The Politeness Factor

It's been over a month since I last posted on the blog, and for that, I'm sorry. Although I realize that any sort of writing is better than no writing at all, I couldn't find an interesting topic to write about. I'll try to keep up with the blog better for now on.

I often thought about it before I came to Japan, but I didn't think about writing about what I would term the 'Politeness Factor' until a letter from a certain family member  came yesterday.

When I started studying Japanese, I noticed just how awkward the language sounded when it was translated to English. There's "honorable" this and "humble" that. There seems to be no end to the act of raising your partner's status while engaging in self-deprecation on your own side. And therein lies the question, "Does Japanese really sound like that? Does it always sound like you're speaking in what English would consider the 15th century, when you're calling people 'Lord' this and "honorable' that?" And the answer is No, it doesn't, if I'm forced to choose. Much of the language is based on set phrases, just as we have in English.

For example, when you meet someone, or when you are asking for something, you say the phrase "Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu." Although there is truly no equivalent phrase in English, it translates roughly as "Please take care of me" and "Please do this for me." This is merely a superficial translation, but it would be the same in English as saying "Nice to meet you." We don't really think about the meaning of "Nice to meet you" when we say it. Not saying it is rude. The same applies to Japanese.

Let's take another phrase, "Osewa ni natte orimasu" is said when you answer the phone or when someone has done something for your benefit. Failing to this phrase is also rude. Although the original meaning has been lost in some ways, it is still necessary to say it.

"That's fair, but it doesn't cover the need to change your words when you speak to someone higher or lower to you. And what's with all the 'sama' this and that?" you might ask. And that's where the Politeness Factor gets a bit more convoluted.

Let's take one word 'to go' (in Japanese, this is pronounced iku). What a simple word. How can this become difficult? And the answer is, very easily. Let's say I'm speaking with a friend, and I want to say that I'm going to the convenience store. I would use the simplest form of the verb and just say, "Konbini wo iku." But what if I'm speaking to someone a little older than me, or someone that I'm not as close to like his parents. Then, I would say "Konbini wo Ikimasu." These both mean the exactly the same thing, and up this point, Japanese is easy. However, let's say I'm speaking to my boss, or a customer, or someone that I perceive as high status, such as a doctor or the President. In this case, I want to be a bit more polite. To do this, I change the verb to mairimasu. It still means go, but it's a bit more academic and much more humble. Our new sentence is "Konbini wo mairimasu." All of this gets thrown out the window when you start talking about the other person. Then you need one more verb, and this one is to elevate their status. If the doctor is going to the convenience store, then I'll say Konbini wo irasshaimasu. This is where Japanese gets difficult. All of these sentences mean that I (in the first 3) or the doctor (in the last sentence) are going to the store, but the level of politeness differs.

The question is, "Why is it necessary?" Parents have to teach their kids this sort of language. Its full of irregulars, and they cannot pick it up on their own. They normally teach the kids right before they enter the workforce, so in your early 20s, you learn how to sound polite. If it's so difficult, wouldn't it be easier to just eliminate it? Unfortunately, this is not possible. Although dislikes learning it, it's seen as necessary. It's the difference between saying "Buh-bye" and "Have a good day" to a customer on the phone.

The simplest explanation I can give is that all of this depends on the Politeness Factor. If you are talking with someone you do not know, or someone that you perceive as high status, you want to show your respect for them. You speak differently to your family than to a business partner, and the same is true here. It is better to err on the side of politeness than to speak too casually to someone. The same applies in English. These senior-subordinate relationships are much less strict in the U.S., but that doesn't mean that we ignore them. You don't say 'Hey' to your boss; you say 'Hello.'

If you don't know how high of a status someone is - and by the way, you cannot ask what someone does in their job here because income is directly related to job status. It would effectively be like asking how much money someone makes - then, you have to speak politely. Being too polite is rude, but speaking politely is always appreciated no matter the culture. This is what I mean by the Politeness Factor. So, is it difficult to learn? Without a doubt. But is it necessary? Yes. Absolutely.

Of Blood Types

There's a fairly strong belief in Japan associated with blood type, or ketsuekigata (血液型) in Japanese. Like people's astrological signs, Japanese tend to identify themselves by their blood type. This is the same as you saying, "I'm a Virgo." Instead, this time, it's "I'm blood type A." Although you may scoff at the astrological signs analogy, perhaps it would be better to bring up the idea that birth order determines personality, which is a fairly common belief in the States. As far as I can find, positive and negative don't factor in to one's blood type personality.

This began around the 1900's while trying to classify ethnic traits. Perhaps the most influential of the writings on the effects of one's blood type can be seen in Takeji Furukawa's study titled "The Study of Temperament Through Blood Type." Despite the fact that Furukawa lacked a significant amount of credentials and the study was limited to about 20 people, the idea took hold. When Japan occupied Taiwan, a search was began for why the Taiwanese resisted so much to Japanese takeover. When it was found that they had type O, interbreeding was suggested in order to dilute the genes that had apparently made them so resistant. In the 1970's, several books were released, this time by Masahiko Nomi, who was a lawyer at the time. Nomi's works also lacked scientific evidence, but the idea remains popular today.

