About « Japan Q&A

About

Living in Japan

Understanding the Culture

Turning Japanese

- an original haiku

My name is Marie and I am a Japanese student. I am very interested in Japanese culture and would like to share what I know with other people and learn more about Japan, too. I am not an authority on anything Japanese but I love living in Japan, I love the Japanese people and I love Japanese food.

よろしくお願い致します

30 Responses to “About”

on January 22, 2008 at 5:54 am1 Dirk

Konichi wa Marie :o)

My name is Dirk, and I am a psychology student studying in Belgium, Europe. I am in my last year and I have to do a research to get my degree. I am asking myself how the look we people bring upon Japanese animation changes depending on the culture we live in. So, I want to compare different populations by asking them to look at an extract that I choose (from the anime BLEACH) and to respond at a questionnaire afterwards.
My problem is that it is difficult for me to find asian people or asian internet pages (in English), where I could post a link to my page where the extract and questionnaire will be put in 1 - 2 weeks.
While browsing through the net, I found your blog, and asked myself if you could and would help me? Do you, by any chance, know any anime sites (in English) where I could post my link? Could I post a link at your site? Or, do you even know any people that could and would share 20 minutes of their time with me and help me?

For more information and further questions, I give you my e-mail again : venaris@hotmail.com. Arigatoo gozaimasuu, sayonara
on January 22, 2008 at 11:02 am2 Marie

Hi Dirk!

Wow, that sounds very interesting! I am an avid fan of Bleach myself and I’d love to help you with that questionnaire.

There are also a lot of Bleach and other anime fans on this blog I read regularly.
http://www.dannychoo.com

You can also go find other anime fans on this site:
http://www.japanforum.com/

Good Luck with your research, and I’d be glad to put a link on my site!
on February 4, 2008 at 2:45 am3 Dirk

Hello again :o)

The site is ready. The address is : http://www.toba.lu/memoire , in case you want to have a look and maybe even try the questionnaire ;o) That would help me a lot.
on February 5, 2008 at 12:19 am4 Marie

Hi Dirk!

I just put up the link to your site. Hope it works! Good luck!
on February 21, 2008 at 4:42 am5 Marco (マルコ)

はじめましてMarieさん、元気ですか。私も日本語の学生です。But my Japanese is very very basic. I think I could afford JLPT fourth level but should study a bit more for third.
I’ve found your nice blog thanks to your post on Mari’s one… and I think I’ll read it also. Very nice posts. Thank you.
on February 21, 2008 at 7:37 am6 Marie

Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment, Marco!

I’m glad you like the posts! Thank you. And Good Luck with the JLPT!
on February 28, 2008 at 9:29 pm7 Christian Collins

I saw some reference to common Japanese names on your site and continue a search.

Given you immersion in Japan, I thought maybe you could help.

My wife is from Japan and we live in the US now. We have a boy 2 and a half. His name is Kai.

Now we have another boy on the way (2 more months to go).

We can not find a good name.

Kai is a great name. We like it because it is an English (or atleast western) name as well as a Japanese one. We want to give our next son the same kind of magic . If the name is too japanese or too english I don’t think it will have the same subtle balance (and I hope plant the same hint that growth/life in more than one culture is richer)

So far all we can come up with is Ken and Joe (I think those are nice names but not with the same exotic flair as Kai. In fact Joe has the connotation in English of “just your average Joe”)

Unrelated to your field but I thought you might have an idea.

Best,
Christian Collins
Arlington, Massachusetts, USA
email: chinacollins@yahoo.com
on February 28, 2008 at 11:02 pm8 Marie

Thanks for visiting the site, Christian and thanks for asking me, I’m really flattered!

There are really cool Japanese names, like Taira, Kenji, Taro, Ryo, Renji, Osamu, Kazuki. I think a lot of the popular animes have characters with really cool names.

Also, the names of people here in Japan seem to have an effect on their overall personality. I’ve noticed that kids with “-ta” (like Shota, or Kenta) or “-ji” (like Kenji) in their names are a little more athletic than kids with older, more traditional names. It’s not always the case, but somehow there seems to be a very strong connection between the child’s personality and his or her name and its meaning.

I agree, Kai is a super cool name! Good luck!
on February 29, 2008 at 7:11 pm9 bibomedia
on March 1, 2008 at 12:23 am10 Marie

Hi, bibomedia, thanks for leaving a
on March 19, 2008 at 10:16 pm11 jyankee

Hi Marie
Poppin in your blog… lovely photos… i’d love to be able to take photos like that…unfortunately that is hubby’s talent..not mine will be popping in again.. if you dont mind.
on March 19, 2008 at 11:06 pm12 Marie

Hi jyankee!

Thanks so much for dropping by! I’d love for you to keep visiting my blog!

Thank you for saying so, I’m not near really good but I do enjoy taking photos!

Thanks!
on April 1, 2008 at 6:23 pm13 Junji

hello, Marie san
This is my site http://mynamein.jp/

よかったら、ご紹介して下さいね。
Thank you,
Junji
on April 2, 2008 at 3:03 am14 Marie

Hello Junji!

