All natural sushi (Commercial)

What you see is what you get.

War and corn soup

I know nothing gives me a hankering for corn soup like some Stallone directing a war movie.

Netflix, Nico Nico, and some rambling

This post will jump around a little, so apologies in advance. 悪いな。

So first off, I just signed up for Netflix the other day. I'm a little disappointed that (a) they've distanced themselves from the DVD service, which apparently now costs extra (used to be their primary service as I understand it), and (b) their streaming movie selection isn't the greatest (licensing with studios is tough, I guess). Gobbler tells me that they used to have a lot of old streaming J-movies like Ikiru and Ran, but I guess their licensing expired. They still have an old samurai movie or two and a lot of (strange-looking) anime, though. I noticed some more recent J-movies that I'll also check out. Wish they had Japanese subs, but that would be a stretch.

Speaking of streaming and Japanese, that brings me to Nico Nico Douga, which I think I may have mentioned before. It's basically the Japanese You Tube, with what seem like fewer copyright restrictions and/or enforcement. I've used it to watch the Simpsons in Japanese (the dub is surprisingly very good, both voice and translation-wise), and I think they have some movies and stuff, as well. Just wanted to bring it up again for those of you who may be interested in watching TV shows and videos in Japanese.

Aside from the Japanese stuff and some job stuff which I'll not discuss right now, the other major thing going on right now is preparing/waiting for Yoshie to visit on the 21st. I'm psyched, but also now worried...she's been having some neck/back pains recently from an old episode of whiplash that apparently never healed properly. The doctors she was consulting gave her some medicine...and that was it. I have no medical training, but I was surprised they didn't treat it more aggressively, with a neck brace or something. Well, surprise surprise, the medicine didn't improve anything and the pain is getting worse. So now she has a neck brace and we'll see if it helps in the short term. She may have to travel here with it. I'll be really glad to see her either way, but I'm worried that she won't be very comfortable, especially on the flight. I just hope she can get past it and have a good time.

That's what's up here...

Every language is different

There is an important realization to be had for anyone who is serious about learning a second language. Each language is different. Sounds pretty "duh," doesn't it? But it's not as obvious as you might think. Or at least it wasn't for me.

In the earlier days of my Japanese education, I would try to communicate in English via Japanese, if that makes any sense. I would have in mind something that I wanted to say, and translate it, as best I could, literally into Japanese. I remember I would sometimes tell my Japanese teachers 「いい週末を過ごしてください。」(Have a nice weekend) and as kind of a joke with my friends, I would call things ｢甘い｣ (sweet) when I thought they were cool.

The problem is, telling someone to have a nice weekend isn't really natural Japanese. No one says that. And calling something "sweet" in that way is nonsensical. There are all kinds of expressions, phrases, and vocabulary that just aren't used, and somewhere along the line you have to change your way of thinking. Granted, in the beginning your vocabulary and knowledge of grammar will be pretty limited, and it's definitely preferable to do your best to communicate even when you sound strange or unnatural. Eventually, though, you'll start to pick up the natural "feel" of the language.

I'm not exactly sure when I made that change, but it is recently that I've begun to consciously take note of and analyze some of the similarities and differences of key ideas and expressions in English and Japanese.

One that comes to mind right away is the use of the word "bad" versus 「悪い」（わるい). In English, we can employ "bad" in a wide variety of situations and circumstances. Some examples:

- This food is pretty bad.

- What a bad movie.

- I'm really bad at French.

- You invited him to the party? That was a bad move.

While there's more than one way to express these ideas, here's how I would say these things in Japanese:

・これは結構まずいね。

・なんてひどい映画だな。

・フランス語がとても苦手だよ。

・彼をパーティーに招待したか？それは駄目だよ。

None of my Japanese renderings use the word "bad" as we foreigners learn it in Japanese. Conversely, Japanese seems to use 「悪い」a lot more often when expressing the idea of fault. For example:

・あっ、俺らの約束は２時だったっけ？そうか。悪いな。

(Oh, our meeting was at 2? I see. Sorry about that.)

