In this podcast Ami and I talk about what to do if you lose your wallet or other personal items when in Japan. The good news is that Japanese people are generally very law abiding and honest. Therefore, if someone finds your lost item, there is a good chance they will hand it in to the police and you will get it back.

If you do lose something, the best idea is to ring the place you think you left it and ask if it has been found. If you lose something on the train it’s best to go to the station master’s office and ask there. If you drop something in the street then you should go to a Koban or police box.

This lesson focuses on how to call the last place you were at to ask the staff if they found you things. Study the vocabulary list and dialogs below to learn how to do it.

Main Podcast

Japanese Dialogues

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Vocabulary featured in the podcast

もしもし	Moshi moshi	Hello (On the phone)
一番寿司でございます	Ichibanzushi de gozaimasu	This is Ichiban Sushi
すみません	Sumimasen	Excuse me
昨日	Kinō	Yesterday
そちら	Sochira	There (Polite)
財布	Saifu	Wallet
カバン	Kaban	Bag
携帯電話	Keitai denwa	Mobile phone
忘れた	Wasureta	Forgot
何色	Nani iro	What colour
少々お待ちください	Shōshō omachi kudasai	One moment please
届いてますよ	Todoitemasu yo	It is here (Someone found it)
ありがとうございます	Arigtō gozaimasu	Thank you

Dialog 01

A:	もしもし幕張メッセでございます。	Moshi moshi, Makuhari Messe de gozaimasu.	Hello, this is Makuhari Messe.
B:	すみません、昨日そちらで財布を忘れたのですが。	Sumimasen, Kinō sochira de saifu o wasureta no desu ga.	Excuse me, I left a wallet there yesterday.
A:	何色のお財布ですか。	Nani iro no osaifu desu ka	What colour is the wallet?
B:	黒い革の財布です。	Kuroi kawa no saifu desu	It is a black leather wallet.
A:	少々お待ちください。届いていますよ。	Shōshō omachi kudasai. Todoite imasu yo.	One moment please. We have it.
B:	ありがとうございます。	Arigatō gozaimasu.	Thank you very much.

Dialog 02

A:	もしもし一番寿司でございます。	Moshi moshi, Ichibanzushi de gozaimasu.	Hello, this is Ichiban Sushi.
B:	すみません、昨日そちらでカバンを忘れたのですが。	Sumimasen, Kinō sochira de kaban o wasureta no desu ga.	Excuse me, I left a bag there yesterday.
A:	何色のおカバンですか。	Nani iro no okaban desu ka	What colour is the bag?
B:	赤い革のカバンです。	Akai kawa no kaban desu	It is a red leather bag.
A:	少々お待ちください。届いていますよ。	Shōshō omachi kudasai. Todoite imasu yo.	One moment please. We have it.
B:	ありがとうございます。	Arigatō gozaimasu.	Thank you very much.

Dialog 03

A:	もしもし六本木ヒルズでございます。	Moshi moshi, Roppongi Hiruzu de gozaimasu.	Hello, this is Roppongi Hills.
B:	すみません、昨日そちらで携帯電話を忘れたのですが。	Sumimasen, Kinō sochira de keitaidenwa o wasureta no desu ga.	Excuse me, I left a mobile phone there yesterday.
A:	携帯電話の機種はなんですか。	Keitaidenwa no kishu wa nan desu ka.	What type of phone is it?
B:	iPhone8です。	iPhone hachi desu.	It’s an iPhone 8.
A:	少々お待ちください。届いていますよ。	Shōshō omachi kudasai. Todoite imasu yo.	One moment please. We have it.
B:	ありがとうございます。	Arigatō gozaimasu.	Thank you very much.

Extra Phrases

Let’s study some other phrases related to lost items:

1) 申し訳ありませんが財布は届いてないようです。

Mōshi wake arimasen ga saifu wa todoite inai yō desu.

I’m very sorry but it seems your wallet hasn’t been handed in.

2) 連絡先を教えていただけたら見つかり次第ご連絡します。

Renrakusaki o oshiete itadaketara mitsukari shidai gorenraku shimasu.

If you give me your contact details we’ll contact you the moment it is found.

3) 忘れ物

Wasuremono

Lost items

4) 紛失届け

Fun shitsu todoke

A form to fill out at the police station for lost items

Cultural Points

1. The Japanese are generally quite law abiding and honest. Most times, if found, your lost items  will be returned.
2. If you lose something on the train go to the nearest 駅長室 Eki Chō shitsu – Station master’s office and tell them what you lost and on which train it was on. They’ll ring ahead to the next station or terminal station to see if they can locate your items.
3. You can also go to any 交番 Koban police box to report lost or stolen items. For lost items you would write out a form called a 紛失届け Fun shitsu todoke

Random Phrase Of The Week

あたまが真っ白

Atama ga masshiro

When you mind goes completely blank or you are lost for words.

