To commemorate all the posting we’ve done, I thought it would be appropriate for us to go in and curate our own list of our favorite posts. We all like different posts here, so you’ll get a motley assortment of articles that are worth reading. In this year’s edition, we’ll take a look at favorites from myself (Koichi), Aya, Mami, Viet, and JohnD. Let’s hop right to it!

Koichi’s Favorite Posts Of 2013

It was so hard to choose my favorite posts. I have about twenty more that I wanted to include, but since I limited everyone to five I thought it would be bad if I was the only one cheating. I would have put up posts like “Facing Facts: The Secret Behind Hello Kitty’s Blank Face“, “The Kikokushijo Dilemma: Growing Up Abroad As A Japanese Kid“, “Oh, So You Mean You’re Not Japanese?“, or any one of the “dating series” posts / anime roundups. There was a ton to choose from, but here are the ones that stood out to me or were special to me this year.

• Tofugu’s New Body Pillow Dating Site: DatingMakura
  For April Fools this year we released a dating site that allowed people to chat with body pillows (you know, to find your One True Threadcount™. We had a ton of fun building this, writing the chat conversations, and taking the pictures. It’s still up and running, so if you’d like try out DatingMakura.com you can!
• Not Just For Vegetarians- Japanese Soybean Foods
  Many people don’t realize how many ways a soybean can be used. I thought this was a nice and educational post for those who thought soybeans only could be turned into tofu. I even learned a thing or two about this fantastic bean.
• The Difficulty Of Names
  Mami joined us in 2013. She started as a researcher and then started writing. Her perspective is a great one because she’s born and raised in Japan. This post was the start of many great posts by Mami, which is why this one in particular is my favorite!
• The Wildly Complicated Life Of The Japanese Particle ね
  I was so impressed by how this post took something that seems not that complicated (the particle ね), teaches people how complicated it really is (it’s very, very complicated) and then breaks that down into something that’s not all that complicated anymore. Basically, it’s a tough topic that’s been explained really well, and all Japanese learners ought to read this, whether you’re beginner or advanced.
• What I Learned About Learning Japanese From Spending 3 Weeks In Taiwan
  It’s been a while since I’ve started learning a new language. This article goes over my attempt to learn some Mandarin (before a trip to Taiwan). It was so educational to re-experience the things people experience when learning a new language, and I talk about how I’ll be applying that over to our Japanese resources as well.

Aya’s Favorite Posts Of 2013

Aya is the Tofugu Artist. She illustrates all the illustrations you see at the top of pretty much every post. It was fun to go through this year’s posts to see how not only our writing progressed, but how her art progressed too! Here are Aya’s favorite posts of the year – maybe you too will agree.

• Using Japanese Sign Language to Improve Your Spoken Japanese
  It was my first time encountering JSL and I thought that it was such a well-written and researched topic. I also had a great time drawing the Hiragana JSL chart. So many hands to draw yo.
• What It’s Like Dating A Japanese Guy
  I loved reading and working on the dating article series posted in Tofugu (if you haven’t read them, you definitely should), but this one was my favorite. I had heaps of fun working on the spot illustrations for this post!
• The Traditional Colors of Japan: Making Modern History
  It was interesting to read about the Japanese color system and how much meaning a color held when it was used on a piece of clothing, like a kimono. It’s pretty cool that Japanese fashion companies are trying to revive traditional colors through modern fashion design. The Japanese color chart was so fun to look at and read too!
• “Oh So You Mean You’re Not Japanese?”
  When I first read the article, I was like, ‘The feels! For some reason, I KNOW IT.’. Although I’ve never lived in Japan, this question always seemed to pop up whenever I meet a Japanese person. The confusion and surprise that followed amused me at first, but after getting asked 32948324* times by a lot of people (*not exact number), it gets a bit tiring. Reading about living in Japan from a non-Japanese Asian’s perspective was something I’ve been waiting to read more about and I thought that Austin did a great job writing about the experiences and problems he faced.
• Dating A Foreigner (From A Japanese Perspective)
  Two things: Samurai + Matt Cain = YES.

Mami’s Favorite Posts of 2013

Mami of course joined us partway through the year. She’s been helping with some secret projects, doing audio, research, and even writing on Tofugu. Here are her favorite posts of the year:

• I Went To The Real-Life Spirited Away
  Great article from real experience. I’ve never been to Taiwan, though it’s very close to Japan, and have always wanted to visit. This article made me feel as though I was already there and really made me want to actually go there more than ever, at the same time. I was also impressed that Koichi found Uncle Haku. That was my favorite picture among all the other incredible ones taken.
• Sorry for Saying Thank You: The Many Uses Of Sumimasen
  Sumimasen, but I wasn’t very good at explaining the various usages of sumimasen until I read this article. This article explains “sumimasen” really well and I’d like to be sumimasen for saying thank you.
• Visiting Japanese Schools, Or How To Be A Rock Star in Japan
  I enjoyed reading how John became a rock star in Japan :P
• 10 Horrifying Insects That Will Make You Reconsider Ever Visiting Japan
  This article creeped me out to the point that I almost don’t want to go back to Japan to see my family (:o;) Just in the time that it took to read it, I set a new personal record for how many Ewww’s could be said in one year.
• The Kikokushijo Dilemma: Growing Up Abroad As A Japanese Kid
  A very interesting article from the perspective of a real kikokushijo with the accompanying wall paper that Aya made (The Fugu Robot) – This is also one of my favorites.

