The Japanese Language

"Japan" written in Japanese

Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 125 million people, primarily in Japan, where is is the national language. It is a very similar to the Korean language because the both are a member of the "Japonic language family". Little is known of the languages prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. The Japanese language is actually one of the hardest languages to learn if you yourself are not Japanese. In comparison with other languages, Japanese knows relatively few sounds, and pronunciation poses little problems to most learners. The biggest difficulty are accents, which do exist, but to a much lower extent than the Chinese language. In addition, there are relatively many homonyms, words that are pronounced the same way, but have different meanings. There's also different levels of speech. Different words and expressions are used when talking to an unknown person or a superior, as opposed to when talking to a child, family member or a close friend. For instance, there are more than five different words for the English word "I", which are used depending on the context. For informal situations, a honorific language level (keigo) is still in common use.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading this blog and I also hoped you have learned something. Until next time!

                                                                                                    ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Japanese Music of Today!

In one of my earlier blogs I talked about traditional Japanese music, so it only makes sense that I talk about today's music as well. Now at this point in time Japan has been exposed to westernized culture so the music is much different than what it was 200 years ago. Of course this is to be expected. Anyways, in this blog I'm going to be expressing some of my favorite Japanese bands that I actually discovered while researching my Senior Project which was actually about Japanese Entertainment.

One OK Rock - Clock Strikes

In the above music video is a song by one of my favorite Japanese bands. It's a rock band known as One OK Rock. The actual genre of rock music in Japan is called J-Rock, pop music is called J-Pop, and rap is called J-Rap and etc. Anyways, I love this band because their sound is so genuine and this song just connects to me, even though most of the song is in Japanese, their are parts in english too and this band, even though they are international artists, they still connect to you somehow. They were just a small band of friends from tokyo and they just blew up and there was a reason for that, they are AWESOME! I highly suggest this band for everyone to listen too! This is just one of their many songs that I thoroughly enjoy. :)

Nobodyknows - Hero's Come Back

Now this isn't a band, it's more of a group, a rap group to be specific, or a j-rap group I should call it. This group is called Nobodyknows, supposed to be two words but hey they are just cool enough to make it one! This song "Hero's Come Back" is a very popular song and is in multiple movies and is the theme song to the well known anime "Naruto". If you are reading this blog and don't know about anime, I talk about it in my previous blogs so take a look :). But anyways, back to this group! This group kind of took the westernized culture a little too far but it's so hilariously awesome and this song is actually good and entertaining so honestly even though they took the hip hop cultures stereotype and multiplied it by like 50, it's okay because they made good music! If you wanna listen there's a video above :).

Hope all my fellow bloggers and readers enjoyed this blog! 

                                                                                                   ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

No shoe policy?!?!

Now I'm sure you've already read the title of this blog and it has gotten you intrigued. No shoe policy you say? Believe me, it's true. As Americans we all know of the common rule "no shoes, no shirt, no service" but in Japan (minus the shirt part) it is the opposite. In Japan in most places you are required to take off your shoes at the door. Before traveling to many Asian countries it is actually good to have some sort of idea of shoe etiquette. Yes I said it, shoe etiquette, it exists. But we're not focusing on all of Asia, this is a blog about Japan.

Shoes must be removed before entering a private home. Doubtless you will be reminded when you see a line up of shoes in the entryway. Some hosts provide slippers for guests. If so, they are always nearby. But going "shoeless" is not limited to homes.

Tatami Mats

Many traditional inns known as "ryokans" require you to deposit shoes at the front door. Even hotels provide slippers for use in your room. If the flooring of your room in the hotel is tatami (a woven straw mat), remove your slippers before stepping on it. Only bare or sock feet are allowed on these floors.

Some restaurants also have a no-shoes policy. In such cases, they may provide slippers and a cubby hole or locker for your shoes. Restaurant personnel direct you to a bench for shoe removal, so you know for certain when it is required. You can aslo know by watching what Japanese patrons do.

Also, don't worry about shared slippers and hygiene. Japan is a very hygienic society, but you still may not want to put bare feet into slippers that other might have worn since their last cleaning. To get around this, women carry a small pair of shoe liners in their bag for quick transfer before placing feet in public slippers, or wear socks or stockings with your shoes. As with other customs, be aware of what others around you are or are not doing for a cultural cue as to what is expected when traveling in Japan.

