Greetings fellow fugu-ers! Gakuranman here. (That’s right, ‘schoolboy coat man’.) You may remember me from such indie B-posts as ‘Katakana Words Ate My Soul‘ and Invasion of the Kanji.

But not to fear! I’ve returned today to shower you with gifts. Gifts of knowledge and prosperity. Your Japanese skills will soar and…ahh, what the heck. Let’s just get on with it. Here’s some words related to the Japanese summer with a few colourful anecdotes. Because, you know, language and culture are inseparable. Kinda like this twisted daikon above. Also a mini giveaway for you hungry learners at the end of this post!

夏バテ (natsubate) – Summer Lethargy

Here in Japan, summer comes in a self-contained bubble of humidity. For about 3-5 months of the year, temperatures soar and people drop like flies having had all the life force sucked out of them. You might imagine that everyone slips into a zombified state doing nothing but waving 扇子 (sensu – folding fans) or うちわ (uchiwa – paper fans) and you wouldn’t be far off. So yes, right now yours truly is attempting to fight off zombifiction from the suffering summer heat. That’s natsubate for you!

セミ (semi) – cicada (noisy insect!)

Ahh, the sound of summer. Do you have these little critters where you live? For me in the U.K, we always had a resident wood pigeon who would coo sweet pigeon melodies down our chimney pipe. Now when I leave the house it sounds like a battleground, littered with the corpses of these short-lived insects. Personally, my ears have always interpreted the noise as the sound of Spaniards. (No offence to our Spanish friends our there, or the Inquisition!) Si si si si si si si si si. Sisisisisisisisisssss…..

かき氷 (kakigoori) – Shaved Ice.

Or so the dictionary tells us. I prefer to think of them as mounds of delicious cool. Covered with your favourite flavoured syrup (awesome, two British spellings in a row, right there!), these heavenly creations can be the only thing keeping you alive through many hot days. Other summer necessities include ちゅうちゅう (chuu-chuu) – flavoured ice lollies – or ガリガリ君 (garigari-kun) – a particular brand of ice pole sporting a kid with big teeth!

線香花火 (senkou-hanabi) – Sparkler

A kind of Japanese sparkler. You get all the fizz and crackle of normal sparklers, but with a curious little ball of hot goo forming at the tip. The ball grows bigger and bigger as the firework continues, before dropping to the floor and dying. People compete to see whose ball will hang on the longest. Very poetic and a great metaphor for many things Japanese, I reckon – the fleeting beauty found in transient objects and all that. I’m curious though, do they have these fireworks in other countries? I’ve only seen them in Japan myself.

There you have it then. A few summery Japanese words. Little and often eh? That’s the best way to keep up your Japanese studies, young grasshoppers (or should I say cicadas? har har har).

Well, I know you guys can’t get enough of giveaways around here, so as I promised here’s another great chance to win cool stuff from Japan. I have not less than *12* sets of prizes to ship out, including:

Stuff for learning Japanese while lounging in the loo.

And items for poking people with.

How about a pointy Japanese phrasebook to help your language studies?

Or, since we all worship the Tofu-gu around here, some authentic tofu-flavoured paper! In actual tofu packaging!

Oh yes. These and a Schoolboy-coat-man signed postcard from Japan could be yours. All you have to do is tell me what your best advice is for learning a foreign language.

Check out the full post for detailed information (and an embarrassing video!) I’m also giving a little time extension because you all rock. You have until Wednesday 25th August 2010! Not long then! Go for it!

P.S. If you think summer is too warm, you should follow Gakuranman on Twitter.

P.P.S. If you thought that tofu flavored paper was a good idea, you should try to win something from his contest.

No related posts.

Sometimes (well, often times), you look at the Japanese culture and think “gosh, Japan is really weird.” This is probably one of those times. Then again, what’s so weird about wanting refrigerated panties every once in a while, especially with the kinds of summers Japan tends to get?

As you may have gathered from the video, I just froze my boxers. It’s surprisingly nice to have on a cold day, so you’ll see no judgment from me today, Japan…

More info on these underwears can be found on Alafista and AkibaBlog (both can sometimes be NSFW).

P.S. If you wish you had colder underwear, you should follow Tofugu on Twitter.

P.P.S. If your underwear is “plenty cold, thank you!” you should probably check out the Tofugu Newsletter.

Related posts:

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2. In Japan, You Visit A Scary Japanese Doctor 12+ Times A Year
3. Tofukubukuro: Get Your Tofugu Grab-Bag While It’s Hot

Kid’s songs are a wonderful resource to help you learn Japanese better. They are often overlooked because… well, they are a bit silly, but I think they are worth a second look. I’m going to cover a bit of theory here (I promise not too much), and then look at 6 kid’s songs you might use in your studies.

The How

Now I can see you scratching your heads. How can stupid kid’s songs help me learn Japanese? Right? Hold that thought. Let me ask you a question: Can you remember any of the children’s songs you learned when you were a kid? I’m guessing yes.

The basic problems with learning Japanese are pretty well known at this point. If you are a regular Tofugu reader, you probably know many of them. Two of the biggest ones, I think, are that we make our study too hard and we don’t have fun. These are actually two parts of the same problem.

The effects of these two problems are so common they almost go without saying: 1) loss of motivation and 2) burn-out. Kid’s songs help combat this by adding a bit of fun back into your study routine, and also by secretly working on your listening, recognition and (if you are brave and sing out loud with them) your pronunciation and speaking.

How’s that work, huh? Have you heard of a fella by the name of Alexander Arguelles. He’s a professor of languages, a polyglot who can speak some 30+ languages to varying levels of mastery (including some Japanese) . His primary method for learning is the shadow method. I’m sure you all have heard of this, right? This is where someone says something and we attempt to repeat it back at nearly the same moment, maybe only a second or two behind. Now the shadow method is common enough in language learning these days, but he recommends starting with a very strict version of it where all you do is shadow. No looking at text (reading), no looking at the translation to figure out what you are saying, just shadowing.

Crazy you say? How will I know what I’m saying/learning? That’s the point. By only shadowing you are narrowing your learning focus to just a couple things: listening, that is focusing on the actual sounds, and speaking. Interestingly, these are often the hardest areas for language learners to master. You can memorize as many words/sentences, as much grammar as you want, but if you have trouble understanding when someone talks to you or if you have trouble finding the right words when you speak, all that knowledge is for waste.