Viet’s Favorite Posts Of 2013

Viet doesn’t write a ton these days, but when he did he would get really into it and come up with something extremely educational. So, it’s only natural that the posts he chose tended to have some kind of deeper meaning or history.

• The Ainu: Reviving the Indigenous Spirit of Japan
  I’ve actually written a piece about the Ainu a long time ago. I enjoyed Sarah’s piece since it had a broader scope. People who are interested in Japan should be informed that it isn’t a ~100% homogeneous nation.
• A Short History Of Japanese Sign Language
  I’ve always had a faint interested in ASL. Coupled that with me being somewhat of a history buff, this was a great read.
• The Japanese Art Of Making The Strangest Faces [Hengao]
  Just look at the faces. QED.
• The CIA’s 1971 Secret Report On The Senkaku Islands Dispute
  I love learning the little island disputes that is happening out there. Couldn’t they just do a Lost and move the island?
• How To Avoid (Or Even Find) A Stigmatized Property In Japan
  I like the post header art. So mystery. So intrigue.

John’s Favorite Posts Of 2013

John has been writing with us for a long time. You may remember him from “Mondays,” where he would post every Monday. He also is the one who writes the anime roundups, as well as the infamous “John’s __________” posts. Here are “John’s ______ posts of the year”:

• “Gaijin”
  Gaijin is a complicated word that can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Hashi did a really great job of exploring the word and its uses and just about everything you ever wanted to know or wondered about is somewhere in this post. The discussions it inspired in the comments are great too. Plus I just really miss our pal Hashi.
• These Words Are English, But You Won’t Understand Them
  All these loan words Koichi selected for this post are really useful and interesting. Some of them are funnier than others, but this post is a great example of edutainment.
• Keanu Reeves and the 47 Ronin
  While the movie didn’t quite live up to the hype, the story of the real 47 Ronin is awesome. This tale truly exemplifies the spirit of Japan. If you don’t know the story behind the 47 Ronin, do yourself a favor and read about it!
• The 7 Odd Things I’ve Missed About Japan / The Things I Do Not Miss About Japan
  These two posts kind of go hand in hand, but they’re a great introduction to some of the great (and not so great things) about being in Japan. Whether you’re traveling there for the first time or just looking for some nostalgia, these posts are great.
• My Japanese Education
  Having Mami on the team has been awesome. This post of hers was really interesting and informative. It was great to have a detailed and personal explanation of how all that learning nonsense works over there in Japan. Mami’s had a lot of great posts since this one, but this remains one of my favorites.

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Those were our favorites! What were yours?

Thank you all for such a wonderful year. We have a lot planned for 2014, so slap those suspenders a few times and look out the window, because neat things are afoot.

First resolution: Don’t write a cliché “New Years” post. Whoops. It’s been a nice and busy year, but there’s a lot planned for 2010. Thank you all so much for your support over the years (wow, multiple years!) – here’s what we have planned for 2010. Things are looking like they’ll be a little different!

1. Posting Everyday

Well, in January anyways. Tofugu will be taking the “30 days of blogging” challenge this month, so expect to see something every day. After that… well, we’ll see how it goes. Over the last month I’ve been moving schedules around to put more time into Tofugu, and I’m hoping that will show a lot in 2010.

2. Make TextFugu The Best Japanese Textbook Out There

I kind-of-sort-of announced the my Japanese textbook (TextFugu) the other day in a video. Over the next two months I’ll be working hard on finishing up most of the main content, and then spending the rest of the year making improvements to it (many improvements provided by members, who get paid for their help as they’re learning!), landing awesome 3rd party content, and more. TextFugu is a huge priority of mine in 2010 – get it now while it’s 50% off (including all the updates, add-ons, etc., it gets forever

).

3. Location, Location, Location

I think that the idea of “places” are really interesting. There’s been a lot of advancement in geo-location lately, and I think that can be used to talk about places and people in those places (namely in Japan) in a very unique way. Getting mircro about those locations can be interesting too, which brings us to number four.

4. Spend Some Time In Japan

Haven’t decided for sure yet, but I think 2010 is a good year to become a vagabond. More will be revealed on this later, but for now, just expect a good amount of “in-Japan” content in 2010, if everything works out (crossing my fingers).