In the modern world, these are everywhere in Japan. Facebook and Twitter allow Japanese users to put up their blood types on their profiles. Matchmaking agencies will ask that their customers reveal their blood type in order to ensure a successful match. References to it are frequently seen in magazines, and Japanese Wikipedia actually lists celebrities' blood type in their info. Friends will often ask you what your blood type is, and not knowing it blood type can lead to mixed degrees of shock.

So what makes these blood types so important? It's believed that they determine one's personality as well as one's compatibility with another individual. People will not date certain blood types because of their "negative" traits.

But surely this is just popular culture right? It's just a bunch of teenage girls with nothing better to do than look in their Cosmo magazine and try to figure out if they match up with their potential crush. Sadly, that's not the case. This is believed by everyone from youths to adults, from the common man to the most educated. In fact, the other day the head of the reconstruction effort up in Touhoku had to resign after only a week in office because he said something extremely insensitive to the victims of the disaster. By stating basically that "the country will not help you until you find decent plans to help yourself," calls for resignation rose. He blamed this on his B blood type, and although no one accepts that from a politician - because it really is a sorry excuse - people will blame their faults on their blood types normally. So, let's look at them shall we? These are divided into their positive and negative traits for each type. Whether one is A+ or A- does not matter to this chart.

A: Positive: Creative, sensible, reliable, patient, responsible, neat, takes care of others before oneself
     Negative: Overly detailed, overly earnest, stubborn, tense
B: Positive: Wild, active, creative, passionate, strong, does things that they set their mind to
     Negative: Selfish, irresponsible, unforgiving, unpredictable
AB: Positive: Cool, controlled, rational, sociable, adaptable
        Negative: Critical, indecisive, forgetful, irresponsible, has a "split personality"
O: Positive: Agreeable, sociable, optimistic
     Negative: Vain, rude, jealous, arrogant

Just for your information, type B tends to be the most common here, while back in the States, it's type O.

Of Illiteracy

Looks like I'll experience my first typhoon either May 29th or 30th. It's supposed to land here in Japan with winds up to 100 mi/hr. It will be an interesting experience to be sure. I'm thinking of going to invest in a poncho.

I saw an article the other day from the National Institute for Literacy that was talking about literacy rates in the US. Recently, they had done a survey and found that the rate of functional illiteracy in Detroit was 47% in adults. I'd like to be able to give some excuse for why that might be, but I can't. It's an absolutely abysmal number of people who can't get by in their daily lives with simple reading tasks. This includes things like reading labels in stores and on medicine, reading instructions, and reading signs. I have no clue how or why the number is so high.

And you know, before I came to Japan, I wondered the same thing. I asked myself, how could people possibly get by being illiterate? While I was in Egypt, unable to read even the Arabic alphabet, I was struck by how difficult it was to just get around. Yet, I was only there for a couple weeks, and so, I learned the words that I needed to know and nothing more. In Japan, where I've been living for almost a year now, it's been different. I am, for all purposes, illiterate.

I never thought I'd say that. I never thought I'd come right out and say, "No, I can't read" until I came here. And then, I've realized just how difficult it is, but also how easy it is to just learn a few words to get by with your daily life. It's not hard to learn the simple directions and kanji. Children do so every day in school. The problem comes when you go to an area where you've never been before, and you're surrounded by characters that you've never seen before or that have multiple readings. There are Japanese who come to different cities and say, "How do you read that? It has more than reading." This begs the answer, what is the literacy rate here then? And that's what's so impressive. Japan is praised by numerous literary societies and studies of having a literacy rate at or above 99 percent.

Although of course there are some people who will be the exception, and no one knows all of the kanji. That's just impossible. There are an endless number of them. But in comparison to Detroit where you have such a huge number of individuals who are functionally illiterate, I find this amazing. Japanese is not an easy language to learn. You have thousands of kanji and two alphabets to learn. Within those kanji, there are an multiple readings of most of them. Some of them are old and rarely used, but yet, most people still understand either how to pronounce them or what they mean, and this I feel is something worthy of praise.

Yet, how is it that American English with the 26 letter English alphabet has so many individuals who can't read? Although these are purely personal, I feel that there are reasons for this. Unlike Japanese, English is not a phonetic language. We have ways of spelling things that for children and non-native speakers seem counter-intuitive. As you learn the spelling rules, it becomes much easier, but there are still times, and especially after I've come to Japan, that I've noticed that I cannot spell things. As an adult with a college education, that at times is frightening. If I find it difficult, how can I possibly expect non-native speakers to grasp those rules? English also has many more sounds than Japanese. This means that there is just more phonetic sounds to learn. Third, although I find English grammar strange, when I've spoken with English language learners, they disagree. Many actually argue that it's easier than their native languages. Therefore, this can't necessarily be the problem. With any language, there are easy and hard things. This depends on an individual's previous linguistic knowledge. Despite all of these reasons, none of these really approach the main problem: What is it that's contributing to this plague of illiteracy?

