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Author Archives: J Sensei
Japanese Adjectives
The Basics I like to talk about words as a bridge to cultural communication. Unfortunately, there’s some pretty basic reasons why this is hard: even if I talk about an adjective, beginners in Japanese will want to, you know, use … Continue reading
One Good Thing From Madoka Magica
Exhibit A for “Moe” After showing the Madoka Magica character Homura as a rather icy, hardcore combatant for most of the show, Episode 10 of the show revealed Homura to have had more humble origins as a clutzy, ditzy, glasses-wearing … Continue reading
Japanese: Aru, Iru, and Desu
Fundamentals Hi, I haven’t been able to blog enough lately due to personal scheduling. A busy stretch has now ended, so I wanted to cover some important Japanese basics for early learners.
A Few Tips For Learning Japanese
How To Learn Great Japanese, and Keep It
Noren: Japanese Fabric Dividers
暖簾 (のれん) The kanji for “noren” are 暖, which is used for “atatakai” (warm), and 簾, which is used for screen/ blind in the furnishing sense. Perhaps we should therefore understand the original intent as warmth blinds, blinds intended to … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Culture, Japan
Tagged art, blind, culture, divider, fabric, furnishing, hot spring, Japan, noren, screen
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Kaze: The Wind
風 (かぜ) The wind (kaze) is all around us. It can be gentle (yasashii) or violent (hageshii).
No Street Names In Japan?
Here’s a fun post I was linked to. The post is by a certain Derek Silvers. It explains that in Japan, streets don’t have the names, but blocks do. Details – and visuals – at the link. I hadn’t thought … Continue reading
Fun with Japanese Particles, with Audio
Because It’s Normally NOT Fun This is the audio for a Japanese lesson I put together as a free sample for someone. It’s meant to show off what I can do while providing some basic assistance that will benefit most … Continue reading
Mecha in Gaming: The Virgola / Setsuko Ohara
Not In An Anime Near You The Virgola is a fictional machine designed as a video game original for the crossover mecha game Super Robot Taisen Z (Super Robot Wars Z). By “original,” we mean that it does not appear … Continue reading
Posted in Gundam, Japan, video games
Tagged gaming, Gundam, Japan, mecha, Setsuko, SRW, suparobo, super robot, video games, Virgola
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“I’ll Be Back”
Here’s a phrase I randomly saw in a video game: “Kanarazu modotte kuru!!” This roughly means, “I’ll be back!” (though not with the same delivery as the Governator, above.)
Posted in Japanese, Languages
Tagged Arnold, certainty, governator, Japanese, kanarazu, language
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