・いや、君は悪くないよ。僕のせいなんだ。

(No, it's not your fault. It's mine.)

In the first case, 「悪いな」 expresses that yes, the speaker was bad and he's admitting that as an apology. In the second, the speaker is expressing that whoever he is addressing isn't "bad." It's his fault. In Japanese, 「悪い」or ｢悪くない」are often used (along with せい) to talk about fault. The closest thing in English is the somewhat slangy expression "my bad."

There are tons more examples. If you're studying Japanese or another language and not yet at the point where you can break away from your native tongue in expressing your ideas, don't worry or rush it. It'll come with time. But being aware of the fact that you must change the way you think may help you get there quicker.

Losing at life?

So I stumbled upon a recent Japanarchist video that not only gave me a few chuckles but introduced me to a couple of J-words I was unfamiliar with. The video is about a Goo survey on what characteristics Japanese people identify with 非リア充.

リア充 is one of those Japanese words that uses bits of katakana (like ロリコン (lolicon) for example) and challenges the reader/listener to figure out what the hell it means. Luckily we have the internets. According to the survey:

「リア充（＝リアルな生活が充実）」

In English, it means an enriched or full life. The ｢リア」part is the "rea" of "real" and the 「充」belongs to ｢充実」("fullness"). So the concept refers to someone who has his or her life together. Wikipedia corroborates! When we add the transformative, negative 非 kanji, we get the opposite of that. Japanarchist uses the term "loser." You could also go with "someone who sucks at life."

Looking at the survey, here are the top 10 traits of a loser:

1. マイナスな発言が多い　(Says a lot of negative things)

2. 友達が少ない　(Has few friends)

3. 恋人がいない (Has no partner/mate/lover)

4. 一日中誰とも会話しない日がしゅうちゅうある (Frequently goes the whole day without conversing with anyone)

5. 周りに興味がない (Isn't interested in anything around them)

6. オシャレに興味ない(Isn't interesting in style/fashion)

7. 恋愛に消極的 (Is half-hearted in romance)

8. 急に人に話しかけられると「えっ、あ、あの、あの」としどもどるになる (Becomes flustered and sputters when suddenly approached and spoken to by someone)

9. 非恋愛体質 (Uninterested in romance?)

10. 「自分はこんなもんじゃない」と常に思ってる (Always thinks "It's not my fault")[?]

I find all of these pretty understandable, but #6 kind of stands out to me as very "Japanese." 「オシャレ｣ is a little difficult to peg as precisely "style" or "fashion" but it is, I think, a fair generalization to say that Japanese people as a whole seem a lot more concerned with such things than many people of other nationalities. I can't say people don't care about style here in the U.S., for example, but I don't think I know many people who would place that in a top 10 list of "loser" characteristics. What do you think?

AKB they ain't: Ayaman Japan

I think I first heard of/saw this group on Salaryman's blog (he would feature a band like this). The three women form  あやまんJapan (Ayaman Japan), and they sing silly, kind of dirty songs.

Apparently they started off as a group of party organizers, made an appearance on Fuji TV, and then broke into the music scene. It looks like they only got started musically (professionally at least) in 2010, so they've only released a handful of songs.

Yoshie's father hates them and she thinks they're kind of annoying, but I choose to be amused by them. Sure, they're not producing the highest level of art here, but their songs are kind of fun and different, if not catchy. And at least they're not another cute, innocent, generic J-pop group.

Here are two videos of what I believe is their original breakout song, 「ぽいぽいぽいぽぽいぽぴー」("Poi Poi Poi Popoi Poi Popi"):





Here are the lyrics with an approximate translation. As you can see, mostly a mix of nonsense and sexual references; basically just making fun of pop songs.

Here's one of their later songs, which starts off more subtly but then gets quite kooky (and for those of you who know what AKB48 are, yes, I think they are making fun of them):



Update: AKB48 is a large, ever-changing girls pop group (pictured below). I have a lot of problems with AKB48, but that's a story for another post. Below are a picture and video for reference, so you can compare with the more Ayaman Japan parodic video above.