Now you are aware of the widespread custom of no-shoes-indoors, think ahead about how to remove your shoes gracefully. You may or may not have a seat for this procedure. Make it easy on yourself by planning which shoes you will wear in Japan and how to remove them easily. Maybe slip-ons? But anyways, hope you all enjoyed this blog and until next time!

                                                                                                          ~The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Cherry Blossoms :)

Cherry blossom trees, also known as Sakura are beautiful trees with pink flowers blooming on them and are originally native to Japan. Each year when the Sakura trees are in full bloom the Japanese people have a tradition called "Hanami" or "flower viewing" if you wanna be plain about it. Hanami is the centuries old practice of picnicking under a blooming Sakura. The custom is said to have started during the Nara Period (710-794 A.D.) The custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court, but soon spread to samurai society and, by the Edo Period, to the common people as well.Tokugawa Yoshimune, the shogun of Japan at the time planed areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the Sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.

Hope you all enjoyed this posts and maybe you now want to see the cherry blossoms in person just as much as I do!
 
                                                                                  ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Gotta sweet tooth? Try a Japanese dessert! :)

     Hey there! It's your good friend the man who's a fan of Japan. Today we're going to talk about Japanese Desserts! :) Now I don't know about any of you, but I myself LOVE food. If you saw me in person you'd understand, I'm a little on the larger side, horizontally that is! ;) Anyways, that's enough jokes for now, I'm gonna tell you about some of the many deserts that the Japanese people eat.

       

The First dessert I'm going to talk about is Mochi Ice Cream. Mochi ice cream is a Japanese confection made from mochi which is a pounded sticky rice. Then they fill it with an ice cream filling. The food is actually now very popular in America, Europe, and Africa. Mochi ice cream is a small, round desert ball consisting of a soft pounded sticky rice cake (mochi) on the outside and an ice cream filling on the inside. It is then dusted with corn starch. There are a lot of flavors to choose from, but the most popular flavors of mochi ice cream are green tea, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and red bean. I've had it before and I must say it is super delicious!

The next and final desert that I'm going to tell you about is called Sata Andagi! Sounds like a weird name, I know, so weird that it might make you not want to try it. Well hopefully the next few sentences will change your mind. Sata andagi are sweet deep fried buns of dough, native to the Japanese prefecture(the original 47 regions of Japan) of Okinawa. They are also popular in Hawaii which would make sense considering how close the two are. Sometimes the dessert is only known as andagi. Traditional Okinawan andagi is made by mixing flour, sugar, and eggs. The ingredients are mixed into a ball and deep fried. Sounds good right? I know they sound good, because I wrote about it. ;) But if you'd like to try this dessert then find any local Japanese restaurant that's in the area and ask for it, I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Well, that wraps it up for todays blog, I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope this encourages you to try some new food! Thank you for reading!

                                                            ~The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Tradition Japanese Music!

Traditional Japanese music usually refers to Japan's historical folk music. One of the defining characteristics of traditional Japanese music is its sparse rhythm. Regular chords are also absent in the music they play. It is impossible for a person to beat time to the music. All of the rhythms are ma-based, and silence is an important part of the songs. The focus is on creating music that flows in an attempt to mirror the behavior of nature itself. It is regular for songs to start of at an extremely slow pace and to pick up speed as the progress. Then, they get slow again before transitioning into long and drawn out finishes.

Traditional Japanese music has three main types. Instrumental, court music, and theatrical. One type of music is the Kabuki. Kabuki music can be divided into three categories. The first category is Gidayubushi, which is similar to joruri music. Joruri is a type of narrative music that uses shamisen (picture above) and has four styles. The second type of kabuki music is Shimoza ongaku and is played for kuromisu (lower seats) below the theater stage. Another for of theatrical music is called noh. The hayashi-kata play Noh music. They use taiko, kotsuzumi, fue, and otsuzumi instruments to make the sounds. The oldest Japanese traditional music is Gagaku. Gagaku is a form of court music. Gagaku includes dances, songs, and a blend of other genres of Asian music. There are two styles of Gagaku. There are Kigaku, which is a form of instrumental music, and Seigaku, which is a form of vocal music.

Many of the musical instruments which are popular in Japanese music first came from China. These instruments include koto, shakuhachi, and wadaiko drums. A koto (see picture above) is a stringed instrument that shares a similarity to China's guzheng. It is Japan's national instrument and is made of kiri wood. It uses thirteen strings over thirteen bridges that are movable over the instrument's width. You have three picks on your fingers which is used to play it. 