5. Post More About Robots

Because everyone loves robots, and I feel like we’re at the cusp of the robotic revolution… and yes, it will be bloody (and darn cute, if Japan has anything to say about it).

6. Get to Know More Tofugu Readers

In 2009, I got to hang out with a few Tofugu readers (mostly thanks to moving to San Francisco, which is much larger than Salem, OR). I think it’s super cool to be able to meet new, like-minded people. In 2010, maybe I’ll get to meet you!

7. Have More Guest Posts

In 2009 we had a couple of really really great guest posts here (puts my stuff to shame). 2010 goal is to 6-drupal (what’s the correct term?) that number and get at least one guest post up a month. It’s awesome to see some other perspectives and writing styles.

8. Tofugu Interns?

Things are heating up in the Tofugu world. There may be some room for a Tofugu intern or two. Still noodling this one, but it’s looking like a definitely probability sometime this year. Lots of people looking for jobs, too, it seems like.

9. Scholarships

I’ve always wanted to run a scholarship on Tofugu – This year’s goal is to give away $1000 in scholarship money to help people study Japanese, which will trounce the 2009 total of $0. Take that 2009.

10. Tofugu T-shirts

Enough said, it’s been a long time coming, and needs to happen sooner rather than later.

So, are you the resolution type? I know I’m not, but I had to write something today for the whole “post-every-day-in-January” thing I just got myself into (already regretting it. How do other bloggers do it?). Anyone resolving to learn Japanese? New Years seems to be a good time for that kind of thing, right?

Image Source

It’s now 5:19am (Hawaii time) on the first day of 2008. Why, you ask, for the love of cozy blankets and fluffy pillows, why am I awake? Well, I have to admit, when my alarm went off almost 20 minutes ago, I didn’t know, myself. But now I remember. I’m awake because I plan on going out to see the sunrise. While this isn’t a rare occurrence, I thought that this particular sunrise was might be relevant to you, the Tofugu audience, because it’s hatsuhinode (初日の出), or the first sunrise of the year.

You see, come New Year, the Japanese like to celebrate (so to speak) their “firsts’. For example, on New Year’s Eve/Day last year, the Tofugu team was at the Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷退社 or Head Shrine of Inari) in Kyoto, celebrating the first shrine visit of the year, called hatsumode (初詣).

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFw-atT2NZg']

Another interesting “first” is hatsuyume (初夢), or the first dream of the New Year. If you happen to dream about Mt. Fuji, a hawk and/or an eggplant tonight (January 1st), superstition dictates that this year will be a lucky one for you. Why? I’m not sure, but the theory I seem to have heard most is that 1) Mt. Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, 2) the hawk is a strong, clever bird, and 3) that the Japanese word for “eggplant”, 茄 (nasu), is a homonym for “accomplishment”, 成す (nasu).

So why do the Japanese care about this stuff? What makes the first laughter (笑い初め or waraizome), the first kanji (書初め or kakizome), or the first day of resuming work (仕事始め or shigotohajime) so special? Well, it stands to reason that the practice of noting “firsts” emphasizes the fact that this year is a clean slate; the previous year is over and forgotten. Literally. Throughout December, numerous bōnenkai (忘年会 or “forgetting the year parties”) are held where co-workers and friends come together to drink away the memory of the year that’s passed. Sounds good to me.

For the next few days, try paying special attention to your “firsts”. Doing so has a way of making everything seem just a little more meaningful, I find. Who knows, it might even help you make better decisions this year; after all, wouldn’t you feel bad about your first argument with your friends or your first speeding ticket? If you do try it, make sure you comment here to let us know how it’s working out! Oh, and I’ll try to get pictures/video of the sunrise (and maybe even last year’s hatsumode) up by the end of the day, so please check back if you’re interested. Done!

Edit: Here’s the sunrise off of Diamond Head (Honolulu, Hawaii)

There were also whales and crazy surfers doing dawn patrol.

Tofugu Lore:
Koichiben (the Bizarro Tofugu), was originally responsible for the very first post of what can now be considered a Tofugu article. Back when I was writing only about American culture (in Japanese), I got the occasional request to write about Japanese culture in English. Whenever I caved into these requests, they were surprisingly (though mildly) popular. After a while, it occurred to me that I should create a separate website, and english.koichiben.com was born. This name is a terrible branding choice, and it only took me a month or two to realize this…thus, a little site called Tofugu was the concluding love child.

It’s been a long journey between then and now (I guess it was only six months, since Tofugu.com was founded in June of 2007), but it’s been a ridiculously fun one. We’ve met so many new people, and learned so much. Really, everything is all thanks to you.

Our Favorite Tofugu Posts of 2007:
We’d like to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve done so far. We’ve written some very popular posts, and we’ve written some posts we thought for sure would be popular, but weren’t. Here is a list of our favorites, and we hope you check them out if you haven’t already! Let’s start from farther away and get closer as we go down.

