In the past we’ve written a bit about Google Image search and how it’s useful for Japanese learning. For example, if you don’t know what a Japanese word means, or if you just aren’t sure about the translation you’re getting, put it into Google Image search and see what pops up. That’s all well and good for practicing Japanese language learning, but searching for images in Japanese will also tell you a lot about the Japanese society as a whole. The results will be different from your language’s search because that culture will be reflected.

I thought it would be fun to go through a bunch of image searches like this. First in English, then in Japanese. Afterwards there might even be some commentary.

*I’m using incognito mode to hopefully offset any past search bias on Google’s part. They might be using my location though, so results may vary!

Puppies

Let’s start with something adorable: the word “puppy,” or 子犬 in Japanese.

You can see that there are some similarities here, but the Japanese version has way more Japanese dogs (shiba inu). When a “dog” comes to mind in Japan, I think the image of a shiba inu (or another Japanese breed) comes to mind. Of course, there are other dogs too, but you can see the difference clearly here.

Dinner

When you put in the English word “dinner” and the Japanese word 晩ご飯, you get two completely different  results.

I think what you see here is the idea of what a “traditional” dinner is.  Of course, there are a lot of small plates and bowls on the Japanese side and there is a lot of meat and turkey on the English side. It really highlights the difference between our perceived ideal “dinners.”

Anime

When you type in “anime” and アニメ, this is the result.

I’m not sure what this says about anything, but the difference is kind of interesting. Seems like the English results produce way more fan art whereas the Japanese one produces actual anime. Maybe in terms of ratio fan art is more prevalent in English-speaking places just because of how saturated “official” anime is in Japan?

Monkeys

If you type in “monkey” in English and 猿 in Japanese, here’s what you get.

In English, you get a smattering of monkeys and apes. In Japanese, you almost exclusively get the Japanese macaque. Some of them are the infamous “Snow Monkeys” as well.

Letters

If you look up “letters” in English (talking about the kind you write and send to people in the mail) or 手紙 in Japanese, you’ll see a big difference.

Notice how the Japanese side is almost entirely handwritten and the English side is almost entirely typed out? I think that really highlights how important letters are in Japanese culture compared to how they’ve become in places like America. In fact, you might remember my earlier article “How To Write Letters In Japanese: An Introduction” where I mention the importance of hand writing (personal) letters.

Beer

Let’s see what “beer” and ビール come up with.

As you already know if you read Tofugu, there isn’t a ton of variety when it comes to Japanese beer types. You have your Sapporo, Kirin, Asahi, and Yebisu. Everything else is tiny in comparison. With the English image results, you still see some of those light beers, but there’s wayyy more variety. This basically just parallels the actual beer situation in Japan and in the West.

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I’m sure that’s just the tip of the iceberg, too. As you can see, though, you can gain some cultural insight into a culture just by looking at the Google Image Search differences. Beer is lighter. Monkeys are more homogenous. Dinner is completely different… you get the idea.

For this kind of thing, though, one person can’t think up all of the good comparisons. So, I need your help! If you post up an English (or whatever your native language is) and Japanese Google Image Search comparison in the comments, I’ll add your name to a raffle and pick out three of your names. The winners will get Tofugu stickers because we just got some new designs in.

Yum, looking good stickers. So, three of you could win both a crabigator and a Tofugu, just for contributing your image comparisons in the comments of this article. Deadline is Friday whenever I decide to choose someone, PST. So… get it in before then. I look forward to seeing all the creative comparisons that you come up with!

Want the wallpaper version of this article’s header image? Here it is in 2560×1600.

For a while, it seems, he’s been accepting requests from people on Twitter for various hengao requests. He responds with hengao pictures he takes of some of the requests, many of which are quite absurd. After a while he realized he was sitting on a hengao gold mine. “What if, just like Maru, I could turn these pictures into a book that people would buy?” he maybe asked himself. “But wait, I don’t want to have to pay for all that,” he possibly continued to think. “I know, let’s work together to fund this thing!” (all these quotes are completely made up, by the way).

So, he turned the very community-based hengao Twitter request thing into a community-based funding thing. Makes total sense to me, anyways. Enough about this for now, though. You’re here for the pictures, I bet. Let’s take a look at some of the funnier faces:

I made up your emoticon

Bald Guerrilla Face (probably not the most politically correct one here…)

The face from your dream (that he tweeted about, I assume)

The moment you became ranking #1 in the AKB election

No caption

Catching a cold, getting hay fever, and contracting conjunctivitis, all at once

How thick is your bone density? Reply with a face.

