JapanNewbie

Holiday Gift Ideas for Japan Geeks

Posted on 25. Nov, 2010 @ 8:37 am by harvey in Crazy Consumers, Gadgets, Media, Movies Views: 2,611

Here are some holiday gift ideas that Japan geeks will probably enjoy…
I’m going to try to be a little one-off here, because I know lists like these are everywhere!

Life Lessons from the Masters

If you have anything you would recommend please tell us in the comments!

Gift Idea Number 1! Zen in the Martial Arts

I received a used copy of Zen in the Martial Arts as a gift many years ago. I recently pulled it out again and have been reading a chapter from it before going to sleep at night. This little book is great stuff. It gives you zen-inspired life advice based on the lessons that Joe Hyams learned while training with Bruce Lee himself.

This is one of the best “personal development” books I have ever read. It’s really timeless.

Gift Idea Number 2! Playstation 3

I, for one, will be getting a PlayStation 3 on Black Friday assuming I can snag a particular deal I’ve got my eye on.

Why a Playstation 3 you say?

• Games are region free, so you can play Japanese games.
• Final Fantasy XIII in Japanese.
• Access to the Japanese PSN online store.
• Did I mention Final Fantasy XIII in Japanese?
• Miyazaki Hayao on Blu-ray! Like Ponyo (Not my fav, but readily available.)
• 龍が如く 見参！(Ryu ga gotoku KENZAN!)
• Many US-purchased games have the Japanese on the disc!
• I’m about to graduate… so I’m going to treat myself!

Play Japanese Games. All Day Long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm205XIF8jQ

Of course, if you’re not in Japan it may not be easy, or cheap, to get these games in Japanese, but it’s not impossible!

Gift Idea Number 3! KINDLE

With a Kindle your Japan-geek can carry around a ton of Japanese texts everywhere.

I wrote in a previous post about how I use my Kindle to read and study Japanese. Check it out.

With a Kindle your Japan-geek will have no excuse not to have Japanese reading material with them at all times.

It’s really cool and there are tons of free texts out there.

Namiki Power

Gift Idea Number 4! Namiki Pens

These Namiki Pens are ridiculously fancy.

Ummm… If you’re feeling generous get me this 6,800 USD Namiki Emperor Rabbit In Moonlight Fountain Pen. It has a rabbit on it.

Actually… just give me the 6,800 dollars and let me spend it how I want.

Here’s the Namiki Website for those who like to look at pretty things.

Gift Idea Number 5! Advanced Japanese for iPhone iPod Touch

Our friends over at TheJapanShop.com have released yet another quality iPhone App to teach you Japanese.

Their Advanced Japanese Phrases, Idioms, and Newspaper Terms App is specifically for advanced users, and is great as always. Check out the screen shots below. If you’ve used their insanely popular Japanese Phrases App then you’ll know what to expect (except this one is prettier).

Advanced Japanese Phrases, Idioms, and Newspaper Terms – TheJapanesePage.com

This may look like work, but it's actually awesome.

Gift Idea Number 6! A non-Anime Japanese Movie

I have talked about a lot of Japanese movies on this blog, I’m a fan. Check out these older movie posts and take a look at what I have mentioned before. I like recommending non-anime movies because I think that usually they’re better for actually learning Japanese. The mannerisms, vocabulary, and speech patterns of the characters are usually more realistic than those found in Anime. However, you learn best from what you enjoy, so if Anime is your thing, by all means! I indulge in a little Miyazaki Hayao myself sometimes…

If I were to recommend one random non-Anime Japanese movie, it would be The Twilight Samurai.

This movie is gritty. Love it. Of course, you might end up talking like a Samurai… Heh.

Check it out.

That’s all! Let me know if you have any more “off the beaten track” gift recommendations for Japan-heads!

- Harvey