In Japan

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar

2011-01-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

I study Japanese in a lot of different ways. One of the things I'm doing is going through the Dictionary of Basic Grammar and adding the example sentences to anki for any points I don't know. I'm coming to the end of the this process and will probably be done with the book by the end of January. It's a great book, just a list of grammar points each with a good explanation and a lot of examples.

多読　たどく tadoku - Extensive Reading Challenge

2010-12-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

It's coming to the end of the year and tomorrow that means the start of 多読 which you can read about here: http://readmod.wordpress.com/ The basic premise is that for the next month people all around the world will be trying to read as much as possible in the language they are learning. They can report their progress over twitter and at the end the totals are summed and we can all see who managed

10,000 sentences

2010-10-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

I recently passed 10,000 sentences in Anki. A big goal. I think some people might be curious what my Japanese is like now. I'm not fluent, not particularly near either but I would definitely like to be as familiar with some other languages as I am with Japanese. I'm reasonable conversational I can make myself understood and express generally what I'd like, though probably not in the most natural

Studying Japanese with an Android Phone

2010-08-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

Recently I've started using a android phone (the Samsung Galaxy S). Smartphone's using Android are pretty much a small computer in your pocket and there are lots of helpful applications to use when studying Japanese. The Galaxy S has unicode support as standard and has no problem displayed Japanese characters. Music I use the inbuilt music player to listen to Japanese audiobooks - when

Creating an immersion environment

2010-08-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

I confess I've fallen behind in my Japanese studies (though I have published a book about Video Game Programming, so it's not all bad :D). I've decided to kick start my learning once again and I think one of the places I was suffering before was not enough natural Japanese exposure. I used Anki a lot and it has tons of content which I'm very familiar with but with out natural Japanese exposure

Learning Updates

2009-09-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

わっー久しぶりね！My progress has definitely slowed but not stopped! I saw a post on the RTK forums about keeping a spread sheet with your progress. In the latest version of anki - it's quite easy to find out how many cards you did a day and how long it took you. So I think it's a great idea to start monitoring my progress.I've gone for the following columnsDate, Reviews (Number of reps, Time), Pages Read

Learning Japanese Update

2009-07-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be interesting to reflect on my Japanese learning.I think I've been studying for at least one year. My anki deck is currently around 6500 cards.First I did Remembering the Kanji for the first 2000 kanji.Then I started using Anki I went through A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns, Understanding Basic Japanese Grammar and Smart.fm Japanese core 2000. (as well a

What is LOVEFiLM like?

2009-07-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

So my master plan was to sign up to the online rental place LOVEFiLM and watch tons of entertaining Japanese media each month.After a week and bit I've cancelled my subscription. (There was a two week free trial).So why did I quit?-Two DVDs one return envelope? I order two DVDs and it only comes with one return envelope. I want to watch one send it back, then one the next and send back. This

How to say 'Yes' in Japanese

2009-07-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

There seem to plenty of searches for this information so I thought I'd add an extra post giving the equivalents for Yes in Japanese.English has lots of ways to yes:I agree, sure, yup, yeh, yeah, that's right, yes, ok, okay etc It's the same with Japanese.　The most often heard Japanese equivalent for yes is はい (hai prounced similar to our "Hi!").To me はい　seems to have a certain military quality.

Blood and Cowboy Bebop

2009-06-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

I recieved my rentals from LOVEFiLM. I chose Blood and Cowboy Bebop (first disc of the series)According to the site the language for Blood is Japanese. Unfortunately this is a filthy lie. It's English and English with subs for most European countries. So I sent that back this morning without watching it.I put Cowboy Behop on in the background while I was pottering around. There are quite a few

Japanese film update

2009-06-24T05:54:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post (Where can I get Japanese language films in the UK?) I've signed up for LOVEFiLM a online DVD rental place for the UK.It's been a few days but some films are now being sent out (according to the website), so I may recieve them tomorrow. The ones that are making their way to me are 'Blood - The Last Vampire' and 'Cowboy Bebop - Vol. 1'. Both anime as there's not a

How to get more exposure to Japanese

2009-06-23T00:31:00.000-07:00

I think mindset is the most important thing. This represented excellently by Luiz from Brazil in this blog post:The day has 24 hours. Assuming you sleep 8 hours a day, you have 16 hours. So if you listen 8 hours of L2, you have heard more L2 than your mother language. It’s simple, not?You don’t need to listen more L1 because you already know. Spend your time listening L2!When you’re studying or

Where can I get Japanese language films in the UK?