After much thought, this is the reason that I've decided upon - it must be an education issue. I know there are individuals who will blame the teachers or even the schools,but this is a bigger problem. If it was simply the teachers or the schools, I feel like the problem would be more widespread. But no, in my opinion, I feel like this is a governmental issue. The No Child Left Behind Act was supposed to prevent problems like this from occurring, but it backfired and penalized schools that needed help the most by withholding funding. Instead of this, these schools need to receive more funding, and it needs to be country-wide. Unfortunately, to do this, money is needed. But, you know, so much money is spent on other things when it would be better spent elsewhere. There are those who will argue with me and say, "But my child goes to private school" or  "My child is home-schooled. I don't think I should pay for this." And to those individuals, I understand. I do. You spend a lot of money on those institutions, but at the same time, this isn't an option. If we want Americans to be competitive globally in the future, they have to understand their own language before they can possibly start learning a foreign language. These individuals who cannot read now are not stupid, not by a long shot. They've learned how to live without a skill that seems as simple as breathing to the rest of us, and so, that's how we know they're not only adaptable but clever in their adaptability. They simply need the education.

Although not everything should be exchanged between cultures, this is one of those things that the States can learn from Japan. It's time for Americans to stop spending money on useless things, or things that we want but don't necessarily need. Give up on the idea of that new flat-screen TV and donate a few dollars to schools.

Of the JLPT

I know it's little late on this post, but I've gotten distracted by some other things recently. Studying for the JLPT Level 2 (日本語能力試験２級), doing some work, making friends, and trying to enjoy the sunshine before the rainy season (梅雨) kicks in. I actually have a cool event to talk about, but that will be the next post because I don't have a lot of time right now.

The JLPT has been revised in the past year to try to make it more accurate as a way of judging a person's language ability. Just like the past, there are five levels to the JLPT, with 5 being the lowest and 1 being the highest.

In the old test, there was a huge jump between level 2 and level 1. The difference was approximately 1,000 kanji. Level 1 is also infamous for using kanji that even Japanese people rarely use, such as the characters for "this, that," and the like. Due to this, even people who live in Japan for years can still fail the test. Moreover, Japanese have been known to fail the test. The new level 2 has been made more difficult to try to decrease this jump. However, due to this, it means the new level 2 is more like the old level 1, so it is extremely difficult.

The test is composed of several parts: Reading, Grammar, Kanji, and Listening. The reading section is full of several passages around a page or two. There are questions at the end. The grammar section is pretty straightforward. You have a part of the sentence underlined and you must choose the appropriate phrase. The kanji section is sentences with words in them, the correct kanji or pronunciation must be chosen. Finally, the listening section is full of several passages. The tape is played, and you must choose the appropriate response.

On the surface, it looks relatively easy, but in reality, it's fairly difficult. The test takes several hours, and it tests your syntax, grammar, and listening abilities. Some things that make it difficult are the wealth of Japanese expressions that are put in. The only way to know these is by memorization unfortunately. Japanese grammar is also something that can be deceptively simple. In some ways, the Japanese language is very straightforward. Combination is relatively simpler than the way that it is in English, but things that are written and things that are said are completely different. If you spoke the way that you write in Japanese, you would sound like you're from the Edo Period (1608-1800's). For those that aren't familiar with Japanese periods, it's basically you speaking like samurai. Although it's not technically wrong, it's extremely strange. Imagine if you went around speaking like Shakespeare all the time. For this reason, learning the usage of these grammar points is a little difficult to say the least. Since you can't practice them in conversation, you have to go read vast amounts of things like newpapers, books, and really old historical-type novels in order to understand.

And that roughly, is the JLPT in a nutshell.

The other day unfortunately, I took a practice test and didn't pass the listening section. You'd be amazed at how much seeing a person's face is useful to a conversation. It's why talking on phones here is so difficult, and why I'm proud when I achieve it, despite how sad that may be. I was a couple points shy of passing, and although my friends assure me that that is something to proud of, not passing is not passing, and so I need to work harder. I'll continue to do my best.

Now, we'll see if I can pass.

Michelle

Of Tea

My name is Michelle Mego, and I have a tea obsession.

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that admitting you have a problem is first step to getting over it. But I'd just like to challenge that commonly held belief. Admitting you have a problem by no means if the first step to getting over it. The first step is realizing that your problem is actually a problem. I've admitted I have tea addiction since I came to Japan, and it's really the strangest thing because I didn't even like tea in the States. However, I'm not ashamed of it. I love tea. I drink so much tea it isn't even funny. I think I keep the tea companies in business. Lipton, Kirin, and the other tea companies just look at me and go "Well boys, even if everyone else stops drinking tea, at least this lady will keep us in business."

