Gamer Spots in Japan
Posted by harvey in Crazy Consumers, Tokyo on 15. Mar, 2009 | 5 Comments
Just a quick link, Kotaku has a piece on Ten-plus Spots Gamers Should Visit in Japan. I’ve only been to maybe half of these places… Just the usual Akihabara, Denden Town, stuff like that. I think it’s no over generalization to say that many students of the Japanese language also happen to play video games [...]
Japanese Phrases iPhone App
Posted by harvey in Gadgets, Language on 10. Mar, 2009 | 4 Comments
In case you haven’t tried it yet, here is a promo video of the JapanShop’s iPhone/iPod Touch application. You can get a 400-phrase version of the application for free, and upgrade to the full 800-phrase version for less than the cost of a slice of pizza. おいしいですね。 – Harvey
Speak proper Kansai-ben with IKOKA and Nakama Yukie
Posted by harvey in Language, Osaka on 07. Mar, 2009 | 4 Comments
Intonation matters when speaking Japanese sometimes. In this video the mascot for ICOCA teaches Yukie Nakama how to properly say “ICOCA de ikouka” in Kansai dialect. ICOCA Mascot: ICOCAで行こか EN: “Shall we go using ICOCA?” Nakama Yukie: ICOCAで行こうか EN: “Shall we go using ICOCA?” ちゃうちゃう、ICOCAで行こかや。 EN: “No-no-no, it’s, ‘shall we go using ICOCA?’” Nakama Yukie: [...]
You Reap What You Sow
Posted by harvey in Culture, Language on 03. Mar, 2009 | 4 Comments
自業自得 (jigoujitoku) This is a well-known Japanese phrase that is extremely close to the English expression, “you reap what you sow”. 自業自得 jigoujitoku is a Buddhist term (仏語) term that means that you will receive the results of your actions yourself. Like the English expression, this phrase is usually (but not always) used to refer [...]
