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Author Archives: J Sensei
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
Anime Review: Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu
Legend of the Legendary Heroes 伝説の勇者の伝説 The English translation of this throws me WAY off. When I wrote a rant about this show (link in spoiler section), I got the name wrong. It’s an odd name, and here’s why. Usually, … Continue reading
Japanese Films: Seven Samurai
Shichinin no Samurai (Japanese: 七人の侍) Seven Samurai is known to students of movie-making for its introduction or popularization of a variety if filming techniques, particularly for the use of visual imagery to represent one aspect of the story without resorting … Continue reading
Japanese: Shinobi Made Verb
“Shinobi” Comes From Somewhere Now, very serious ninja fanatics may know, or suspect, that the word shinobi, used as a synonym for ninja (even by the Japanese), is derived from the verb shinobu (忍ぶ、しのぶ), meaning to hide (and also, to … Continue reading
Japanese: Making Things Plain
はっきりする The word はっきり (hakkiri) exists only in hiragana.This does not mean it is unimportant. Rather, it simply means that its roots are entirely native Japanese. This word is most often pressed into service as a “suru” (する) verb, which … Continue reading
The Decay of the Power of Japan’s Emperors
A Bit Of Useful History Following the Genpei War (the subject of The Tale of Genji), which gave rise to the Bafuku (government said to be run out of a general’s tent rather than a palace), the Imperial line was subject … Continue reading
Katakana: Sound, Stereo and Mono
A Quick Lesson In Kana In video game settings (ゲームの設定)… Sound is サウンド (saundo). Stereo is ステレオ (sutereo). Monoaural is モノラル (monoraru). The last one sounds like “monooral” as it is written in katakana.
Posted in Japanese, Languages, video games
Tagged katakana, mono, sound, stereo, video games
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Why We Watch Anime, Part 4: Culture
Culture Means Civilization I know I’m going to get into some controversial territory here, but it is for a good cause. This is, after all, called The Japanese Culture Blog. It is about appreciation of culture, and Japan has it. … Continue reading
Why We Watch Anime, Part 3: Visual Art
Creativity + Visual Art While other nations have no lack of artists, it is Japan’s mix of creativity and visual art involved in the cel (celluloid) animation used for anime. While hard economic times and an improvement in technology have created … Continue reading