Beef up your JLPT vocab with PlaySay

Posted by harvey in Language on 30. Jun, 2008 | 1 Comment

JapanNewbie here, introducing you to a new Japanese study product – PlaySay. PlaySay is a labor of love by a fellow Japan-head. To put it simply, the PlaySay team has put the vocabulary that you need to know for each of the JLPT exam levels into MP3 format, and added text and audio tricks to [...]

Trip to Kawagoe

Posted by harvey in Travel on 27. Jun, 2008 | 2 Comments

Lots of posts on Kawagoe! This was one of my last trips before I left Japan back in May. This time I’m posting some pictures of the traditional architecture there known as Kurazukuri. In the background of this picture you can see the famous Tokino Kane (Bell Tower). It is believed to have been built [...]

Learn with Real Japanese

Posted by harvey in Books, Language on 25. Jun, 2008 | 1 Comment

Have you ever felt that no matter how many example sentences you read from your Japanese textbook, that when you try to read Japanese websites, newspapers, or magazines, it seems like they’re using a completely different language? Well, this is a problem that most people who study Japanese will run into at some point, and [...]

Domo-kun Flash Drive

Posted by harvey in Gadgets on 24. Jun, 2008 | No Comments

Occasionally J-List has some pretty cool products available and this one caught my eyes. A Domo-kun Flash Drive, and it’s 1 Gig which makes it practical as well as cute! If you’re wondering what Domo-kun is like, check out Domo-kun on YouTube for a healthy sampling of Domo-cuteness. – Harvey

Japanese Podcasts

Posted by harvey in Language, Media on 23. Jun, 2008 | 5 Comments

As part of my quest to not let my Japanese die while I spend the next few years in the states, I started hunting for some Japanese podcasts. I found some fun stuff put out by TBS Radio 954. If you’re coming straight through the iTunes Store, search for “TBS RADIO 954kHz”. So far I’m [...]

Brain Food

Posted by harvey in Food, Tokyo on 20. Jun, 2008 | 4 Comments

Just a picture of a menu at a Chinese restaraunt in Shibuya. Brain of Pork. I didn’t try it. – Harvey

Free Japanese and other Asian Movies in D.C.

Posted by harvey in Media on 15. Jun, 2008 | 1 Comment

Anyone in Washington D.C. at the moment might be interested in the free Asian films showing at he 300 seat Meyer Auditorium, located in the Freer Gallery. For example, tomorrow, HARA KIRI by Masaki Kobayashi is showing. A short synopsis from the Freer Gallery’s website is below. HARA KIRI Sunday, June 15, 2008, 2:00 pm, [...]

Unagi in Kawagoe

Posted by harvey in Food, Travel on 11. Jun, 2008 | 3 Comments

One of my last fancy meals in Japan was scrumptious eel (a dish called unagi-jyuu, eel and rice, and eel, and more rice) in Kawagoe. I absolutely love this stuff. Love it. There is something about these unagi-don type dishes that is irresistable once you get past the fact that it’s, well, eel. The pickeled [...]

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