Check this is out! This is incredible!

WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE?!!

How to get your kid ready for school in five minutes [hahaha]

Japanese culture in my eyes

I spent my Thanksgiving break on campus. It was my first "stay-vacation". I was always gone during breaks before. I made a plan to listen to good music and read good books during the break. I read Haruki's Norwegian Wood, 1Q84, 100 percent girl and South of the Border. I like his books, because of the truthfulness and boldness in telling the truth. The characters are very self-reflective. It is as if they are examining every inch of themselves in front of a mirror with no clothes on. I appreciate this cruel honesty with oneself. They face their desires and weaknesses honestly without finding excuses for themselves.

This truthfulness is plain and natural. Even though I am still not very knowledgable about Japanese culture, I have a feeling that Japanese culture values naturalness and simpleness, as can be seen through the style of clothing and interior designs among many other things. If I were to compare Japanese culture and French culture, I would use the example of macarons. My favorite macaron store is Sadaharu Aoki in Paris, which is a Japanese style bakery. I like their pastry because it is rich in taste without the overwhelming sweetness like what is found in French bakery.

私はキャンパス内に私の感謝祭の休暇を過ごしました。それは私の最初の "滞在-休暇」でした。私はいつも前の休憩中に消えていました。私はよい音楽を聴くための計画を作り、休憩中に良い本を読みます。私は春樹のノルウェイの森、1Q84、100パーセントの女の子と国境の南をお読みください。ため、私は真実を語っにおける真実性と大胆さで、彼の本が好き。文字は非常に自己反射性です。彼らはありません服を着て鏡の前で自分自身のあらゆるインチを検討しているかのようにあります。私は自分でこの残酷な正直に感謝。彼らは彼ら自身のために言い訳を見つけることなく正直に自分の欲望や弱点に直面しています。

この真実は、プレーンと自然です。私はまだ日本文化について非常に知識豊富ではない午前にもかかわらず、私は他の多くのものの中で衣類やインテリアデザインのスタイルを通して見ることができるように、日本文化は、自然とシンプルさを値気持ちを持っています。私は日本文化とフランス文化を比較した場合、私はマカロンの例を使用します。私のお気に入りのマカロン店は和風のパン屋でパリの青木定治、です。それはフランスのパン屋さんで発見されたもののように圧倒的な甘させずに味が豊富であるので、私は彼らのペストリーが好き。

1Q84

I read Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 over Thanksgiving break. It is an amazing book and as always it is enjoyable to read his work. I saw this book review from New York Times and I am citing it here, hoping to give you a glimpse of the work.  

私は感謝祭の休暇中村上春樹の1Q84を読みました。それは素晴らしい本であるといつものようにそれは彼の作品を読むために楽しいです。私はニューヨークタイムズからこの書評を見て、私はあなたの仕事の一見を与えることを期待して、それをここに引用しています。

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/books/1q84-by-haruki-murakami-review.html?_r=0

A Tokyo With Two Moons and Many More Puzzles

One of the many longueurs in Haruki Murakami’s stupefying new novel, “1Q84,” sends the book’s heroine, a slender assassin named Aomame, into hiding. To sustain her through this period of isolation she is given an apartment, groceries and the entirety of Marcel Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past.”

For pity’s sake, if you have that kind of spare time, follow her lead. Aomame has the chance to read a book that is long and demanding but well worth the effort. The very thought of Aomame’s situation will pain anyone stuck in the quicksand of “1Q84.” You, sucker, will wade through nearly 1,000 uneventful pages while discovering a Tokyo that has two moons and is controlled by creatures that emerge from the mouth of a dead goat. These creatures are called Little People. They are supposed to be very wise, even though the smartest thing they ever say is “Ho ho.”

Mr. Murakami is supposed to be very wise too. But “1Q84” has even his most ardent fans doing back flips as they try to justify this book’s glaring troubles. Is it consistently interesting? No, but Mr. Murakami is too skillful a trickster to rely on conventional notions of storytelling. Is it a play on Orwell’s “1984?” Vaguely, but don’t make close comparisons. Is it science fiction? Well, there are those two moons, plus several references to Sonny and Cher. And is it actually about anything? Don’t be silly. Mr. Murakami is far too playful and allusive an artist to be restricted by a banal criterion like that one.