留守番電話を残す時いつもあたまが真っ白

Rusuban denwa o nokosu toki ni atama ga masshiro

When I leave a message on an answering machine my mind goes completely blank

In our latest Fun Friday Podcast, Ami and I talked about our favourite Japanese bands and other recent news that has been happening in our lives.

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Welcome to Learn Japanese Pod and the Fun Friday episode where we temporarily put down our Japanese textbooks and talk about Japanese culture and anything else to do with Japan that floats into our heads. In this episode, Ami sensei and I talked about our favorite Japanese bands. I kinda showed my age with some of my selection with some old classic Japanese bands most older people know. But Ami Sensei also likes some of those old classics too so we have a lot of music in common that we like.

So here is a break down of some of the music we talked about.

1. Utada Hikaru – Fantome

If you don’t know who Utada Hikaru is, you must have been living in a cave. She is a diva megastar of Japanese pop and has a long career spanning all the way back to the late 90s. Her latest album is Fantome and features quite an eclectic range of styles on the album. It’s definitely worth a listen and for me Utada is one of those go-to classic J-Pop stars you should have in your Japanese music collection.

2. Kick The Can Crew – Super original

I hadn’t heard of Kick the Can Crew until Ami introduced them to me on the podcast. And on the first listen I really liked them. Japanese are masters of importing foreign culture and recreating it with their own unique interpretation. And rap is no exception. Japanese rap has come into its own and is considered to be a unique and innovative genre. If you like Kick the Can Crew and want to check out more great Japanese rap bands then you won’t go wrong with Rip Slyme and Dragon Ash.

3. Super Fly – Ai O Komete Hanataba O

Super Fly is often called the Janis Joplin of J-Pop. She sings a mix of J-pop and rock and has a wide range and present vocal stle which is a refreshing break from your typical female Japanese singer. She has some pretty solid albums and songs out there and one of my favorites is 愛をこめて花束を Ai o komete hanataba – a song that really showcases some great song writing and powerful singing. That’ll definitely get your toes tapping.

4. Wednesday Campanella – Diablo

Wednesday Campanella is a Japanese pop group headed by the super talented KOM_I, a singer and rapper with an hilarious sense of humour and a very original and creative style. In terms of genre it mixes rap, hop hop, electronic music and J-pop. Their videos are also pretty funny and worth a listen.

5. Okuda Tamio – Marshmallow

Okuda Tamio is a singer song writer, guitarist and producer. He was formerly in a band called Unicorn which was pretty famous in Japan. He later quit to follow his own career. If you ask most Japanese people they will have heard of him and is also known for producing the hit band Puffy. The reason I like him is simple. In a word: guitar. As a nerdy guitarist I love the way he produces rock and gets an incredibly fat guitar sounds. Worth a listen!

6. Dry and Heavy – New Creation

Back in the 90s, reggae hit Japan in a big way and the Japanese reggae scene was born. Today you have some really big reggae music events in Japan including the Reggae Sun Splash festival. One really solid Japanese reggae band I love is “Dry and heavy” which has an incredibly well produced and tight sound. One thing I have found is their albums age really well so they are always a good go to band of summer parties and something to listen to on the beach.

7. Urufuruzu – Osaka Strut

ウルフルズ Urufuruzu are a rock band from Osaka and “Osaka Strut” is one of their big hits. The band is headed by the charismatic Tortoise Matsumoto who has also tried his hand at acting. They enjoyed their biggest initial success with the song “Guts Da Ze”,  a song you should attempt only when you have achieved your black belt in Karaoke.

8. Southern All stars

Southern All Stars are perhaps one of the most, if not, the most famous band in Japan. They have a long career stretching back to the late 70s and are still active now performing live and having their music featured in adverts and on TV. They have over 15 number one hits and, in short, are a legendary band. Go check them out, there’s a lot of music to choose from!

9. Begin

Begin are one of my favorite bands for their great song writing and singing. Their music is influenced by the culture and history of Okinawa. You can hear the traditional San Shin in a lot of their music. It’s a 3 stringed guitar unique to Okinawa. Their most well known songs are “San shin no hana” and “Shimanchu nu takara”.

