Japanese Office Tactics?

For those of you familiar with with isometric tactics video games, a funny commercial from a few years back. This was a web commercial for Jeanne d'Arc for the PSP, and though it self-admittedly states near the end that it's unrelated to the actual game, it is kind of chuckle-inducing.

Neat, artsy video of a guy studying Kanji

This is exactly how I studied Kanji using Heisig. Well, apart from the mosaics the guy drew.

100,000 Kanji from Tom C on Vimeo.

Kotowaza #1: The basics and a Buddha in hell

Kotowaza (諺) are another element of Japanese (along with puns) that I've taken a liking to, and so I thought I'd share some. If the word is new to you, kotowaza are proverbs or sayings. Like in English or in many languages, I'd imagine, some sayings are used more often than others and some are pretty obscure. So if you do take a fancy to some of these and decide to add them to your repertoire, just be warned that not all of them can be naturally employed in daily conversation. The few that I have down pat I don't use often, myself, but it is pretty fun to be able to understand them when I do hear or see them.

I'm going to start off with one that I came across recently:

地獄で仏に会ったよう
読み: じごくでほとけにあったよう
略語: 地獄で仏

解説:非常に辛く苦しいときに、思いがけない助けにあうこと

In English, this translates literally to something like "It's like I met a merciful person in hell" (though 仏 can also mean "Buddha").

I think this is a pretty good English version of the meaning behind it: "In my hour of true need I found a true friend."

Though I'm not exactly sure a "true friend" is what's meant here. What comes to mind for me is the story of the good Samaritan. The guy that had the crap beaten out of him was in his hour of need, and someone merciful came upon him and helped him. I think that situation would probably be an ideal use for this proverb.

Should you study how to write Japanese by hand?

Sure! Why not?

Oh, do you mean: "is it worth my time to study how to write Japanese by hand?" Then no, probably not. Unless your job is testing calligraphy brushes for quality assurance.

I didn't always feel this way.

I started to seriously study Kanji a little over a year ago when I did Heisig's RTK1. Ever since then, writing hundreds of characters a day has been a huge part of my studying routine. I didn't give this much thought before starting. It just seemed like what I was supposed to do if I would ever achieve my goal of being "good" at Japanese. I was always taught the importance of The Three R's in school: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (my teacher wasn't a good speller). So then, doesn't reading and writing go together? Isn't that what literacy means: being able to read and write? The answer is yes because that's the definition. Someone might be able to read every book there is and still be illiterate according to a dictionary (which they could also read). Keeping this in mind I kept writing and writing and writing. Without realizing it I started to spend more time writing than I spent reading or studying new vocab and grammar.

After doing this for a year I became able to write pretty well. I can write 麒麟 and 憂鬱 without breaking a sweat; and I can even write 汗. Yet I knew I still had a long way to go since I still couldn't write every word that exists (it was a lofty goal). About a month ago I switched up my studying routine and put even more effort into writing and as a consequence even less into new grammar, vocabulary, and reviewing what I already knew. I even started a journal. It felt great since I was finally giving writing the amount of time it required (note: it requires all of time: all of time that has ever been and will be). That was until I happened upon this article on Tofugu the other day.

Koichi states that you shouldn't worry about learning how to write by hand since everyone uses cell phones and computers to communicate nowadays. The amount of time you need to study to become proficient is disproportional to how useful being proficient is. My first reaction was to push my computer away in anger as if it had gotten up in my grill. It somehow felt like a personal attack on how I had been studying for the past year. If he was right then I just wasted a lot of time. I spent the next half hour sitting in the dark, coming up with counter arguments in order to defend my year spent filling up notebooks with Kanji. I came up with two circumstances in which my study of Kanji proved undeniably useful: one time a Japanese coworker forgot how to write the Kanji for 'shoes' and asked me; the other time was when I wrote two New Year's cards in Japanese. I think I filled out a questionnaire in a restaurant once too. Hey, all that studying paid off!

So yeah, now I'm all but cutting out writing from my routine. I've put the emphasis on vocabulary and started reading a new book. I have so much more time now to focus on studying other aspects of Japanese that I haven't quite worked out where to allocate it all, but having too much time is one of those problems you want to have.

I am definitely not saying you should completely forgo learning how to write Japanese. You should know how to write Kanji correctly since you do actually have to write by hand from time to time, like for New Year's cards. I still swear by and highly recommend doing the Heisig system for many reasons beyond writing. After the four to six months it takes to get through RTK1 you will be as good at writing as you will probably need to be. Then if you ever need to fill out a form or something and you inevitably forget a Kanji compound, look it up on your phone and then write it. I go more into why I love Heisig so much here.

What do you guys think about writing by hand? Is it worth studying?

Birthday presents

Wow, has it really been so long since I posted? I guess things got away from me.

Last week I accepted a new job, which I want talk about in a little more detail in a post to come. That whole process was taking a lot of energy (and some time), so I suppose that's one reason why I've been dallying here.