2009-06-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

This was a question that baffled me. I wanted to get as much Japanese input as possible. But it's very hard to get access to Japanese media in the UK (especially outside of London). I ordered some DVDs from amazon.co.jp but this proved to be extremely expensive and I had to pay tax.The current solution to this problem, for me, is LOVEFiLM. There's a two week free trial at the moment (though you

Probably best to avoid ordering Japanese materials directly from Amazon

2009-06-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is just a bit of a warning really.I ordered from the Japanese Amazon to the UK. But it turned out to be quite expensive. At the moment the yen is very strong, also DVDs seem slightly more expensive in Japan. On top of that shipping is very expensive. Not only that but after I recieved the goods, I also recieved a letter from Fedex wanting me to pay import duty which was £20+. (which I've now

How to use japanese subtitles

2009-06-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

The first trick to using Japanese subtitles is actually finding them!I'm mainly concerned with download Japanese dramas here. To use Japanese subtitles on your DVD just press the subtitle button :D That said most DVD subtitles in Japan seem to be translated independently of the Japanese dubbing.The best resource is the daddicts forum. Particularly the subtitle one. If you are lucky there will be

How to make a Japanese emersion environment - Tip 1

2009-06-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

If I reflect on how I waste my time, a lot of time seems to be spent flicking through the various music channels. I like music videos, I like new music so it's not hard to find myself doing this. Though it doesn't help my Japanese.What would help my Japanese is having a Japanese version of MTV! But where can I get Japanese music videos? Youtube of course.I want my Japanese MTV to play in the

Anki and Twitter

2009-04-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Anki is a memory tool. You add questions with answers. Then when you review Anki shows a question, you try to remember the answer and then rate yourself compared to the actual answer. Anki uses the rating to decide when to show you that question again.Anki is also open source, that means any one can look how the program is written and change it. It's also actively developed so new versions appear

Five Recommended Japanese Dramas

2009-04-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

We all know watching Japanese dramas is a good way to bulk up language ability. But with so many dramas out there, it may be difficult to easily find something that suits you. To help out here's a list of 5 Japanese dramas I've enjoyed!1. Zettai Kareshi 絶対彼氏It's about a girl who ends up with a robot boyfriend living in her apartment. I don't why but I really like this series and it's one of my

How do I write stars using IME Japanese input? ☆

2009-03-25T02:36:00.000-07:00

If you're asking 'What is the IME?'. It stands for Input Method Editor, apparently. But basically if you write a word in katakana or hirigana then the IME will let you change that word into one or more kanji symbols.For example:ほし　→　星Cool right?　But there's not just kanji hidden in the depths of the IME - there are other fun symbols.-> →　「→、⇒」　Cool arrows.ほし　→　「★、☆」 A few different stars.おす　→　「♂」

What are the words in Japanese writing

2009-03-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

スキャン＋サンドイッチで「Scanwiches」らしいです。サンドイッチの断面を淡々とアップする、という謎のブログですがｗ、躍動感あふれる写真がなかなか素敵です。Above is some Japanese test, that I've taken from Idea*Idea a cool Japanese lifehacker like site.If you're new to Japanese, or Eastern Languages you may have trouble seeing the words. What are the Japanese words - there don't seem to be any spaces. Without learning some basic Japanese and at least hiragana and

A self study plan for learning Japanese

2009-03-08T01:31:00.000-08:00

This is a booklist (mostly) for learning the Japanese language.Before embarking on this plan - learn Hiragana and Katakana. Just memorize them, it took me a day or two. 0. Learn to Speak and Understand Japanese with Pimsleur These are languages cds - yes they're very expensive, so I suggest borrowing them from a

Using Anki with Smart.fm

2009-03-07T02:52:00.000-08:00

Anki is an awesome space repetition system ( clever flash cards.). I use it everyday to review the Japanese I'm learning. One question a beginner may ask is "Where do I get good sentences to use with Anki?"smart.fm is the answer. It has over 10,000 sentences with a picture and a sound file. It also has it's own online learning system. I prefer to use Anki, because I can use it offline and it's

