embedded video test

This is a (not so) new creation of the guys who did "matrix ping-pong". Can anyone please tell me who these people are? I enjoyed the videos since a long time ago, yet I still do not know who makes these.

デコトラ

Time is a scarce commodity a month before the defense; yet, I will try to keep this blog alive.

This post is about yet another peculiar phenomenon I have come across recently. Please check out the following blog for details. I am not a very good driver, in fact, I would have never let myself out in the streets if I were with the DMV. Still, I believe these things deserve mention.

P.S. Professor, please enjoy your trip back home. By the way, I was very excited to receive my first postcard from Sapporo yesterday. I am glad it has little kanji in it, otherwise I would have had a tough time - rikai doesn't do paper, only websites.

trend research

A small community observing the current trends in fashion, following in the steps of the FRUITS magazine.

fish again

Following up on the つくじ market, a Nathional Geographic video about the fugu fish.

brand names

Yet another link from yet another free educational resource. Again, there is no way to attest to the credibility of the article. But the topic got me very excited nevertheless.

Also, now that the posts are less frequent, they often come in bundles. This time, there is a graphic's author for dessert.

frozen aquarium

Found it through yet another resource.

The class is over, blogging activity wound down

Today, the 5th anniversary of my fencing dojo was widely celebrated with a friendly tournament during daytime and a party afterwards! Details and pictures are to follow.

In the meantime, a bunch of links as always. First, Earth ガイド, and a bunch of other amazing flash presentations. As an addendum, the flower garden, a stupid relaxing toy.

Then, not quite Japanese, yet nevertheless amazing, resource on micro-gardening.

Finally, a guy who studies the fish market and other stuff.

spooky stuff

I wonder if this is still read by anyone now that the school is over.

Anyway, おばけもの.

きんようびに

さとうせんせいのクラスはせんしゅうのきんようびにミュジカルをみせました。
さとうせんせいやジョージュさんのしゃしんをとりました。

アドバタイズメント

おもしろいうでとけいですよ。

haute cuisine

A photo pool dedicated to かいせきりょうり is here. I can look at it for hours.

This is a resource describing the types of food served in different geographies. Has an English version.

a poll on tradition

I have suddenly got very busy recently, and the outlook for the rest of April is pretty tough as well. If I post in Japanese, it takes me about half a day to do so; at the same time I really wanted to share the next few links.

A sample of Japanese were asked the question: "which aspect of the Japanese culture do foreigners, in your opinion, have the hardest time understanding?" The list of popular responses is given. I found this link via japanprobe; unfortunately, rikai -the most useful tool for web surfing ever- stumbles on this page.

どこでたべましょうか

せんげつにすぎやまでしょくじをしました。すぎやま　はNYCのななばんめにたかいレストランがあります。あのはちしなのモダンかいせきりょうりとてもおいしかったです。からたんばやじゅんまいぎんじょうをいちリットルいじょうのんで、ばんごはんをとてもたのしみました。ざんえんですが、たかいですから、あまりそのようなレストランにいきません。しょうらいで、いちばんめにたかいレストランにいきましょうか。

breaking news

せんしゅうのしゅうまつに、イェール大学で、剣道オープントーナメントがありました。コロンビア大学からは、2チームがさんかしました。チームAは、じゅんけっしょうで、ジョージワシントン大学をやぶり、さんみをかくとくしました。Yours truly　は、チームAの中堅（３い）としてさんかしました。あとで、しゃしんをけいさいします。

スパってなんですか

たんじょうびに、NJでパーチィーをしました。NYCのちかくにとてもかんぜんなところがあります。

Traditional Costumes

It has so far been this blog’s policy to normally refrain from personal posts unrelated to language or culture issues. However, on occasion of my birthday, I will make an exception. Attached is a picture of a Cossack, ethnicity or, rather, a cast my ancestors belonged to.

For more on national costumes, please check out this.