(If you want to know more about Prof Arguelles and his theories, start with this video on youtube, where he discusses his shadowing approach)

Still awake? Apologizes for all that boring theory. I think it’s useful to consider this stuff. At any rate, on to the list of songs. Most or all of these are very well known by the Japanese, so you will be sure to pleasantly surprise people if you manage to memorize any.

6 great Japanese kid’s songs

First, Mary had a little lamb.

This is about as easy as you are going to get. Unfortunately, the video has English in it. Remember, at this point we really aren’t concerned with what the Japanese actually means. Concentrate on the sounds, both hearing them and reproducing them as best you can.

The acorn song!

This is a fun song. Can you clearly understand the kids’ singing? Listen a few times before you try to shadow it.

Pushing the difficulty up a little, here is The Dog Policeman.

This one is one of those everyone loves. I hear kids singing it all the time in the stores. The video is funny, too. The kana is on the video, but remember, we are working our listening not reading. Try to use your ears to figure out what sounds they are making.

Both the songs from My Neighbor Totoro are fun and easy to learn. Here’s a video with both of them.

As an added bonus, the kids in this video are adorable.

Ah, the Taikaki Song. This song is long and a little challenging, but he sings slowly and you should be able to follow along after a few trys. Unfortunately the one I want to embed here has embedding disabled. Go watch that version at youtube for some animation that will help you understand the song. Here’s another version with the guy who sings it. Awesome hair!

Do you know what Taiyaki is? It’s kind of a hotcake with anko inside in the shape of a fish. This is quite an old song, but mention it or hum a few bars and you’ll bring a smile to the face of anyone over 30 .

Finally, the Japanese dub of one we probably all know. Challenge yourself and learn this version.

Want more?

Follow any of these videos to youtube and you should find a great many video links to other kid’s songs. Find some you like and learn them. You’ll enjoy yourself and it really will help your Japanese.

This post was written by Dave of JapanDave.com who Tweets and has a great newsletter full of amazing pictures of Japan.

If you’re learning Japanese, consider using eduFire to get live online lessons!

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The era of the Geisha for the most part has ended, but the cultural tradition of larger than life females remains very much alive.  Outside traditional areas in cities like Kyoto, there are very few Geisha to be found in Japan these days, but in their place are virtually endless varieties of “Fantasy Girls.”  Samurai used to pay elaborately dressed Geisha to sing, dance, and generally make them feel good about themselves after a long day working for their lord.  In modern times, “shain” 社員 (company men) can choose their own “Fantasy Girl” to perform the same function.  In many cases, the purpose of their service goes beyond simple physical attractiveness to provide an avenue of escapism through individual attention, fantastic scenarios, and over-the-top service.  People come from around the world to participate in the many fantastic worlds created by Japan’s “Fantasy Girls,” and this post should serve as an introduction to what all the fuss is about by presenting a few well known groups of women (sometimes men) who set the stage for fantasy: キャバクラ (Kyabakura), ホステスクラブ／ホストクラブ (Host/Hostess Club), スナックバー (Snack Bar), and メイドカフェ (Maid Cafes).

キャバクラ – Kyabakura

キャバクラ “Kyabakura” (referred to by some as hostess or host bars), ホステスクラブ “Hostess Clubs,” and スナックバー “Snack Bars” are all very similar in that they involve beautiful women and men who are dressed almost comically elegantly and are supposed to make you feel like a big shot…as long as you have cash.

The word キャバクラ (kyabakura) is made from a combination of the words cabaret and club.  I guess it’s kind of like a Las Vegas cabaret show that comes to you!  This type of establishment also has the same kind of bad reputation as Las Vegas has: full of organized crime, substance abuse, prostitution, illegal immigrant workers, and exploitation of women (and men).  While this negative stereotype has a lot of traction, and has even attracted some action from the Japanese government, キャバクラ are so widespread throughout Japan that the moral standing of the establishment varies from location to location.

In Kyabakura, The Experience Should Be Like This:

A man or women dressed as if he or she is about to go to the Academy Awards will approach you from outside the establishment and tell you about all the beautiful women (or men) inside the kyabakura and should you decide to go inside the clock immediately starts on your service charge (warning: this is how a lot of foreigners lose all their money very quickly).  Once inside, either a girl (or boy) will be chosen for you or you can pick from a menu.  From that point, you are seated with the partner you chose who dotes on you hand and foot, flirts with you, animatedly listens to stories about your boring life, and constantly praises you.  All this is done over very expensive drinks, and typically one is encouraged to buy an entire bottle of liquor for use on multiple occasions, i.e. they really want you to come back.  Depending on the location, once the night is over you will get a little kiss and then a flurry of text messages telling you how amazing you are and to come back as soon as possible.  If you develop a relationship with a particular hostess or host, sometimes paid dates, called “douhan” 「同伴」 outside the club are permitted to encourage loyalty to the particular kyabakura.  This practice is morally gray to say the least, but in theory these dates are limited to casual flirting only.  Once you leave the kyabakura you will feel like a great weight has been lifted from your shoulders…or wallet…I forget which one comes first.

This Japanese news report is kind of like an insiders guide to the girls inside kyabakura (a relatively un-sketchy one).

ホステスクラブ – Hostess Club

Take the concept of kyabakura, multiply the price and staff physical attractiveness factor by at least 10, add incredibly wealthy people, subtract most of the illegal activities, and you have a hostess club!

There will be no one begging you to come inside this establishment.  These types of clubs are highly exclusive, often the meeting place for very high ranking members of society, and located in high class areas of big cities like the Ginza district in Tokyo.  If you want in, there is typically no fee per hour, but in the best ones you need to shell out over $100K to get access (yes, in US DOLLARS… not that US dollars are worth that much anymore, though).  The workers here are generally taken care of very well by a former hostess called Mama-san, and often have successful modeling careers during and after their time as employees.  Sometimes they get married to celebrities or high ranking officials who frequent the club.  The women are highly trained in the skills of making you feel good about yourself and are on the forefront of fashion trends.  Definitely not unlike Geisha right?!  This type of celebrity like status is what allures a lot of young women into the business, but a high quality place like this is usually not were they end up.