Vocabularly

2009-03-06T02:22:00.000-08:00

Is it easier to understand grammar when you know all the meanings of the words in the sentence?Almost certainly yes.Is it easier to understand the jist of any Japanese material if you understand all the words?Once again yes.Is it a good idea of learn vocabulary from big lists?Not if you want to produce correct sentences. If you don't know how the vocab is used, you may produce unnatural phrases:I

Learning a language in isolation

2009-02-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

TED is a website that often has awesome online lectures - with a technological focus.This particular lecture is about dropping an English language computer connected to the Internet into random villages around India and watching the results.I'm interested in education and language learning - so I find this extremely interesting.*The children, without any prior exposure to English, were able to

絶対彼氏の字幕

2009-02-01T00:44:00.000-08:00

The subtitles for zettai kareshi episode 1. This post is mainly for me, I'm putting the Japanese subs online so I can view them anywhere and use cool tools like rikaichan. (The srt file itself doesn't work with my current version of VLC, the kanji are all square boxes - which suggests it's using a font without kanji, but even changing the font doesn't seem to fix it. Also I'm using the Japanese

How do I say "I love you" in Japanese?

2008-11-23T00:38:00.000-08:00

Unsurprisingly there are myriad ways to say such a thing in Japanese.The one the Japanese themselves use is "好きです。"　（suki desu） which is spoken like "ski des". And literally means "I like".Like? Like doesn't sound like love! That's true. It doesn't but that's the way it's used. There is a stronger way to say it."愛してる"　（aishiteru） which is spoken like eye-shi-te-ru. And literally means "I love".

Where are Japan's biggest expat communities?

2008-11-22T04:40:00.000-08:00

Where do Japanese people live outside of Japan? Well there are a few places. Brazil for historical reasons has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. This a rough list of the places where most Japanese are living. The census data is from different years and so the information shouldn't be referenced! But it's good to get a rough idea.1. Sao Paulo 1988 was 1168000Brazil itself has over

Where is Japan?

2008-11-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

The world's a big place, there's no shame in wanting to know where Japan is.Japan is just off the east of China. Quite near South Korea and not massively far from Eastern Russia. In fact one can take a ferry from Toyama to Vladivostok. Taiwan isn't too far to the south.The above is a Japan-centric map, where Japan is in the middle. How far is Japan from America? About 7000 miles (10000 km).How

How do I use wildcards to search for example Japanese sentences?

2008-11-18T05:33:00.000-08:00

Or how to search for example grammar. Getting excellent Japanese example sentences can be tricky!Especially if you want grammar. Recently I was after examples of "from A to B", "from A until B" which in Japan would be "AからBまで".Just whacking　から　into ALC doesn't help. Pages and pages of sentences yes - but not of the particular point I wanted :(JGram　could be worth a look, and look I did but I

How do I learn Japanese?

2008-11-15T03:09:00.000-08:00

I am not really in a position to answer this, but when has that stopped anyone on the internet from voicing an opinion?The key is saturation.For example I want to learn what どうやって means. First I get the basic definition by moving my mouse over it.If you're wondering how the hell that happened well first; I'm using Firefox to browse the internet - and so should you. Second I have a Firefox plugin

What are 50 must read Japanese language learning websites?

2008-05-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's hard to get started learning a language - where are all the resources? What's the best method? Hopefully these links will set you on the right path!1. Reviewing the kanji aka RTKLearn the Japanese Kanji once and for all – excellent website / online tool. Save yourself months and months by using this.2. AnkiA computer program that you can fill with flash cards. It uses a special

Ripping Audio from Japanese video and movie files

2008-05-05T02:37:00.001-07:00

An excellent way to study Japanese is to watch movies and videos. The more you watch the same videos, the more you pick up on new words and phrases. Wouldn't it be great if you could some how get the audio track and put it on your ipod! Or actually cut out phrases and then insert them into an SRS (spaced repetition system like Anki) giving you repeated, focused exposure.So how to do this? I use

How to make Japanese Curry

2007-01-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

Yes that's right Japan likes curry, they call it Kare Rice. Their love of curry dates into prehistory when they met the British Navy, at that time the biggest bestest navy in the world. The Japanese looking at this navy decided the best way to get a navy just as good was to copy it down to the tiniest detail, a cunning plan. One of those tiny details was the meals - curry! Or at least that's one

What are the lesser known Japanese robots?

