| 7:52am | Where are Japan's Patriots? | | | | For whatever reason, one of the themes of Japanese society is that its citizens don't show much in the way of patriotism. Loving one's country is something that most Americans take for granted, and I found it puzzling when I went to Japan and found it populated with people who were pretty ho-hum on... |
| 7:48am | Good Times in a Japanese Izakaya Bar | | | | Peter's favorite thing about Japan, #345: izakaya (ee-ZAH-kah-ya), a kind of cozy Japanese pub-restaurant that's filled with exotic food and drinks which seem to be tailor-made to appeal to wide-eyed gaijin. Inside one of these establishments you can find big frosty beers, hot sake and other drinks,... |
| 7:46am | Cool Products Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | | | | Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see... | | |
| 8:59am | Onomatopoeia, or Sound Words in Japanese | | | | Onomatopoeia are the "sound words" that are all around us, and it's funny how they work differently in other languages. The word "boo" would be interpreted by native English speakers as expressing disapproval for something, or with an exclamation point ("boo!"), a word meant to scare someone. But in... |
| 8:59am | Watch Out for the Bento Boys | | | | There's a new social phenomenon in Japan right now, as single males embrace the art of making beautiful and healthy bento lunches to bring to work rather than eating out every day. It's called bento danshi, or "boxed lunch boys," and it's an idea being pushed by a popular website that encourages males... |
| 8:53am | Bad Things About Living in Japan #727: Pollen | | | | There are many benefits to living in Japan, including being able to enjoy a cold beer while riding the train home from work or having a full selection of onigiri rice balls stocked at your local convenience store 24-7. Still, there are a few downsides, too, including being in a country with houses that... |
| 8:52am | Cool Products Monday, July 13, 2009 | | | | Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see... | | |
| 8:18am | Yippie Kay-Yay Mother Facker | | | | When I was an ESL teacher, I worked hard to find innovative ways to teach my students, which was always a challenge. I had a small treasure trove of English textbooks and workbooks and games I'd play with my students. Occasionally I'd rent a movie and watch it with some more advanced students, coming... |
| 8:17am | Understanding Japan Through First and Second Pronouns | | | | In the book Startide Rising by David Brin, humans have bio-engineered dolphins to be intelligent, and modified their spaceships so dolphin crews can work alongside humans in space. In the book, one dolphin remarks how amusing it is that humans bother to hide their feelings from members of the opposite... |
| 8:17am | America, Japan and Breakfast | | | | Whenever I come to the U.S., my mind becomes a flurry of activity as I notice things that are different between my home country and Japan and make mental notes for future J-List updates. It can get quite annoying for my family when I suddenly pull out my iPhone and start pecking away with no warning,... |
| 8:14am | Cool Products Friday, July 10, 2009 | | | | Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see... | | |
| 9:24am | My First Dajare Joke | | | | My first Japanese textbook was Foundations of Japanese Language by Soga, a book which I'm thankful for now but which was frustrating to use at the time, teaching us the term for the Chinese Zodiac before useful words like "man" or "woman." In one of the first chapters it explained how kanji characters... |
| 9:24am | Michael Jackson, Japan and "The Way We Pretend Things to Be" | | | | One of the invisible pillars of Japanese society is tatemae (tah-tay-MAH-eh), literally meaning façade but in actual use, "the way we pretend things are, even though we know they're not"; the word is usually paired with honne (HOHN-neh), which means the way things really are, or a person's real intentions.... |
| 9:22am | Japan's Most Loyal Dog: Hachiko! | | | | Do you know the story of Japan's most famous dog? His name was Hachi, an Akita dog who was owned by a university professor in the 1920's in Tokyo. Every day, Hachi accompanied the professor to Shibuya Station, and in the evenings, the man would come back to find the dog waiting faithfully, a happy expression... |
| 9:22am | Cool Products Wednesday, July 8, 2009 | | | | Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see... | | |
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