Blog
Apartment hunting
I’ve just signed a contract for a new apartment in Japan after a day of hunting via two different estate agents. One based in Ikebukuro, and the other in Iidabashi. Both were looking for me east of those locations, but the end results was markedly different.
The first way Lead Trust and the second Able.
In the end I signed with Able, however I first went to Lead Trust. Also recommended to me were Mini Mini, but in the end I didn’t go. They do apparently deal in quite a lot of very small, but cheap apartments and a English friend of mine said good things about the company. Lead Trust I didn’t get any recommendations about, but a Japanese friend found some apartments online via them so he booked an appointment for me. Able was recommended via a friend as having been used twice before with good results.
From my experience, don’t use Lead Trust. Their service was fine, although I didn’t like the fact that everything they showed me has two months gift money （礼金）when 1 month is common, but the apartments were OK and we got taken to three, the last of which was a newly refurbished, pretty large manshon（マンション） 3 minutes from a very convenient station. The price was good (1 month gift money), the location excellent. The final bill however was extortionate. Their agency fee was 1.05 months rent, which isn’t unusual but many agencies at this time of the year have a campaign for half price fees. The apartment also came with a cleaning fee (nearly half a month’s rent), for the previous tenant or for me, I don’t know, and an extra fee (1/4 month’s rent), I can’t remember what it was for, and then the thing which made me angry; a charge for a guarantor company even thou my Japanese friend sitting next to me was going to be the the guarantor. ‘But because you’re a foreigner the guarantor company is still required, even if you have a guarantor already’ they said. That’s an extra 1/2 month’s rent, please. Bollocks. I’m not entirely sure if that was a lie, but research online suggests this just isn’t the case. You only use a company if you haven’t got a Japanese that can do it. Maybe different landlords are picker than others, but the guy in the agency said ‘almost always’ this is so, which I do think is either ignorance or a lie.
Suffice to say, I didn’t sign. In any case, I still needed to see Able.
This estate agent was far better. Same service (I see why they charge so much, you get driven to each place by an agent), but with a better selection of apartments with lower initial fees. They had a campaign which was half price fees, and no cleaning fee or guarantor money. I got a new apartment in a nice location for work, for a lot less up front money. They even pushed the gift money down a bit on my request.
You can go with other companies who specialize in dealing with foreigners. I was recommended Tokyo Rent but they didn’t have anything in the area I wanted. There are others too. I expect rents to be higher with these companies or else quality lower.
A few things I learned.
1) Searching online isn’t as useful as I thought. The information of some apartments was just wrong. Campaign special prices that rise after 3 months, or just plain wrong. I don’t think there was a single one found online that we actually went to see. If you want the most accurate information go direct to an agency and get them to find places. You have to do it anyway.
2) Check the charges first. Obvious, but I really wasn’t expecting that guarantor charge or cleaning fee.
3) Learn to right your address, occupation and company address, in Kanji.
4) Generally you have to pay gift money. Places without tend to be higher rent.
There are other options. I could have rented a place with my company. It would have been furnished, although probably not cheaper for the location I wanted. No initial fees, of course, but if I move company I have to move apartment anyway. I could have got cheaper rent If I’d hunted more but I had a deadline and the place I finally found was very nice.
Now the hassle of moving my stuff, and cleaning this current apartment to within an inch of it’s life.
34th Grand Sumo Tournament
I went to see the 34th Grand Sumo Tournament at Ryogoku Stadium on Sunday. This was the first time for me, seeing live sumo, although as a kid I always used to watch it on Channel 4 in the UK. At that time however sumo was still pretty much a Japanese only sport, but now foreigners are coming to dominated the top ranks. You can Wikipedia for more info although the foreign born reference is out of date. This site shows a list of all wrestlers and states there are 57 active foreign fighters out of 703.
Two wrestlers going at it
Doesn’t sound a lot, but as you restrict to the higher ranks, the percentage goes up a bit. Although, I had gotten the impression that there was a crisis in sumo with the number of foreigners outweighing native Japanese. From looking at the stats I still see a great number of Japanese. Maybe it’s because the top rank, Yokozuna, has been dominated by foreigners for the last 10 years (see bottom of page).
But in any case, Sunday’s 1-day tournament is outside the normal schedule for determining rank, and was won by a Japanese, apparently a feat last done 7 years ago.
Will they start this time?
The final was between a Bulgarian born Ozeki (2nd rank) by the name of Kotooshu, and a native Sekiwake (3rd rank) wrestler called Goeido. Goeido had made it past several higher ranked wrestlers, including toppling the reigning champion and Yokozuna in the semi-final, before tripping up the Bulgarian to claim the top prize, a hefty 円3,200,000 (about $36,000 dollars). Not bad for a days work, although in global sporting terms quite modest I suppose.
Bulgarian finalist
As could be expected from a drought of native champions, everyone was quite pleased when Goeido won, the post championship interview focusing on how great it was a native had won after so long. Although as in the best sumo tradition, the interviewer did most of the talking.
The sumo itself was much as I remember. A long preamble in which the opponents glare at each other and pretend to get ready to start, although you know full well they won’t at the sweeper guys haven’t even gotten out the way yet. Once they’ve done this 2 or 3 times, they start the match, which is usually over in 10 seconds. Although, you couldn’t feel bored as the matches continued one after another pretty much without rest, the ceremony of the whole event always allowing your eyes to be kept busy with something interesting, be it the guy who sings at the end of each
Keeping the ring tidy
bout, the sweepers keeping the ring clean and correct, the wrestlers themselves and their elaborate preparation, or magnificent dress of the referees.
