Tofugu.com – Wonky Japanese Language and Culture

Apple’s iPad announcement has (finally) arrived blessed itself upon me, and of course, my first thoughts (besides when can I spend my money on this) are “How will this make Japanese learning better?”

Of course, the iPad is poised to change the way we learn in a lot of ways (textbooks, learning games, etc), but since Japanese is one of the most popular languages to learn out there, and because those that learn Japanese tend to be a lot more tech savvy than, say, those who learn Spanish (take that, Spanish!), there’s going to be a huge amount of Japanese + iPad potential as soon as it comes out in March (or April, if you want the 3G enabled one). Read more…

Japanese hospital experiences are known to be a little… wild… but when I saw this chart I thought it had some pretty interesting information in it. The main goal of this chart was to show how ridiculous America’s per person spending on health care is (while still doing pretty mediocre in terms of life), but of course my eyes were immediately drawn to Japan’s data. Read more…

Of course, there are plenty of ways to *cough* get Japanese music for free, but here is one legit method I’ve been using for a little over a year now, and it works really well. That being said, I’m not much of a music buff, so I have no idea what I like listening to (usually it’s not Japanese music, to be perfectly honest), but I know there are plenty of you out there jonesing to get your hands on more Japanese music, find new bands, etc., especially since iTunes makes it hard for non-Japanese-living folk to buy Japanese music (and CD prices are just plain outrageous). Read more…

Yep, that’s the same exact reaction I’d have if Akebono pulled that crazy stunt on me. WTF, Akebono-san? I’m just a kid (though I think Segata Sanshiro still wins in the unnecessary child-beating category). And is it just me, or does the “So Fun, So Fox” sound like something else? Now, you’ll have to forgive me, because I’ve really only seen part of one episode of Glee, so I don’t really know what it’s all about (they did well at the Golden Globes, right?), but I do know that they’re using one of my favorite people, Akebono Tarō, who is the first non-Japanese wrestler to make it to the top sumo rank of Yokozuna. That and he is a very large human. Read more…

Japan’s jobless rate is currently at 5.2%, which is a record high (way better than America’s, but still). There is a 15.7% poverty rate, one of the highest amongst industrialized nations. 15,800 people live on the streets of Japan (according to the government – in reality this number is probably higher with 10,000+ in Tokyo alone). To sum things up, things aren’t all that great, and the recession is hitting Japan pretty hard as well. If you are poor in Japan, however, there are a couple of interesting options for you. Better than living with the monkeys, anyways. Read more…

This is the last TeamLab post (for a little while, at least). I’ve been saving this one for last, since I think it’s my favorite (or, at the very least, the most psychedelic), so I’m hoping you enjoy it. Like the others, it combines traditional Japanese art styles with various modern elements, in this case they are using video which progresses the art piece as an actual story. Read more…

One of the things I most want to see someday are the snow monkeys living in Japan. If you haven’t heard of the Japanese Macaque, you’re in for a great surprise. These monkeys are… shall we say… very “human” in a couple of ways. That, and they’re totally weird. Read more…

I just read a great article by awesome j-blog WhatJapanThinks, which translates Japanese surveys into English for your enjoyment. This particular article is titled “How Japanese Call Their Partners.” i.e., what Japanese guys and gals call their significant others. I thought it was a particularly interesting study, and since what you call someone says a lot about someone in Japanese (There’s a lesson about this on TextFugu, if you’re a member), but this article goes deeper into one particular niche… the girlfriend / boyfriend. Oh baby oh baby. Read more…

Have you ever noticed how almost every zipper you own has “YKK” written on it? I didn’t, until I read this post about it. I did a little more research, and found out there’s quite a story behind YKK and their “circle of goodness.” Just remember, every time you zip up imagine Mr. Yoshida standing there watching, double thumbs up with approval. Read more…

A lot of you out there know how much of a (sad) Apple fanboy I am, which means you’ll probably understand why iPhone art makes my heartbeat increase. This is the post I was going to post the other day (before getting distracted by Wacom Japan’s little flash game), and yes, it’s also developed by my new favorite art / design / tech group Team-Lab. We’ve already seen how nice and shiny LCD screens can modernize hanging scrolls, but what if you want to take your hanging scrolls on the train? First, you’d have to get four iPhones, but if you’re a multi-millionaire, then why not? Read more…