month. This is an estimate of the single initial deposit to move in.
Shikikin X 2
Deposit
:¥200,000
Reikin X 2
Deposit (non refund)
:¥200,000
Chuukai tesuuryou
Finder’s fee
:¥100,000
Kyouekihi
Manager fee
:¥10,000
Hoshougaisha
Guarantor
:¥50,000
Kasaihoken
Insurance
:¥20,000
一ヶ月前払い
1 month rent up front
:¥100,000
Total cost: 730,000 yen
So if you add on another 100,000 yen for the removal company you are looking at 7 to 8 times your monthly rent as a first payment to move in…ouch. After that your rent will be 100,000 yen plus the managerial fee which will bring it up to about 110,000 yen per month.
Of course this is a high ball estimate. You can negotiate and each case is different. So don’t go just yet to buy a tent to live in Yoyogi park. Therefore in my Apartment hunting (part 2) I’ll show you some ways to avoid paying such high costs.
I would love to hear your ideas and opinions on this so please feel free to leave a comment below.
A wise man once said, there’s nothing social about social networking. As we got tired of going outside, facebook slowly dumbed us down and then twitter went in for the kill. The word interactive now probably means not actually interacting with anyone.
However, this may all change with a new little invention called the Poken which sounds like a cross between Pocky and Pokemon. But I digress. It’s basically an electronic business card or “meishi” as they say here in Tokyo. It comes in various cute animal shapes and easily fits in your palm. Simply touch it with another one and you can instantly transfer all your social networking data such as your facebook and twitter accounts. This might be useful when, after a few hot Kirishimas, finding a pen and paper suddenly doesn’t seem like an easy idea anymore.
Will it take off here in Japan? Japanese people aren’t really that into social networking. Mixi is popular but obsessively emailing your friends via mobile is where it’s at. What else can you do on long train rides into work in Tokyo?
It’ll probably be a big hit with the Gaijin folk here (foreigners) first as was the case with the iPhone. The Japanese slowly and cautiously started to take it up. I personally think it is a great idea which is well timed. It could be Poken mania soon…
This video was created using photos I took during my travels around Japan. Most of these photos were taken in Tokyo and Osaka. The music in the background is “You are I” a piece I composed and produced with the lovely vocals of my friend Sae.
You may be wondering what’s happened all of a sudden to the Learn Japanese Pod website. Well, to tell you the truth, we’ve been doing a spring clean of the site. We’ll also be bringing you some new Japanese study resources to compliment the podcasts as well as a new travel in Japan section.
In the Usbourne Book of the Future I used to read as a kid, there were two alternative pictures of futuristic life. One was of good looking people amongst shiny white towers being all happy and futurey. The other was a warning depicting a hellish world filled with jugger-naughts, smog and pollution. All the people were waring gas masks.
Over the past month I’ve been going through the herculean task of apartment hunting in downtown Tokyo. After having lived in Japan for over 12 years this is now my third time although it doesn’t seem to get any easier. I wanted to share my experiences in the form of a guide to help those either moving here for the first time or people already here looking for their next apartment.
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