Traditional crooner
We were there for about 2 hours, in not too shabby seats on the second floor. Although maybe next time I’ll fork out for the first floor cushion seats, so I can throw them at the ring when something happens I like (or not), as many people did for the final two bouts.
Hay Fever in Japan “花粉症” (Kafunshō)
It’s February which means the hay fever season is upon us. Every year at this time, thousands of tons of cedar pollen swirls around Japan making life miserable for millions. The number of sufferers depends on who you ask but estimates range from 10% to 20% of people in Japan and that’s a lot of runny noses.
Business has been quick to cash in by providing a wide range of products designed to alleviate symptoms. These include antihistamine tablets, face masks, nose sprays and goggles which account for 20 billion yen in annual sales.
Why does Japan have so much cedar?
Between the 50s and 70s, around 4.5 million hectares of cedar trees were planted in an attempt to meet the growing need for construction materials. However, it eventually became more economical to import lumber from abroad making the cedar plantations obsolete. Even today as the forests mature the amount of cedar produced increases as do the number of hay fever sufferers. Apparently, even the monkeys are suffering. The cedar looks as if it is here to stay as government plans to reduce the plantations are not ambitious or well funded.
In the mean time the only course open to most people is to by whatever is on offer at the pharmacy and check out the pollen maps of Japan. Weathernews.jp has an excellent pollen map of Japan updated in real time. I’ll definitely be referring to it in the coming months. Wish me luck and plenty of chainsaws…
Some useful links:
General Facts on Hey Fever (Japan Times)
Tokyo Weekender on NHK
This is a video segment about the Tokyo Weekender Magazine which I am involved with. It’s a magazine for the foreign community living in Tokyo and has been going for about 40 years.
The other day, NHK came, filmed around the office and followed Kelly the editor of the magazine on her rounds. I’m in the video for about 2 seconds trying and failing to not look like a complete idiot speaking Japanese.
Some of the Japanese in this isn’t too challenging so this might be good practice for you budding students of the language. NHK was also kind enough to provide subtitles for our interviews so there is some reading practice for you too.
Enjoy.
Japanese Language Learning Links and Resources
Character and Writing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system – A Wiki article on historical development of Japanese writing system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoiku_kanji – List of kanjis to be learnt in elementary school with the pronunciations and meanings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyo_kanji – List of kanjis to be learnt up until high school with pronunciations and meanings.
http://brng.jp/50renshuu-s.pdf – printable practise sheet for hiragana and katakana
http://kanjisite.com/html/start/index.html – Kana and kanji – preparation for JLPT.
http://members.aol.com/writejapan/index.htm – katakana/hiragana and some kanji writing tutor (with stroke order animations)
http://nihongo.isc.chubu.ac.jp/komor…kanji2056.html – 2056 kanjis with stroke orders indicated by live-action video
http://kakijun.main.jp/ – Kanji stroke order database (more than 4000 characters listed)
http://hesjapanese.com/ – Kana lessons with sound and animation files
http://kanjisite.com/html/start/jlpt/4/all/index.html – JLPT kanji levels
http://www.jlpt-kanji.com/ – Another web page that helps you when it comes to kanjis for the JLPT.
http://www.kanjistep.com/ – Very cool page for kanji beginners, includes writing order, meanings, etc.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~kanji/ – kanji stroke orders
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/jouyoukanji.html – printable list of the jōyō kanji as well as a some other commonly seen ones, arranged in the order they are learnt in Japanese schools.
http://www.polarcloud.com/kanji – printable kanji flashcards
http://homepage2.nifty.com/Gat_Tin/kanji/honji.htm – Variant forms of Chinese characters; from China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
http://www.realkana.com/ – practice the reading of random characters from your selected list
http://www.flickr.com/groups/brush_calligraphy/ – Flickr group to help decipher calligraphy works
Online Lessons/Tutorials:
http://www.learn-japanese.info/ – Easy to follow grammar lessons, some vocabulary. Nice for starters.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/columns/0002/ – The excellent Daily Yomiuri Online “Pera Pera Penguin” articles.
http://www.ichiban.narod.ru/nihongo/nihongo.html – Various tutorials and phrase books in Russian.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/lesson/ – Japanese lessons by NHK Radio available in 17 languages
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/japanese/cover.html – Teach yourself Japanese – Basic Japanese with a linguistics approach.
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/grammarpage.php – One hundred “watered-down, understandable, bite-sized grammar helps”.
http://jplang.tufs.ac.jp/account/login – JPLANG provides e-learning materials for learning Japanese, developed by a TUFS team.
http://www.trymango.com/language_program.php – for beginners, lots of audio, free but with a registration
http://www.basic-japanese.com/ – 34 free lessons and tools
http://www.manythings.org/japanese/ – free-to-use online study materials
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagod…/1jp/main.html – conversational topics and grammar references
http://www.japanese-online.com/ – Free lessons on particles and sentence structures: audio files available for conversation examples.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/i-yasu/bk-les.htm – 市川保子’s lessons by grammatical topics, compiled from Q&A: Japanese
http://homepage3.nifty.com/i-yasu/bk-les-e.htm – the English version of the above
http://www.pantomime.org/nihongo-tusin/note.html – frequently asked questions about Japanese: Japanese
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanese – textbook project by Wiki volunteers
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~sg2h-ymst/yamatouta/intro/dousikatuyou.html – grammar of Classical Japanese: Japanese
Reading Material:
http://www.genpaku.org/ – Collaborative translation project. Usufruct granted by acknowledgement.
