Posted in People, Trivia, tagged foreigner in japan, gaijin, japan, live in japan too long, test on November 29, 2007 | 9 Comments »
Are you still a foreigner in Japan? Do you agree with any of the following statements?
You can’t have your picture taken without your fingers forming the peace sign.
You find yourself bowing while you talk on the phone.
You see a gaijin get on the train and think “Wow, it’s a gaijin!”
You really enjoy corn soup with [...]
Posted in Language, tagged japan, japanese, kanji, kentei, proficiency test, 漢字, 漢字検定 on November 26, 2007 | No Comments »
Three times a year, Japanese students can take a Kanji Aptitude Test (漢字能力検定試験 Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Shiken). This test is a measure of Kanji ability; being able to basically read, write, know the stroke order and recognize the different combinations of Kanji characters that form words. There are 12 levels: 10 being [...]
Posted in Events, Modern Culture, tagged asimo, astroboy, great robot exhibition, japan, robot on November 23, 2007 | No Comments »
I’m not enough of an expert to blog about robots, anime or manga. But I’m sort of a fan. I watched Astroboy as a kid. I also saw Doraemon. These robots were highly intelligent, with human feelings sometimes. And I’d always wanted a maid like Rosie from the Jetsons. Imagine, she could do everything!
I [...]
Posted in Events, Modern Culture, tagged , beaujolais nouveau, japan, wine bath on November 23, 2007 | No Comments »
Beaujolais Nouveau, the red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in Beaujolais region of France, has been getting a lot of fanfare in Japan. I was wondering why there was so much hype every time it became available here: people bathing in it, people celebrating its arrival at aquariums, etc.
Well, it has something [...]
Posted in Events, Festivals, Travel, tagged japan, autumn, tokyo, saitama, kanagawa, light up, lighting, illumination, ライトアップ on November 21, 2007 | No Comments »
While a lot of the Autumn Lights have been underway since the weekend, a few of the more popular spots turn the lights on this Friday. Be sure to check out the beautiful light displays this Autumn if you’re in or around the Tokyo area!
六義園 「紅葉と大名庭園のライトアップ」- Rikugien Garden (November 23 - December 16)
Rikugien is known as [...]
Posted in Traditional Culture, Travel, tagged autumn, autumn foliage, 紅葉, 高尾山, hiking, japan, mt. takao, takaosan, Travel on November 20, 2007 | 2 Comments »
For people in Tokyo looking to enjoy the autumn foliage, visit Mt. Takao this weekend. I was there last week with friends, and we felt this weekend would have been better.Takao-san is one of the closest nature recreation spots to Central Tokyo. The nearest station, Takaosanguchi, is 47 minutes from Shinjuku （one way fare is [...]
Posted in History, Language, Traditional Culture, Trivia, tagged japan, quiz, Trivia on November 18, 2007 | No Comments »
I was reading this Japan Times article. It reminded me of quizzes I gave to my Japanese students. They were big hits. Later on, I’d quiz my Japanese friends and they’d all call me kuwashii (詳しい, used to describe a person who is knowledgeable about something/s). Although this observation is far from accurate, we all [...]
Posted in Festivals, Modern Culture, People, Traditional Culture, tagged birthday, hina matsuri, japan, kodomo no hi, seijin no hi, shichigosan on November 17, 2007 | 4 Comments »
November 15th is Shichi-go-san (七五三, read as 7-5-3). This is a day when girls aged 3 and 7 and boys aged 5 are dressed up in beautiful kimonos and taken to temples to pray. Other days when children have a shared celebration are Hina Matsuri (ひな祭り, Girl’s Day Festival) on March 3rd and Kodomo [...]
Posted in People, Traditional Culture, tagged さる, country, countryside, 猿, 田舎, 田舎者, imo-nechan, inaka, inakamono, japan, saru on November 15, 2007 | 2 Comments »
An elder lady friend at work was telling me about her experience working in a Tokyo office. She’s from Saitama, which is just 20 minutes north of Tokyo. Anyway, she was telling me about the 1980s, when she was an OL (Office Lady). Her co-workers called her Imo-nechan (芋姉ちゃん), she laughingly said. She explained that [...]
Posted in Food, History, Traditional Culture, tagged japan, Food, sushi, sashimi, local cuisine, nori on November 13, 2007 | 2 Comments »
When Japan closed itself to the world, they also sort of banned locals from wandering around the country. Most Japanese were made to carry some sort of identification papers with them at all times. If they weren’t able to present these to samurai guards, they’d be in real trouble. There was even a restriction on [...]
Message from the Researcher Dirk:
This website is designed to introduce you to my ongoing researches for my master thesis. I am a fifth year student in psychology and I am currently enquiring about the look that we, as the human beings, bring upon “Japanese animation”, a derived product of the “manga”.
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