You know, the other day, I drank a liter. That's right, a LITER of lemon tea in a couple hours. Do you know what I discovered at that time? Lemon tea is still delicious after drinking a liter of it. But do you know what else? Tea's a diuretic. I was so sick after that time, and that's when I vowed to myself that I will control my addiction. I will not be ashamed of downing large portions of tea, but I will prevent myself from becoming sick over drinking tea.

And now I'm beginning to wonder why on earth I deprived myself of this deliciousness for so long. 20 years of my life I went without tea. And from years 20-21, I have learned the joy and benefits of drinking it.

I suppose this is all besides the point though, so in classic form, I'll provide some info on tea. I'm sure everyone that reads this blog is an intelligent human being and has already learned the pleasure that comes out of tea-drinking, but just in case you haven't heard of one or two kinds, I feel as if it is my duty to share it with you. (I know, maybe I should work a tea company. I'm a great sales rep when I feel like it.)

Tea is taken very seriously in Japan. Certain regions, and even cities are known for specific types of tea. It's customary to serve certain types at certain times of the year or at certain occasions. Some take some getting used to, but they're all delicious. If they're from Japan, they're called Nihoncha （日本茶）, or Japanese Tea in general. Although, they're sometimes also referred to as Ryokucha（緑茶）, this word refers more to green tea, since it is literally the characters for "green" and "tea." This list isn't limited to just Nihoncha, but it is a basic summary of teas that you'll find here. Here are just a few.

1. All fruit tea - Japan has a wealth of this. I can't even imagine why we don't get it so much in the States. Let's get kids hooked on tea instead of soda and other ridiculously unhealthy drinks. It's better, and delicious. So far, I've seen and tried lemon, apple, and muscat. There's also yuzu, and acerola lemon which I haven't gotten the chance to try yet.
2. Mugicha（麦茶） - This is barley tea. I admit, the first I had it, I was a bit surprised, but I've really grown to like it. Also, thanks to this wonderful tea, I've learned how to drink beer. I still don't like beer, but I'll continue to drink mugicha, and eventually in time I'll get there. Although this is normally served cold in the summer, I have seen it served hot in the winter as well. It's pretty refreshing actually, so I'd recommend it.
3. All green tea/Ryokucha (緑茶)- There are so many types of this. I could write a post just on green tea (ocha). This comes in a variety of ways, starting with tea leaves, to tea powder, and so on. The types of green tea are so specific that there are words for tea which is grown in a mountain's shade and always remains in a sort of mist, to green tea leaves which are harvested in the sun. It's extremely specialized. I recommend trying them all because they all taste different.
4. Oolong - This is served sometimes at restaurants, and particularly at nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink) institutions. Often, you're given a choice for your first drink: beer or oolong. I always choose oolong.
5. Koucha - Of course we have the black teas. This is quite popular abroad, so I don't feel the need to go into them here.

Here's a basic list of the types of green tea if you're curious. These are either called ocha (お茶), or ryokucha (緑茶), or sometimes nihoncha (日本茶).

1. Matcha (抹茶) - I think this is what most people of think of when they hear "green tea." It is the powdered form, which is vigorously whisked with a tea whisk (chasen 茶筅). Different schools of tea, masters of tea, and regions each have their preferred type. This is what is used in the tea ceremony. Well-made matcha is characterized by its even green color on top. There should not be powder on the bottom of the bowl, and the top should also have a nice layer of foam. Matcha is grown in the shade, and it has been found to have numerous antioxidants. It's now being put in a variety of things like sweets as well. Slightly bitter, it is very relaxing to drink. It is also fairly expensive depending on the quality.
2. Sencha （煎茶）- Sencha is different than matcha in the respect that the leaves are not actually in the tea. I would say a fair amount of what is commonly drunk today is sencha rather than macha. This tea, because it does not have the leaves, is a clear green color. It is grown in the full sun. Sencha is normally hot in the winter, but cool in the summer. You will find the majority of people drinking this in their homes.
3. Gyokuro （玉露）- This is slightly different than sencha in that it's grown in the shade for 20 days. This is translated approximately I guess as jewel dew, or something along those lines. Gyokuro is pretty expensive, so I've never tried it, at least, I don't remember trying it, and I'm pretty sure it's one of those things that you'd remember.
4. Kabusecha (冠茶)- This one is a little more difficult. It's like "covered tea." From what I understand, it's basically gyokuro in that it's shaded, but it's only shaded for 1 week before its harvested. Apparently it leads to a milder taste.

The list goes on, but I'm going to stop here because I'm getting into teas that I've never heard of.

