This article is a part of series of articles about my 2017 trip to Hawaii. Please see the table of contents that contains links to other chapters. Diamond Head Trail The shopping areas of Waikiki are great for anyone who is looking to burn money or enjoy culture through strategic window shopping. However it would… Read More »
This article is a part of series of articles about my 2017 trip to Hawaii. Please see the table of contents that contains links to other chapters. Food in Hawaii In Hawaii, specifically Waikiki, you can find much of the usual fare: American (including popular chains such as Denny’s and McDonald’s), Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and… Read More »
This article is a part of series of articles about my 2017 trip to Hawaii. Please see the table of contents that contains links to other chapters. Wyndham Timeshare When we were taking a stroll a few blocks away from our hotel, we came across a park paved with artificial grass sporting a large metal… Read More »
This article is a part of series of articles about my 2017 trip to Hawaii. Please see the table of contents that contains links to other chapters. Japanese in Hawaii Although I expected to see more Japanese people in Hawaii than in Portland (which in turn has a higher percentage of Japanese people than many… Read More »
This article is a part of series of articles about my 2017 trip to Hawaii. Please see the table of contents that contains links to other chapters. Hotel When I had told a friend I was going to Hawaii, he immediately responded in surprise, saying something like, “Wow, the hotel must have been really expensive!”.… Read More »
This article is a part of series of articles about my 2017 trip to Hawaii. Please see the table of contents that contains links to other chapters. Why Hawaii? After much discussion we settled on Hawaii not just because of the Japanese culture there, but also because it was significantly closer to us (in Portland,… Read More »
This is the 6th chapter of the fantasy novel “The Rainlands” (雨の国) by Haruka Asahi (朝陽遥) which I am translating from Japanese with the author’s permission. It is about a man’s journey to a mysterious land and his encounter with its indigenous people and culture. If you enjoy this story and want to read more, please consider liking this… Read More »
These days rather than reading Japanese novels, each which can still take me quite a long time to finish, I’ve been reading a literary magazine called 小説幻冬 (“Shousetsu Gento”, where “shousetsu” means ‘novel’ or ‘short story’) published by 幻冬社 (Gentosha). [Gotta love the name “幻冬”, which is made up for the characters for “mysterious” and… Read More »
Language and Culture are inextricably connected, and to master a language of any country surely requires a strong grasp of its traditions, manners, beliefs, and other aspects of culture. Getting a proper fill of culture is one of the most difficult things about studying a foreign language self-taught when not in a country where that… Read More »
Around May last year, my family and I moved to Portland, Oregon from South Florida. One of the reasons was it’s active Japanese culture, and I recently attended an event which truly personified this culture: Mochitsuki 2017, held in Downtown Portland today (Jan 29). Mochitsuki (餅つき or もちつき) is a tradition in Japan which involves pounding glutinous rice to… Read More »