Hope you all enjoyed this blog and learned something new about traditional Japanese music and hope you found it as interesting as I did when I was researching it!

                                                            ~The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Japanese Cuisine

The traditional food of Japan is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes, each in its own utensil, with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. The side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Fish is common in the traditional cuisine. It is often grilled, but it may also be served raw as sashimi or in sushi. Seafood and vegetables are also deep-fried in a light batter as tempura. Tempura is a japanese dish that is either seafood or vegetables that is deep friend in a light batter.

Udon Noodles

Apart from rice, Japanese cuisine include noodles, such as soba and udon(see picture above). Japan has many simmered dishes such as fish products in broth called oden, or beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga. Foreign food, in particular Chinese food is the form of noodles in soup called ramen and friend dumplings, gyoza, and western food such as curry and hamburger steaks are commonly found in Japan. Historically, the Japanese shunned meat, but with the modernization of Japan in the 1860's, meat-based dishes such as tonkatsu became common.

Tonkatsu

Japanese cuisine, particularly sushi, has now become popular throughout the world. But for me personally, having Japanese food just wouldn't be the same as having it in Japan. I've said this before and I'll say it again. I want to go to Japan! I want to experience everything there culture has to offer! Hope you enjoyed the blog and hope you have a good day!

                                                           ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Godzilla

Now I'm sure that just by reading the title you have already come up with some stereotypes. Especially since this blog is about Japan and I titled this particular blog "Godzilla". Well if you didn't already figure it out, I'm talking about a car. Yes a car. I know, who in the world would call a car "godzilla". Well just give me a second to explain and you'll understand why.

The Godzilla that I am referring to is the Nissan Skyline. Now in this particular blog I'm going to be talk about the 2014 Nissan GT R-35. But out of all the Skylines, the R-34 is my absolute favorite! 

You've probably noticed by now that this is the type of car that was used by deceased actor Paul Walker in the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious. An amazing movie I may add, an amazing series. But as I was saying. The generation of skylines are beasts! They are godzillas! These cars have so much power under the hood that Nissan had to LIE about the amount of horsepower it had just so that it could be street legal in Japan. These cars aren't even legal in the United States today unless you have it imported in parts and even then it can only really be a show car or a track car. Super expensive to import it here. Us Americans having the need for speed were sad about the fact that this beautiful piece of machinery could not be accessed by us. But then everything changed. The Nissan Skyline GT R-35 was released and my oh my is it a beauty. 

Doesn't this machine just scream at you GODZILLA!!! Maybe not, but to me this car is absolutely amazing and maybe one day when I have an extra 90 grand lying around, I might get one of my own. Hope you enjoyed the blog. And I'm out

                                                          ~The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

What is a Kimono? When and why are they worn?

Example of a Kimono


The kimono is a Japanese traditional garment. The word "kimono" literally means a "thing to wear" Kimono are T-shaped, straight-lined robes worn so that the hem falls to the ankle, with attached collars and long, wide sleeves. Kimono are wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right (except when dressing the dead for burial)  and secured by a sash called an "obi", which is tied as the back. Kimono are generally worn with traditional footwear and split toe socks.
Today, kimono are most often worn by women, and on special occasions. Traditionally, unmarried women wore a style of kimono called "furisode", with almost floor-length sleeves, on special occasions. A few older women and even fewer men still wear the kimono on a daily basis. Men wear the kimono most often at weddings, tea ceremonies, and other very special or very formal occasions. Professional sumo wrestlers are often seen in the kimono  because they are required to wear traditional Japanese dress whenever appearing in public.

Below are some examples of modern day citizens wearing a kimono .

Tea Ceremony. When tea ceremonies are being done the Japanese people often wear a kimono during it due to the formality of the occasion and it is also tradition to do so.

Japanese Wedding Ceremony. Notice how everyone is wearing a kimono. This is one of those times when tradition is still practiced.

20 Interesting Facts About Japan!

20. Raw horse meat is a popular entree in Japan. Sliced thinly and eaten raw it is called basashi.

19. Over 70% of Japan consists of mountains. The country also has over 200 volcanoes.

18. A musk melon (similar to a cantaloupe) can sell for over 31,473 yen ($300.00).

17. The literacy rate in Japan is almost 100%.

16. There are vending machines in Japan that dispense beer!

15. Japanese people have an average life-expectancy that is 4 years longer than Americans. Maybe Americans should eat more basashi!