Michelle

Of Sushi

Another bright and sunny day here in Kyoto. Spring has finally arrived, and it's beautiful. With that in mind, classes started the other day. Things are going well so far. I'm in B class. They go from F to A, A being the highest before you're put into seiki level, which is when you can take classes in Japanese with Japanese students. As is, I can take classes in English with them, but not their normal Japanese classes. Not gonna' lie, understanding is fine, so I may sneak into a couple this semester anyway if I get the chance. As is, right now I'm taking a Comprehensive Japanese class, a Listening & Speaking class, a Writing course, as well as International Organizations (which focuses on NGOs, etc.), Political Economies of East Asia (comparing Japan, China, Korea), possibly a Women's Studies course which is focused on women in war (I know. Not my specialty, but interesting), and last but not least, hopefully a International Management course (which looks at the logistics and marketing strategies of an international corporation). Overall, a pretty decent schedule if I do say so myself.

To answer a quick question that was posted in comments, classes will continue as normal. Kansai is in fact so fine that nothing will change whatsoever with regard to classes. We may take in some more students though who are refugees. Therefore, no worries with class schedules changing unless something major strikes Kansai. The rest of Japan is obviously a bit more affected. According to Tai, Rikkyo University is only taking in two international students this semester because the rest cancelled due to fears of going to Tokyo. I'd like to say that I'm personally proud of those students and especially one of them since he is also from Miami.

What people aren't understanding abroad is that Japan is quite a big country. The problem is that it's normally compared to California. People therefore get a little nervous because California is only 1 state in a country of 50 of them. However, Japan is also relatively the same size as Italy. Because Italy is a country and not a state (by the American English definition of course), people suddenly become much calmer. Therefore, I'd like to propose comparing Japan to Italy in size for the rest of time.

Due to the belief that Japan is a small country, people are refusing to buy fish from Japan. I understand as much as the next person that when you hear about radioactive materials being dumped into the ocean, the last thing you want to do is go eat fish. Most of Japan's fishing is done farther away from the coast though. This is due to past overfishing problems. But Michelle, you might say, fish swim. They can swim close to the coast. And yes, they can. I don't deny it. But if you're concerned about that, then don't eat fish that live close to shore. Those that live out in deeper waters should of course be checked, but if they make it into your markets, they are safe. Japan's economy depends on exports. They will be responsible in this.

In order to prevent more radiation from escaping to the ocean though, TEPCO has installed steel barriers and silt fences. Although I'm not sure about the effectiveness of this, we can only trust them for now.

I love me a good plate of sushi and honestly, if I can eat it here, then you can eat it thousands of miles away. Furthermore, most sushi restaurants abroad are actually switching to fish from other places. Even Japan is not necessarily making sushi from locally caught fish at times. If you're eating salmon sushi for example, it much more likely that it will be from Norway, and your tuna will likely be from Spain. The term sushi (寿司) refers to fish that is offered with vinegared rice. It is a preparation style, and in no way requires the fish to be harvested from Japanese waters. The only requirement of that fish is that it must be of an exceptionally high quality to serve raw. If it is not, you could end up making your customers sick. 

So, this begs the question, which is sushi? In the West, it often refers to what is called makizushi (巻寿司) here in Japan. This is the rolled sushi. It is rice, fish, and sometimes vegetables wrapped with rice in a piece of nori (海苔) or seaweed. A second of type of sushi is nigirizushi (握り寿司). This is hand-formed sushi which is a bit of rice, some wasabi, and fish or something on top. There is also oshizushi (押し寿司), which is literally "pressed sushi." This is specialty in Osaka, where a block-type sushi is formed. There is also inarizushi (稲荷寿司), which is a wrapper made of fried tofu filled with sushi rice. It was believed to be a favorite of the god Inari. I actually find this to be quite sweet, and normally reserve it as a dessert-type sushi for this reason. Second to last, we have chirashizushi (ちらし寿司), which is literally a "scattered sushi." This is when the fish is put on top of rice in a bowl. Lastly, there is narezushi (熟れ寿司), which I actually haven't had yet, but it's been fermented. Considering that Kyoto is known for it's fermented foods, I'll have to check it out.

So, now that we got cleared up. Please don't put your local sushi restaurant out of business. Go support them. It's delicious, and you should at enjoy it when you know its safe.

Oh, and before I go, I'd just like to state that I want a subscription to NIKKEI Shinbun so bad. Because I currently don't have a subscription, their newest articles right now are locked. I have to figure out the cost of it, but I think it'd be nice.

Sources:

Grab Your Chopsticks and Geiger Counters (WSJ)

TEPCO Installs Barrier to Prevent Sea Contamination (WSJ)

外人 vs. 外国人

外人 (gaijin) vs. 外国人 (gaikokujin). What's the big difference?

Since it came up again the other day, I thought it'd be useful to truly explain the difference to anyone who is not familiar with the terms. Kanji tends to be pretty literal, so sometimes you might miss the little implications of a word. Both gaijin and gaikokujin mean "foreigner," but the meaning depends on where one is in Japan, who they're talking to, and what age the person is in relation to oneself. Let's take a quick look just for a linguistic point-of-view.