2005-11-09T23:53:00.000-08:00

I’m going to quickly run through all the other robots that I’m aware of. Vacuum Bot also known as HRP-2 PrometThere’s a vacuuming robot but he’s not just limited to vacuuming he can also sweep! And dance. He can walk with out help and his proportions are much closer to those of a human. He has fins on his head what’s not to love about that? That said, one fin came off in the hand of the robot

How do I say hello and goodbye in Japanese?

2005-11-08T01:01:00.000-08:00

Maybe you have Japanese friends or wish to make some by suddenly impressing them with greetings from the native language. Well here is the knowledge you need. Like most languages Japan has a lot of different ways to greet. The most common of which you’ll probably already know. Hello Hello is commonly translated to Konnichiwa (Kon-ee-chee-wa). This is basically correct. Although in Japan

How does Japan deal with it’s endemic robot population problem?

2005-11-07T23:45:00.000-08:00

You may think you’re safe from robots. You may think you’d never be hunted down and killed. You may think you’d be able to tell a soft meaty human from hard metal robot. You’d be wrong!Asimo, Honda’s amazing dancing robot, is cunningly disguised as a miniature astronaut. If you reflect for a moment and count the number of astronauts you’ve seen in real life, in the flesh – you’ll probably

What cool robots are there in Japan?

2005-11-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

Japan as we know is a country dangerously overrun with robots vying to laserize their masters faces and take control. Here are some of the robot models you may find yourself battling against in the future. Pay attention now and discover their secret weak points. Come the revolution you, too can be master of your Mad Max style city! All you need know is how to disable the robot swarm.AsimoAsimo is

Are robots everywhere in Japan?

2005-11-04T00:33:00.000-08:00

Yes. It’s a well known fact that the robot population of Japan is projected to outstrip the human population some time later this year.There are many many robots – recently I had the rare opportunity to check them out and how their kill-laser 6000’s were advancing. Now I’ll share that knowledge with you so you may one day rise against your future mechanical overlords. The next few posts will

What is group dating?

2005-11-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

Kompa is where groups of singles go out on a group date, it happens commonly in Japan. Here I'll talk a little bit more about it. Kompa is a loan word from English though it really has quite a different meaning. Japanese has many loan words some retain their original meaning while others lose it. This particular loan word comes from the English for companions. Group dating may also be called godo

Are kimonos still worn in Japan?

2005-11-01T05:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes they are.Not all the time, generally. It's more more common to see women wearing kimonos than men. They may worn on both formal on informal occasions. For instance weddings, graduations, some meetings, festivals, coming of age ceremonies (20 for women) and that kind of thing. Men will more commonly wear a casual type of kimono when relaxing at home. For weddings the bride may wear a

How does dating work in Japan?

2005-10-30T23:57:00.000-08:00

Dating and all that goes with it – is, at it’s most basic, the same all over the world. That said here’s little information about dating and Japan. I'm sure each culture has it variations on a theme. Japan is going to be different than many western countries if only for the fact that many adults live with their parents until they are married. This has two knock-on effects, the first is that young

What is a hostess bar?

2005-10-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

Perhaps unsuprisingly it's quite hard to find pictures inside of hostess clubs so here's some Geisha's courtsey of mc500hats flickr stream.In any city in any prefecture in Japan you will, on your adventures, find certain areas. These areas, at night, are lit up with gaudy neon signs. Men in suits stand outside door ways and hungrily eye the passing crowds. Women dressed in shiny revealing

How to cure a cold?

2005-10-26T01:48:00.000-07:00

There’s an interesting sight to witness in Japan near the onset of winter. Suddenly the masses on the trains and in the offices and schools will started to be peppered with what appeared to be surgical masks.The masks a surgeon might wear when performing surgery on some sick person. Suddenly it seems every other person is wearing on of these white masks. The white masks can be bought at

How to past the JET test and interview

2005-10-25T00:45:00.000-07:00

Once your essay is accepted you will be given a date to arrive at the embassy.You will also be asked to be formally attired. Make sure you are there at the right time and dressed correctly – a suit with a tie. It’s probably best to avoid wearing a black tie, you will be dealing with Japanese people. Black ties are only ever worn at funerals in Japan. I turned up very early to my interview and

How do I write a good JET essay?