ホストクラブ – Host Club

One interesting difference between the “Age of the Geisha” and now is the inclusion of men as servers in Japan’s night time industry.  Host Clubs work almost exactly the same way as Hostess Clubs, but are typically not as high class and include a rainbow of gender preferences: female or male customers who like males, female or male customers who like very feminine males or cross dressing males, female or male customers who like females dressed as males, and the list goes on and on.  No matter what type of male they are, you can be assured that they are very confident, cool, fashionable, and oozing with money.

スナックバー – Snack Bar

A snack bar is like the smaller cousin to kyabakura.  These places typically are not the epicenter of modern fashion, but are more like hangouts for everyday salary men that would rather hang out with younger, probably foreign girls, than go home to their wife.  These places often have a variety of options for activities to do together like billiards, karaoke, darts, drinking, and eating.  It’s like going to a bar with a hot young girlfriend who does nothing but praise your every action and encourage you to drink as much as you want!  Definitely a fantasy world, and you’ll end up paying for it when the bill comes.  Unlike kyabakura, snack bars are a little bit more on the “honor system” in that if you really like the service you should leave a substantial tip.  Snack Bars are also not as hardcore as kyabakura about getting you to come back over and over again through financial and emotional pressure, so it’s typically a good option for foreign visitors.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This set up is pretty normal.  It’s pretty much just a bar where the female bartenders and staff are extra nice, so you tip them accordingly.

メイドカフェー – Maid Cafe

We have just left the Salary Man’s escape and have moved on to Otaku-land:  秋葉原 AKIHABARA!!  Of course it is very easy to find numerous salary men (Japanese term for someone working 9-5 at a large company) who also lead dual lives as serious Otaku (basically “nerd” in Japanese).  Akihabara is a section of Tokyo where the Otaku culture is at its peak, and chances are as soon as you step off the JR train, you’ll be greeted by a very cute Japanese girl dressed up like a French maid who will pose in pictures with you and invite you to her cafe.

“WELCOME TO AKIHABARA MASTER!!”

“秋葉原にお帰りなさいませご主人様！”

The predominant maid cafe style is where the maids treat you as though you are royalty and they are lowly, but very cute servants and dote on you hand and foot (see a pattern here at all?).  They will compliment you, tell you that you are handsome, put ketchup on your omelet in heart shapes while sitting on their knees at your table, make cute noises like a cat, blow kisses, make heart shapes with their hands, and encourage you to act cutely as well.  At many locations, they also play eating and drinking games with various prizes.

One example is that a maid will fix a huge stack of pancakes for you and a tiny pancake for herself and the bet is that if you can eat your pancakes faster than she can, you will get a kiss on the cheek, but if you lose she will slap you in the face in front of the entire restaurant.  All of this is done while they speak in an overly cute style called Mo-e “萌え” which in English I suppose would be the equivalent of baby-talk.  That sounds like it would get real annoying real fast, but people LOVE it, especially Otaku who don’t ever get attention from pretty girls (funny thing is, a lot of American otaku who learn Japanese on their own, probably using anime, often sound kind of like this… “funny” because it’s funny to listen to them talk like a baby girl).  It unfortunately leads to a lot of stalking, but in comparison, maid cafes are free from a lot of the other problems associated with kyabakura.  Almost everything you do at the cafe will cost money, from taking pictures to eating contests, and the food is of course at a premium cost, but for people who love Japanese girls dressed and acting like your personal French-maid servant, it is well worth the cost.

The wild thing about maid cafes though is that there are SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS! There are some that are the exact opposite of the description above, and basically involve the maid treating you like a piece of crap and verbally abusing you the entire time you are in the restaurant.  Others are for women who like called Butler Cafes, some of which are entirely comprised of European men, who will even carry you around for a fee.

Here’s a link to a video to give you an idea of what exactly happens at a few different types of maid cafes.  The first that is shown is the typical style, the second is tsundere “つんでれ” which is basically where they make you think they hate you but in the end they show they really like you, and lastly is like samurai adventure where they do mock battles while you eat epically named food. Tofugu even wrote about a pretty creepy maid cafe a while ago: Mom Cafes.

Disneyland – but far more creepy

One new style of maid cafe that’s real real weird is called “kigurumi” 着ぐるみ which is basically some one wearing a head to toe costume like in Disneyland, but in this case it’s much more otaku adult themed…

This place is just like a regular maid cafe except the people dressed in anime costumes do not talk, but write on whiteboards to communicate with you.  This sounds like a bad horror movie!  To each his/her own I guess…

Japan’s Fantasy Girls – Past and Present

There are of course many many differences between Geisha in the past and the present form of fantasy girls in Japan, but the connection is clear: women (and men) in this industry provide a service that goes beyond the physical excitement present in similar services originating in the West like strip clubs, Hooters, etc.  The people performing all of these services in Japan are of course physically attractive, but more so they are experts in creating atmosphere where the customer feels removed from the world they live in and receive special individual attention.  In the West, people pay two separate groups: one to listen to their problems like counselors, and one that is unrealistically physically appealing like strip dancers.  In Japan however, they have a tradition of combining those roles that arguably has roots during the time of the Geisha.

This post was written by Nick W., who has traveled throughout many regions of Japan in search of unique cultural gems.  He is currently earning his MBA and has researched topics like folk music in WWII Japan and Ainu cultural revival through music.  His favorite Japanese musician is the late Nujabes.  He has experienced great amounts of culture shock when unknowingly encountering kyabakura hostesses.  In hindsight it was hilarious.

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お久しぶりです!『ohisashiburidesu』It’s been a while!  Per request, Japan [Off The Beaten Track] is going to begin again strong with Hokkaido 北海道, the number one place in Japan where people take adventuring very seriously!  This northern island is rugged and can be thought of as Japan’s Wild Wild North.  People come from all over the world to take part in exploring Japan’s jewel of nature and home of the indigenous people called the Ainu.  This article aims to give you a starting point to getting off the beaten track, but Hokkaido is so big and has so many opportunities for adventures, you’ll have to go there yourself to make your own way on the “north sea road.”  Like in the Shikoku and Saitama posts, I’ll be giving you ideas for food, interesting dialects (in this case the Ainu language), frozen and thawed festivals, and most importantly ADVENTURES!!!  行きましょう！Let’s GO!