A gaijin is literally a "foreign person." Some Japanese will find it not to be offensive, and they'll use the word frequently. It's shorter, easier to say, and you do hear it quite a bit in daily conversation. However, I feel that the majority of people would still label this a discriminatory term. Oddly enough, there seems to be this weird trend among foreigners to use this term to refer to themselves. If they make a mistake, they'll say something along the lines. "Oh, it's ok because I'm a gaijin." There's even a phrase that has popped up called the "Gaijin Smash." Used by foreigners, it refers to doing something that one knows is frowned upon or illegal and getting away with it due to the fact that one is foreign. For this reason, the Japanese are somewhat at a loss. Even though many of them feel that it's discriminatory, they can't seem to get rid of the term because the people who should feel discriminated against keep using it to refer to themselves.

On the other side of the argument is gaikokujin, which means "a person from a foreign country." Across all boards, this word is considered more polite, but it's also considered more formal.

So, there's a problem. Which to use? The one which is considered a form of 差別 (sabetsu), discrimination by many? Or the word which many will agree is more polite, but sounds a little formal between friends? It's up for debate, but this writer's opinion is for using 外国人, gaikokujin.

Valentine's Day and White Day

I really apologize for the delay in blog updates lately. I've been swamped with exams, papers, and tests, so I haven't had the time. But I'll make it up to you in the coming months. The first semester is officially over, and I only have one more report to write. I'm doing it on Japan's problem of 高齢的 or an aging society. There's a ceremony tonight which I'll be going to to show everyone off and then we're all going to a 飲み会 (nomikai), which is really just a really big drinking party.

Since it's been so long, this post will be a light-hearted and yet cultural one. Congratulations.

It's nearing that time of year as we all know. The time when hearts pop up everywhere, things mysteriously become pink, and the stores start selling chocolate like it's going out of style. Yes, it's almost time to think about Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is pretty much the same world round. Hang out with your special someone, give them a gift or two, and spend your time in blissful love. So I'm sure, you're asking, "Michelle, why are you writing this post?" And you know what? Hold your horses. I'm getting there.

Valentine's Day in Japan is special too, which is why this post exists. Contrary to the States, in Japan women give men chocolate and gifts. Imported around the late 1950's, there are three main types of chocolate giving.

1. 本命チョコ (honmei-choko) - Literally "true feeling" or "genuine sentiment" chocolate, this is the chocolate you give to your loved one. This chocolate can be bought, but it's tradition to make your own. Normally this is elementary, middle, and high school children, but university students also participate. This chocolate can be anything from your standard type chocolate to things which are chocolatey like cookies, cakes, muffins, pastries, etc. Heart shapes are suggested though.
2. 義理チョコ (giri-choko) - Called "obligation/duty" chocolate, this is the chocolate that you give to your boss, male friends, or anyone that you feel doesn't have a girlfriend and therefore deserves to get chocolate out of pity. Your goal is not to let any man feel left out. This does not need to be anything extravagant but it is required to fill the obligation.
3. 友チョコ (tomo-choko) - This is what we call "friend" chocolate. Basically, girls are sad that they don't get any chocolate on Valentine's, so they send chocolate to each other. 

If one feels particularly close to a person, then a gift of some kind normally accompanies the chocolate. This is particularly true of 本命チョコ (honmei-choko).

Of course, except for 友チョコ (tomo-choko), women seem to be left out of this mix. But fear not, for a month later, the men return the favor. This happens on ホワイトデー (White Day), which was said to be brought to Japan by a marshmallow company, therefore giving the day it's name. Set a month after Valentine's Day, on March 14, men send women that they're interested in or by obligation a gift. However, they are not required to return a gift to all the women that sent them chocolate. If it's chocolate or sweets, the color white is preferred, though other gifts are acceptable. These gifts are either equal in value or priced slightly higher it seems.

Michelle

Kansai-ben

I apologize for the delay. I've been busy with other things, which has kind of prevented me from updating this, but I'll make it up to you. I promise.

Today's topic is the Kansai dialect, 関西弁(Kansai-ben). Kansai is the Western region of Japan. It's composed of places like 大阪 (Osaka) and 京都 (Kyoto). Kansai-ben is thought to sound funny, more open, and perhaps a little rude to non-speakers of the dialect. In contrast, we also have 関東弁 (Kanto-ben). Kanto is the Eastern region of Japan. Mainly, we think of this as standard Japanese. It's spoken in 東京 (Tokyo), on the news stations, and taught around the world. Tokyo-ben (the dialect specific to Tokyo) is thought to sound too polite, monotone, and robotic to non-speakers. These are just two of the main dialects though.  So, now that we've got the history pinned down, we could move on to the fun stuff. I'd promised little language tips every now and then. Please keep in mind that I am not an expert on the Kansai dialect. I am definitely still learning it, but these are just a few observations.

