[podcast]http://media.libsyn.com/media/japanese/lj93.mp3[/podcast]

In today’s lesson, Waka sensei told us how to say “it’s a hassle” in Japanese which is “めんどくさい” or Mendokusai. We also got a very interesting email from Kaori, a student of English who listens to Learn Japanese Pod. She told us that she in fact listens to the podcast to study English. Apparently she is not the only non native English speaker who is listening to this podcast to learn English. I’m hoping we can attract more Japanese people to the site so we can start some language exchanges on the Forums.Check out this letter from Kaori san,

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Show notes for lesson#93:面倒くさい

1.
A: 宿題した？
B: 面倒くさいから、明日やるよ。

A: Shukudai shita ?
B: Mendokusai kara, ashita yaru yo

A: Did you do your homework ?
B: It’s a hassle so I’ll do it tomorrow

2.
A:部屋を掃除しなさい。
B: 面倒くさい。後でもいい？
A:今やりなさい！
B:は〜い。

A: Heya wo souji shinasai
B: Mendokusai.  Ato demo ii ?
A: Ima yarinasai
B: Ha~i

A: Clean your room
B: It’s a hassle. Can I do it later?
A: Do it now!
B: Ok

QUIZ

How do you say :
1. It’s a hassle
2. Clean your room
3.  It’s a hassle so I’ll do it tomorrow

Quiz Answers:
1. mendokusai!
2. Heya wo souji shinasai!
3. Mendokusai kara ashita yaru yo

Random Phrase of the week

焼きもち焼いてんの？

Yakimocho yaiten no?
You’re jealous aren’t you

Learn Japanese Pod, ©Alex Brooke, 2009

TWEET THIS!

This is the Kanto Fireworks Calendar covering the greater Tokyo area and surrounding prefectures. Be sure to check out the Kansai Fireworks Calendar here. We will be adding extra information to this calendar as the festival season progresses here in Japan. Also check out our Japan Guide Page for general event and cultural for Japan.

Every year hundreds of thousands of people gather wearing 浴衣 – Yukata – summer kimonos and try to keep themselves cool with their 扇子 – Sensu – fans during the warm humid summer.  Many of these fireworks displays have long histories stretching back hundreds of years so this is a great way to experience Japanese culture at it’s most exciting.

Please leave your comments, questions and fireworks tales on the comments below. Enjoy!

View Fireworks Festivals Japan 2009 in a larger map

4th July (Saturday)

(Yamanashi)

富士山　河口湖　山開きまつり花火大会 Mount Fuji -Kawaguchi Lake – Yamaaki Fireworks Display

Time: 20:00 – 20:30

Location: 10 mins walk from Kawaguchiko station, Fuji Kyuko line

2000 fireworks / 30,000 spectators / MAP / /TEL: 0555-72-2460

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11th July (Saturday)

(Kanagawa)

2009 久里浜ペリー祭 2009 Kurihama Perii Festival

Time: 19:20 – 20:10

Location: Kurihama bay -15 mins walk from JR Kurihama station or 15 mins walk from Keikyu Kurihama station

3500 fireworks / 90,000 spectators / TEL: 046-822-2500 / http://www.kurihama.com/info MAP

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18th July (Saturday)

(Tokyo)

調布市花火大会　Chofu City Fireworks Display

Time: 19:20 – 20:30

Location: 15mins walk from Chofu station

12,000 fireworks / 250,000 spectators TEL: 042-481-7311 MAP

(Saitama）

小江戸川越花火大会 Ko Edo Kawagoe Fireworks Display

Time: 19:30 – 21:00

Location: 20 mins walk from Kasahata station

4000 fireworks / 140,000 spectators TEL: 049-222-5556 MAP

(Saitama)

たまむら花火大会 Tamamura Fireworks Display

Time: 19:50 – 20:50

Location: 20 mins by bus from JR Takasaki Line, Shinmachi station

10,000 fireworks / 50,000 spectators / 0270-65-7144　 MAP

(Shizuoka)