Hokkaido’s Food

MMMmmm, scary, hairy, and delicious.  For Japanese and foreign travelers alike, a main draw for coming to Hokkaido is the seafood.  The cold, pure waters surrounding Hokkaido provide superb locations for harvesting seafood of all varieties.  Above is the Horse Hair Crab 毛蟹『kegani』, which is one of many kinds of crab that can be enjoyed in Hokkaido.  Other dishes famous to Hokkaido are sushi made from 海胆『uni』sea urchin, and ホタテ『hotate』scallop, which are best eaten absolutely as fresh as possible.  Both sea urchin and scallops are typically difficult for foreign visitors to eat raw, but when served in Hokkaido, the often off putting smell is lessened because of the superb freshness.  One of the best cities to eat seafood in is Hakodate because of its location on surrounded by water on the southern peninsula of Hokkaido, so you can jump off the train as soon as you arrive and eat some delicious sea food.  Be sure to bring your wallet!  It’s worth it!

For those of you rugged travelers who do not have money to throw down for expensive seafood cuisine, or for those who just do not like seafood, there is always one amazing alternative…..

RAMEN!!!!!!!

This is Sapporo Ramen.  The REAL Sapporo Ramen, not to be confused with the crappy instant ramen brand found in most Costcos.  If you read my Shikoku article, then you know my strong feelings for Ramen already.  It is truly the friend of the traveler and must be utilized, especially in Hokkaido where many agree that it is the best you can find in Japan.  The ramen in Sapporo is typically a sweet miso ramen designed to fill and warm you up on a wickedly cold night.  There are different variations of what goes inside, but generally seafood, meat, egg, and corn are the most common.  If you become a ramen fanatic like I am, you MUST have some if you visit Hokkaido.

Ainu Language

In all likelihood you will never be in a situation where you will only be able to use the Ainu language.  Please PROVE ME WRONG AND TELL ME WHERE YOU WENT!!!

In a quick history overview, the Ainu are an indigenous group of people in Japan with rather mysterious origins.  While they initially inhabited a large part of northern Japan, they were gradually pushed north by the Japanese, eventually limited exclusively to Hokkaido.  After the Meiji Restoration (1867), Hokkaido was annexed by the Japanese and the Ainu were forcefully assimilated and their language and culture was largely destroyed.  Only very recently, beginning in the early 1990s, have the remaining descendants of the Ainu gained significant ground in the revival of their language and culture.  Here is a great resource for learning more about the Ainu language.  If you want first hand experience learning the language, a good place to start are Ainu villages called “Kotan.”  Most are more like tourist destinations rather than places where people actually live a traditional lifestyle, but if you go to either and show interest in the language, I’m sure you’ll get on the right track.

Music = Language

One of the best ways to understand how the Ainu language sounds is to listen to the music because music is one of the main methods that has been used to preserve this language as well as other similar “lost languages.”  The following are a couple of samples of Ainu music, one traditional and one modern.

First is a very traditional piece that show cases how music might have actually sounded before the Japanese assimilation:

Iuta Upopo (Husking Song)

The piece is a functional work song for husking, as the name implies.  Originally, Ainu songs were not performance pieces, but served specific purposes in everyday life.  The key when listening to the language is to notice how different the pronunciation is from Japanese.

Second is a great duo who did a great deal to popularize the Ainu cultural revival through modern interpretation of traditional Ainu music – Oki Kano, and the late Umeko Ando:

Battaki

The stringed instrument played by Oki Kano is called a “Tonkori” and while it is a traditional Ainu instrument, it is being played with a modern pop music flair.  The chanting by Umeko Ando, is very similar to traditional Ainu music, and the drummer is playing rhythms from modern popular music.  This music is a fantastic way to become introduced to how beautiful the Ainu language sounds!

Hokkaido’s Festivals

Ainu Festivals

Speaking of Ainu, some of the best festivals in Hokkaido are ones that display Ainu language and culture like the Ainu Music Festival in Sapporo.  Look at the picture above with Oki Kano rocking out on amplified Ainu tonkori.  EPIC! Other Ainu festivals can be found in Sapporo as well as Ainu villages (kotan) throughout Hokkaido, so go check some out!

The most famous (or infamous) Ainu festival is called the Iomante Festival, but I have a feeling most of you won’t want to go.  It is a religious ceremony where a bear is sacrificed to the bear god in order to encourage more bears to come to the earth.  The festival is very rare, mostly because the practice of slowly killing a bear is seen by many as inhumane to animals.  The practice looks very similar to bull fighting, except the young bear is tied to a rope nailed to a peg in the ground, so it’s even more unfair.  This festival is an opportunity to see Ainu culture in a way that most people never can, but it is not for the faint of heart.

Ice Festivals

The real big attraction to Hokkaido, as many of you know, are the ice festivals most famously the Sapporo Ice Festival, pictured above.  The festival attracts over 2 million people and is one of the best ice festivals in the world with huge structures that push the boundaries of the human imagination.  That being said, there will be crowds, so here’s one of many other Ice Festival options for those of you wanting to get further off the beaten track.

Sounkyo Ice Festival

The Sounkyo Ice Festival is located in the beautiful Sounkyo Gorge, southeast of Asahikawa.  The region itself is worth going to any time of year to appreciate nature, get away from tourist traps, and to get in on the many opportunities to have adventures in any of the four seasons.  The festival takes place from January-March and is illuminated by beautiful colored lights covering the many ice sculptures, caves, and pathways, which cover an extensive area for walking around for viewing it all under a large weekly fireworks display.  You won’t see quite the same level of massive structures like at the Sapporo Ice Festival, but the Sounkyo Ice Festival makes up for it in spades with a great location, beautiful illumination, and smaller crowds.

There are many ice festivals in the Asahikawa area, some with other cool features like hot air ballooning, so please find one that suits you, bring some warm clothes, and have a good time!  Here’s a link for the Asahikawa Tourism website to get you started!

Hokkaido’s Adventures

For adventures in nature, Hokkaido is hard to beat.  It is filled with world class national parks, pristine hiking trails, light powder snow for winter sports, and spectacular view points of waterfalls, mountains, and rivers.  Heck, you can even go dog sledding! Hokkaido is such a large island that you really could write a whole book about exploring what it has to offer.  I hope I can provide you with material to start your first chapter!