http://www3.cnet-ta.ne.jp/p/pddlib/ – Public domain documents including an encyclopaedia, a biographical dictionary and Japanese laws
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/ – Collection of copyright-free works. A lot of texts have phonetic guides in hiragana.
http://hukumusume.com/douwa/ – listen and read fairy-tales
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20683 – Oku no Hosomichi by Matsuo Bashō
http://eloise.cocolog-nifty.com/rodoku/ – Japanese classics in text and audio files
http://ikeda-hideo.hp.infoseek.co.jp/library_e.html – text and audio files of early modern Japanese literature
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/languages/ja – Japanese reading materials in Project Gutenberg
http://www.esuj.gr.jp/cgi-local/Docu…d=list&lang=jp – Contemporary Japanese opinions with English translations
http://jpn.scripturetext.com/matthew/1.htm – Japanese Bible translation with cross references to other translations: courtesy 電網聖書
Pronunciation:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showp…52&postcount=9 – IPA explanations and tools, compiled by WR’s own timpeac.
http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html – sound files for IPA symbols as revised in 1996
http://ipa4linguists.pbwiki.com/ – instructions for setting up your computer to display IPA symbols
http://www.siskiyous.edu/NCTA/Japane…iles/index.htm – sound files for Japanese syllabary and verb conjugations.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2151706_impr…unciation.html – Quick tips of phonemes (aimed at English speakers)
http://www.voiceblog.jp/ted606/ – Recitations including classic literature (texts may be found in Aozora Bunko)
http://www.voiceblog.jp/kiyo22/ – Recitations by a voice actor (texts may be found in Aozora Bunko)
http://www.env.kitakyu-u.ac.jp/corpus/texts/index.html – audio samples from very non-structured interviews
Web Services:
http://webcat.nii.ac.jp/webcat.html – Searches library catalogues in universities and research institutions.
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ – Searches journal articles by the title.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/ – Home page of National Diet Library.
http://www.google.co.jp/ – Google Japan with Web services in Japanese.
http://www.yahoo.co.jp/ – Yahoo’s Japanese portal.
http://podcastle.jp/ – Nascent technology for transcribing and searching podcasts.
Media:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/ – News from NHK, Japan’s public service broadcaster.
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/ann/news/web/index.html – TV Asahi News is another good listening resource with transcripts. Enjoy!
http://www.rikai.com/perl/Home.pl – Generates small vocabulary bubbles for Japanese news text.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/index_j.html – live streaming of NHK Radio Japan
http://news.tbs.co.jp/ – News site of TBS, a commercial network.
Dictionaries:
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi – Commonly known as Jim Breen’s dictionary, supports a verb conjugator.
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1R – search for kanjis by combinations of stroke counts and radicals
http://www.jisho.org/ – WWWJDIC spin-off with more user-friendly interface
http://www.online-dictionary.biz/english/japanese/ – another WWWJDIC spin-off
http://dico.fj.free.fr/traduction/index.php – French-Japanese / Japanese-French dictionary.
http://www.alc.co.jp/ – A bidirectional English-Japanese database with a search box for looking up more natural expressions.
http://www.yamasa.cc/members/ocjs/ka…nPage?OpenForm – A bidirectional English-Japanese dictionary and kanji guides
http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/ – Online dictionaries offered from Yahoo! Japan Dictionary. Includes Ja-En, En-Jp and Jp-Jp.
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/ – Online dictionaries offered from Goo, another Japanese search engine. Includes Ja-En, En-Jp and Jp-Jp.
http://www.excite.co.jp/dictionary/ – Online dictionaries offered from Excite. Includes En-Ja, Ja-En, Jp-Jp, Ch-Ja and Ja-Ch.
http://www.englishjapaneseonlinedictionary.com/ A Romaji English <> Japanese dictionary.
http://www.trussel.com/f_nih.htm – Jeffrey’s Jp<>En Dict. Kana and Romanji input. Display results in Romanji and Kanji
http://www.j-talk.com/nihongo/search/kanjisearch.php – Kanji-English Dictionary
http://www.dictjuggler.net/tamatebako/index.html – 類語玉手箱 is an on-line Japanese thesaurus: Japanese
http://www.matsu-kaze.net/mk/kanji/ – Kanji (教育漢字)-English Dictionary by romaji input.
http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary.html – Kanji Dictionary, with stroke order, English meaning, On-yomi (phonetic reading), Kun-yomi (native Japanese reading), irregular pronunciations (e.g.一日 = ついたち), example sentences, and audio files.
http://www.languageguide.org/nihongo/ – thematic picture dictionary with audio
http://www.nihonjiten.com/ – Collection of numerous Japanese dictionaries
http://www.hikyaku.com/dico/onmyog.html – kanji dictionary and themed lists
Specialised Vocabulary and Phrase Books:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Japanese_phrasebook – Survival Japanese for Travellers.
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SilkRoad-…ei/jinmei.html – list of typical nanori; special kanji pronunciations for personal names
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~suzakihp/index40.html – Japanese family names; click on 1.苗字検索 in the left pane.
http://yubin.senmon.net/ – A database of Japanese place names, searchable in kanji and hiragana.
http://gogen-allguide.com/ – etymology dictionary: Japanese
http://coe21.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/djvuchar – Chinese characters from Tang inscriptions; search by CJK allomorphs/scripts [説明書]
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ax2s-kmtn/ref/old_chara.html – Tables to match old and new kanji forms.
http://homepage2.nifty.com/TAB01645/ohara/ – Dictionary of Japan-made kanjis. Entries are provided as image files. Japanese
http://hougen.atok.com/ – User-driven database for regional dialects
http://ryukyu-lang.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/ – The Ryukuan language phonetic database; Nakijin, Shuri-Naha, Amami, Miyako dialects
http://sanabo.com/words/?=index – Yojijukugo (four-charactered idioms) with definitions, usages and English translations.
http://nihongoup.com/blog/japanese-color-names/ – Japanese colour names cheat sheet
http://hiramatu-hifuka.com/onyak/onyindx.html – Pronunciation dictionaries compiled by topics.
http://www.saglasie.com/tr/chemical/ – Names of chemical substances in Japanese and English; database
http://www.ffcr.or.jp/Zaidan/mhwinfo…25684600083647 – list of aromatic bases: Japanese and English
http://www.tradmedicine.com/term/syoyaku-db.html – list of crude drugs: Japanese and scientific names
http://zokugo-dict.com/ – Slang with definition and usage.