If you’re interested in helping out with this project (I’ll probably throw some yens Wakki’s way after finishing this article), you can find it on the CampFire page: ペナルティのワッキーがみんなと作る変顔写真集、「フェイス」！ There are some neat prizes for funding, some of which include the book itself, special messages and signatures, and at the higher levels meeting up with Wakki to spend half a day having your way with his face (as in, making it look however you want).

Wakki thanks you, I’m sure. Also, you should try to see if he’ll do a custom face for you. Request it to him on his Twitter account. Maybe your requested face will show up in his book, should it get funded. We sent Wakki a message too, and guess what? We got a response. I now present to you “Fugu eating bad tasting tofu” -

@tofugu フェイス！

Can I say that this is truly a work of art? I’m going to print out an 8×10 glossy.

Hengao Across The Internets

It’s not just Wakki who’s doing strange faces. This is obviously something bigger than just one person. People post up hengao pics because they’re hen, and funny, and people of course love them.

Of course, maybe some before and after shots will offer some insight as to how much of a change some of these people make. It’s like the opposite of those before and after makeup commercial shots, but a lot more extreme, I think. Here’s some really good ones that I found here.

Some of these are really good, almost pro status, I’d say. But, Wakki is still the boss. There are some other “pros” out there, but they are pros in different ways (i.e. not famous for hengao). What I’m getting at is that there are a lot of examples of hengao in the celebrity scene. Sometimes it’s on purpose, sometimes it’s not. Jim Carrey, of course, has his own special page.

But, there’s Japanese celebrities as well. A lot of them, in fact. Between painful gameshows, comedic routines, feats of hengao strength, and just plain bad timing, there’s a plethora of hengao out there to get a chuckle out of. Idols, personalities, and actors, unite!

“Oohhh”

According to the subtitle she is “skilled at hengao”

Thing is, this is how Ramenz face always looks

Everything seems normal until… Aughh!

A new use for chopsticks / Pocky

Oh my gosh, so stretchy!

And, of course, you know a bit about Kyary from Kimokawaii. Not much else to say but kimo…kawaii… or just kimo.

As you can see, there’s plenty of celebrity hengao, both purposefully and not on purpose, all over the internet. It’s like a tabloid’s dream come true, except for it’s on purpose half the time.

Now It’s Your Turn To Hengao (For Prizes!)

Forever alone

So I’ve shown you all about Japanese “hengao.” I even did one for you to show you that it’s not thattt bad (see above, that Jabba the Hutt looking thing on the right is me). Now it’s your turn to give back, just as I have above (you’re welcome). But, you’re not just doing it for everyone’s amusement. You’re doing it for incredible prizes as well!

FIRST PLACE: Forever TextFugu Membership, 1 Year of WaniKani, and 1st Choice From The Prize Pool (see below)

First place will get you a TextFugu Forever account, 1 year of WaniKani (if you already have a WaniKani account, you can always use it after your current account expires), plus first choice from the prize pool, below. You can have one of three fabulous gifts, and you can get exactly the one you want. Is it Usopp and his giant hammer? Is it Wasabi KitKat Bars? Or is it Nara’s new and less-creepy mascot? Up to you.

SECOND PLACE: A Forever TextFugu Membership OR 1 Year Of WaniKani, and 2nd Choice From The Prize Pool

You can choose between TextFugu Forever or 1 Year of WaniKani. Then, you get second pickings at the prize pool, below.

THIRD PLACE: 3rd Choice From The Prize Pool

You’ll get whatever is left over in the prize pool. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be lucky and get what you wanted.

(Choose one from the prize pool)

To submit your entry, post an image into the comments below. You can attach an image via Disqus comments (what we use for comments, down below) or you can link to it after uploading it (to, say, imgur). The Tofugu people will each get 3 points to give to the various submissions. Then, on top of that, the top 3 vote getters (you can upvote comments, so upvote the ones you like) will get 3 total points for having the most votes, 2 for second most, and 1 for third most, meaning the earlier you get your hengao in the better. Some rules:

• Post your submission images into the comments.
• Submit it by July 21, 2013.
• Winners will be decided the following Monday or Tuesday.
• Be sure to put your actual email when leaving a comment / creating a Disqus account so we can contact you.
• Yes, you may do multiple submissions, but no more than three please (also remember it could dilute your chances to get more votes on one pic!).
• Before and after shots may gain you extra points.
• International submissions A-OK.

I hope you have a good time coming up with submissions. I am really looking forward to seeing them :p

Also, big thanks to our new ace researcher extraordinaire Mami for her help on this article. She also wants to wish you good luck on this contest!

Alright everyone, get to work on those hengao!

Update: Tofugu’s illustrious illustrator wants to join in on the fun.

