• Content Assistant (1 position available)
• Summer Intern (1-2 positions available)
• Trial Writer (1-5 positions available)

Although it’s probably best if you just head on over to our Tofugu Jobs Page to learn more, here is a quick summary of the three positions:

Content Assistant

This is the biggest position available right now. Essentially it comes down to content and being able to produce a lot of it… without sacrificing quality. The content you will be assisting with includes but is not limited to: video, articles, guides, reviews, and social media. This means we are looking for someone who has experience in both writing and film, with an emphasis on writing.

We are currently looking for someone to fill this position on a part time basis with potential for full time down the road, should the shoe fit. Please take a look at the Content Assistant section on our jobs page for more information.

Application Due Date: March 23, 2014

Summer Intern(s)

Every summer Tofugu runs an internship with the sole purpose of giving all you poor Japanese Studies majors hope (just a little bit). A couple bits of good news for this summer in particular. First, we’re posting this announcement up nice and early. This time we’ll be catching all you early-summer colleges in time. Second, it’s going to be the first summer where we pay our interns hourly (in the past it was either a living/education stipend or nothing at all). So, you know, you might be able to eat food and get off the streets.

The internship will have a set curriculum to it with several goals from our end, but we’ll also be attempting to focus part of the internship on your own interests and future dreams as well. If you’re interested in learning the “Ways of the Fugu” in a mostly educational sort of way, please consider applying for the Tofugu Internship.

Application Due Date: May 1, 2014

Trial Blog Writer(s)

Occasionally we are looking for new writers to bring into the fold. But, there’s a trial period to find out whether or not you’re reliable and consistent enough. This position is that trial.

If you consider yourself a writer and would be interested in writing articles for Tofugu, please take a look at the Trial Writers section of our jobs page.

Application Due Date: March 23, 2014

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If you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments below and I’ll try to get back to them. Good luck to everyone who applies!

TextFugu In 2014

The million dollar question! I have a little bit of an answer for you, though little-to-no estimate on timelines. Remember when I used to give those? I’ve learned too much since then.

As you know, TextFugu’s getting a big rewrite. A ton is going to change, and it will feel like a very different textbook (don’t worry, those of you who don’t want it to feel like a very different textbook will still have access to the old version for a while). Not only that, but we’re doing our own back-end, front-end, and every other end. That’s the only way I’m able to make the textbook I want to make. Working off somebody else’s back-end just creates limitations. Now we’re doing exactly what we want from the (new) start.

That’s all well and good, but here’s some new information for you. If you were paying really really close attention, I prototyped something up called “EtoEto.” It’s a place where advanced learners can go to listen to and read original materials in Japanese. And, said materials are actually pretty interesting. There are also English translations and some other neat features. Well, the prototype was fun, but we’ll be building this together with TextFugu and creating a “trilogy” of sorts. The idea is that this “trilogy” will get you from zero Japanese to the point where you’re listening and reading Japanese stories / articles, then working your way towards fluency.

And, best part is if you’re a TextFugu Forever member (currently 50% off) you’ll be getting access to all of it. This all isn’t going to be ready anytime too soon, but when it is you’ll be receiving an email to help us test the early version out, or at the very least the ability to sign up for free when it’s done.

That’s about all I have to say about that for now, but it’s progressing forward on both the content and code side of things. I have no idea when it will be fit for human consumption, but I imagine this will be our big thing in 2014, so for all of you who have been sad about lack of TextFugu updates, I hope you’re at least suspiciously interested now.

WaniKani

WaniKani and its 50 levels were finished in 2013. Most likely 2014 will be a slower year for WaniKani (with more time spent on the TextFugu side of things), but I do have some plans for progress here.

We’ll probably move out of the closed beta and into an open one after doing another redesign on the site. With this we’ll be adding some new planned features as well.

On the content side of things, we’ll be moving past level 50 with a focus on (of course) new kanji but also “names vocabulary” that use kanji you’ve learned previously but have really weird pronunciations because they are names and names seem to follow no rules. Basically, level 50+ content should be arriving this year, though at a slower pace since we finished the initially planned 50 levels.

Nothing too mind shattering on the WaniKani side, but certainly there will be a few rustles in the bushes here.

Videos and TofuguTV

After basically taking a year off, we’re planning (for the umpteenth time) to get back into video making. We did a little bit of playing around here at the end of the year, but will be really getting into it probably here in mid-January. We’ll be working on regular videos shot here in the office as well as videos from our trip we took almost a year ago to a ton of weird Japanese places you’ve probably never heard of. I’m looking forward to this a lot, and our recent new hires will help.

New Hires

We’ve also made a few hires for 2014!