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_htsrv_tdy – Glossary of colloquial expressions
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_sit_browse – Themed list of conversational phrases
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=1 – Glossary of loan words and Japanese English
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=2 – Glossary of yojijukugo or four-character expressions
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=3 – Glossary of proverbs and clichés
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=4 – Glossary of onomatopoeias and mimetic words
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/s_kaydic?ctg_in=5 – Glossary of Japanese culture and news
http://www.geocities.jp/tomomi965/index.html – Proverbs and clichés with synonymous and antonymous expressions.
http://crlao.ehess.fr/japonais-coree…eDesIndex.html – Dictionnaire terminologique de linguistique japonaise/日本語言語学専門用語和仏辞典
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wbaxter/etymdict.html – Mandarin, Middle Chinese and Japanese pronunciations; PDF
http://www.schei.com/dictionary/ – English/Japanese Japanese/English Aviation Dictionary 和英・英和航空学辞典
http://e-words.jp/ – Dictionary of information technology terms: Japanese
http://www.geocities.jp/ps_dictionary/a.htm – 英語－日本語電気専門用語辞書
http://www5.synapse.ne.jp/sio/siof1/…dic_E_top.html – Financial Dictionary (EN <> JP)
http://engeinavi.jp/fen/ – 園芸ナビ 花の園芸用語辞典 (JP <> EN)
http://www.e-bridge.jp/eb/tcontents/…edic.php?job=0 – 橋梁の英和・和英辞典 (JP <> EN)
Grammar:
http://www.jgram.org/ – Very useful web page when studying grammar for the JLPT (from 4kyū to 1kyū).
http://www.nihongoresources.com A rather successful all-in-one Japanese site. From very basic dictionary, to grammar through particles. Noteworthy: giongo (which are onomatopoeia but there’s more to it!).
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/index.html#contents – Japanese grammar reference by constructions.
http://books.google.com/books?id=l_f3b7J2zjcC – constructions compendium offered as a Google search service
http://www.jpf.go.jp/j/urawa/j_rsorc…_04_02_04.html – teaching materials by the Japanese-Language Institute
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=g…ummary_r&cad=0 – Japanese by Iwasaki is a reference in a theoretical framework
Particles:
http://www.timwerx.net/language/particles.htm – Particles overview.
http://japanese.about.com/blparticles.htm – Basic particles overview at about.com.
http://home.inter.net/kenbutler/particlehome.html – A guide to the functions of structural particles in Japanese.
http://www.geocities.jp/nihongoguide/particles2.html – Verb related particles.
http://www.maedera.com/home/jgrammar…r/jgr_part.htm – Particles from a linguistic point of view.
Software:
http://abctajpu.mozdev.org/ – A Firefox add-on to enable easy input of Unicode characters: includes kana shortcuts.
http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/ – For Firefox users: Rikaichan is a pop-up dictionary – reads Japanese web-pages.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/szunvukung/kk/ – Kanji flashcard system by Peter Salvi. Uses Tcl/Tk.
http://wakan.manga.cz/ – freeware that parses Japanese text in English and Furigana and Romanji (Hepburn)
http://wakan.manga.cz/files/wakan_full_167.exe – complete download
http://nihongo.j-talk.com/parser/ – converts both Kanji and Kana into Romaji (select “Kanji to Romaji” option)
http://www.furiganizer.com/ – provides furigana to Japanese texts
http://www.popjisyo.com/WebHint/Portal_e.aspx – parses Japanese sites and provides pop-up vocabulary. Also in Chinese and Korean.
http://www.freewebs.com/horazio/freeware.htm – Pazuru Alfabet is a learning tool that helps to recognize kanas.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/jgrammar/…s/tradkan0.htm – Converts between Chinese and Japanese kanjis, old and new varieties.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/jgrammar/…s/readkan0.htm – kaňon (漢音), goon (呉音), MSC and Hanja pronunciations output
http://homepage3.nifty.com/jgrammar/…s/zen2hanz.htm – Converts between fullwidth and halfwidth forms.
http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jwpce.html – Japanese word processor, with a built-in IME for kana input and kanji conversion. Also supports dictionaries.
http://ajaxime.chasen.org/ – Online Web-based Japanese Input Method
http://japan.adventuresoftim.com/flash.asp – vocabulary flash cards
http://www.tagaini.net/ – Tagaini Jisho is a free, open-source Japanese dictionary and kanji lookup tool.
http://www.byki.com/ – a flashcard style system, the tool contains set lists of basic phrases for certain situations
http://nihongoup.com/ – Japanese educational game and reviewing tool (kana, JLPT kanji, vocabulary and particles)
About Japanese:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language – Wikipedia’s general account of the Japanese language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb_conjugations – Comprehensive tables for Japanese verb conjugations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology – Basic topics of Japanese phonology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_grammar – An account of Japanese grammar with emphasis on morphology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_particle – particles galore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics – Japanese honorifics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes…ntracted_words – Japanese abbreviated and contracted words
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sound_symbolism – Japanese sound symbolism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanes…raphic_symbols – typographic symbols
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_punctuation – punctuation marks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_…poken_Japanese – gender differences in Japanese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word – list of Japanese counters and phonological alterations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb – conjugation paradigms of verbs and adjectives
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambun – Kambun is the traditional conventions for translating Classical Chinese texts.
http://users.tmok.com/~tumble/qadgtj.html – Titled “A quick and dirty guide to Japanese”.