Update: Winners have been chosen and notified (so if you weren’t notified, then… well… sorry!). We’ll show the winners in the newsletter, coming up at the end of the month, so look forward to it!

How To Win (It’s Suspiciously Easy)

On our Japanese Resources page, we have “recommend” buttons. They look like this:

The cool thing about these is that they’re linked to Facebook, meaning only real people can “recommend” something. Although individual items will get fewer votes by using Facebook (I’m guessing), the idea is that each “recommendation” will have a lot more umph behind it. Real people are recommending these resources, and I think people will be pickier about what they choose. That’s awesome, I think. You can really get an idea already what’s a great resource out there, just based off this (though some newer stuff has fewer recommendations).

We’re greedy fugus over here, though, so we want to bribe you to give some recommendations on this page (if you haven’t already). Here’s how to enter the contest.

1. Make sure you have a Facebook account (big sorries if you don’t!)
2. Go to the Japanese Resources page on Tofugu.
3. Recommend one or more resources by hitting the “recommend” button. Pick your favorites! The ones you’d actually recommend to someone else for their awesome-ness.
4. Come back here and leave a comment, telling us what you recommended and why. Be sure to add your email in the email field when doing your comment, that’s how we’ll contact you if you win something.
5. Hope for the best. There are a couple different ways you can win something (and a bunch of prizes, see below), but we’ll start giving stuff out next week.

Quick, easy, and helps out both of us, I think (especially if you win something). More importantly, it will help others to find great Japanese resources, based off of your recommendations. You’re changing people’s minds! 0_0

Prizes

Out of our own linty pockets we’re providing prizes. Some of the prizes are ours, some are others – there’s a good mix of stuff going on, here, with different ways to win them, depending on what they are.

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What: TextFugu “Forever” Subscription
How: We’ll pick one comment at random, below.

TextFugu is Tofugu’s online Japanese textbook. It’s made specifically for self-learners of Japanese (sorry classrooms, businesses, and the FBI) and tries to make sure you don’t hit any of the pitfalls of learning Japanese on your own (losing motivation, getting stuck, etc). We’ll be giving away one forever (lifetime!) subscription to one lucky (and hoopy) frood.

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What: Lifetime Subscription to MangoLanguages Japanese
How: We’ll pick one comment at random, below.

Mango Languages is a great way to learning quick, practical Japanese really quickly. If you’re one of those people who don’t want to bother with all the fancy linguistic aspects of a language and just want to learn how to ask for directions, make small talk, or order at a restaurant, Mango Languages is for you.

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What: 1 Year Subscription to Lang-8′s Premium Program
How: We’ll pick one comment at random, below.

Lang-8 is a social network that focuses on language exchange. You write journal entries in the language you’re learning (Japanese?) and then Japanese native speakers will correct your journal entries using a cool correction tool (that helps you learn from your mistakes). Normally Lang-8 is free, but there’s also a great Premium version of the site (I’m a subscriber, actually, it’s nice). We’ll be giving away a single one year subscription to one lucky winner.

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What: Forever Subscription To Gakuu
How: We’ll pick someone at random out of people who mention in their comment that they’re intermediate / advanced!

Gakuu is a site that puts out regular lessons based off of real (raw) Japanese (we’re talking signs, letters, etc… things that are real Japanese used in reality in Japan). This service is more for intermediate / advanced students of Japanese, so we’ll try to pick someone who can use Gakuu effectively (so it doesn’t go to waste!).

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What: 1 Year Subscription to ReadTheKanji
How: Recommend a kanji related resource and we’ll pick someone at random from that pool of people

ReadTheKanji is a really effective, interesting way to practice kanji. It uses vocab to show you different kanji, and based off your answers rates the individual kanji within the vocab to help you to study what you aren’t very good at. It’s a great tool for all levels! One lucky kanji-loving commenter will get a one year subscription to this service.

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What: Ultimate Nouns (1&2), Adjectives, and Verbs Vocab Packs
How: One out of five recommenders/commenters will get this prize (those are pretty good odds)!

The “Ultimate Japanese Vocab” packs are some of the first things to appear in our (somewhat) secret Tofugu Store (shh, hasn’t been announced yet). These packs give you the 200 most common verbs, the 200 most common adjectives, and the first 200 most common nouns. By learning vocab in the right order, you’re making sure that you get the most bang for your Japanese-vocab-learning-buck, meaning you get to use the Japanese you learn a lot faster. These “packs” consist of an Anki deck and a pdf+excel file with all the words, their meanings, kanji verison, kana version, and so on.

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What: Ultimate Nouns #1 Pack
How: “Recommend” something on the Japanese Resources Page then Comment. Everyone wins!