• Mami – she was basically full time, but now it’s official. She’ll be doing much the same as what she was doing before (writing, posting, recording, helping, eating Canadian bacon, etc), but I’m looking forward to some exclusive and new Mami things in 2014.
• James – this is our first video hire. His background is in special effects and After Effects, though he has done editing too. He’ll be working on our trip video for our TofuguTV series in 2014. I’m sure his special effects touches will be seen in regular videos as well.
• Cristina – our other first video hire! Cristina will be helping with regular videos and day to day social media stuff. I’m sure you’ll see her around a lot, because when she’s not making videos she’ll be in them.
• A Buncha Writers – you may have noticed this. We hired a lot of new writers. Right now they’re getting used to things and some people are being tested out, but it’s been really nice to have more perspectives and people who can write things I have no business writing. I expect a lot of great reads from them this year!

We’re growing the pirate crew slowly but surely. I’m excited to see what the new people can do and I hope it means a lot of new things. Speaking of new things…

New Things?

I can’t tell you my secrets, and I can’t tell you what we’ll actually end up doing, but here are some fun things we may end up doing in 2014. Note, who knows if we will actually be doing any of these things, and who knows what other things not on this list will happen. I don’t!

• Tshirts (could it be??)
• Ebooks (I have a couple of ideas, but I’m hoping someone else will write them because I don’t have time!!)
• Documentaries (we have some ideas… but should finish some of the footage from the last trip first)
• Katakana42 (the companion to Hiragana42)
• Office doge (wow. so dog.)

That’s just off the top of my head. Deeper inside are more secret ideas that I can’t tell you right now. So, too bad for you!

If you have any questions about new things or old things or in-between things be sure to ask about them in the comments below. Maybe I’ll answer some of them if you ask nicely ;)

Oh, and tomorrow’s post is going to be so cool. Going to give you the coolest thing we’ve ever done since DatingMakura.

What do you get when you cross Tenso and Tofugu?
Why, #Tensofugu, of course! The hoopy fish that keeps on giving.

A long time ago, when Tofugu was still just a fledgling blog, Koichi wrote a post. That post introduced readers to a new service known as “Tenso” that lets you buy and ship the things you love from Japan. You could also win a fantastic t-shirt by writing a haiku (no-doubt with traces of Koichi DNA that fetched wild prices at auction).

More than four years have gone by and both Tenso and Tofugu have grown up. Tofugu is now a multi-author Japan blog with almost daily content reaching out into the far corners of the internet. Tenso is now a successful shipping service and recently created sister site “Buyee” so you can bid on Yahoo! Japan Auctions from overseas!

In celebration of this, our past, and the queen, I’ve arranged special giveaway for Tofugu readers. You get the chance to win lots of free goodies from Japan, so long as you play along.

How Tenso Works

First, a brief re-cap. What is Tenso, exactly?

Tenso is a forwarding service that helps you to send the stuff you want from Japan to your home overseas.

All you need to do is sign up with Tenso (this gets you your very own Tenso mailing address in Japan). Afterwards, you use your Tenso address to shop on your favorite Japanese websites, such as Amazon.co.jp, Rakuten Japan, Hello Kitty Japan, DatingMakura.com… etc. You get the picture. Pretty much any Japanese online store you’ve ever dreamed of can ship your goods to your Tenso address. Then, Tenso takes your goods, repackages them, and sends them all to you.

You might wonder why this type of service is even necessary, though. Why not just buy directly from the Japanese store itself and ship it to your own address? Surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly), many Japanese stores do not offer shipping overseas. In addition, if you do a lot of shopping, you’d have to ship each item separately to yourself and that really makes things expensive. Those international shipping charges really add up! Shipping to your Tenso address, however, is very cheap because it’s within Japan (often times places will offer free shipping within Japan as well if you spend enough), and then by bundling your items together before sending it to yourself you’re able to save on shipping. It looks something like this:

After your items arrive at Tenso, you can choose to group them together into one big box. Tenso only charges a small service fee, so the savings can really add up quickly to save loads on international shipping. A few clicks later and your package is on its way to your address overseas.

So what if you have trouble navigating Japanese websites because of the language barrier? Or what if your overseas credit card is not accepted by the Japanese store? Do not fear! Tenso also operates a special buying service to solve this problem.

All you need to do is tell Tenso what you want to buy, the link to the item, the price, and the quantity. Tenso will check to make sure the item is available for purchase and then sends you a bill. You can pay via Paypal and then Tenso does the work of buying and shipping the item to their warehouse for you. Once your item is at the Tenso warehouse, you can pay the international shipping fee and send your item(s) to your address overseas.

It’s a bit like having your own personal friend in Japan, just without the embarrassment of constantly asking them to buy stuff for you.

Getting Those Fabulous Prizes

Okay. That’s enough about how Tenso works. You got the idea, right? Let’s get right down to it – the free stuff! It’s time for the Tenso x Tofugu Giveaway! Now, I (the Gakuranman) had to pull a few strings to get this many prizes available to you all. Koichi kept on saying “no” to this post until I made the prizes way better too.