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/kanaqadgtj.html – The quick and dirty guide to Japanese. (kana version)
http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/ – Blog, lessons and method of learning Japanese
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ewey…nime/japanese/ – tips for common but difficult expressions
http://www.kanji.org/kanji/japanese/writing/outline.htm – Outline of the Japanese Writing System
http://kimallen.sheepdogdesign.net/Japanese/index.html – fundamental differences of Japanese from European languages
http://www.classical-japanese.net/ – Translations and grammar for Classical Japanese
http://nihon5ch.net/contents/ch5/dai…08-3-part2.pdf – list of transitive and intransitive verb pairs: PDF file
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/conditional.html – concise article on Japanese conditionals
http://www.cic.sfu.ca/tqj/GettingRig…conundrum.html – an essay on different systems for Latin transcription
http://homepage3.nifty.com/park/aspect.htm – A Study of “V-te iru” in Japanese by Taeko Tomioka
Links:
http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/m.rowley/resources.html – Melita Rowley’s Japanese learning resources.
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html – Once again Jim Breen’s. This time his Japanese related web page. Ugly, but every link in that page is worth gold.
Corpora:
http://kokkai.ndl.go.jp/ – searchable record of proceedings of the Diet
http://teikokugikai-i.ndl.go.jp/ – searchable record of proceedings of the Imperial Parliament
Tokyo Weekender Magazine
For those of you interested in Tokyo and possibly planning a trip here you should check out Tokyo Weekender Magazine.
What is it?
It’s a lifestyle magazine and website aimed at the foreign community living in Tokyo. It covers various topics including fashion, parties, events, products and a lot more. It was traditionally aimed at the expats but the website might have an appeal to a global audience who are interested in what’s happening in Tokyo.
When did it start?
It started in 1970 back in the days before the internet, twitter and even the Sony Walkman. A lot has changed since then and with the recent updates to the website it could morph into something quite different. After the 40th Anniversary watershed there is even talk of video and audio podcasts but we’ll have to wait and see.
Blogs
One really good recent feature is the inclusion of blogs written by the editorial staff. They cover different aspects of life in Japan and are updated regularly. They include:
Tokyo Designed: A blog on cool design from Tokyo and looking for interesting new products around the metroplis
Tokyo Foodspotting: This is a great little blog with information on random culinary discoveries made in Tokyo.
Tokyo In Heels: Not all blogs on Tokyo are written by nerdy men who collect plastic dolls. This is a great blog on fashion for women in Tokyo. Check it out ladies.
Some useful Links
The Tokyo Weekender Facebook Group
Reading Practice – Japanese Graded Readers
I haven`t been posting much the last few months. Things have been rather busy in my life.
I did want to write about this little gem I came across for reading practice.
My language partner gave me a set of Japanese Graded Readers for Christmas. This is the sort of book I have been looking for over the last 2 or 3 years. It has furigana for all kanji, pictures that help set the context, and a cd to follow along if you want to listen. This is sort of the Japanese version of the `I see Sam` or Dick and Jane books, but seem to be intended for second language learners.
My set came from Kinokuniya bookstore, but I looked up a few links in case this catches anyone`s interest.
Japanese Graded Readers website has some samples of the pages and audio.
The books on amazon: This is not my favorite place to buy, but probably the easiest access if you want to get your hands on them.
I looked at the website of the bookstore and you can only find them there using the Japanese title: レベル別 日本語多読 ライブラリー
Climbing Mount Fuji
Last August I hung out at the Solar Cafe. It is part of the Earth Embassy, an organic farm and learning center for sustainable living located in Yamanashi prefecture. I was helping my friend Jake out on the farm as part of my attempt to escape the madness of Tokyo and relax over the summer holidays.
During my stay I met Hugo and Adam who climbed Mount Fuji. I shot this interview with them and asked them about their experiences. They also give some good advice about climbing Mount Fuji, what to do and what to avoid. I think the moral of the story is be prepared and don’t underestimate Fuji, it can be more challenging that you think.
