ペラペラになろう。。。

I stumbled across a news article that gave the ABC's of Japan. Some of the letters were actually funny/informative. Here is the link if you're interested. But I felt that this list was a little lacking and decided to make my own ABC's. I'm sure my list will be WAY more helpful in understanding Japan/Japanese.

A- Asadachi (朝立ち) : Morning wood. Its a funny word and it got your attention didn't it? The two kanji are morning and standing...
B- Ba- (バー) : Bar. Its where a great deal of your time should be spent.
C- CM (シーエム) : Commercial. Heres is a catchy one. Japan is known for their ridiculous and ridiculously expensive commercials.
D- Densha (電車) - Train. You aren't going anywhere without a train in Japan, unless you have 3 grand to drop on a license and about $1.80/L for gas.
E-Eki (駅) : Train Station. This is where you would ride the 電車. Eki (液) also means fluid. As in Aieki.
F-Futsuu (普通) : This is local train that stops at every station. Also used to describe your day when nothing interesting happens...which should be never
G-Gyaru (ギャル) : The more flashy, girly style in Japan. This is the only fashion as far as I'm concerned!
H- Homodachi - Not a real Japanese word but the equivalent of Bromosexual. Younger Japanese can appreciate/understand this word.
I- Izakaya (居酒屋) : A Japanese drinking establishment. A midway between a bar and a restaurant.
J-Jyagariko (じゃがりこ) : Japanese snack similar to a Hot Fry but better and flavors include salad, cheese, and ume. This snack is the reason I say ittadakimasu 10+ times a day.
K- Kaidama (かいだま) : Extra noodles you can order to put in to your Ramen broth. A good word to know if you go to Shisen Ramen, a chain ramen restaurant.
L- Love Hotel (ラブホテル) : You should know what this is by now.
M- Mata (股) : Literally crotch or groin area but its used to describe the 'Gap'. The 'Gap' being the space between Japanese women's legs that goes all the way up. Cho Sexy!
N- pick any N word and you can say it in Japan!
O-Otsukaresama (お疲れ様) : Kind of like 'Good Job' or 'Thats enough, you worked hard today'. You can say it to anyone or anything that just worked hard.
P- Purikura (プリクラ) : Short for Print Club. An amazing photo both experience for about 400円.
Q- This one is a little difficult seeing as Japanese doesn't have anything like a Q, but how about Kyuuri. It sounds like Q-Lee, and is one of my favorites at kappa-zushi. Its cucumber sushi.
R-Rikimaru (力丸) : A chain izakaya (居酒屋) where everything is 300 yen. The portions are small so you can taste a lot of things. I recommend also getting the Ramune Chu-hai or a Suntory Highball.
S- Seibyou (性病) : STD. Just watch out for these.
T- Tokumori (特盛り) : The special size. This is the largest serving size at Yoshinoya.
U- Ume. (梅) : Japanese plum. It is a popular flavor and used to make umeshu, 梅酒, the greatest liquor ever created.
V- Valentine's Day (バレンタインデー) : Celebrated Feb 14th by women giving expensive chocolate to men. Way better than that BS hallmark holiday in America.
W-Wakewakaranai (訳分からない) : Incomprehensible, that doesn't make sense. You'll need this word if you attempt reading any Engrish.
X-Xenophobia : Fear of that which is different from oneself. Luckily this is dying out in Japan, but you may still find some old fogeys bad mouthing you in Japanese to your face. But they will die soon so the jokes on them...
y-Yu (湯) : Hot water, bath. You can find 'ゆ' signs throughout Japan. The sign indicates a public bath where you can sit and relax. I recommend it (and yes, you have to do it naked).
Z- Ze (ぜ) : A sentence end that basically adds force or makes you sound cooler. Its akin to ending an English sentence in 'yo' or 'bitch', it adds emphasis.

Thats it for now. If you would like to further look up some words/kanji, I recommend Jim Breen. Its pretty helpful - I use it all the time.

J電車`s Return

Just when I finally thought I could deal without Japan for a while, I decided to tease myself by going back for a week...damn did I miss Japan. I would encourage you all again to visit but the yen is kicking so much ass right now that its probably not the best idea...

If you are in Japan for longer than 30 seconds, here are some things you will notice.
-When your plane leaves the terminal, the persons working on the tarmac (actually a term for the material used, not the large paved surface itself - fun fact!) bow to you and wave goodbye. But as cool as this is for foreigners to see, it actually has roots in WWII - the pilots got a nice farewell because they were not coming back....so that's kinda depressing
-when people talk about themselves, they point to their face instead of their chest/heart. Not really sure why this is the way it is, but its kinda cool and I noticed myself doing it unconsciously after only a couple days.
-no matter how hot it is in a mall or train station, nobody takes off their coat. This blows my mind. I think I will take the inconvenience of holding my coat over sweating my 金玉s off. But then again, the Japanese probably evolved beyond sweating and discomfort...

Its also getting close to Valentines Day, so there is a plethora of chocolate goodies being sold in Japan right now. But its a little different than the chocolates you see in America. Department stores selling Hershey kiss sized chocolates for about 300 yen each is typical. Chocolate potato chips, liquor and chocolate beer (yes, beer) are sold in conbinis as well. I have seen enough chocolate in the past few days to last me a lifetime.