The Prizes

So here’s what is available to you. Stay tuned for how you actually win these things.

2x 10,000 yen (roughly $100) prize to use for buying things from Japan. Free Tenso fees & Free shipping fees

Two winners will be chosen at the 10,000 yen prize level.

10x 2,000 yen prize (roughly $20) to use for buying things from Japan. Free Tenso fees, Winners pay for international shipping

Ten winners will be chosen at the 2,000 yen prize level.

(Note that, if you win, you can buy items worth more than your prize amount and pay the difference).

Time Limit

You have one week from the date of this Tofugu post to make your submission(s). So basically, Tuesday, November 5 2013, at around 9:00am, PDT.

How To Win

There are 6 ways you can enter the prize draw. That means that you have up to six chances to win one of the 12 prizes.

Step 1: Create an account on Tenso by clicking the big button below. It’s important to use this link to register otherwise we will not be able to contact you (and you won’t be able to win).

Step 2: Do any of the following six actions listed below (don’t forget the #tensofugu hashtag and don’t forget to make your shares public!) If you do everything you will have six chances to win!

1) Share this post on Facebook using the #tensofugu hashtag
Example: [ Share to win free stuff from Japan with Tenso.com! #tensofugu ]

Click to Share on Facebook

(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=404699859590133″;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));

2) Share on Twitter using the #tensofugu hashtag
Example: [ Retweet to win free stuff from Japan with Tenso.com! #tensofugu ]

Tweet #tensofugu
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:'https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);

3) Share on Google+ using the #tensofugu hashtag
Example: [ Share to win free stuff from Japan with Tenso.com! #tensofugu ]

(function() {
var po = document.createElement(‘script’); po.type = ‘text/javascript’; po.async = true;
po.src = ‘https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js’;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
})();

4) Write a comment on this Tofugu post
Write a comment in reply to this blog post telling us what you want to buy most from Japan

Example: I want to buy DakiMakura and date one! #tensofugu

5) Bonus Entry: Facebook Like
Click [Like] on the Tenso Facebook page

(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1″;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));

6) Bonus Entry: Twitter Follow
[Follow] Tenso on Twitter

Follow @Tensocom
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:'https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);

Step 3: Wait and (hopefully) profit.

That totals six possible entries per person. Remember, make sure to include the #tensofugu hashtag when you share the link on Facebook, Twitter and Google +, or your entry will not be counted!

Once the week is over, I will tally all the entries and draw twelve random winners. Afterwards I’ll contact you to let you know that you’ve won and how to claim your prize. That’s all there is to it!

Koichi’s Notes:

I like Tenso and have used them in the past with good experiences, which is why we’re going ahead and doing this giveaway (I know, we don’t usually do these!). It’s definitely nice to have a way to ship things to myself from Japan when a store doesn’t ship overseas. And sadly, I’m not getting any bribes or kickbacks for putting up this post, so hopefully you guys can enjoy this giveaway for me. Back to normal posting schedule tomorrow.

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This campaign has ended and the winners have been contacted. Please check your Facebook/Twitter/Google+/Email account to see if you received a message!

Before we go on a short break for the 4th of July holiday, I wanted to relay some changes happening on Tofugu effective today.

First, Hashi will be leaving his post as Editor to move on to other things. We’ll certainly all miss his posts and editing services, so let’s all thank him for the time he’s put into shaping Tofugu into what it is today! (Thank you)

For the time being I’ll be taking over the editing duties and will be making a few changes.

1. There will be no more Saturday and Sunday posts, at least for now. There’s a couple of reasons for this. First, while I realize there are a few die-hard fans of the Saturday Timewaster and Sunday News series, there just wasn’t enough people reading them to continue writing them (especially while we have a shorter writing staff right now). Second, it means our illustrator Aya can have a little bit of weekend time to herself for once :p
2. Going to focus on quality and depth for posts. Harkens back to point #1. I want to focus efforts on fewer posts of higher quality. We’re still planning to write five posts a week, though. So don’t worry, you’ll get your fill. Most likely you’ll be seeing longer posts during the week and then a lot of the shorter posts showing up in the newsletter.

That should be about it for now. Thanks so much for being such awesome readers. We’ll see you back here on Monday! Have a great holiday even if it’s not a holiday for you.

<3
Koichi

Make Babies, Get Internet With AKB48

Creating virtual babies with your AKB sweetheart is creepy, no doubts about it. But what is even more creepier? Seeing Koichi’s face on a breast feeding mom! It even gets more creepier with the post’s accompanying video where Koichi wears a matching wig (wtf?) and trys to seduce wrinkly old ojisans with his Yakuza accent.