Map of the video
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Japan Links And Resources
Japan Resources
| Site Name | Type Of Site | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Japandra | Blog | A great blog with funny observations about life in Tokyo |
| Tokyo Weekender | Blog | The online version of the Tokyo Weekender magazine. A huge amount of information on Tokyo |
| Tokyo Werewolf | Blog | A great blog on the underground music scene in Tokyo |
| Japan Probe | Blog | A website with a wealth of information and news from Japan |
| Tofugu | Blog | A blog containing info on Japanese culture and learning the language |
| Shibuya 246 | Blog | Great products, trends and photos from Japan |
| Tokyotopia | Blog | A blog/website with useful information on Tokyo |
| Rikai Chan | Dictionary | A powerful Kanji reading dictionary plugin for firefox |
| Jisho | Dictionary | One of the best Japanese-English-Japanese dictionaries on line |
| Jref Forum | Forum | A forum on Japan |
| Japan Forum | Forum | A forum on all aspects of Japan |
| Maggie Sensei | Japanese Study | Entertaining blog on learning Japanese with Maggie Sensei, a dog! |
| Kanji Koohii | Japanese Study | Great online resource for learning kanji |
| Smart Fm | Japanese Study | A very slick online course for learning various languages including Japanese. Lots of audio and dictation exercises |
| Japanese Language Proficiency Test | Japanese Study | The official website for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test |
| Anki | Japanese Study | Excellent software for learning vocabulary |
| http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar | Japanese Study | A great Japanese grammar resource by Tae Kim |
| Gaijin Pot | Jobs in Japan | Gaijin Pot is one of the most popular sites for finding jobs in Japan |
| Mainichi Daily News | News | Mainichi Daily news website |
| Japan Today | News | Japan Today news website |
| News on Japan | News | News on Japan's website |
| Japan Pod Show iTunes Subscribe | Podcasts | A great podcast created by Joseph Tame and friends on life in Japan |
| Japancast iTunes subscribe | Podcasts | A great podcast for learning Japanese |
| Rinkya | Products For Sale | Buy products from Japan |
| Flutterscape | Products For Sale | Buy and sell products from Japan |
| Hyperdia | Train Route Planner | Find your way around the Japanese rail system |
| Jorudan | Train Route Planner | Find your way around the Japanese rail system |
Learn Japanese Pod New Year’s Party
Learn Japanese Pod and Tokyo Weekender Magazine will be joining up to hold a New Year’s Party on Jan 15th in Roppongi. The Weekender Magazine is celebrating their 40th Anniversary and we will be celebrating the fact that it isn’t 2009 anymore. We are expecting a lot of people to come so this will be a great opportunity to meet new people, practice your Japanese and have a lot of fun in the process. Here are the details.
Location: 57 in Roppongi
Date: 15th January 2010
Time: 8pm start
Entrance: 4000 yen advance tickets (5000 yen on the door)
There will be an open bar, food and live music. Guy Perryman will be spinning the decks for us so this promises to be a great party.
You also have the chance to win a lot of freebies in our prize draw. Included in the prizes are free hotel tickets and organic food packages. We Japanese Language school will also be providing some cool prizes for students of Japanese.
You’d be absolutely bonkers not to come and we’d love to see you there. If you are interested please sign up here.
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Mt. Fuji in winter
OK, time for the Mt. Fuji post. I didn’t climb it, but I went the closest I’m prepared to go, to Lake Kawaguchi, which offers extremely good views of Fuji for the price of a bus fare from Shinjuku or Tokyo stations. I recommend a view of the snow covered Fuji, although at this time of year the sun is a bit low which can make you squint looking at it from the Fuji 5 Lakes area as they are to the north east of Fuji. However there are other views from the south that can give your eyes a break. Having said that, I would recommend walking around the Lakes on a warm winter’s day, with Fuji as your backdrop. If you want to copy the plan of action, this is what you need.
1) Get to Shinjuku and go here (street view and website)
2) If you are planning a day trip, go early. I went for 7 and, from the handy timetable found here, you can choose which bus you are going to take there and back.
3) By a ticket. You can book online if you like, but out of season and Japanese national holidays I doubt you’ll find the bus full. Buy the ticket from the ticket office, (1700yen one way, you can’t buy a return you’ll be told, you buy it once there) and get on the bus.
4) Once at Kawaguchiko, follow the signs and go for a walk. The path around the lake lasts about 15km, and stops about half way so you have to follow the road the rest. The reason it stops is the view of Fuji goes behind a smaller mountain, but you are half way round the lake already so you might as well keep going. If you feel lazy there are buses that go around the lakes area. You could go to one of the other lakes if you have time, although the views are no more special, although with maybe less hotels, unless you are willing to travel to Yamanaka lake to the south.
5) Get a bite to eat somewhere after the long walk. There is nothing much around the station but a short walk away are some chain places.
6) Go home. Last buses are at 8ish although that is after an hour wait from the previous one. Also, it gets dark and cold come 5pm so probably best to leave by then anyway. The bus back wasn’t busy, although everyone did pile on once it stopped at at Mt Fuji funland
If you want other ideas on viewing Mt. Fuji, I was mulling over this page for a while. With limited time and the potential of getting lost, I chose the easy option, although climbing a mountain near Lake Yamanaka and watching the sunset did pass my mind, if I thought it wouldn’t die trying to get back in the dark.
More information on travel, including trains (more expensive as far as I can tell) can be found here.
Learn Japanese Pod Videos
Here is a collection of the Learn Japanese Pod videos all in one place for you.
Click on the thumbnails below to take you to the video.
Enjoy!
Seasons greetings! We are all going to die!
No, but seriously we might. As you may well know, Japan has a lot of earthquakes. When I first came here in March there were a couple of months where earthquakes kept popping up a couple of times a week. Nothing serious, more a ‘Welcome to Japan! Here’s an little earthquake or two for starters.’ Of course, that wets the appetite for doom and disaster so I here are my top 5 ways most impressive ways we are all going to die one day.
1) The Great Tokai Earthquake of the 21st Century
While not so bad for Tokyo (and probably Chiba, where I am, will escape severe damage), the Tokai earthquake predicted to hit Shizuoka prefecture anytime soon is a big worry for Japan.
The figure to the left is one of the major fault lines passing close to the mainland of Japan; the Nankai trough. It’s a subduction zone with the Philippine plate pushing itself under the Eurasian plate. The section marked A below is the one pertaining to the Tokai earthquake. It hasn’t ruptured for over 150 years (the last being in 1854), and is well overdue a predicted minimum M8 earthquake, centered somewhere in the Shizuoka prefecture.