Kansai-ben differs from Tokyo-ben in its choice of words. For example, we have the word アカン (akan) in Kansai-ben. This means approximately "no good" or "hopeless" or just plain "wrong." The Tokyo-ben equivalent is だめ (dame). We also see the word アホ (aho) pretty commonly in Kansai-ben. It's meaning is "idiot" or "fool." In Tokyo-ben, you would say バカ (baka). Some others that are different include ほんま（に） (honma(ni)) in Kansai-ben and ほんとう（に） (hontou(ni)) in standard Japanese for "really." めちゃ (mecha) versus とても／チョウ　(totemo/chou) for "very," and おおきに (ookini) instead of ありがとう (arigatou) for "thank you."

Occasionally, some words are also shortened. For example, 面白い（おもしろい） (interesting) becomes おもろい in Kansai-ben. 違う（ちがう）(chigau) becomes ちゃう (chau) for the word "wrong."

Conjugations are also a little different. 食べない（たべない）, "I did not eat," becomes たべへん (tabehen). だ (da), the shortened form of です (desu) meaning "to be" becomes や (ya).

Kyoto, like all cities, also has its own particular form of the dialect. In Kyoto, people tend to add -haru to their verbs to make them a little more polite. For example, 行きます（いきます) (ikimasu), "I'll go" becomes 行かはる　（いかはる）(ikaharu).

Of course, please keep in mind this is all just an overview of the Kansai dialect. This by no means includes everything. People have written books on the topic, and this is only a measly little post, but hopefully it was of some interest to you. In order to fully learn the Kansai dialect though, you have to just listen to the people around you and repeat what they're saying. After all, since each city is different, if you're not careful, you still won't sound like a local.

Michelle

Of Rice Buying

I walked into the rice aisle again today. For anyone that's been keeping in touch with me, you know that's something of an achievement. The rice aisle is intimidating. In fact, it's the most intimidating aisle for me. I can go in the other aisles and be perfectly comfortable with the fact that I can't read anything, but the rice aisle, oh no. Here comes trouble. Last time I walked into the rice aisle, I stopped, physically stopped, caught my breath, the whole shi-bang. There were bags and bags and bags of rice. And I can't read any of them. Awesome. So I took my little 外国人(gaikokujin, foreigner) self through the aisle, grabbed one at random and fled from the aisle like a gazelle fleeing from a pack of lions. When I got home, I learned I'd bought the wrong kind. How embarrassing!

But this time, this time I steeled myself and walked into the aisle for the second time. My thoughts went something like this:

"Alright Michelle, you can do it. Just walk up, read the kanji and grab one....Crap, I can't read the kanji. What on earth is this? It's rice. Well, how about that one. Nope, can't read that one either. Well, that's rice too. What about this one? No, wrong kind. I can read that one. That one's for mochi. And the fourth one says Hokkaido, but that's just a brand....Shit."

To me walking into the rice aisle is kind of like when you send a guy into the women's sanitary supplies aisle. He's like, "No talking! No talking! I don't belong in this aisle! Where are they? Where are the things she told me to buy? Are those tampons? Pads? Elderly incontinence diapers?! God! My eyes! My eyes!" And then, scarred for life and eyes bleeding, he grabs the first thing he sees and runs out of the aisle, mistakenly buying "supers" or some other such nonsense.

That, my friends, is the fear that the rice aisle evokes in every foreigner. You have all these kinds of rice in front of you, and they look exactly the same. Luckily, it seems though that this time I picked the right kind.

And now, with regard to rice and an embarrassing sort of translation. While in said rice aisle, I saw a package labeled 無洗米 (musenmai). The last two characters I definitely knew. They mean "wash" and "rice" respectively. The first one I technically know but I forgot it's meaning. I only recognized it from the word 無理 (muri), meaning "impossible." So here I am in front of this bag of rice and I've just translated it as "Impossible to Wash Rice." And I'm thinking "What the heck? Who would put that on a package? That's horrible marketing!" I can see it now, "Come one, come all, come buy the rice that you'll never be able to get clean!" Yeah...fail. For the record, that kanji alone has the meaning of "not," so the meaning is actually "Not necessary to wash rice" or "Rice that's already been washed." So yeah, cool beans. At least I remember the kanji now.

And now it's already hit midnight and I promised myself I'd be in bed by 12:30, so I've gotta' run! Night all!

Michelle

Of Kyoto and Temples

I arrived in Kyoto yesterday, and let me just say that it's been a blast. Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. Unlike a lot of big cities, there is green everywhere. And even though you know it's a big city, it feels a lot smaller due to this. Don't get me wrong. I loved Tokyo, a lot. It's a really great place, but I think some of the other large cities like Tokyo, Chicago, and New York could take a page from Kyoto and add a little more green space to their city.

Actually, arriving here was a little interesting. I left Tokyo, which I didn't really want to leave and boarded the Shinkansen for here. The conductor talked very quietly. When I could hear him, I could understand him no problem, but if he was too quiet, then I had no idea what station we were at. So actually, I tried to get off a station early, but there was no way to exit the train. So I waited another 20 minutes or so, and finally got off.

