April 29th, Showa Day is coming
Posted by harvey in Culture, Society on 30. Apr, 2007 | 3 Comments
Did you miss it? Showa Day (Wiki, ), a Japanese National holiday was April 29th. The holiday just started this year and is on Emperor Hirohito’s birthday. Showa Day will be celebrated every year from now on… One more day without work! Kind of. It’s a part of Golden Week. This holiday has been proposed [...]
The 3 day priest
Posted by harvey in Humor on 26. Apr, 2007 | 10 Comments
More Japanese random trivia for you. This is an interesting expression that we can all probably use… I know I can. 「三日坊主」”mikka bouzu” “The Three Day Priest” This expression can be used to describe someone who is unable to stick with something they have started to do. Literally, it is referring to someone who had [...]
Jay Rubin on Translation
Posted by harvey in Books, Language on 24. Apr, 2007 | 4 Comments
Well, Jay Rubin has come and gone. The talk was about two hours long, and was extremely casual and interesting. During the discussion I was able to ask both of the questions that Michael proposed, as well as others. Does Jay Rubin plan to author any other books aimed at Japanese language learners, similar to [...]
Jay Rubin – Murakami Haruki translator
Posted by harvey in Books, Language on 23. Apr, 2007 | 2 Comments
Tomorrow Harvard professor Jay Rubin, translator of Haruki Murakami’s works and author of the highly acclaimed, “Making Sense of Japanese” is coming to my school to give a talk. One of the more famous Murakami novels he has translated is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The topic of his talk hasn’t been disclosed yet, but I’m [...]
Pace to the World
Posted by harvey in Humor on 23. Apr, 2007 | 3 Comments
The typical Japanese Engrish post. It’s Italian! Thanks to スロ for pointing out my miss. Pace means “peace” in Italian. Pace to the World! It’s the thought that counts. – Harvey
Broken Needles
Posted by harvey in Language on 20. Apr, 2007 | 4 Comments
「針供養」(はりくよう) needle mass // requiem service for broken needles Say what? I’m not making this up. – Harvey
Easily Confused
Posted by harvey in Language on 20. Apr, 2007 | 1 Comment
There is a adjective in Japanese for things that are easily confused… 紛らわしい。まぎらわしい pronounced, “magirawashii”, and often translated as confusing, misleading, equivocal, or ambiguous. For me however, the word itseslf is confusing, as I often mistakenly pronounce it “magiwarashii”. Heh. – Harvey [tags]japanese, language, japan[/tags]
tough at time
Posted by harvey in Humor on 18. Apr, 2007 | 2 Comments
A pachinko shop in Osaka. What is that supposed to mean? Does it mean that gambling is OK? My head hurts. – Harvey