Flickr/Youngelectricpop

Update 2: This one is much more blatantly making fun of AKB (it seems this post has taken a turn in that direction):

Snickers CM

Just wanted to share this video I saw over at Japan Probe - a Snickers "You're not you when you're hungry" commercial, a la Japan. Nice.



I'm not familiar with the actress, but I like the touch of English thrown in there. Adds to the flavor.

Level 2; and the kanji for poo!

So my JLPT results never did arrive. I guess they got lost on some clerk's desk or wedged under a conveyor belt somewhere between here and Tokyo. None too eager to make an international call, I asked Yoshie to ring up the Test Center and find out what the deal was. The guy she spoke to said they mailed my test results out, but could remail them if they never arrived. So we had them sent to Yoshie's place and they arrived just last week.

I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but I passed, and now I am officially JLPT N2, which I'm sure is more useful in terms of being able to put it on my resume than anything else. Now I must continue to battle to keep my Japanese up! Well, no other way than using it as much as I can...

I'm going to take this opportunity to transition into poop. Yup. I noticed today that Yahoo! Japan has an article up about pandas; specifically why they have the bowels of a carnivore yet 99% of their diet is bamboo and bamboo grass.

Aren't you glad I didn't go with a picture of poo?

Now I'm not a huge panda guy (nor dolphins nor penguins; so sorry) but this did pique my interest, so I had a look. And I'm glad I did. Not because I found out why they don't eat meat (ultimately the article says they don't know why), but because I got to see the kanji for feces, which I don't see all that often. It kind of strikes me as one of those kanji you and your buddies might try to learn as a freshman in college studying the language, because wouldn't it be funny to know the kanji for "shit."

As you may be aware, くそ is an oft-used expletive that's comparable to "crap," "shit," or "damn" in English. The more clinical ふん, "excrement" or "droppings," shares the same kanji:

糞 (くそ,ふん)

Apparently this is also the kanji for King Richard III? I guess because "third" rhymes with "turd?" Anyway, yes...the kanji for poop. Another grand offering to my readers.

Understanding "Ore"

Recently we subscribed to TV Japan at my house so that I can try to keep up with my Japanese a little better (or combat the inevitable decline a little better, anyway). I don't watch TV a whole lot, but now when I do, I try to get a little J-語 in. Probably watch a lot more Japanese TV now than when I was living over there, ironically.

Anyway, a while ago I had this kids show on and had a realization about the use of the first person pronoun, which I've talked about in the past. I realized that I still don't completely get it, and I don't know if I ever will.

I refer to myself as 僕 (boku) in most circumstances, unless I'm trying to be especially polite or respectful. This strikes me as kind of a softer and maybe a little more...I dunno, sensitive (?) way of saying "I" or "me." I think doctors and professors and guys like that might be more likely to use 僕.

On the other hand you have 俺 (ore), which is the pronoun of choice for all your tough guys and your dudes who are trying to sound masculine. Despite being the more "masculine" of the two (Yoshie once called me 男らしい) for using it, I've also been told that lots of guys start using it when they're little boys. In other words, there are plenty of males who use it when they aren't that tough or masculine but just want to come across as such.

Oh yes, the kids show. So I was watching this show with a bunch of people dressed up like animal mascots, and noticed that the cow (who has the voice of a little boy) kept referring to himself as 俺 (ore).

Pretty dang far from badass.

So while I understand the basic feeling of each of these pronouns, I think there's still a lot of nuance that's escaping me. Maybe one day?

J-Word Play #21 (Answer)

Has it been a week already? I need to get my post back on...

So last week's riddle was:


楽器が得意なトラってなんでしょうか？
(がっきがとくいなトラってなんでしょうか？)

オーケストラ (or トランペット) (Orchestra or trumpet)

The riddle asks, "What tiger is skilled with a musical instrument?" The answer I was thinking of here was オーケストラ. トラ means tiger, so in Japanese "tiger" is part of the word orchestra. Another good answer I received from a couple of folks was トランペット (trumpet), which also contains the word for tiger. Nice job, people!

Special kudos this time to Xiaolin, Makoto, and Cocomino!
To the rest of you, keep trying!