Daisetsuzan National Park 大雪山国立公園 is a great place to get started exploring Hokkaido because it offers so much opportunity for great hiking, skiing, onsens, scenery, and meeting interesting people.  Above is Asahidake 旭岳, the tallest mountain in Hokkaido at 2291 meters and one of the centerpieces for the national park.  The climb to the summit in the summer is filled with stunning 360 degree scenery, smoldering geysers, and uneasy footing on the path up the side of the mountain due to deposits of volcanic rock. Thanks to a gondola, however, getting as far as where this picture was taken is only a short ride away, and in the winter skiing or boarding down is highly encouraged to experience Hokkaido POW.  The types of people who choose to continue the journey to the very top are surprisingly diverse from professional level climbers who spend all summer carrying packs nearly twice their size to camp and hike around the region, to elderly couples and their toddler grandchildren.  The origins of the visitors are spread out as well from salary men from Tokyo and Osaka seeking to get away from the fast paced stress of their work to tour groups from Western Europe and the United States as well as Japanese families on vacation.

The start of the gondola is located in a very small mountain town with the same name as the mountain, Asahidake.  There, you can find a youth hostel just a short walk away from the gondola with pretty reasonable prices for rooms that include breakfast, and even a small lunch if you pay a little bit extra.  There is a wonderful complimentary outdoor onsen 露天風呂 「rotenburo」included in the price, with water flowing from the natural hot spring creek that runs right past the hostel.  From there, it is easy to access the many nature trails and the hike from the hostel to the nearby Tenninkyo Onsen 天人峡温泉 requires a little bushwhacking but provides great vistas of gorges and waterfalls (below).

The great thing about Hokkaido is that this is just one of the countless locations where you can get off the beaten track, experience beautiful scenery, and interact with interesting people from Japan and around the world who are on similar journeys for adventure.

Hokkaido’s Transportation

For being such a massive, rugged island, it really is not that hard to get around with public transportation.  The JR Hokkaido Railway Company crisscrosses the island pretty well to get you at least in the general vicinity of where you want to go.  From there, there are lots of buses available to get you to a specific destination that does not have a train station.

Most people fly to Sapporo and then take a bus or train, but if you are hardcore and happen to have a JR Pass (basically an all-you-can-ride pass for increments of 1-3 weeks if you’re on a tourist visa) you might try taking the train all the way up.  It’s a LONG ride, and not real comfortable if you aren’t in a sleeping car, so if you don’t have a JR pass, it’s just about the same price to fly so I would do that unless you have lots of time on your hands and want to see some of northern Honshu before getting into Hokkaido.

With that, good luck in Hokkaido!  Go out and try to get lost!  Make sure to wear bells on your backpack to ward off bears and have a good time!

いろいろな地域を探検してみてください！(iroirona chiikiwo tanken shitemite kudasai) “GO EXPLORE!”

P.S.  If you have a place in Japan you love that’s off the beaten track and want to share it on Tofugu.com, send a short summary of your experience to nick@tofugu.com.

This post was written by Nick W., who has traveled throughout many regions of Japan in search of unique cultural gems.  He is currently earning his MBA and has researched topics like folk music in WWII Japan and Ainu cultural revival through music.  His favorite Japanese musician is the late Nujabes.

Related posts:

1. Traveling in Shikoku, Japan [Off The Beaten Track]
2. Traveling to Saitama, Japan [Off The Beaten Track]

I get all kinds of weird questions in my e-mail inbox. Sometimes they’re creepy, sometimes they’re hilarious, sometimes they’re interesting, and sometimes they’re a part of a pattern. This is one of those patterns. A few times a month I’ll get the following question:

What is the best Japanese Language electronic dictionary?

Once I get the same question too many times, there’s a good likelihood that I’ll just write the answer via a post here, which is exactly what’ I’m doing. So, what is the best Japanese Language electronic dictionary out there? Let’s find out.

The Best Japanese Language Electronic Dictionary Is… Not a Japanese Language Electronic Dictionary…

Guh-what? You’d think that if you were in the market to buy an electronic dictionary you’d buy an electronic dictionary… at least in the “traditional” sense. You can see pictures of them above. Now, for sure, they do the things they’re supposed to do, but that’s about it. If you buy one, you probably won’t be disappointed on this front. You’ll be able to look up words, see sentences, and in some hear audio. Not too shabby.

For me, though, I don’t feel like that’s enough, at least not in this day and age. Even though these do exactly what you want them to do, I don’t think they’re the best tool for the job. Here’s why:

• They’re big (though the big screen could be considered a plus)
• They’re bulky, try putting one of the regular sized ones in your pocket
• They aren’t versatile
• They’re expensive (approximately $200-$400+)

By now, I bet you’ve already guessed the “electronic dictionary” that I’d recommend.

Get An iPod Touch / iPhone Instead Of a Japanese Electronic Dictionary

Instead of a Japanese language electronic dictionary, I highly recommend you get an iPhone or iPod Touch. I think it’s an easy decision, but that’s also because I’m an Apple fanboy. Still, I think anyone will see the logic here.

• An iPod Touch comes in at $179 (if you buy it at Costco) or $199 from the Apple store. This is the same price as the lower end models of the Japanese electronic dictionaries, but you get so much more.
• You can download a dictionary application to your iPhone or iPod Touch. My favorite is “Japanese” because everything is stored locally (i.e. no need for an internet connection to look things up). This app is $16, which is pretty expensive for an iPhone app, but well worth it if you were planning on putting down $200-$400+ on an electronic dictionary. Update: A lot of people seem to like “Kotoba” as well. I haven’t tried it, but it seems to be highly recommended (and free!)
• There are tons of other Japanese language learning related applications in the iTunes store as well. There are so many different things you can get (and who knows what will come out in the future), making it an awesome (mobile) platform for practicing your Japanese.
• You can download Japanese Podcasts to your iPod / iPhone, and listen to them for continued practice while you’re driving, sitting around, at work, at school, etc.
• You can do other things with it, so you aren’t just pinned down to using it to study Japanese (you know, all the things an iPod Touch / iPhone are supposed to do, right?).

So, basically it’s better, more mobile, has apps, and costs less. What is there not to like? Granted, regular Japanese electronic dictionaries have their perks, too, I’m sure, but I personally don’t see the purpose of getting one when you could do this instead.

If that didn’t convince you, watch this video, which just says the same things you just read all over again.