14. Some men in Japan shave their heads as a form of apology.

13. Japan has the second lowest homicide rate in the world.

12. Japan has produced 15 Nobel laureates (in chemistry, medicine and physics), 3 Fields medalists and one Gauss Prize laureate.

11. Younger sumo-wrestlers are traditionally required to clean and bathe the veteran sumo-wrestlers at their wrestling “stables”…including all the hard-to-reach places.

10. Japan’s unemployment rate is less than 4%.

9. Japan consists of over 6,800 islands.

8. “Tetsuo: Iron Man” (no relation to the comic book, or Robert Downey, Jr. film), a relatively popular, extreme, “Cyberpunk” film (a “cyberpunk” film is a science fiction film that involves technology – and the abuse thereof), was based on a play the director Shinya Tsukamoto wrote and directed in college.

7. A Paleolithic culture from about 30,000 BC is the first known inhabitants of Japan.

6. Prolific Japanese film-maker Takahi Miike made up to 50 films in a decade during the peak of his career.

5. Animated Japanese films and television shows account for 60% of the world’s animation-based entertainment. So successful is animation in Japan, that there are almost 130 voice-acting schools in the country.

4. 21% of the Japanese population is elderly, the highest proportion in the world.

3. In the past, the Japanese court system has had a conviction rate as high as 99%!

2. Japanese prisons (as of 2003) operated at an average of 117% capacity.

1. Raised floors help indicate when to take off slippers or shoes. At the entrance to a home in Japan, the floor will usually be raised about 6 inches (15.24 cm.) indicating you should take off your shoes and put on slippers. If the house has a tatami mat room, its floor may be raised 1-2 inches (2.54-5.08 cm.) indicating you should take off your slippers.

Anime! :)

Anime are Japanese animated productions usually featuring hand-drawn or computer animation. The word is the abbreviated pronunciation of "animation" in Japanese, where this term references all animation, but in other languages, the term is defined as animation from Japan. An animation style often characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastic themes. Arguably, the stylization approach to the meaning may open up the possibility of anime produced in countries other than Japan. For simplicity, many westerners strictly view anime as an animation product from Japan.

The earliest Japanese animation dates to 1917, and production of anime works in Japan has since continued to increase steadily. The characteristic anime art style emerged in the 1960's with the works of Osamu Tezuka who best known for his greatest work Astro Boy. Osamu started using big eyes in his animation art style after he saw the movie Bambi. Osamu said that there was so much emotion portrayed in Bambi's big eyes in that movie so he wanted to portray that as well in his characters that he created. Osamu's work spread internationally in the late twentieth century, developing a large international audience. Anime is distributed  theatrically, by television broadcasts, directly to home media, and over the internet and is classified into numerous genres targeting diverse and broad audiences.

Anime is a diverse art form with distinctive production methods and techniques. The production of anime focuses less on the animation of movement and more on the realism of settings as well as the use of camera effects, including panning, zooming and angle shots. Diverse art styles are used and character proportions and features can be quite varied, including characteristically large emotive or realistically sized eyes.

The pictures down below are some of my favorite animes. I enjoyed them as a kid and I still enjoy them today! 

                                                           ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Naruto Shippuden

Rurouni Kenshin

Dragon Ball Z

Creatures of Wonder!

Japanese dragons are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. The style of the dragon was heavily influence by the Chinese dragon. Like all other Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless serpentine creatures with clawed feet. The Japanese people still use this depiction of dragons today in their modern media. In the tv show which is in America but originated in Japan, is Dragon Ball Z. Basically this show is guy named Goku who is the strongest man on the planet earth but he is an alien from another planet because his planet was destroyed, in a sense you could say that he is the Japanese version of Superman, but in my opinion he is much better but anyways, back to the dragon. In the show there are seven dragon balls and the author of the show chose that amount solely based on the fable of Goku which he did base this show off of. Really cool how something so successful was taken from the simple idea of a ancient Japanese fable. So when the seven dragon balls are collected they summon the japanese dragon who is known as "Shenron" in the show, and they are allowed to make whatever wish they choose. It can be anything from riches to making someone come back from the dead. 

                                                              ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Japanese Pagodas!

Five-story Pagoda of Mt. Haguro, Japan

A pagoda is a tiered tower built in the tradition originating in historic East Asia. Pagodas are commonly found in Nepal, India, China, Korea, Vietnam, Burma, and of course, the main topic, Japan. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist. The modern pagoda is an evolution of the Ancient Nepal stupa, a tomb-like structure where sacred relics could be kept safe. The architectural structure of the stupa has spread across Asia, taking on many diverse forms as details specific to different regions are incorporated into the overall design.

