The Japanese piano adventure continues: A Yamaha damaged, a Yamaha bought
This is my detailed writeup of my journey finding a new piano to replace my old damaged Yamaha baby grand.
Japanese Literature Release: “The Accordion and the Fish Town” by Hayashi Fumiko
I’m glad to announce the release of my third book of works by noted woman Japanese author Hayashi Fumiko, Japanese Literature Release: “The Accordion and the Fish Town”.
The challenges of applying Ki Aikido principles in daily life
Some thoughts on how you can apply principles learned in Ki Aikido in your daily life.
Japanese audiobook review: “Lecture on Removing Ki Blockages” by Shin’ichi Tohei
Ki-Aikido is a martial art that focuses on learning to control your mind and body in order to perform at your best, whether it’s doing a technique in the dojo or undertaking some action in your daily life. I’ve been training in this for quite a while now and have written a few articles on… Read More »
Japanese Bilingual Reader Release: “Kantan! Read Japanese Stories Like a Native (Volume 3)”
I’m happy to announce Arigatai Books’ latest release: a bilingual reader featuring a story by Hayashi Fumiko, an important woman Japanese author.
The Power of Relaxation Off and On the Mat (discussions on Ki-Aikido)
“Just relax!” You’ve probably heard this phrase used before, often in situations when someone is stressed out or panicking due to stress or other factors. Or they may be overreacting about something that is in reality not a big deal. Just taking a few breaths can make a huge difference in our mood and outlook,… Read More »
Japanese book review: 活の入れ方 (“Techniques for Motivation”) by 藤平信一 (Shin’ichi Tohei)
This is a review of the latest book authored (in part) by Shin’ichi Tohei, the head of the world organization for Ki-Aikidio.
Learning to Read Japanese Quickly
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of articles related to audio or video stuff, and haven’t written too much about grammar or the process of learning Japanese. Part of the reason is a lack of ideas for content. That’s why when I received an email from a reader asking if I had any suggestions for… Read More »
Japanese Literature Audio Narration: “Bitter Honey”
A few months ago I published Bitter Honey, a weird and surreal piece of Japanese literature about a magical goldfish who sometimes appears in the form of a teenage girl. (Note: the story is published in both English and parallel English /Japanese for Japanese learners.) As it was a fun story to translate I thought… Read More »
Japanesque 5: With recent AI advances, does learning a foreign language make sense anymore?
Ever since ChatGPT was released in late 2022, we have been seeing massive advances in various artificial intelligence technologies of the likes that eclipses the last few decades. Suddenly, it seems that computers can do things that it only seemed could be done by humans, such as complex image and text generation, and these new… Read More »