Anyone else doing the same thing? Any angry Japanese electronic dictionary users out there? Let me know in the comments what you think.

Related posts:

1. How To Use Evernote To Study Japanese (Or Any Other Language)
2. What I Want To See With Apple’s iPad (In Regards To Japanese)

Japanese girls are great for a lot of reasons, I mean, get real, they’re loved world wide because they’re small, cute, wear tiny tiny skirts, and sometimes dress up in school uniforms (even if they’re not in school anymore).  It seems to be a rite of passage for every male exchange student, every JET, and everyone visiting Japan to try to find a Japanese girlfriend when they visit…

Many people even say that “the best way to learn a language is to date someone who speaks it!”  Sorry, but for the sake of your Japanese language skills

Flirting DOESN’T CUT IT!

I assure you, the longer you date a Japanese girl, the less likely you will be able read the rude t-shirt you started wearing to find one!  Why you might ask?  It only makes sense that the more you speak Japanese, the better you get, right? Right?  RIGHT?!

Wrong, and here’s why:

1.  You are lazy

Sure.  At first you might say, “Oh man, I’m going to get so good at kanji, and grammar, and all that stuff now!” and you might even convince your girlfriend to tutor you everyday, but that won’t last. It NEVER does. There are exceptions to the rule, but most of the time you’ve got a lot more “fun and important” things to do with your girlfriend than talk about freaking kanji radicals and grammar points (…at least I HOPE you do).  You’ll also have a lot more “unfun” things to talk about like when her mom is coming to visit or how bad you made the bathroom smell.  In any case, there will be times when you’ll get lazy and just use the easiest words you can think of, even if it’s just English that sounds kind of like Japanese.

2.  You will mix English and Japanese

There are lots of terms for this phenomenon, and it is not limited to just speakers of English and Japanese, but it is the DEVIL!!! This stupid practice, mostly caused by laziness will literally ruin your chances of speaking intelligible Japanese, and probably your girlfriend’s chances of remembering English.  You will create your own little language that no one else really understands, not even you, and that makes for absolutely terrible communication.

Here is a sample conversation that doesn’t make sense:

A.  When do you think the 図書館 is open?

B.  さあ、I don’t know, after dinner you should チェック。

A.  めんどくさいな。

B.  Don’t be a バカ。ほら見て、このサイトで it’s written right here!

A.   そうか。Fine, 夕飯を食べたら I’m gonna go return these 本。

See?  This conversation is wrong in too many ways to  “counto.”

3.  Getting made fun of sucks

No matter how good at speaking Japanese you get, there will always be ways to get made fun of by your girlfriend.  Some are simply called “cute” for speaking with an accent, while others get called out on their weird grammar or pronunciation.  No matter what, most guys HATE criticism, even backhanded statements about how cute you are!  It makes you feel stupid, like you are being treated like a small child, and it’s easy to get defensive.  Even people who speak really awesome Japanese get made fun of because they speak better Japanese than normal people!  It’s frustrating!  It’s only fair though, because I’m sure not many of you can honestly say you’ve never made fun of Japanese English or “カタカナ イングリーシュ.”  It’s just so cute and funny.  アイ　ライク　ユウー！カン　ウイ　ハング　アウト　ツモーロ？ “I like you!  Can we hang out tomorrow?” Awwwwwww….okay, fair is fair.

4.  あんたの彼女とばかり話してると、かわいい女の子みたいに話しちゃうわよ！笑

This title means, if you talk with your girlfriend all the time, you might end up sounding like our friend above:

「あたし美しいね〜!」”I’m sooo beautiful!” (said very cutely)

This is probably not desirable, and believe me, everyone will let you know how girly you sound.  This unfortunate scenario also occurs a lot because a huge portion of Japanese instructors are women, and most foreign guys don’t spend their time looking for manly sounding Japanese dudes to chase around.  If you are just starting your language learning experience, you won’t be able to help but talk like girl.  On the flip side, if you over compensate, and try to talk like a Japanese THUG, then your friends, girlfriend, their friends friends, will think you’ve lost your mind and will all laugh until they turn blue.

5.  Your girlfriend wants to learn English

I know Koichi hates this with a passion, but most guys learning Japanese are going to try to get girlfriends in Japan by becoming language partners.  Sorry Koichi, but it’s the birds and the bees, and it’s the way it will always be.  Men, chances are your future girlfriend isn’t going to date you because she’s really pumped about teaching someone basic Japanese over and over again.  If anything, she’ll agree to hang out with you because she wants to learn English, at least as one of the perks.  If that is the case, you will probably spend a lot more time explaining things in English rather than learning Japanese.

6.  No keigo or kanji with your girlfriend

Maybe I have exaggerated a smidge in the above parts, and there are significant linguistic improvements that can be made in your life by chasing Japanese girls.  Keigo (formal language) and Kanji skills are probably not included in this theoretical list of benefits.  Unless you want your conversations with your girlfriend to sound like two bankers who aren’t quite sure which of them is 先輩「せんぱい」 “senior,” you won’t be getting a lot of time practicing keigo.  Even Japanese people have trouble learning keigo because no one uses it with anyone close to them.  Using keigo with people you like makes you sound like you are being especially cold and probably mad at them.  It’s like when your parents were driving the car on a road trip when you were a little kid, and your dad is super lost and your mom asks overly kindly “Honey, would it be at all possible if we could stop and ask for directions?” to which your dad replies very politely and forcefully restrained “Darling, if we can just find the freeway, there will be no need to stop and bother the gas station attendant…”  It’s a little different in Japanese, but it’s the same concept that something isn’t right if you’re suddenly being very formal.  It sounds weird to the point where a lot of girls really don’t like to practice it with their boyfriends.  Sorry guys.

For kanji, unless your girlfriend is really into calligraphy and wants to practice together everyday, she probably won’t be a big resource for helping you there.  Some people try to hand write letters, but most would rather be doing other things, like eating nachos.  A popular solution is email, but I can assure you, everyone can type a ZILLION more kanji than they can actually write!  You, me, and most Japanese people under 30 included.  Now there’s even 191 more kanji we’re all supposed to know…so better start writing some really complex love letters!