海の祭典　納涼花火大会　Umi No Saiten Nouryou Fireworks Display

Time: 20:00 – 20:30

Location: 10 min bus from Izushimoda station on Izukyukou line

2000 fireworks / 15,000 spectators / MAP / http://www.izu-shirahama.jp/event_guide.html#hanabi

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19th July (Sunday)

(Saitama)

ドイツ村花火大会 Doitsu Mura Fireworks Display

Time: 20:30 – 20:50

Location: 15 min taxi ride from Ooko station (大湖駅)

5000 fireworks / 8000 spectators / MAP / http://www.doitsumura.com/index2.html

(Kanagawa)

灯籠流し＆花火大会　Floating Paper Laterns On The River and Fireworks Display

Time: Events start at 19:00 with fireworks at the end

Location: 片瀬江ノ島駅　2 min walk from Katase Enoshima station

500 fireworks / 13,000 spectators / MAP

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23rd July (Thursday)

(Tokyo)

足立の花火 Adachi Fireworks Display

Time: 19:30 – 20:30

Location: 15 min walk from Kitasenju station（北千住駅）

12,000 fireworks / more than 500,000 people expected to watch from the river /http:/adachikanko.jp/fireworks/ MAP

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25th July (Saturday)

(Tochigi)

真岡市夏祭り大花火大会 Moka City Festival and Fireworks Display

Time: 19:20 – 21:00

Location: 15 min walk from Moka station (真岡駅)

20,000 fireworks / 280,000 spectators / http://www.city.moka.tochigi.jp/kankou/maturi/ MAP

(Tokyo)

隅田川花火大会 Sumidagawa Fireworks Display

Time: 19:00 – 20:30 (area 1) / 19:30 – 20:30 (area 2)

Location: On the Sumida river, 15 min walk from Asakusa station (浅草駅) or five min walk from Kuramae station (蔵前駅）

21,500 fireworks / 900,000 spectators / http://sumidagawa-hanabi.com/index_eg.html MAP

(Shizuoka)

安倍川花火大会 Abekawa Fireworks Display

Time: 19:00 – 21:00

Location: 10 min taxi or bus ride from Shizuoka station (静岡駅)

15,000 fireworks / 600,000 spectators / MAP

(Tokyo)

立川祭り国営昭和記念公園花火大会 Tachikawa Festival and Showakinen Park Fireworks Display

Time: 19:20 – 20:30

Location: 15 min walk from Tachikawa station (立川駅)

5000 fireworks / 600,000 spectators / MAP

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25th and 26th July (Sunday)

(Shizuoka)

沼津夏祭り狩野川花火大会 Numazu Sumer Festival and Kanogawa Fireworks Display

Time: 19:30 – 20:45

Location: 10 min walk from Numazu station (沼津駅)

9000 fireworks / 360,000 spectators / MAP

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29th July (Wednesday)

(Chiba)

船橋港親水公園花火大会　Funabashi Koshinsui Park Fireworks Festival

Time: 19:30 – 20:30

Location: 10 min walk from JR Minami Funabashi Station (南船橋駅) or 10 min walk from Keisei Daijingu-shita station (京成大神宮下駅)

6000 fireworks / 70,000 spectators / MAP

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30th July (Thursday)

(Saitama)

さいたま市花火大会 Saitama City Fireworks Display

Time: 19:00 – 21:00

Location: 15 min walk from Omiya Koen station (大宮公園駅) or Owada station (大和田駅)

5000 fireworks / 130,000 spectators / MAP

AUGUST

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8th August (Saturday)

(Tokyo)

東京湾大華火祭りTokyo Bay Fireworks Festival

Time: 19:00 – 20:20

Location: 15mins walk from Kachidoki station on Oedo Line(大江戸線勝どき駅) 20mins walk from Tsukishima Station on the Yurakucho line(有楽町線月島駅)

12000 fireworks / 170,000 spectators / MAP

(Kanagawa)

あつぎ鮎大花火大会　Atsugi Ayu Fireworks Festival

Time: 19:00 – 20:40

Location: 15mins walk from Honatsugi station north exit on the Odakyu line （本厚木駅北口小田急線）

5000 fireworks / 580,000 spectators / MAP

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11th August (Tuesday)

(Tokyo)