• An easy way to write kanji in proper stroke order: This article outlines a way for you to write your kanji in proper stroke order even if you don’t know what the stroke order is. There are simple rules and guidelines that will keep your stroke orders correct a good 90% of the time.
• Learn Japanese from anime in only 5 minutes a day (not): So many people think they can sit in front of a television (or computer, more likely) and learn Japanese by watching anime. They have no idea how wrong they really are.
• Make-up hair contacts: It sometimes sucks when you are Asian and you can’t grow a think fur (or even a beard). That’s why someone invented hair contacts, which are basically little tufts of hair that you can put anywhere on your body. Here I come, fu man choo!
• Are you a J-dorama holic? If you’ve ever watched j-drama, you’ll know how addicting it is. This is just a short list of dramas I like, as well as a video about getting support if you ever get too addicted.
• Beginning Japanese, where do self teachers start? This is the first of several “how to learn Japanese” posts. They don’t teach you specific things in Japanese language, but they do tell you about how you should go about learning things properly. If you like this one, you should check out the other ones: Pronunciation is King and Taking Steps.
• Segata Sanshiro > Chuck Norris: If you thought Chuck Norris was strong, then you are wrong (ha! Rhymes!). Segata Sanshiro puts Chuck Norris to shame.
• Ho Pants: If you like looking like a ho, then you should wear these pants.
• In Japan, be humble: Gosh, I really don’t like it when people brag for no reason. In Japan, it’s really looked down upon, so you’d better get used to not doing it.
• Ninja Akasaka: Check out this restaurant where ninjas serve you food. Viet was particularly disappointed that we made it out of there alive. Coming out alive proves it’s not authentic ninja food.
• Learning Japanese with a Nintendo DS: If you are learning Japanese, a Nintendo DS might be an integral part of your Japanese education. Depending on how you use it, you could save yourself time (and money!) just by purchasing a DS with the right software.
• Charity never felt so good: Warning! This article is not safe for work. Basically, a bunch of porn stars decided that they wanted to do something with their lives, and held a sexy AIDS fundraiser. Crazy article, and once again, don’t open it around people you care about.
• How to win at UFO catchers: These buggers are addicting. They’re the machines with the claws and the stuffed animals, only in Japan they’re a hundred times better. If you want to win, you have to check out this article and movie.
• The secret to learning Japanese. Amazing! If you want to know the secret to learning Japanese, I’d click on that link.
• We wish you a merii kurisumasu: Christmas in Japan is much different from anywhere else. KFC? Santa’s Birthday? What?

Woo, that was long. I think I just linked every article we’ve ever written by accident. I really do like everything we write, though. That’s a good sign, right?

What We’re Concocting:
We’ve got a lot planned for the coming year (thought it always seems like we’ve got stuff planned). We’d love so much to hear from you. We actually do take your suggestions to heart. So many things we’ve done was because of your suggestions, encouragements, and insane trolling.

• More on learning Japanese: We’d love to dish out more information on learning Japanese. The only issue we have is time, since we’re all busy college students. I think that you all enjoy these sections, and find them useful, so I’m hoping to expand these areas and make them more of a staple of the website.
• Week in Review: We are a small and busy team, so it’s hard to cover all the different Japan-related news items that come out. Still, we don’t want to sacrifice quality for quantity, so it took us a while to figure out a medium to accomplish this. Starting next week will be our first “Japan, Week in Review,” where we will produce a video with the week’s top news on Japan. It will be concise (and hopefully a little bit witty/sarcastic, depending on how we’re feeling that day), but we think you’ll really enjoy it. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!
• Japanese Learning Tools: This, I think, is our most ambitious goal. I want to start putting out worksheets, lessons, and other things that will go along with articles. These learning tools will make up a new section of the website, though I’m not exactly sure where yet. Either way, just know that we’re going to move a little more into the Japanese education section of things, but we’re taking it slow, since we don’t want to botch things up.
• The Store: If you look up above, you’ll see a menu-item that says “store.” It doesn’t go anywhere right now. That is because we don’t have anything to put there yet. Most likely, we will have different sections in it. The first section we will put up is the “free” section (that’s nice of us, right?). After that, we’ll figure things out, but it won’t be for a while.
• Anything Else? Please let us know if you have any other suggestions. What do you want to see us do? What do you want us to continue to do? What do you want us to stop doing? How would you like us to change? All those things are important questions, and you would do us a great help by letting us know!

We’d like to thank all of you so much for all of your support this year. We are looking forward to another great year, and we hope you join us for the ride. Please tell us your suggestions, your memories, your moments of hate towards us, and anything else in the comments section. We’d love to know how to improve, and you are our main motivator! You Rule!

Sincerely,
The Tofugu Team