When reading fiction in Japanese, I usually stick to novels over manga (comic books) for several reasons. One is that manga is typically very expensive, with a single episode typically costing 10 dollars or more. Depending on the difficulty level, I can read through one of those in a few hours to a few days.… Read More »
Normally one doesn’t expect too much in the way of quality food in Airport restaurants, but I found one that was surprisingly good on a recent business trip. It’s called ‘Osho’, and is located in the San Francisco Airport. The name comes from ‘王将’ which is the name of the ‘King’ piece in Japanese chess… Read More »
In a previous post, I reviewed two of the few Japanese bookstore chains in the US: Book Off and Kinokuniya. On a recent business trip to San Jose, California, I found out there was a Kinokuniya nearby so I decided to stop by for a little while. The first thing that caught me off guard… Read More »
I stumbled upon this Japanese CG movie by chance, having picked it up from a store credit received due to faulty headphones. The title sounded interesting, and the screenshots on the back of the box, while small, looked pretty good quality. It was produced for Fuji TV’s (a major Japanese broadcast company) 50th anniversary, and… Read More »
Yesterday me and my family stopped by the Ichimura Japanese Gardens in Miami, Florida, where we heard they were holding a Japanese festival. These gardens are located right next to Miami’s “Jungle Island” Zoo, the latter of which has been around for 75 years. I was first surprised when I discovered the Ichimura gardens because… Read More »
It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and watched a Japanese drama, but I decided to watch the first episode of a drama that is pretty popular in Japan now. Not only does it star some actors that I like, but it involves a theme very dear to my heart – sweets. This drama… Read More »
For those of us raising a child bilingual Japanese/English child, it can be difficult to find appropriate teaching materials, especially if you live outside of an area with a large Japanese population like California and New York. Fortunately, these are a few excellent distance learning (通信教育）programs designed for young learners in mind. Benesse’s “Child Challenge”… Read More »
Music shouldn’t be overlooked as an important learning resource for those studying Japanese or any other foreign language. Though song lyrics can be difficult to understand (I’m notoriously horrible at comprehending them, even in English), on the flip side you can get exposure to different vocabulary you normally wouldn’t be in touch with. Also, by… Read More »
For a self-studier of Japanese, TV dramas (ドラマ) are one of the most important resources to improve vocabulary for spoken language. They are also a whole lot of fun. Compared to anime, the Japanese used in dramas is generally much closer to daily life, though some dramas about certain occupations (for example medical dramas) will… Read More »
Japanese anime is great – it’s filled with enough action, fighting, emotion, and creative stories to make any fantasy lover do a double take. I tend to like long running anime series (like the popular “Naruto”), but with a child now my time is limited, so I prefer shorter series or movies. “The Garden of… Read More »