As you see in the picture above, it is the pagoda on Mt Haguro, Japan. Mount Haguro is one of the Three Mountains of Dewa in the ancient japanese province of Dewa (now Yamagata), Japan. Since Mt. Haguro is the lowest in elevation of the three mountains at 1,358 feet, making it the most accessible throughout the year. A path of 2,466 stone steps leads to its summit amidst 600 year old sugi trees, past the famous

Goju-to Pagoda (picture above) and numerous shrines. The steps and the pagoda are listed as National Treasures. At the summit of the mountain is the Sanzan-Gosai-den temple which venerates the spirits of all three mountains.

The Japanese structures and history is so fascinating and one day I really want to visit this country to see all the wonders it holds. 

                                            ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

Pokemon and Buddhism?

Did you know that the tv show Pokemon has Buddhist influence? Now for most of you people who are reading this I am sure are most American, but, if you didn't know Pokemon was first created in Japan. We all grew up watching Pokemon but before it came over to America and was translated from Japanese to English, Pokemon was created by the man Satoshi Tajiri. The man is an absolute genius, although he is autistic he created one of the most successful franchises to ever be made in the history of videogames and television media. The show was created in 1996 and before it was a tv show, it was a video game sponsored by Nintendo and GameFreak Corp. Now that you have some background knowledge of Pokemon, back to my original point. People wouldn't think of this show having Buddhist influence because most people didn't know that show was originally made in Japan where Buddhism is the most commonly practiced religion in the country. In one of the episodes of Pokemon you see some Buddhist philosophy and it's actually really cool to see how the implemented it into the show. In the episode I'm talking about, it was an episode that was mainly about the pokemon "Magikarp". Magikarp is actually a Japanese Koi fish

Magikarp

.

In the episode the Magikarp are swimming up the river because in order to "evolve" to their next state. This is a common occurrence with all the pokemon. Over time the pokemon become stronger which results in them evolving to a stronger form. Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, which is a water dragon type pokemon. In order to evolve, the Magikarp must swim up the river against the current and swim up the waterfall in order to become a Gyarados.

Gyarados

This is where we start seeing the Buddhist influence. In the wild, koi are cold water fish who gain strength by swimming against currents. Man years ago, in a time before recorded history, a huge school containing thousands of koi swam up the river. All was going well until the koi reached a waterfall. Immediately, a large number of them grew discouraged and turned back, finding it much easier to simply go with the flow of the river. Yet, a determined group of 360 koi stayed on. Straining and leaping, each koi strove to reach the top of the falls. Again and again they flung their bodies into air only to fall back into the water. All this splashing noise drew the attention of the local demons who laughed at the efforts of the struggling koi. Adding to their struggle, the demons sadistically increased the height of the falls. Still the koi refused to give up! Undeterred, the koi continued their efforts for one hundred years. At last, the with one heroic leap, a single koi reached the top of the falls. The God's smiled down in approval and transformed the exhausted koi into a shining golden dragon. He joy full spends his days chasing pearls of wisdom across the skies of the vast and eternal heavens. Whenever another koi finds the strength and courage to leap up the falls, he or she too becomes a heavenly dragon. The falls have become known as the Dragon's Gate and, because of their endurance and perseverance, koi have become symbolic in overcoming adversity and fulfilling one's destiny.

As you read this story, you realize that it is the story of Magikarp evolving into the great dragon Gyarados. It's so cool to see how buddhism influenced this show. Even though I am a christian I still find the Buddhist philosophy so fascinating and the stories are so engaging. It just goes to show you that if you try hard enough at something then you will become stronger. You will become a dragon.                                                                                              ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan

A little more about my blog.

I am "The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan". As some of you know, I am a senior in high school. I recently just finished my senior project and I did it all on Japan and it's cultures. Now I am on this crazy hype on Japanese culture so that is what this blog is now going to be about. I will be talking about things on a scale from Japanese animation to Japanese architecture such as pagodas and temples and many other historic marks like Mt. Fuji. Also I will be talking about the different foods of the Japanese people and their music and overall their way of life. If you don't particularly care for this subject then feel free to unfollow me but if you wish to ever expand your mind and fill it with very interesting knowledge than continue to follow and enjoy! :)