I also got a package from Yoshie with belated Valentine's/birthday gifts. And she said she held some stuff back for when I visit in April. Yay for stuff! I haven't heard of either of the movies she sent me, but I will gladly watch them. Not so easy to find Japanese movies over here...

I have yet to actually read through a full Japanese book since completing Harry Potter two or three years ago, but this one stands a good chance of being devoured. Getting into Game Center CX has made given me quite a few wow, am I an adult child? moments. I mean, not only just liking video games, but liking watching a grown man play them in TV show format? Believe me, I am somewhat self aware. And I had another moment of self awareness upon opening this book and thinking "Thank God, pictures!" Not that it's a picture book, mind you. It has words, I assure you. Words a plenty. But reading through pages and pages and pages of straight text in a foreign language can be a tedious exercise for those who are not yet fully conditioned. I am still such a one.

But in conclusion, I have a wonderful girlfriend who not only accepts, but fuels my fascination with video games and with this TV show (so long as I don't become a hikimori). Life is good.

Stories and Fairy Tales

When I was a little kid, my parents used to read to me before I went to bed. Though we covered a variety of "genres" (I use quotation marks there because I wonder how many genres there truly are in children's literature), my favorites were fairy tales and fantastical stories like The Wizard of Oz. That early fascination with fantasy and imagination has stuck with me throughout the years, and I still enjoy a good fantasy story or learning new folk lore or fairy tales.

When I was living in Japan, I learned a few folk tales just over the course of my work. The first one I remember coming across is this story called Urashima Taro (浦島太郎), that was in one classes' English reader.

To my knowledge there are slight variations to this story, but basically, the titular character is one day walking along the beach and spots some young boys tormenting a turtle. He takes pity on the creature and chases the boys away. To his surprise, the turtle thanks him, and to show his gratitude offers to take Urashima Taro to see the beautiful Ryugu Palace and meet the Emperor of the Sea. He accepts and goes with the turtle. When they arrive, he meets the emperor and his beautiful daughter, with whom he spends several days. Soon, however, he becomes anxious to get back home and check on his elderly mother. The princess is sorry to see him leave, but wishes him well and gives him a strange box as a parting gift. She tells him, however, never to open it. Taro returns home, but everything has changed. His home is gone, as are his mother and all of the people that he knew. Asking after his mother and if anyone knows his name, he discovers that he was said to have mysteriously disappeared 300 years ago. He then opens the box and with a puff of smoke he is transformed into an old man with a long beard. His old age had been inside.




...Well, so much for that.

Life update

Been meaning to post a little more frequently, but a lot going on recently that I decided I'd share briefly. Yesterday was my birthday, so a lot of sushi was eaten. Also been trying to commit to going to the gym (had a session with a personal trainer on Monday and my body is still sore), get an appropriate mix of video games in there (beat Mass Effect 2 last week) and keep up with my Japanese.

Speaking of Japanese, I had a 3-hour-long job interview with a Japanese organization on Friday, much of which was in Japanese. Despite getting a good vibe, haven't heard anything back from them yet. I've also booked tickets to take about 10 days to visit Japan at the end of April, so looking forward to that.

Anyway, more to come soon. I have another review coming down pipeline (this time for a service rather than a book), so there's that.

Hook Book Row

Some days I watch a little TV Japan in the afternoon, and often there is a children's show or two running (because little children and me are the only people at home during the day). I'm not above watching them to improve my Japanese, and there's one in particular that I like. It's called フックブックロー in Japanese (the guide calls it Hook Book Row), and I really like the opening theme song.

J-Word Play #23 (Answer)

Last week's riddle was:

犯人に間違われた人はマンションの何階に住んでいる？
(はんにんにまちがわれたひとはマンションのなんかいにすんでいる？）

Before the answer, some kudos. We had two correct answers this time. Our winners?

First, our Riddle Master Cocomino of Life in Kawagoe. Second, Brian of Fee's List. Brian may also be a Riddle Master for all I know, but this was his first time answering, so he's gonna have to earn that title.

And now the answer.

ごかい (the fifth floor)

This riddle asks, "Which floor does the man who was mistaken for a criminal live on?" The answer is another product of some clever word play. 「ごかい」 has multiple meanings in Japanese, one of which is "5th floor" (５階). Another possible meaning is 「誤解」, which means "mistake" or "misunderstanding."

Galneryus memories

My first time in Japan was a 6-week trip to study Japanese at Waseda University. We had classes and tests everyday, and most of us were eager to both do well in class and soak in as much of Tokyo as we could in that short period of time. Much of it is a blur to me now, but one thing that takes me back is Galneryus.

Galneryus is a kind of ridiculous Japanese metal band, and their Beyond the End of Despair was the first Japanese CD I ever bought. I don't listen to this kind of music much anymore, but whenever I come across them in my iTunes library I am reminded of my first time in Japan.