2005-10-24T00:53:00.000-07:00

Let’s start with the essay. The essay should express why you want to go to Japan and why the Japanese government would want you in Japan. Here are some general tips.1. Stay as close to the word count as possible.Going over by a large amount or being under – already shows you’re not willing to pay attention or follow the rules. In Japanese society rules are quite important and bending them is

How to work in Japan by applying to the JET programme.

2005-10-23T04:08:00.000-07:00

The JET programme is a way to work as a teacher in Japan. You need a degree – it doesn’t matter in what, it also doesn’t matter what level. I know a person currently teaching on the programme who has a third in computer science. It’s also quite common if you’re applying to the JET program from University to apply before your degree is actually confirmed.That’s all - you don’t to speak Japanese,

What are the Japanese emoticons?

2005-10-20T00:39:00.000-07:00

In text messages and in email it’s quite common to use emoticons or simlies. We’ve probably all used these to add tone to our text messages.You suckThe above could be taken the wrong way – if the sender was being playful so they might use:You suck :DAll the confusion disappears. So now we know what’s meant by emoticons let’s see how the Japanese smilies or emoticons differ. The smiley face above

Inference and the Japanese Language

2005-10-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

The Japanese language usually relies on the listener to infer a lot of the meaning. “Samui” just means “cold” but should be understood to mean “I’m cold or “It’s cold” depending on the situation. I think speech is kept deliberately vague so each party can infer their own personally satisfactory meaning from any conversation and that keeps things nicely amicable. This sounds like a great idea but

How to be iritated in a Japanese office

2005-10-18T01:30:00.000-07:00

I confess this is the first desk job I’ve ever had. One of the first things I noticed was the amount of chatter, not conversation – well not in the way I understand conversation. Rather muttering or talking to ones self. I know enough Japanese to understand pretty much what is said by my work colleagues and the chatter, I talk of, is a third person commentary on what they’re doing, minute to

What are pocky?

2005-10-17T01:27:00.000-07:00

What are pocky? What is pocky? So many questions. I assume if you’ve never been to Japan that you’ve still probably heard the word Pocky from some chap who’s a bit geeky. They’re a Japanese snack that some people in remote countries will pay extortionate amounts for. Pocky are basically very thin sweet biscuit sticks about a hand long. The top part of the stick is covered in chocolate or

What's all the towel buisness about in Japan

2005-10-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

`Now!' exclaimed Old Thrashbarg at last. `Now you maywork them with the towel!'In Japan towels have a significance I’ve not seen anywhere else. This is because the Japanese on the whole, are unusually sweaty. I don’t think it’s a genetic disposition (though who I am to know without being able to run the required tests?) rather it’s all this sun business. The big bright star in the sky that glares

How to drink cheaply in Japan

2005-10-13T00:58:00.000-07:00

People generally don’t know much about Japan but I know in Britain there are a few memes, a few bits and pieces that seemed to have lodged their way into the collective consciousness. We were in a pub once drinking with our Japanese teacher, who was born in Japan and worked in Tokyo in the eighties. We were asking lots of questions as we were all anticipating that we would shortly be travelling

What are Japanese alcoholic drinks like?

2005-10-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

Last time we covered Japanese beer. We’ll finish off by talking about spirits. SakeThe word sake in Japanese means anything alcoholic – it’s only ignorant foreigners like you and I that persist in calling nihon-shu, sake. Sake is Japans big drink – it’s drunk all the time, well apart from during work time. (I assume.) In summer it’s drunk cold, in winter it’s warmed up. Some sake’s can be drunk

What common alcoholic drinks are there in Japan?

2005-10-11T00:51:00.000-07:00

Japan is a country that likes drinking – especially drinking socially. Bitter foreigners who’ve spent time in Japan often remark that this is the only way the Japanese can actually communicate, as when they’re sober they’re bound by formalisms and politeness. In my esteemed opinion, these people are wrong and bitter-husks of their former foreign selves – slaving away in a country they don’t like.

How to use trains in Japan

2005-10-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Japan has an extremely expansive train network. You can get trains from or two pretty much anywhere. They are comfortable, clean and spacious. Unless your catching an extremely busy train or are unfortunate enough to get on the train and rush hour – then it’s an entirely different story.You don’t need to know Japanese at all to use the train system. At each station there will be a map. Often this

How do I find Japanese phone charms and toys?