When I finally got off, I went searching for a taxi, which wasn't that hard considering all of the signs. It was a little far, but these stations are huge in Japan. They make our big airports like Chicago O'Hare look small. I've never been to Grand Central Station in New York, but I think it could probably fit easily inside some of these train station and have some extra room. Anyway, so I finally got here, found a taxi and got in. I handed the taxi driver my address, but he couldn't find it in his GPS. So he pulled out a map, but he couldn't find it on the map. So I searched for a phone number, and after about 20 minutes, I found one. He called the dorm, and after some very polite どうもすみません-ing, we headed off. In this context, it comes across as both I'm very sorry and Thank you. Really, it's a little difficult to translate, but I think it'd come closest to, "I'm very sorry to have troubled you on my behalf. Thank you for everything you have done for me."

The taxi driver and I struck up a great conversation, which is really strange considering the fact that normally you never talk with the taxi driver here. He acted as my guide, pointing out historic sites, and telling stories of the mountains, movies, and McDonald's. All McDonald's here are required to be brown. The city didn't want them to stand out and look ugly compared to the rest of Kyoto. Actually, I saw some brown, and quite a few black McDonald's in Tokyo, but it's interesting that it's a law here. If you were wondering, apparently KFC doesn't have the same requirements. Their buildings are a blinding red. Anyway, after that, we talked about movies. He really liked American movies, especially Arnold Swarzenegger ones. Overall it was a great taxi ride, and we finally arrived at my dorm safe and sound.

That day, I filled out some paperwork, unpacked, and met people in the dorm. I explored the main street of our area of Kyoto that night, and we found supermarkets, convenience stores, ramen shops, and bakeries. It was a good experience and it helped me to get adjusted a little bit.

Today, I woke up late unfortunately. I thought our meeting was at 9:30, but it ended up it was at 9. I had just woken up and sadly I had to go before I'd done more than the basic hygiene sort of stuff. I met three of our student buddies. They took us by train to Ritsumeikan to fill out paperwork for the Alien Registration Card and for Japanese Health Insurance. It will be two weeks before all of that is done. Personally, this seems little a counter-productive. Japan is trying so hard to attract foreigners as it increases its presence in the global economy, but it makes it very difficult for people to be here.

The buddies were very helpful and a lot of fun though. We talked mostly in Japanese, though there was some English every now and then. They want to practice their English as well of course.

After we headed to Rits, we went to the ward to go turn in the paperwork and to get some of it processed. Until all of this is done though, it's a little difficult to get a phone. Oddly enough, I ended up translating at the ward. One of the girls here was having difficult with Japanese, and she knows English much better. Unfortunately, she was talking to a government official who really didn't know English. So, I was asked by one of the buddies to go help her. It ended up that the official was confused because her hometown and the hospital that it stated where she was born were different. After listening to her, I did my best to explain to the official and to the buddy standing next to me. Then, he clarified just a couple things for her. I was really proud. Right now, I still feel that my Japanese is miserable, so it was nice to know that I'd been understood and that the official knew what I was talking about from my explanation.

Finally, after that, I made another trip to the supermarket, which I visit every day. Ingredients are fresher this way, and I'm just starting to get used to. Then, I headed off with a bunch of other people from the dorm to go tour temples. There are tons of them here, and it's only right to go visit them. We went by bike, which was something of an adventure because I'm pretty much the only one in the group whose biking skills are probably at that of a 5-year-olds.

First we headed to 退蔵院 (Taizou-in). We didn't enter the gardens at the time since we really didn't have much cash on us, but it was still a lot of fun. This temple is very famous for a painting called 紙本墨画淡彩瓢鮎図 (Catching Catfish with a Gourd) which is now in the Kyoto museum, and as a very old Zen Buddhist temple. It was rebuilt, but it is still very beautiful, so I thought you'd enjoy a few photos. If you still want more information, you can check the temple's link here: Taizou-in.

There were a lot of other temples around the area as well, so we visited them as well. The images below were on the same path, but they're from different temples.

As always, there's more to tell you, but I think I'll end this post here. It's getting a little long, and some things can wait until later to tell you. I'm planning to head to 金閣寺(Kinkakuji) tomorrow, which is known as the Golden Temple. Pictures will be up soon of that if that's the case.

The placement test is on Tuesday, so right now, I have to head off.

Later!

Michelle

Helpful Blogs

I ran across this really cool blog today, and I realized I should probably share it with everyone. Nihon Hacks. It has all sorts of little tips and tricks, some of them just plain ridiculous, and some of them very useful to the student or anyone else studying the language and culture. This particular post really caught my eye: Past JLPT Tests. The writer of this blog has decided to include a link 17 years worth of JLPT tests, and the answers along with them. It has all levels, so you can go ahead and start cracking!

Also, if you're just searching for any kind of blog on Japan, this site may be able to help you out: Blogs on Japan - Japan in Motion.

Hope this helps!

Michelle