10. Mr Children

Mr. Children (ミスターチルドレン Misutā Chirudoren)is rock group from Japan who are another mega group with a career going back to the early 90s. Known more commonly as “Misu-Chiru” (ミスチル), they are a band just about everyone has heard of in Japan. They have a large discography and an impressive share of number one hits. All I can say is, do a google search and see where that takes you as they have a fair bit of music out there.

In this podcast, Yoshiko and I (Alex) talk about etiquette for eating out and drinking with friends at an Izakaya, Hanami party or similar events. If you listen to this podcast you will learn some insider cultural knowledge which will help you to give you your black belt in partying with your Japanese friends.

Listen to the Podcast

Fun Friday is back, Hoorah! And if you don’t know what Fun Friday is, it is a podcast where we temporarily put down our textbooks and talk about life, the universe and everything related to life in Japan. In this episode, Yoshiko joined me to review 2016. We talked about our experiences and the major news events of the last year in Japan. I added links to the topics we covered in the podcast. Enjoy!

In this podcast, you will learn how to ask for help in natural, fluent Japanese. Check out the audio dialogues and audio lesson to learn how to get assistance in Japanese. Enjoy!

Main Podcast

Japanese Dialogues

Main Dialogue

A: ちょっといい? Chotto ii?

Can I bother you for a minute?

B: うん。どうした? Un. Dō shita

Sure, what’s up?

A: このパソコンを全部会議室 へ運びたいんだけど手を貸
してくれる? Kono pasokon o zenbu kaigishitsu e hakobitain dakedo te o kashite kureru?

I want to take all these PCs to the meeting room. Could you lend me a hand?

Alex: うん、いいよ。 Un, ii yo.

Sure.

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In this podcast, Asuka and I teach you some useful classroom Japanese phrases so you can interact with your teacher and understand more. We teach you how to ask questions about vocabulary and sentences. In fact, I wish I had known all this when I started to study Japanese in Tokyo all those years ago. It would have helped me learn vocabulary a lot more quickly. We also teach you how to speak in a respectful way to your Sensei. And of course you can catch up with the rest of our random banter about what’s been going on with Asuka and I recently. Check out the podcast!

Main Podcast

Japanese Dialogues

Vocabulary

Japanese	Pronunciation	English
先生	Sensei	Teacher
ちょっと	Chotto	A little
質問	Shitsumon	Question
どうぞ	Dōzo	Please go ahead
…てどういう意味ですか	…te dō iu imi desu ka	What does … mean?
…という意味です。	…to iu imi desu	It means…
…でどんな文章が作るんですか？	…de donna bunshō ga tsukurun desu ka	What kind of sentence can you make with…
食事	Shokuji	Food
残す	Nokosu	To leave something
彼女	Kanojo	Girlfriend
振る	Furu	To shake / to dump someone
使える	Tsukaeru	To be able to use something
君	Kimi	You (casual)
指輪	Yubiwa	Ring

Main Dialog 1 (Japanese)

Student:	先生、ちょっと質問があります。	Sensei, chotto shitsumon ga arimasu.
Teacher:	はい、どうぞ。	Hai dōzo.
Student:	「もったいない」ってどういう意味ですか？	Mottainai tte dō iu imi desu ka.
Teacher:	それはtoo good to wasteという意味です。	Sore wa too good to waste to iu imi desu.
Student:	「もったいない」で、どんな文章が作れるんですか？	Mottainai de donna bunshō ga tsukurun desu ka.
Teacher:	食事を残すなんてもったいない。	Shokuji o nokosu nante mottainai.
Student:	そのように使うんですね。わかりました。ありがとうございます。	Sono yō ni tsukaun desu ne. Wakarimashita. Arigatō gozaimasu.

Main Dialog (English)

Student:	(Teacher) Could I just ask a question?
Teacher:	Yes, go ahead.
Student:	What does “Mottainai” mean?
Teacher:	“Mottainai” means too good to waste.
Student:	How do you use “Mottainai” in a sentence?
Teacher:	Leaving food is a waste (mottainai).
Student:	That’s how you use it! I understand. Thank you.

Random Phrase – Mottainai – It’s a waste

Here are some extra examples of this week’s random phrase which is “Mottainai” which means it’s such a waste.

1) 彼女を振ったなんてもったいない！

Kanojo futta nante mottainai

It was such a shame (waste) that you dumped your girlfriend!

2) もう新しいパソコン買うの？もったいないな、まだ使えるのに。

mō atarashii pasokon kau no. mottainai na, mada tsukaeru noni.

You’re buying a new PC already? That’s a waste, you can still use the old one.

3) 君にその指輪はもったいないよ。

Kimi ni sono yubiwa mottainai yo

That ring is wasted on you.

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