あしかがフラワーパーク

「はなのこうえん? Oddly enough, in Russian, there is no native word for "park" at all. Well, it is certainly a possibility that, before the foreign word was adopted, noone would bother to plant anything he would not eat.」

たぶん、これはもっともうつくしいところです。とくに、このアルレージェントは。

パイプライン

• Childcare, something else, and feeding kids with style – cooking for kids as a product of art. Amazing.
• A zillion of links for JSL students, similar to Saboten
• A US-educated guy posts on what’s hot right now, somewhat similar to Gothamist
• An owner of J-list, an online store selling random stuff originating from Japan, keeps a personal blog, some of the topics of which may be of interest to language students. A lot of his merchandise is not G-rated though; please beware of stupid cartoons (which I myself hate, but you may not) and numerous タレントreproductions (which may have the opposite effect)
• An interesting magazine on design
• Random interesting stuff from a popular blogger; some material may not be suitable for those too young
• Finally, high-end technology employed in VERY mundane activities

えのテスト

"Visitor" by Daisuke Nakayama, featured on TokyoArtBeat.

いらっしゃいませ。

2007ねんにげつふつかからにがつじゅごにちまで10かいかまくらまつりがおこなうました。レポートをみませんか。

Writing Letters

Welcome back to all the spring breakers. Many new quality links are awaiting in the pipeline.

In the mean time, a note on how to write a proper letter. Indispensable for the tomorrow's assignment.

not a day without a useless link

This time, it is

• a ring of websites dedicated to studying Japanese; includes a number of useful sites including http://www.nihongoweb.com
• a useful manual for visitors of Japan; contains some handy material on how to survive and not get lost
• for dessert, a few vintage photos

good news

Google maps at work. Follow it in real time.

sounds; no links this time

Compared to its relatively simple grammar, listening comprehension of English was always the biggest challenge for me as a student, especially in New York City, where everyone seems to have their own unique accent, all of which are equally accepted. The reason for that, other than the carriers’ heterogeneity, is perhaps that there are, in fact, fewer distinct sounds in my native language. Even now, it is very hard for me to tell, for instance, “bad” and “bed” apart from each other. According to rumors, Chinese languages employ, for example, many different versions of “s” at the same time; this probably eliminates for me any chance whatsoever of learning them.

I am glad to acknowledge, though, that the sounds of Japanese appear to be easier to discern. Fortunately, there seem to be few, all of them comprehensible; perhaps I will get away without seven S-s this time.

comedy

As it turns out, the aforementioned abomination was performed by Rahmens, a popular comedy troupe. Their localized version of the Apple commercial was featured in today’s WSJ, and The Journal, as the most respectable periodical imaginable, is a good enough underwriter for me.

The instructional video is a part of Japanese Tradition DVD Series, which is to be offered by Amazon starting tomorrow.

Proceed with caution

Please check out this spoof of an “instructional” video on “proper” dining etiquette. The narrative script is also provided, both the authentic version and the romaji one, for those who would like to decipher what was said.

The root website itself contains many other posts useful for language students as well; however, the source itself is much less trustworthy than the references I posted before.

In no way do I endorse or promote the link above. I apologize in advance to anyone who may find some posts on the site grossly inappropriate or offensive. Please let me know if such a posting is inappropriate for an eja2007-affiliated blog, and I will remove it immediately.

One of my biggest concerns is that, because of my not-deep-enough understanding of the Japanese culture, I may not be able to recognize some sensitive, politically- or otherwise charged material, and judge its propriety. This is especially true for most kinds of humorous content.

Another link I reference here, but do not endorse in any way, is this. This site is in English, and is not language-study oriented. However, it contains an extensive collection of articles (in English) on different aspects of Japanese life. The disclaimer above holds in full for this reference as well; I have only read a few articles there, and am not responsible for the rest.

Once again, I would like to apologize to anyone who finds the links provided unworthy of mentioning. My worst nightmare would be to be perceived as yet another Sophia Coppola, shooting a movie in a setting she does not understand and, worse even, does not want to understand. However, omitting the humorous/rated content completely would mean depriving oneself of a huge chunk of culture, which is to be appreciated in its integrity.

ビルク

Hokkaido introduces Bilk starting this month. Let us wish Bilk to gain enough momentum to reach "the store near you".

はじめまして。

わたしのなまえは修全武気流（しゅまとぶきりゅう）です。
よろしくおねがいします。
わたしは、ころんびあだいがくのおうようぶつりすうがくかのはかせかていのがくせいです。
わたしは、だいなみっくぷらいしんぐとへいたんがくとすうりょうふぁいなんすのけんきゅうをしています。
あきじかんは、わたしは、だんすをしています。

Another reference I would like to share is totally self-evident; one can probably come across it if he googles the word "Japan". Nevertheless, it contains quite a lot of miscellaneous info on language and culture, sometimes fairly suspicious.