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

The saving grace was the community involvement in the making of the video. Thank you all that played along, willingly have their mugs become Koichi baby abominations. Read this post →

[hr]

The Geneva Conventions Don’t Apply To These Japanese Giant Hornets [Genocide Doom Bringer]

We all know that Japanese Hornets are not to be trifled with. The post is riddled with lots of informative information and videos of their treachery.  But who knew the hornets had the antiquity and a network that ran deep into the bowels of historical malevolence. Connections with the Nazi Party and the man himself? What a surprise! I’m sure if photography existed in earlier times, we would see gray-scaled, blurry images of the bugs’ involvement in the Spanish Inquisition and the death of Mufasa (if you squint hard enough during the video, you can see the hornet). Read this post →

[hr]

Yoro Park: The Site Of Reversible Destiny

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

This is the year that TofuguTV made its debut. Entertaining, fun, and different. Three characteristics each episode brought to the viewer. I particularly liked the Yoro Park video, with its fun editing and laid back approach. And who doesn’t love cats?

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

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q27fQ-mcM10']

Koichi deserves a pat on the back for working hard on these videos. There are many more videos to come. A little encouragement and prodding from the community may assist in getting their release dates pushed earlier *wink* *wink*. Read this post →

[hr]

Japanese Scientists Learn How To Make Meat From Poop

The engineer in me got a kick out of this article. Meat made out of poop? Certainly, the next food monarch to dethrone America’s favorite ingredient, high fructose corn syrup. Possibly a replacement to the foodie craze “head-to-tail” cooking (what haven’t we consumed yet? Oh! Poop!). Is it better than the alternative, soylent green? Who knows! But I do know entrepreneurial Viet wants to get in on the action before its becomes HOT and MAINSTREAM. My lifelong dream of selling animal excrements disguised as health-boosting meat products to the Asian market (who doesn’t want the sex drive of a dolphin?) will become a reality. Read this post →

[hr]

The Mother of All Pocky Days [11-11-11]

I could tell you why I find this post hilarious, thought-provoking, and a life changer. But I don’t want to ruin the excitement for you. You’ll just have to find out yourself. Read this post →

[hr]

That pretty much it for me! See you all at the 2012 reunion party!

Also, be sure to check out Koichi’s, John’s, and Hashi’s favorites of 2011!

[hr]

Ok I lied. I’m adding a sixth item to my favorite list. Technically it isn’t a post, but it’s still a Tofugu work of art. I present to you A Tofugu Halloween, a choose your own adventure YouTube video. Godzilla, Starcraft, Crying, Cats, it has everything! (Note: You’ll need to view the video on YouTubes webpage to be able to access the clickable tags on the video)

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpUWS2QKiiQ']

[hr]

P.S. Can’t wait for the 2012 movie sequel? Hashtag it on Twitter.
P.P.S. Will 2012 see a new Japanese Prime Minister? Find out by adding us on Facebook or Google+.

As I mentioned a little while ago, Tofugu is looking to hire an unpaid virtual (as in, you can work from anywhere) summer intern to help us out! Tofugu is successful, profitable, and growing (with two whole employees… that’s like, 1 employee plus 400 employees minus 399 employees). We’re looking for someone to spend 5-10 hours a week to:

• Research Japanese language and culture.
• Write weekly posts for Tofugu.
• Help build and maintain TextFugu.
• Work on other miscellaneous things as required.
• Work on one larger project (decided by you and us together!)

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFdgDvyeuj4']

What will you get out of all this back-breaking hard labor? Well, other than the warm, fuzzy feeling of self-gratification for a job well-done, there are also plenty of other benefits. If you are picked for our summer internship, you will:

• Gain insight into blogging as a business
• Learn about Tofugu’s style of marketing (super secret!)
• Learn how to start / work on your own blog, and be one of the few people in the world who know how to make a living off blogging.
• Get the opportunity to see the inner workings of Tofugu firsthand.
• Stick it to those boring old newspapers.
• Gain some real startup experience and learn about running your own small company.
• Get a TextFugu Forever membership, free of the normal $120 charge.
• Get to show your work to hundreds of thousands of people.

As for what we want, we’re just mostly looking for hard workers. We believe that almost everything except hard work can be taught (it’s an internship after all, so there should be some learning in there somewhere). Your writing ability should also be good (but not stuffy) and you should be a net native, so to speak. Oh, and hopefully you’re an interesting (nice) person, too!

Now, If all of that sounds great to you and you’re willing to bear the hard labor of working for one of the coolest Japan blogs out there, then please click on the button below and fill out the application:

[button link="https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/tofugu.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dHFWNlhFWldncF9saGFhRzJzWTZiZ1E6MQ#gid=0"]Tofugu Summer Internship Application[/button]

So get crackin’ on those applications! We will only be accepting applications for a little over a week, so please have your application in by June 17. Good luck!

P.S. We’ll pretty much only hire interns who follow our Twitter.

P.P.S. Oh, and Facebook, too.