Tag Archives: Manga

The Resilience of the Japanese People

A Nation United by Disaster The March 11 (“3/11”) earthquake and tsunami disaster striking Japan has brought into sharp relief the basic resilience and sense of unity of the Japanese people. Whatever the faults of Japan, this is one of … Continue reading

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The Japanese Art of Storytelling

I’ve written my thoughts about this before, to a point, but one of my enduring reasons for liking Japanese culture is the deep tradition of high quality storytelling that I have discovered within it.

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On Japanese Popular Culture

Rejecting A Restrictive View In reading an article in the Japan Times about popular culture in Japan, the article takes a position that is overtly or covertly taken by many purported conveyors of wisdom about Japan: the position that popular … Continue reading

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Japanese Culture: Duties, Roles and Parts to Play

Yakuwari (役割、やくわり) A yakuwari can be a duty, a role, or a part to play. The first kanji can be read as “of use,” which is a concept used in service (for if you are of use to the Emperor, … Continue reading

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So You Want To Read Manga In Japanese

Try This. I only just saw this, but try this link and take a look. It’s by the Japan Foundation and well, I can’t draw and I can’t program in Flash by myself, so I don’t want to repeat anything … Continue reading

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Japanese: “Right Where I Want To Be”

望むところです The above, and variations thereof (which differ in how they end), combine nozomu (望む,のぞむ), which is to desire, to want, and tokoro (所、ところ), which simply means place. (This tends to be a figurative place, more often than not.) That … Continue reading

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Informal Japanese: Why It’s Important

Not Every Situation Is Formal One of the real, visceral failings of standard Japanese courses is that they only teach the formal versions of verbs in the classroom. Granted, this is good for academic situations, the conduct of professional business, … Continue reading

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J-Comi: Can It Overcome Growing Pains?

Some Unrequested Advice 日本語版は英語の後 (Japanese version below English) So, I was speaking to my Japanese culture interested friends about J-Comi. I had asked for an update if the site went up, and apparently it did. Also, it apparently has some … Continue reading

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Japanese Culture: Sakura Shinguji

真宮寺さくら In Japanese, the family name is said first. Also, while romanized as Shinguji, a word processor would want “shinguuji.” Sakura means cherry blossom (though it can also refer to the cherry tree). Shinguji here uses kanji at variance with … Continue reading

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Education Through Naruto: Yudan Taiteki

I decided to use something out of Naruto manga for educational purposes. I mean, why not? It may not be high literature, but it can be used to show little pieces of the Japanese language. Audio Version [audio:https://jp.learnoutlive.com/media/Naruto%20Yudan%20Taiteki.mp3]download mp3 油断大敵 … Continue reading

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