For instance, according to one of the authors, in "new Japanese", to visit Tokyo Disneyland is referred to as ねずみしばく (literally, to flog the mouse). Obviously, I myself am not proficient enough to comment on the validity of these new terms; the other more conservative articles seem to be reliable enough though. I am talking about http://www.japan-zone.com

A couple of other self-evident references to be thrown in for good measure are

• http://web-japan.org
• http://www.japansociety.org

The latter is a nonprofit organization based in New York, which promotes cultural interaction via, among other activities, administering numerous exhibitions in the city.

Again, I hope I was not the last person in class to find those.

And yet more spam...

• A much more comprehensive photography resource - http://photojapan.com
• Panoramic night photos - http://ww4.tiki.ne.jp/~mmurakami/setoy/map.html
• Short videos covering many aspects of modern life. Including, for example, the one about the bean-throwing tradition discussed earlier in class - http://www.brovision.com/

A useless link again

Please don't read this if you have anything better to do.

According to wikipedia, "in computer graphics and photography, high dynamic range (HDR) imaging is a set of techniques that allow a far greater dynamic range of exposures (i.e. a large difference between light and dark areas) than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention of HDR is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to the deepest shadows."

Please check out the photo album of a photographer living in Tokyo, http://flickr.com/photos/altus. Unfortunately, there is not much structure (other than chronological) to his webpage, but some of the shots are well worth searching for. For example, http://flickr.com/photos/altus/322152193/ or, perhaps, http://www.flickr.com/photos/altus/304088457/.

Enjoy.

One of my fellow students suggested exchanging useful (?) culture-related online references, the idea I wholeheartedly support. Here is one to start with; I hope there are still some people among us who are not familiar with it.

It is a list of answers to obscure (and not-so-obscure) questions about modern culture and society. Some of the most interesting to me were perhaps

• What is the difference between a "Mansion" and an "Apaato"?
• Why is tobacco written in hiragana when all other foreign words are in katakana?
• What is the longest Japanese kanji?
• What on earth are those green plastic leaves they put in bento boxes for?

and many more. The reference itself is http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/saq.html

Useless post; please skip

Unfortunately, I am not much of a writer myself. And, what is much more important, I feel very bad about flooding potential readers with posts of the sort "This morning I woke up. Then I brushed my teeth. I had such and such for breakfast. By the way, Japanese is very hard to learn."

For this reason, I am trying to keep my musings to a minimum. Currently I am busy translating my self-introduction; it turned out to be harder than I thought, even though 90% of it is in katakana-transliterated loanwords anyway. I hope to post it here in a few days.

A and B

A. The issues of grading and testing are somewhat less important to me than to, for instance, undergrad students, simply because at this point it is my dissertation only that may make or break my prospective degree; if I get a D in this class, it will not hurt anything other than my heart. :)
Nevertheless, I would suggest having as few examinations as possible, just because they consume classroom time, which itself is very limited. My personal goal for this class is to extract as much knowledge of grammar and vocabulary as I can, so that I could subsequently use it to communicate at a basic level with people who do not speak English. Therefore, until I learn enough to say something comprehensible, I prefer to listen, the more the better.
As an aside, I myself went to college in Russia, and therefore was educated in a system very different from the one in the U.S. In my college, 100% of one’s grade was determined by the final exam (written, or oral, or usually both, conducted in two days). As a result, I am now somewhat wary about the idea of spreading tests throughout the semester.

B. As to the presentations, I believe that it would have been a wonderful opportunity to enhance our language knowledge, provided that we had (1) enough proficiency to comprehend the speech and communicate in Japanese, and (2) much more classroom time. Generally speaking, this is a great idea for an advanced class.
That said, although the level of language proficiency and exposure to the language of my fellow students may be very different, this is an Elementary class. I myself do not possess enough grasp of Japanese, for such an exercise to be helpful. Honestly, at this point I would rather refrain from “presentations” for fear of picking up bad pronunciation habits of non-native speakers. At this point, I strongly advise against student presentations. This by no means concerns any material supplied by the instructor himself. Any language- or behavior- related info from Prof. Sato and any native speakers is, of course, very welcome.

test 123

てすと 一二三