7.  Jesus that’s fast! Can’t you speak slowly?!  Oh wait…you are?

It may seem like your girlfriend is talking like a machine gun to you, but wait until she gets around her friends…it’s a blur of giggling lightning!  For a lot of us, the only real part we participate in once they get going is listening to how silly or cute we sound if we try to say anything.  That means that most of the time she’s going easy on you.  It’s nice and practical for mutual understanding, but really it’s like using training wheels all the time.  Once you take them off, you’ll crash and burn in real conversations.  An obvious solution is to tell her to speak normally to you, but that often doesn’t last long.  If she tells you at lightning speed to “Bring the chopsticks” はしを持って来てね 「hashiwomottekitene」and you hear “Go to the bridge and back” 橋に行って来てね「hashiniittekitene」she’s probably going to get tired of you fast if you’re gone for an hour while she’s waiting for chopsticks!

橋だろ？！

8.  Your conversation topics will be limited

Some of you might be dating Japanese bioethics experts who take time and care to explain each vocabulary to you to ensure that you understand every word, but most of you will be repeating the following conversation far more often:

A.  今日何食べよう？「kyounanitabeyou?」”What should we eat today?”

B.  さあ、なにがいい？ 「saa, nanigaii?」”Uhh, well what do you want?”

A.  分からない。冷蔵庫に何が入っている？「wakaranai. reizokoninanigahaitteiru?」”I don’t know.  What’s in the fridge?”

B.  あまり何もないよ。「amarinanimonaiyo」”There’s not much.”

On the edge of your seat yet??  It’s like repeating basic Japanese class over and over again.  Some of you will get to delve into deeper topics from time to time, but it’s not like you’re going to be seriously practicing Japanese all the time with every conversation.  It gets tiring to have real deep conversations all the time, so it’s really easy to be lazy and stick to the mundane stuff, and mix in some English when you don’t know the right word and hope she understands.  BAD BAD BAD!

9.  Your girlfriend probably doesn’t know Japanese very well

I hate to criticize your girlfriend without having met her, but her Japanese is probably not perfect.  Unless she’s used to teaching foreigners all the time, it’s likely that she won’t be able to tell you much about how to learn Japanese.  She learned it a loooong time ago, and way differently than you’re going to have to do.  It’s not going to help you that much to go sit in on an elementary school Japanese language class in Japan.  Too much worrying about protecting your anus from mean children to focus anyway.

The Japanese your girlfriend uses isn’t even exactly the same thing you’ll be learning.  Her kanji’s probably off some of the time, and the grammar she uses sometimes won’t be found in your textbook.  That’s okay for basic practice, and it’s great to learn theoretical and practical use of Japanese, but this isn’t Japanese class it’s your GIRLFRIEND.

10.  Just kidding.

Getting a Japanese girlfriend really can improve your Japanese.  A lot.  Please don’t run away from Japanese girls screaming that you need to protect your language skills.  Please.  A lot of them are nice, fun, and might actually speak to you in Japanese.  If you practice with real people, then maybe you won’t sound like a conversation from Nakama or Genki, which will make people laugh way more than if you actually try.  Hopefully you’ll learn lots of cool things about culture, dating style, a new world view, and if you’re lucky, find more meaningful things to talk about than kanji radicals.  Just keep in mind the frustrations and pitfalls along the road, don’t give up, and don’t stop actually studying.  みんな頑張れ！

P.S. All this probably applies to Japanese boyfriends, too, for all of you that like boys and not girls.

This post was written by Nick W., who has traveled throughout many regions of Japan in search of unique cultural gems.  He is currently earning his MBA and has researched topics like folk music in WWII Japan and Ainu cultural revival through music.  His favorite Japanese musician is the late Nujabes.  He does have a nice Japanese girlfriend, but is too lazy to learn much Japanese from her.

Related posts:

1. Should You Learn Japanese From a Native Speaker or a “Foreigner”?
2. 12 Completely (Un)inspiring Images To Help You Learn Kanji

Bad news everyone. It looks like if you want to be considered as a literate member of the Japanese society, you’re going to have to learn an additional 196 kanji to make it in every day life. A proposal is in (and it seems like it’s going to pass… I guess the folks at the Agency For Cultural Affairs don’t have anything better to do) to increase “everyday kanji” to 2136 (that’s up from 1945).

It’s Happened Before

Changing the number of Joyo kanji (i.e. all the kanji you’re supposed to know if you want to be a functioning adult) isn’t new, though. They’ve done it a good number of times in the past.

1923: There were 1962 kanji considered to be standard kanji everyone should learn.

1931: This number went down to 1858 (how great would it be to live back when kanji numbers were this low? It feels like we’re talking gas prices, here).

1942: There was a lot of nationalistic fervor going on, so they jacked the kanji numbers up to 2528. Who cares about all the death and tragedy from the war. The real tragedy is the number of kanji kids had to learn. This was the true kanjipocolypse.

1946: Things came back under control, and kanji goes down to 1850. I’m actually surprised by this one, especially since there was so much interest in “Japanese-ness” because of the occupation. I would have guessed this number to be higher, but perhaps they just switched back to pre-war numbers, shifting a few around to make it seem different.

1981: This is the number most of you know now, if you’re shooting for Joyo proficiency. Right now you learn 1945 kanji, and this is also the number I use on TextFugu (though I actually get rid of some of the useless ones), and a lot of other people use it too. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when this number goes up.

November, 2010: This is when it’s looking like things could go through officially. At this time, Joyo kanji will jump from 1945 to 2136. This is going to be fun!

Why The Kanji Change, Guys?

So, there is actually some logic behind this change (believe it or not!). It seems as though technology is changing the way people interact with kanji, making it so recognizing kanji is more important than being able to write it properly. It’s the same with English, too. Ask me how to spell almost anything with more than three words and I’ll get it wroung. If spell check didn’t exist, it’d be over for me.

Writing in Japanese is as simple as writing out the sounds and then picking the correct kanji that you want to correlate with that sound. As long as you can recognize the kanji, you can also write it (at least, with your cell phone, computer, or iPad). Since more people are relying on these devices, the powers that be decided that they should add some “commonly used kanji” to the master list, even though many people don’t know how to write them. Since technology is changing the way we read and write, though, it seems to work out okay.

So, you can thank your iPhones, iPads, laptops, computers, and so on for this 10% increase in kanji you’ll have to learn, come this November.