Thank you for visiting my site! I’ll check yours out, too!
on April 8, 2008 at 6:00 pm15 navidkam

Hi comrade
I love your blog because I love Japan culture, I read many book about Japan, I really like to continue my life in japan.
I always like to have japanese friend ,I find you Now.
Please read my blog but if you like : Navidkam.wordpress.com
I write about Modern Slavery
I really be glad if you be allow me to be your friend
i hope to read your message soon
Thank you
Navid Kamali from Iran
on April 8, 2008 at 11:36 pm16 Marie

Hi navidkam! Thanks for commenting!

Thanks for the kind words… and I’m glad you like my blog. Feel free to comment and add some insights to my posts. I’ll visit your site soon, too!
on April 13, 2008 at 12:13 pm17 navidkam

Thank you
I will stay for you On my blog
Navidkam.wordpress.com
on April 14, 2008 at 2:27 am18 Marie

Thanks again for visiting, navidkam!
on April 21, 2008 at 2:51 am19 vassili

Hello Marie,

just a newcomer here but I really enjoy your posts and the beautiful pictures.

Keep up the good work, I’ll sure drop in here a lot!
on April 21, 2008 at 10:55 am20 Marie

Hi vassili! Thank you for visiting and commenting!

I’m really glad you like the site! Thank you for the kind words!
on May 4, 2008 at 12:31 pm21 edward

Hi Marie,

Started to get interested again with the Japanese culture and decided to look for a blog that mostly tell stories how life in Japan would be, somehow manage to find what I’m looking for. (lucky!)

Your blog about Japan really inspire me to someday look for a work opportunity there. Perhaps its only a matter of time for me to start looking.

I notice majority of the place you’ve been is somewhat like a tourist spot? Is it possible if you could share your experiences to us on your day to day activities. Something like how the city look like and what are the things that we gaijin might face on our first few months living in your country.

Looking forward to hear from you again Marie- san.

Thank you.
on May 4, 2008 at 9:18 pm22 Marie

Hi edward!

Thanks so much for visiting! I’m so glad you like the site. I haven’t been updating in a while, am busy with Golden Week and all that, but I’ll be back in a few days and I will do several pieces on daily life and such. Thanks for the suggestion!

Good luck to you! Hope you do come to Japan.
on May 5, 2008 at 7:48 pm23 edward

Hi marie,

My officemate told me that there an event in Japan called Golden week, not sure what’s the event for but im sure its important.

Looking forward for your update.

Take care

ed
on May 6, 2008 at 11:49 pm24 xcloudewebb

nice blog!
i m learning japanese language now.
And the Japanese Learning Site is helpful for me.
Thanks!
on May 7, 2008 at 7:09 am25 Andrew

Hey there,

Great site! Absolutely gorgeous pictures! I’m wondering if you’d like to exchange links with me so we can get some more traffic going between our sites.

Have a look at my site and lemme know. In the meantime I’m going to read up on some of your posts.

Cheers,

Andrew
on May 8, 2008 at 10:21 am26 Marie

Hi edward!

Thanks so much for visiting! Golden Week is a series of holidays, including Children’s Day on May 5th. It starts on April 29th. A few days in between are still work days, but mostly people use the week to travel and visit home. I love the holiday because the weather is great for traveling and sightseeing!

Hope you continue to comment!
on May 8, 2008 at 10:22 am27 Marie

Hello xcloudeweb!

Thanks for the compliments! Good luck with your Japanese! I’ve been meaning to add more Japanese learning related posts… Soon, I hope…
on May 8, 2008 at 10:29 am28 Marie

Hi Andrew!

Thanks for the kind words! I’ve just added you to my blogroll! Interesting site! I’ll check out more of your posts, too!
on August 20, 2008 at 3:10 am29 V3N@R!S

Hi there :o)

I don’t know if you remember me ? It’s Dirk, the guy who did the study on anime to get his degree in psychological science. Well, I finished the study and wrote the paper. It was a tough piece of work, but it is all done. So, if you are interested to know the results, and to put them on your website, send me an email, with YOUR MAIL in it (which will allow me to know from which website the email comes from), then ill send you a brief version of the main results and the conclusions I was able to make.

See ya :o)
on August 26, 2008 at 4:12 am30 Mohammed

Hello Marie!
I’ve just found your blog by a sweet accident since Im planning to visit Japan and the Far East for the first time in my life and was surfing the net for some answers to alot of questions in my mind about Japan, would you kindly help me out with some?!
It’s my first time to Asia since Im fed up with Europe and the US but Im afraid because it just seems a big step to me change destinations, you know?
What about language difficulties? high prices of everyhting as everybody is talking about?
What cities should I visit for between 10-14 days tour and what are the must’s you yhink I should do there?
Should I spend my money on reserving in superior hotels or save it for shopping there or for travelling between cities and regions? what about booking in some of the B&B like hotels that offer Japanese experience as claimed to on the web?
Im coming on late Oct/early Nov and my only source to Japan is through the net only!
Thanx alot and your feedback will be VERY much appreciated.