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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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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

[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

I found this poster on the wall of an alley way in Kichijoji in west Tokyo. Created by Musashino city, it asks people to reduce the number of plastic bags they use when shopping.

Top title:

ノーレジ袋キャンペーン。お買い物は毎バッグ。

noh regi bukuro kyanpehn. okaimono wa mai baggu.

No plastic bag at the check out campaign. Use your own bag for shopping.

The man on the right is saying to the woman:

またレジ袋なの？

mata regi bukuro nano?

Are you still using bags from the check out?

The woman sheepishly replies:

次からマイバッグね

Tsugi kara mai baggu ne

I’ll bring my own bag next time

So they are trying to reduce the amount of plastic bags which is good. Now all they need to do is stop people obsessively buying all the plastic rubbish that goes in “mai baggu” in the first place. Added to that is the large amount of packaging used for products here.

Although it is not the only place to indulge in green washing, Japan does have more than it’s fair share. Like a lot of green campaigns I have seen, the only thing green is the lettering on the promotional materials being handed out, printed on paper and wrapped in plastic. But it’s “OK” because the ink is eco friendly. I have seen hybrid taxis with their engines running while the driver sleeps in the cab. The other day I saw a t-shirt in a shop window that read “zero carbon” next to a 40 inchi plasma TV no one was watching.

Just about every car advert on TV here tries to bizarrely link driving a ton and a half of gasoline spluttering car to being eco-friendly. It’s not. ITS A CAR ( he self righteously writes from his un-eco-friendly mac laptop).

Not to be too cruel to Musashino city, it’s a cool poster with a good message. Now ,can we accelerate things so we aren’t just arranging chairs on the titanic?

 

 

 

 

Recently I’ve been walking around Tokyo and noticing the talent the police have for making extremely disturbing posters. It seems they want to keep us safe while giving us freaky nightmares. These posters give us a glimpse into what is happening on the streets of Japan, at least in the minds of police and the powers that be. The topics in these posters related to issues you wouldn’t normally associate with Japan, possibly because most Japanese wouldn’t really want to dwell on them too much.

Take this poster for instance. The title in the red speech bubble at the top reads ひったくり多発 – hittakuri tatatsu – A large number of purse snatchings. I knew that there was an evil spiderman but I didn’t realize he and his friends had turned to stealing women’s handbags.

In the more boring outer suburbs of Tokyo, uninspired kids who haven’t thought of anything better to do hop on their 50cc scooters and cruise the streets for easy pickings. Targets are usually women carrying handbags, handbags that are probably worth more than their contents. It has become quite a problem and you can see signs warning you to be alert.

This poster gives a few tips on how to be safe:
防犯ネットが無いと危ない – bouhan netto ga naito abunai yo – If you don’t have anti theft net (over your bike basket) it’s dangerous

防犯ネットなら心配ないわね – bouhan netto nara shinpai nai wa ne – With an anti theft net, there’s no need to worry.

肩掛けだから安心だね – katakake dakara anshin da ne – because I’m carrying it over my should I can feel safe

At the bottom of the poster it tells us:
バッグは建物側に携行しましょう – baggu wa tatemono gawa ni keikou shimashou – You should hold your bag on the side of the buildings (not the road)

背後に用心して、振り返ってみましょう – seato ni youjin shite, furikaette mimashou – Be aware and see what is behind you.

You can find these posters outside police boxes and in train stations. I’ll be looking at some more interesting posters around Tokyo and posting the results here. Stay blogged…

Eating out in Japan should be one of the greatest experiences any travelling foreigner should ever encounter. Yet while it creates quite a lot of excitement for some (i.e. me. My mantra is “I can’t say I don’t like something if I haven’t tried it”) for many Japanese dining is cause for nerves and stress. Some worry that they may not understand the menu and end up with a plate full of sea creatures still alive enough to crawl down their throats, or that no-one in the restaurant will speak any English. Others worry about the cost too, which is definitely a concern in Tokyo – and I should know. A few months back, my boyfriend and I, on an impulse, ducked into a tiny teppanyaki restaurant in Roppongi. 2 hours and ¥70,000 yen later, we left full albeit a little dazed and confused too.

But a meal here with all the trimmings doesn’t ever need to cost you your month’s rent. An eatery in the heart of Ginza has the matters at hand covered, providing English and picture menus, the occasional bi-lingual waitress, along with a traditional Japanese dining experience.

Introducing Umenohana. Umenohana is actually a chain of restaurants found all across Japan that offers customers kaiseki style of dining within a small quiet dining area or in the privacy of your own tatami room. Kaiseki loosely translates to mean a customary multi-course meal and with Umenohana offering two set menus specializing in yuba (a tofu derivative) and tofu, this restaurant is a must-go for all foreigners in Japan.

Now for those of you unsure about tofu and yuba, let me assure you that I have taken even the most ardent “meat and potatoes” man to Umenohana and he loved it, even admitting that most of the time he could not tell it was tofu. In fact most people leave the place having learned a thing or two about tofu – firstly that it is incredibly delicious and secondly that they had no idea it could be prepared, cooked and served in such a variety of ways. I will let the photos speak for themselves…

As is customary with kaiseki dining, each portion is small, but with the courses number over 10 (I always lose count!), you will not leave hungry. The cost of the set menus are a very reasonable ¥4600 for Umenohana-zen and ¥5100 for Shiawase-zen and I recommend going at least twice as both menus are entirely different from each other. Drinks are not included in the price, but start around ¥530 for beer and shochu, going up to ¥5,500 for bottles of good quality sake.

Bookings are essential, particularly if you want to dine in a private tatami room (recommended, and at no extra cost too!) – use the opportunity to practice your Japanese over the phone. I always start off saying I do not speak Japanese very well and have my key phrases rehearsed concerning the time, day and number of people the reservation is, for and the receptionist has never been anything less than extremely helpful.

Umenohana is definitely one of those restaurants to take visiting friends and family to. The staff is warm and welcoming, and the “Japan-ness” of the encounter is second to none, with some great photo opps and interesting conversation points amongst scrumptious food and drink guaranteed.

Please check the website below for restaurant locations and booking information:
http://www.umenohana.co.jp/e/index.html

Note: Prices and menu offerings may vary slightly between restaurants. These prices have been taken from Umenohana, Ginza.

AUTHOR: ELISABETH LAMBERT