Oh, well, there is one consolation prize. Even though they’re adding 196 kanji, they’re removing some too. How many? Well… it’s only five, but I’m sure they’re really really useless, and you probably never learned them anyways.

So how will you prepare for the kanjipocolypse?

[Slashdot & Examiner - Thanks to @mhashizu for the tip!]

P.S. If you want an additional 196 Twitter followers, you should follow Tofugu on Twitter.

P.S. If you’re glad it’s not 1942 you should subscribe to the Tofugu Newsletter.

Related posts:

1. 12 Completely (Un)inspiring Images To Help You Learn Kanji
2. Skritter’s A Great Way To Practice Kanji, Stroke Order
3. The History Of Kanji

I’m working on an article about studying Japanese using Japanese blogs, but need your help! I’m going through and categorizing Japanese blogs to figure out what blogs are good for what kind of study. I’m also looking for video blogs, if you know of any.

What I’m looking for is your suggestions / your favorite Japanese blogs (in Japanese) that people could potentially use for intermediate / advanced study. It doesn’t really matter what the subject is, how big / small the blog is… really the most important thing, I think, is that the content could be considered interesting (thus making studying it interesting as well).

So, whether it’s cat eater Shoko Nakagawa or Gigazine, let me know what you like. Video bloggers, as mentioned earlier, totally work as well (in fact, that would be awesome, because I don’t know as much about that area of things).

Then, thanks to your help, I’ll go through and figure out the best ones for use in studying Japanese, and it should be pretty awesome.

Tell me your faves in the comments section below!

Yee, haw.

No related posts.

FlutterScape seems a little complicated at first, but really it’s quite simple. There are people in Japan going around to various stores taking pictures of things they want to sell. They don’t buy these things from the store until you buy them. Once you buy the item, they go to the store, get the item, and send it to FluttersScape HQ in Japan. Once FlutterScape gets it they forward the money along (or will send it back to you if the person never gets the item for you) and will send the item to you. Seems complicated, but all you really need to know is that you can safely buy something without much worry about getting screwed over very very easily.

What Can I Buy?

Between the time that FlutterScape just started (I was poking around back then too) and now, FlutterScape has really stepped things up in terms of items available. You’re still not going to be able to go to the site and find anything and everything you want (that’s what the request feature is for, keep reading), but you’ll definitely find a lot of interesting and wonky items to keep you interested for a while. Personally, I’m really into the weird crazy stuff (even though I’ve tried to go a bit more minimalist), and always feel tempted every time I visit the site, which is more and more recently. I’m not much of a shopper but it’s hard to help myself.

There are a bunch of categories you can search through, as well as an actual search function, so if they have what you want then you should be able to find it… but what if they don’t??

Requesting An Item From Japan

Over the last few months, whenever somebody asked me where they could be “Item A” or “Item B,” I’d forward them along to the FlutterScape CEO who would help find the item. I’m guessing he got tired of this and decided to create a request feature (genius!) so that no matter what it is you want from Japan, you can find it.

The part that stands out to me isn’t the text areas, it’s everything else. Let’s go through the request features – I get a little giddy just looking at them.

Is This An Auction? This is if you wanted to buy something off, say, Yahoo Auctions Japan. Ho-Lee-Crapola. You can put your max bid, the URL to the auction, etc, and someone will bid for you based off your criteria. Then, if they win it they’ll send it to you like a regular FlutterScape item. Wow.

Pictures: Perhaps you don’t know what the item is called, and only have a picture. Fear not, you can upload a bunch of photos and someone will try to find it for you. It’s more likely that someone in Japan knows what the Japanese product is, so pictures are the perfect way to go.

YouTube Video URL: There’s a good chance that a lot of cool Japanese items are discovered via YouTube, so if that’s how you did it, then you can share a video of it as well.

Wow, every base I can think of is covered, here. It’s nice and simple, but they did a really good job with the request feature.

Does FlutterScape Work?

A couple of months ago I was introduced to FlutterScape, and decided that I needed to get some Rummy (chocolate with rum raisin inside). I got 20 packs of the stuff, ordered it, and approximately a week later I had a box of Rummy in my mailbox. Mmm, and they were (and are) tasty too. I can’t say what experience other people have had, but things worked out well for me and I imagine it’ll work out well for you too. Try things out on something small, and see how you like it. I think I’ll be using FlutterScape to buy many fun Christmas Presents this year (no Rummy for the younger cousins, though).

Win One Of Three Cupmen!

I have three Cupmen to give away. If you’re the cup noodle eating type, you’ll know that you have to put something on top of your Cup Noodle to keep the lid down while you wait for the hot water to cook and soften the noodles. I usually use my wallet. Now, though, you can use these little “Cupmen” who hang over the top.

Here’s the product description:

“After pouring hot water over your instant noodles, get a helping hand from the hardworking Cupmen. Watch as it turns different colors while desperately trying to prevent the lid from flicking back up. Enjoy a few minutes of fun with Cupmen until your noodles are ready to eat.”

Aww, if that doesn’t win your heart over, I don’t know what will. Here’s more information on Cupmen.

Winning one of these three Cupmen is very simple. You don’t even have to leave the page! In the comments, tell me why you need this product oh-so-bad. Feel free to go into a (fictional or non-fictional) account on how painful it is to make ramen using your shoes, or something like that. I’m going to pick my 6 favorites, and then three will randomly be picked from there. So, although there is some luck involved, quality comments are going to be key to get into that top 6! You have (approximately) a week to get your comment in!

Oh, and if you tweet about the contest, you won’t have higher chance of winning, but you will get some brownie points, you brown-noser you.

Great, so there you go! Win yourself a Cupmen so you can have the full Cup Noodle experience. Speaking of which, I bet FlutterScape has some noodles to go along with it in their Japanese Snacks section.

Oh, and if you have a lot of extra time, you should check out the short film “Mr. Cupmen” by fake French Video artist Jacques Koichi.

P.S. If you eat ramen, you should subscribe to the Tofugu Newsletter.

P.P.S. If you like Japanese “things” you should follow Tofugu and FlutterScape on Twitter.

Related posts:

1. How Wacom Japan Gets You To Buy Their Very Expensive Tablets (Cute Mesmerization)
2. Alternatives to Rosetta Stone Japanese (i.e. Should I buy Rosetta Stone?)
3. How To Get Into Mixi (Without A Japanese Cell Phone Email Address)