せいせき多摩川花火大会 Seiseki Tamagawa Fireworks Festival

Time: 19:30 – 20:30

Location: 10mins walk from Seiseki-Sakuragaoka station on Keio Line(京王線聖蹟桜ヶ丘駅）15mins walk from Nakagawara Station on Keio line(京王線中河原駅)

5000 fireworks / 230,000 spectators / MAP

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29th August (Saturday)

(Kanagawa)

相模原納涼花火大会 Sagamihara Fireworks Festival

Time: 19:00 onwards

Location: 30 min bus ride from Fuchinobe station on the JR Yokohama line (JR横浜線淵野辺駅) Car is probably best transport.

8000 fireworks / 290,000 spectators / MAP

While reading the news on the NHK website I found this hilarious story on JAL. Poor old JAL, they’re like the bigger, older but more hapless brother of ANA who just can’t seem to get it right.

According to this article, a JAL pilot was arrested by police for urinating in public on June 23rd near his hotel in Honolulu. He was kept in custody and as a result, the flight he was supposed to be on was canceled.

According to police, the 53 year old co-pilot was caught urinating in the trees after drinking at his hotel. In violation of state law, he was kept in custody for two days and was given a fine of $25. He was due to co-pilot flight 75 bound for Narita on 25th. However, after failing to turn up to work, the flight had to be canceled affecting 297 passengers.

According to other JAL employees, he had had one small bottle of wine and five small bottles of beer. He went for a walk outside and peed in the bushes as he thought no one would be watching.

JAL issued an apology to the passengers and said they would be looking into how to deal with the co-pilot.

Language note

In the original article, the phrase, 立ち小便 – tachi shonben is used. It literally means peeing while standing and in this case means peeing in public. Some people shorten it to 立小 or tachishon. In Japan tachishon is not as heinous a crime as it would be in other parts of the world

Today’s J-Slang is…

[podcast]http://media.libsyn.com/media/japanese/jslang02.mp3[/podcast]

ど忘れ

DO WASURE

I completely forgot

今日会議だった、ど忘れしてた

Kyou kaigi datta, dowasure shiteta

Today there was a meeting, I completely forgot

Of course DOWASURE is a very casual way to say you completely forgot something. In more polite Japanese you would say “wasurete shimatta” or ” wasurete shimaimashita” which is even more polite.

MORE J-SLANG

[podcast]http://media.libsyn.com/media/japanese/ff20090626.mp3[/podcast]

Holy okonomiyaki, it’s Fun Friday podcasting at you from a humid Shibuya with me Alex and the lovely Waka sensei. If you don’t know what Fun Friday is, it’s a podcast with music, chat, news and other general hilarity from Japan.

In this week’s show we covered quite a few topics including the weather, haiku, the economy and a story about a crazy guy who has been stealing garden ornaments. The poor man said he stole the ornaments, took them home and then he talked to them as he was lonely. Maybe not as original as most traveling gnome pranks but more bizarrely entertaining. (Original article here)

The featured bands in this week’s show were Natccu, a talented singer song writer who will be touring the UK soon. Check here site for details.

At the end of the show we played some Yugo Sato, a  unique blues guitarist and singer from Tokyo. Yugo Sato was introduced to me by my good friend Ethan Green, creator of Tokyo Werewolf, a website that covers the underground music scene in Japan. Someone give this talented man a job.

We also talked about the latest goings on at Learn Japanese Pod which involve tidying up the site and a new set of articles and lessons which will be posted on the main site. Here’s what it looks like:

Monday – J-Slang

Weekly lessons on slang and the street Japanese you usually don’t find in text books

Tuesday – Main Lesson

As always we will be bringing you the main podcast lesson on Tuesdays

Wednesday -Kanji

We are thinking of doing some sort of weekly kanji lesson. Still thinking about the details but that should be coming up in the next week or so

Thursday – Japan guide

We will try to post some kind of travel guide and reviews at least twice a month for those interested in exploring Japan

Friday – Fun Friday

Of course. Did we really need to tell you that?

If you have any questions or comments either leave a comment at the bottom of this post or send us an email at info[at]learnjapanesepod[dot]com