JapanNewbie Reader Survey!
Posted by harvey in About on 26. May, 2009 | Comments Off
Hey everyone! I put together a simple five question survey in an attempt to learn more about JapanNewbie readers and what you want from JapanNewbie.com. Please participate in it! There are hundreds of you, some of you who have been reading for 5 years, and some who are new. I really only personally know a [...]
Upcoming Project: Kansai-ben App
Posted by harvey in About, Gadgets, Language on 18. May, 2009 | 3 Comments
Announcements, announcements! For the past three months we (me, my wife and The JapanShop.com team) have been working on a big project. You have probably tried out JapanShop.com’s free trial version of their Japanese phrases application, and perhaps their Japanese Idioms app too. Well, we have created a similar application that introduces Kansai dialect phrases. [...]
Shopping Boogie by Kasagi Shizuko
Posted by harvey in About, Culture, Media, Music, Osaka on 02. May, 2009 | 5 Comments
I want to introduce you to Shizuko Kasagi (1914 – 1985) and this great song called Kaimono Bugi (買い物ブギ, “Shopping Boogie”), recorded in 1950, way back during the post-war American Occupation of Japan. Shizuko Kasagi was known as the “Queen of Boogie” 「ブギの女王」 in postwar Japan. She was born in Kanagawa but moved to Osaka [...]
Pizzicato Five – It’s a Beautiful Day
Posted by harvey in About, Media, Music on 08. Apr, 2009 | 4 Comments
I listened to Pizzicato Five CDs over, and over again while sitting at home in Iowa back in the mid 90s. I just put some on now, which gave me the idea to check YouTube to see what I could see. This was my first time seeing this video! なつかしい〜〜〜〜〜 This particular song is on [...]
JapanNewbie now on Twitter
Posted by harvey in About, Gadgets on 25. Mar, 2009 | 3 Comments
Hey everyone! I finally decided to jump on the Twitter bandwagon. I literally just signed up last night, so I really haven’t done anything yet, but if you’d like to “follow” me, look for me on Twitter as ‘JapanNewbie’. I decided to go with the name ‘JapanNewbie’ because well, Harvey was taken, and I think [...]
JapanNewbie does Video
Posted by harvey in About, Media on 17. Sep, 2008 | 2 Comments
Look, I can embed videos in WordPress. I think I’m the first blogger on the internet to figure this out! Maybe I can… yes… that’s it. A novel idea. I could make a blog… full of video! I would call it… a Video Blog! – Harvey hoping his sarcasm communicates well
Peace Boat Update
Posted by harvey in About, Travel on 21. Jul, 2008 | 31 Comments
In South Tampa news… Japanese Peace Cruise To Pause In Tampa For Repairs By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune Published: July 21, 2008 Updated: 12:54 pm TAMPA – A cruise ship chartered by a Japan-based organization that promotes peace will arrive in Tampa today and disgorge about 900 passengers as the ship undergoes repairs [...]
Peace Boat Stuck in New York
Posted by harvey in About, Travel on 17. Jul, 2008 | 19 Comments
Remember the drama when I went through the interpretation exam to become a Peace Boat volunteer? If you remember, my wife ended up joining the around-the-world tour as a volunteer translator, and I ended up leaving Japan ahead of her to get ready to start graduate school. Peace Boat recently made a stop in New [...]