If this one goes, which some scientists gave a 35-45% chance this decade, then it will cause massive destruction far worse than the Kobe earthquake of 1995. While Kobe was a different type of earthquake, and less powerful at only M7.4, it is useful as a comparison, noting that a 1 point increase in magnitude is a ~32x increase in power.
http://www.e-quakes.pref.shizuoka.jp/english/guide_01.html
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake_tokai/
http://geology.about.com/od/eq_prediction/a/aa_tokaiquake.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankai_megathrust_earthquakes
2) The Great Kanto Earthquake of the 21st Century
Not afraid of just one devastating once in a lifetime earthquake, well Japan has two lined up. Emanating from a related but separate faultline, the Great Kanto earthquake, affecting Tokyo rather more directly, is also overdue. In 1923 it killed over 100,000 people. Nowadays, while the deaths will probably be a lot less, the economic damage to Japan, and potentially the entire world, could be dire. There is an anime series on the subject of death in Tokyo by earthquake too. Check it out!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_Great_Kant%C5%8D_earthquake
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10704
3) Mt Fuji Eruption
Earthquakes? Meer shaking of the ground. What you really want for death and destruction is an active volcano. While not a very active volcano, the last eruptions being over 300 years ago, the constant threat is always there that eventually Fuji-san will get angry again and belch lava and ash all over Tokyo, prevailing winds coating everything to the east of the volcano. In fact, it has been reported that Fuji is overdue, and that its last eruption, in 1707, was two months after the great Tokai earthquake of that year. Although, it has to be said that the rip in 1854 didn’t set off Fuji, it’s a sobering thought that both might happen at the same time. What does that mean for Tokyo? According to the ash map, between 1-4cm of the grey stuff if the 1707 eruption is anything to go by.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_eruptions_of_Mount_Fuji
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060717-mount-fuji.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dei_eruption_of_Mount_Fuji
http://www.japanprobe.com/2006/07/18/will-mr-fuji-erupt-soon/
4) Tidal Wave
Not content with its own natural disasters, the east coast of Japan could be affected by someone else’s problem. A magnitude 9 earthquake is coming to the west coast of America. The cascadia earthquake may generate a tsunami that will hit Japan and in certain places could cause, going from the past reconstructions, a 2-5m wave. Although this is a minor point compared with the devastation that will affect the US west coast’s major cities.
http://www.livescience.com/environment/050103_cascadia_tsunami.html
http://geology.about.com/od/quake_preparedness/a/aa_cascadiaEQ.htm
http://environment.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment/natural-disasters/earthquake-technology.html
5) Bicycle death
Probably the most fearsome of the lot; crazy obaasan on bicycles. These lean, mean death machines combine two-wheeled destruction from behind with a near super-sonic battle cry. They are to be feared with a terror far greater than the combined power of the Kanto and Toukai earthquakes and Fuji blowing all in the same month (which could happen in theory).
J-Slang 10: Donbiki
Today’s J-Slang is…
ドン引き
donbiki = to creep people out, to make people feel awkward or turned off
彼が痴漢で逮捕されたんだって。どんびきだよね。
kare ga chikan de taihou saretan datte. donbiki da yo ne.
They say he was arrested for molesting women. That’s so creepy. (It leaves me cold)
Donbiki is a phrase that refers to when people get creeped out or turned off by something. It’s used when something happens or someone says something that makes people feel uncomfortable and don’t know how to react.
彼が寒い冗談を言ったら皆がドン引きされていた。
kare ga samui joudan wo ittara mina ga donbiki sareteita.
When he told that terrible joke everyone was left cold.
I was made to do it – される/ させられる
I fell behind in my postings with the busy holidays and a little travel back home. Wordpress ate my first attempt at this a week or two ago. This is the grammar for describing something that someone made you do.
子供の頃に 母に ぼくは ありがとうの手紙を かかされた。
Kodomo no koro ni haha ni bokuha arigatou no tegami wo kakasareta.
When I was a kid, my mom made me write thank-you letters.
ビール先生に １０マィルを 走らされた。
Biiru Sensei ni 10 mairu wo hashirasareta.
Bill Sensei made me run ten milse.
The structure:
に indicates the person making the other person do the action.
は indicates who was or is being made to do the action
を marks any objects involved (thank-you letters)
う – verbs are conjegated as follows:
書く － 書かされる
走る － 走られる
買う － 買わされる
る – verbs: drop る add させられる
食べる － 食べさせられる
irregular vers:
する － させられる
来る － こさせられる
Learn Japanese Pod Get Together
What a crazy year that was and in true Japanese style we will be holding our 忘年会 (Bonenkai) or end of year party. Interesting enough 忘年会 translated literally means “forget the year party” and I can imagine there are more than a few people who would like to do that.
The party will be held at the Pink Cow. We will be holding this in conjunction with their Japanese Lounge event. There will be traditional Japanese music performances from Shakuhachi and Shamisen player. There will also be Kimono wearing.
ENTRANCE: FREE!!!!!
Doors open at 7pm
This is a free event so this is an excellent opportunity to experience some amazing Japanese culture, learn some Japanese and make friends. We would love to see you there so if you are interested please come along and if possible please sign up to the Facebook Event Page so we know how many people to expect.
Useful links:
Health Insurance and Visa Renewal in Japan
According to these unconfirmed sources, it seems possible that enrollment in Japan’s national health insurance system would not be a prerequisite for gaining visa application approval.