アケオメ！

Happpy New Year!

I hope this year is better economically for Japan than the past year. You can tell times are tough just by analyzing the language. Words like Konkatsu and Rikatsu are now commonplace. Konkatsu (or marriage hunting) is exactly what the name implies. It describes a person who is not looking for a job, but for a man to marry. Guess that beats competing for a job... But because of this trend, Rikatsu (divorce seeking activities) are more prevalent. Click here for a full story. Japans divorce rate is about half of what the US is - which is a pretty big deal for Japan. But considering the salaryman lifestyle that some married men have to deal with, it leaves little time for family. Kinda depressing, but thats exactly why I won't EVER work for a Japanese company.

I will be returning to Japan in a week or so, and Intend to go to a Vegetarian restaurant in Kyoto. I'm pretty pumped, but worried at the same time since the word 'Begitarian' is still a new concept for Japan. They'll probably serve me whale or dolphin or some crap. Anywho, Just expect a lot more purikura posts when I return!


*The real reason I'm heading back to Japan--->>

Fatties, Film, and Feliz Navidad!

I've posted a lot on Fat with respect to Japan in the past. But this is mostly cause Japan takes weight pretty seriously. Despite the sub-100lb beauties everywhere you look, its still common to see diet and cellulite removal ads on a regular basis. Whatever they are doing is working apparently - a recent study shows a decrease in obesity in Japanese children. You won't see those kind of headlines in America unless we run out of food. But for anyone that has seen Penn & Teller's Bull Shit, season 5 you would know that the BMI scale is bogus and that weight is not the best judge of physical health. Just don't tell Japan that!

If you wanna go on the puke till you're skinny diet, I think Tokyo Gore Police is the movie for you! Just watched this movie recently and it makes Kill Bill look like The Sound of Music. If you want to just lose your appetite altogether, then watch Audition. This is another Japanese movie with the same starring actress, but this movie is disturbing on a whole different level. I don't want to give anything away, but you might want to check it out on IMDB.

Well, today is Christmas in Japan which means Love Hotels and KFC's are filled to capacity....
But I have been told that Love Hotels are not just for doing the deed. Japan is a very public culture, with little opportunity for privacy, especially for highschool/college kids since they typically live with their parents till they move to Tokyo for work or get married. I was told that around half the people that go to Love Hotels don't even get down and dirty, they just do karaoke, watch movies, and enjoy some quiet time. Who knew??

火災

Since I'm in a Life Safety class this week, I felt like I should share my boredom with you. Japan actually takes fire safety pretty seriously since they get so many earthquakes and resulting fires. My classrooms in Japan actually had these cool vertical escape chute dealies.
Fire fighting in Japan is also a completely different story than in America. If you've ever seen a road in Japan you would understand - there is no way an American fire truck would get through those streets. Japanese fire trucks are pretty tiny and you'll often find jugs of water tied up to utility poles in the back roads to use for fire fighting (by civilians I'm assuming). I've been told that fire fighters don't typically go in to buildings to rescue people either - but Japanese buildings aren't really designed to last and after an earthquake you don't really want to be running in to a building anyways.

To reward you for reading the above, check this out. Japan past a law for persons over 40 to keep their wasteline in check. 85 centimeters or 33.5 inches for men and 90 centimeters or 35.4 inches for women. Is this a great country or what?? When is the last time you saw ANYONE in a Wal-Mart that would actually meet this criteria?? I'm just so proud of Japan right now. This obviously isn't the best way to fight an obesity problem, but its a hell of a good start! Considering Burger King introduced a 7 patty burger to help advertise Windows 7 just recently, this law couldn't have come at a better time.

ニュース

If you are even remotely interested in what happens in Japan, I recommend this website. It has a lot of news about Japan (in English). The info comes from a bunch of newspapers, but you can look at specific newspapers if you want. But word on the street is that Newspapers in Japan want to start charging people to look at their news online. I don't know if that will apply to this website or others sites that have Japanese news in English though.

I particularly like this website cause it provides Japanese news in a non Japanese way. In Japan, if something terrible happens, the news covers the story for weeks and discusses every minor detail of the horrible incident. For example, over the summer in Japan I heard about a man who ran over several people in Tokyo with a van for about 6 hours a day for a 2 weeks. The news even used googlemaps to show the exact route he took! (in case any copycats out there were interested in that little fact)

For those of you too lazy to go to the website, here are some Japan highlights,
*The 5'10" 120lb model Filippa Hamilton's Ralph Lauren photo had to be retouched (slimmed down) for the ad in a Japanese magazine - and she was later fired for being too fat. Boo Yah
*Japanese and British scientists discovered that cancer can be passed on in the womb.
*you know what, just check the website.


Note: I took this picture at Ginkakuji - not quite as cool of a place as kinkakuji.

Things that are 無い in the 日本

For the past several months I have made it pretty clear what Japan does have, but maybe I should take some time to talk about what it doesn't have.
1st-plus size lingerie (because no country should ever sell this, especially the Top 27)
2nd-drive thru (because the employees are worth walking in and taking a peek at)
3rd-Hibachi grill and Dragon Rolls (...cause these aren't Japanesey)

Side note: This picture was taken during Hanami, but the streets are about that crowded all the time