This is just the Ultimate Nouns Pack (not all four of the currently available ones). it consists of the 100 most common Japanese nouns, and is a great way to get started on your Japanese vocabulary. By learning these words you’re sure to learn the most useful words in the Japanese language. That’s pretty awesome. Everyone who does the Facebook Recommend on the Japanese Resources page and then comments here telling us your #1 recommendation on that list wins themselves a pack of Nouns (Anki deck + PDF/Excel file). Hooray for winning! Tiger Blood!

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Rules

There you have it. Odds are really good on some of these, not as good on others. There are some rules, though:

1. You have to recommend something on the Japanese Resource Page first (that means you need a Facebook account to recommend with).
2. We’ll only count one comment from each person, below (so don’t spam comments… we know your IP address! Be nice to others!)
3. We’ll try to make sure one person doesn’t win more than one prize (besides the Ultimate Vocab packs, because everyone wins one of those, at least!).
4. We’ll start giving things away a week from now. That’s August 8th. Probably won’t get everything out on that day, but expect to start hearing from us then (and the rest of that week). Make sure you put your email in correctly while leaving your comment, otherwise we won’t be able ot get ahold of you :(
5. Comments that are particularly entertaining / well written / etc may or may not get two entries into the “random choosing pool.” Quality is king, ya’all.
6. Also, tweeting / liking / G+ing this post may or may not also help you out. Probably won’t, but just sayin’, you know?

That’s it – get to it if you want to get to it! Let us know if you have any questions, too.

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Two weeks ago I put up a post about Tenso, the Japanese shipping company, and asked you all to write a haiku in order to win a slick t-shirt. I’ve been through them a bunch of times now, but can’t choose just one. That’s where YOU come in. I need you to vote for your favorites. You have one week to vote, and then we’ll see who won. I’ve narrowed it down to five… which one will you choose?

VOTE NOW!

I just wanted to thank all of you who voted for us in the Blogging Idol 2 competition over at DailyBlogTips. As always, it’s all thanks to you that all of this is possible! I have no idea what we won, and that doesn’t matter, but I think I’ve learned some ways to become a better blogger (for example, updating regularly. Cough Cough What What?). Check out the other winners, though. They definitely won more legitimately. Tofugu won because you guys are awesome at voting :) Thank you!

Like I promised (I so wish I didn’t do this), I said I’d announce a pretty neat project “sooner rather than later” (thank goodness I gave myself that leeway). So, it’ll be sooner rather than later – definitely sometime this month. I’m ridiculously excited for it, it’ll be free for all of you (boo yah), and be the best thing since warm mochi.

Can you guess what it is? fufufu.

In other news, I’m waiting for my airplane to let me in, and take me to San Francisco. Boo, Alaska Airlines, Boo. I always heard you were good about being on time. Ah well, there’s always the exception, especially when it’s me getting on that plane. Last time, a bird flew through the wing engine and blew it up while we were taking off (we were off the ground and everything!). This one’s a bit shorter of a delay, I hope :)

If you’re a winner (one of those lucky people pictured above), contact me ASAP so we can choose you a flavor. More info about flavors further down.

So, what if you didn’t win? Well, here’s an option for you, if you want it:

I’ll send you some Gumi, but you’ll have to pay for it. The place I buy it at isn’t the cheapest place, and you might be able to find it for cheaper online, though from what I’ve seen so far other places charge tons for shipping. Still, someone else might have me beat on price; I don’t know, I haven’t really checked. I’ll throw in a handwritten note, though, so maybe that’s worth a little bit? Here are the flavors that are available. Winners, you should pay attention to this too, since you’ll have to choose as well.

• Grape
• Muscat (green grape)
• Kiwi
• Strawberry
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Litchi
• Peach
• Melon
• Orange

Now, I can’t guarentee that I’ll be able to get the one you want (since I get it at a grocery store), so please give me your top three choices, and I’ll do my best to get your #1 if at all possible. You’ve got a week to let me know, because that’s when I’m able to go get them, so if you’re interested in this offer, then do it before then. If you won this contest, please also do it by then. Trying to conserve car trips, ya know?

Here’s the price:

Domestic USA shipping: $10.00 for 1 Gumi + Shipment. $5.00 for each additional flavor.
International Outside USA shipping: $15 for 1 Gumi + Shipment. $6.00 for each additional flavor.

Not the best prices in the world, but I also don’t want to have to send out too many either. Still, I think it’s (somewhat) reasonable. You’ll also be helping me to pay my rent this month, though, profit margin is pretty tiny, I think, especially with gas considered into the equation :(

If you send money via paypal before August 21, I’ll send you tasty Gumi. My paypal address is koichiben@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for all that participated, I hope you enjoy Twitter!