“The Free Choice Foundation has obtained a copy of an ‘internal’ Immigration Bureau document that seems to provide a measure of clarification on the issue of foreigners’ enrollment in Japan ’s social health care system as a prerequisite for visa application approval. A DPJ Lower House lawmaker, after questioning Justice Minister Chiba about Guideline Number 8, was sent the document via fax from Immigration. The lawmaker then forwarded the document to a Free Choice supporter.
Although the overall language of the document continues to be somewhat vague (in keeping with the tone of the Guidelines themselves), one very interesting declaration was made in no uncertain terms:
“Accordingly, if a health insurance ID card is not presented (to an immigration officer), that alone cannot be sufficient reason for rejection or denial of a (visa) application.”
This passage makes it very clear that not being enrolled in one of Japan’s public health insurance plans cannot of itself be sufficient cause for declining a foreigner’s application for visa renewal or change of status. It can only be used as one possibly influencing factor when taking into consideration the applicant’s individual circumstances, along with the other seven guidelines. So, if you’re an honest, hard-working foreign resident who just happens to prefer private insurance, not being enrolled in social insurance will not result in your visa application being denied.
Also;
Yesterday representatives from ASIJ, ISSH, NIS and St. Mary’s visited the Nyukan Kyokai (immigration bureau consulting organization) This membership organization is made up of former immigration officials and is established to give advice on immigration issues to member organizations. In yesterday’s meeting we asked for their advice in answering three questions:
1. The purpose of the new immigration guideline?
2. Would the new immigration guideline be implemented in April 2010?
3. What would be the best way to express our organizations concerns regarding the new guideline to immigration officials?
The answers we received were as follows:
1. The purpose of the new guideline is to encourage all citizens to join a national health scheme.
2. The new immigration guideline would definitely NOT be a factor in processing visa applications from April of 2010. Until the guideline becomes a law the immigration office will not actively use the guideline as a criteria to accept or deny visa applications. The immigration office may recommend to applicants not enrolled in a national health plan that they enroll, but they will not use the lack of enrollment as a criteria for denying or approving visas.
3. Both the immigration office and Ministry of Justice have already received numerous concerns from large organizations, including Keidanren, regarding the implementation of the new health certificate guideline therefore it is very likely the DPJ and the Ministry of Justice will review the guideline prior to making any further recommendations as to how it should be implemented or whether it should become a law.”
Aodh’s Grammar Point [04] っけ (What was it again…)
Since I’m done studying for the JLPT (or more appropriately done failing the JLPT) I thought I’d post another grammar point. This is one you hear all the time in a variety of situations when someone has forgotten something and is trying to remember or get the person they’re talking to to remember.
Noun/Verb/Adjective (Plain Form/Polite Past Form) +っけ
何だっけ。 What is it again…
新宿だったっけ。 Was it Shinjuku? I can’t remember.
病気でしたっけ。 He was sick, right? I forgot.
買ったっけ・買いましたっけ。 Did he buy it? I forgot.
行くんだっけ。 He’s going, right? I forgot.
行ったんだっけ。 He went, didn’t he? I forgot.
行くんだったっけ・行くんでしたっけ。 He was going, wasn’t he?
冷たかったっけ。 It was cold, right?
注意：イ Adjectives don’t ever use the Past Polite form (～かったです) with っけ since it can’t attach to です. Also, it’s not recommended to use the Present Tense for Verbs or イ Adjectives. It’s generally unnatural (even in English) to forget something that didn’t happen yet.
This form is only used to express something you did know, but forgot. If you remember た・だ + っけ, you’ll be ok.
Grammar Note: Plain Form
Verb: 行く ・ 行かない ・ 行った ・ 行かなかった
イ Adjective: さむい ・ さむくない ・ さむかった ・ さむくなかった
ナ Adjective: 元気だ ・ 元気じゃない ・ 元気たった ・ 元気じゃなかった
Noun: 雨だ ・ 雨じゃない ・ 雨だった ・ 雨じゃなかった
J-Slang 09: Futoppara
Today’s J-Slang is…
太っ腹
Futoppara = to generous, broad minded, openhearted
彼って太っ腹だね
kare tte futoppara da ne = He’s a really broadminded guy
Although the Kanji 太っ腹 literally means fat stomach, it really refers to someone who is generous or openminded. In the past, travellers to Japan were often shocked when new Japanese acquaintances would give compliments such as “Nice to meet you Mr Smith. my, how fat you are”.
Of ocurse, these days, calling someone fat in Japan would not be a good idea unless you wanted to get a slap in the face. Women have been brought up on a diet of photoshopped magazine stick insect models as the rest of world has. It’s interesting that although 太っ腹 literally migh be quite rude, it has retained its positive real meaning and can be used as a compliment. And that’s phat!
JLPT Q&A
I figured that we could start a discussion to help each other with questions you may have about the JLPT. Specifically grammar questions, but if there’s anything non-grammar related I’m sure someone knows an answer. Personally I find I learn as much or more when I respond to people’s questions, and sometimes the practice tests and workbooks give the right answer without a proper explanation as to why. So if anyone has any grammar questions, ask away!
You can post questions here or on the forums at http://learnjapanesepod.com/forums/japanese-language-proficiency-test/jlpt-qa/ which ever is most convenient for you.
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Recent Posts
- Apartment hunting
- 34th Grand Sumo Tournament
- Hay Fever in Japan “花粉症” (Kafunshō)
- Tokyo Weekender on NHK
- Japanese Language Learning Links and Resources
- Tokyo Weekender Magazine
- Reading Practice – Japanese Graded Readers
- Climbing Mount Fuji
- Japan Links And Resources
- Learn Japanese Pod New Year’s Party