2005-10-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

I’m sure you have seen many Japanese films, manga or TV programs were a character will pull out a mobile phone. Mobile phones (cellphones) are called keitai in Japan, which literally means mobile. In the recent animation Final Fantasy Advent Children – phones feature prominently. When Cloud pulls out his phone, he has a number of cool toys dangling off the side.These charms are extremely common

Thirst Quenching Tea

2005-10-07T01:55:00.000-07:00

I think the first time I queried the quenching properties of tea I was treated with some scepticism. I mentioned the words “anti-diuretic” and was told that maybe I should study less geography, start drinking some more delicious tea and shut up. Tea was a big surprise to me. England, as everyone knows starting cultivating wild tea some time during the bronze age and the domesticated tea has been

How do I use the internet in Japan?

2005-10-06T00:50:00.000-07:00

Japan is saturated with high speed internet – so fast it hurts. It’s not very hard to go to an internet café and send mail back home. Internet cafes here are a lot different than most other countries.Internet Cafes Japanese adults will often live in the same house as their parents until they marry. How the country has such a low crime rate, as it does, baffles me! Imagine living with you parents

What are common gifts or omiyage to give my fellow employees?

2005-10-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

In Japan is it very common to give gifts to fellow employees. All the people in your office or working group for instance. This is usually done when you go on vacation or holiday. You are no longer at work instead you’ve left your colleagues alone while you enjoy yourself. When you come back it’s customary to give each person a small gift. This is reflected a tourist resorts in Japan where you

What Japanese food should I try?

2005-10-04T01:25:00.000-07:00

Previously we’ve been over the Japanese foods you should try if you get the chance. Here we conclude with some final dishes that you should try if you’re in Japan or in a Japanese restaurant. 7. NabeNabe is Japans winter food. It’s filling, warm and starchy. There are main varieties of Nabe. All Nabe is cooked in a big ceramic pot. Nabe is eaten at home and at restaurants. It will be served in

What is Japanese tea like?

2005-10-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

There are many different types of tea drunk in Japan from green tea to English style tea sold at supermarkets in plastic bottles with sugar and milk already added. There are so many teas that it may be quite confusing when choosing one to drink when shopping. One of the first things to know about tea in Japan – is that it’s called cha. The Japanese word for tea. Japanese is a language all about

What food should I try in Japan?

2005-10-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

Last time we mentioned some of the top foods you should try in Japan. We’ll continue this theme and probe some of the lesser known Japanese foods.4. OkonomoyakiJapan’s very own pizza type food, it’s base is made from cabbage, flour and eggs. It’s quite a cheap fast food, too. Generally it’s cooked on massive metal plates by a chef with a spatula in each hand. That’s right a dual spatula wielding

What Japanese food should I try in Japan?

2005-09-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

What food should you try in Japan? Well here’s a rundown of the top ten or so interesting Japanese foods. Depending on the area of Japan there will be some local delicacy that you should also check out!1. SushiSushi is great. It’s cheap and there are lots of different things to try. Sushi basically includes anything on top of vingeared rice (Spam sushi available at a certain Tokyo sushi shop).

How do I make Japanese sushi or onigiri?

2005-09-29T00:39:00.000-07:00

Sushi and onigiri have a vague relation that there both quite small and mainly made up of rice. With sushi the rice is vingeared and top with vegetables or fish – the fish made be raw or cooked. Sushi is eaten now and again as special treat. My advice about making sushi is – don’t. Make onigiri instead it’s easier. Sushi chefs train for years and have a wide and varied knowledge of sushi types.

How to make and drink Japanese Green Tea

2005-09-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

I remember drinking green tea in my home country. It came from a tea bag and had a light pleasant taste. It went very well with lemon. On arriving in Japan it immediately became apparent that this is not green tea, not as the Japanese know it anyway. Japan has many different varieties of tea and many different types of green tea. The big one is macha. You may have heard of the Japanese Tea

How to buy retro games in Japan

2005-09-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

A fine question let me guide you in the purchasing of choice games and game systems from the past. Fancy a Sega Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo or one of their countless wonderful games? Well it’s pretty easy to find such goods in Japan – anywhere in Japan.Japan being a small island with limited natural resources has a much stronger pressure to reuse. Therefore there are many many second

A test page

2005-09-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

This is just a test I'll replace with content soon!