Photo

Haruki Murakami Credit Elena Seibert

A word about packaging: The three volumes that have been collected for American readers in the composite version of “1Q84” hang together about as well as the three parts of Roberto Bolaño’s similarly published (and far better) “2666” did. Each of these omnibus books has bright, incisive passages interspersed with abundant filler. But there is no overarching narrative idea to make either book more than the sum of its parts, although in the case of “1Q84” there is a startlingly clever Chip Kidd cover to create an air of the irresistible. The actual text? Not so much.

“1Q84” vacillates between two characters, Aomame and Tengo, who have a mysterious connection. Naturally Mr. Murakami will forestall explaining what the bond is for as long as he can. So Tengo is first seen being roped into a literary scheme. He knows an editor, Komatsu, who knows a 17-year-old girl who has written a remarkable story called “Air Chrysalis.”

But the story could be made even better if Tengo would agree to ghostwrite it. Then Komatsu will enter it in a literary contest, and the girl will surely win a prize and create a media frenzy. As Komatsu keeps pointing out with unseemly eagerness, “Air Chrysalis” will be very big — Murakami-type big — on the best-seller lists.

So Tengo meets the girl, who is called Fuka-Eri, although that is not her real name. Holding real names in reserve throughout most of the book is one of Mr. Murakami’s creative ploys. Fuka-Eri speaks in an odd, uninflected way and has nicely shaped breasts, which are frequently mentioned. So are Tengo’s mother’s breasts, which have left him with a strange fixation. Meanwhile Aomame embarks on one of her assassination assignments. (She specializes in killing men who abuse women.) And even though she is a killer, she makes friends with a policewoman, with whom she hosts “intimate but fully erotic all-night sex feasts.” Her nicely shaped breasts are talked about too.

Photo

These elements are not necessarily indications of the book’s eroticism, which can be more than a little peculiar. (“It was like her pubic hair was part of her thinking process.”) They have more to do with Mr. Murakami’s determination to describe, inventory and echo just about everything that he chooses to mention. Characters repeat one another frequently, in a manner that can be seen as either incantatory or numbing, depending on your patience level.

We learn about Tengo’s pajamas, and we learn what Aomame eats to prevent constipation. We learn about goldfish and a rubber plant. We learn that the second moon, when it starts appearing in the novel, looks mossy and green.

The unconvincing longing between Tengo and Aomame is mostly left to simmer by Mr. Murakami. But there is a centerpiece when Aomame makes contact with the large, powerful and fearsome figure known as Leader. He is in charge of one of several religious cults that figure in the book. And Aomame is sent to kill him.

She has been told that he is a rapist, and that he abuses the preteenage girls who are cult members. But his real story is different, and it has to do with the powers of communication that keep the world afloat. In one of the many moments that suggest Mr. Murakami takes some of his cosmic rules from Kurt Vonnegut’s playbook, there turn out to be people known as receivers and others known as perceivers. The balance between them must be exquisitely maintained, or else — who knows? We never exactly find out what is at stake.

It used to be customary, in a book of this magnitude, to explain unanswered questions and tie up loose ends. Mr. Murakami clearly rejects such petty obligations, and he leaves many of the parallels in “1Q84” cryptic and dead-ended. He perceives, and we receive, and the reception isn’t all that clear. But 925 pages go by. And somehow, to quote Mr. Murakami as he quotes Sonny and Cher, for reasons that perhaps only he understands, the beat goes on.

きれいな音楽

I came across a piece of beautiful music yesterday. It is called Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. It is so touching that I brought tears to my eyes when I listen to it. I hope you like it. :-)

私は昨日、美しい音楽の作品に出会いました。これは、戦場のメリークリスマスと呼ばれています。それは私がそれを聞くとき、私は私の目に涙をもたらしたことはとても感動的です。 お気に召してもらえると。

Cute vidoe to learn useful phrases

みなさん、がんばてですよ！

Dance---ファンダンス

Chinese style:
中国風:

Japanese style:
和風:

Dance-Jazzジャズ

I also do Jazz Dance. I do both the western style and the Korean style. Please check out the videos.

私はまた、ジャズダンスを行います。私は洋風と韓国風の両方を行います。ビデオをチェックアウトしてください。

 I like Tara a lot! I danced their dances before :-)

私は多くのタラが好き！私は:-)前にダンスを踊りました

 

 

Dance---スリーブダンス

I learned the Chinese-style Sleeves Dance in China. We dance with really long sleeves. If we are not careful, we can step on the sleeves haha.

私は中国での中国風スリーブダンスを学びました。私たちは本当に長い袖と踊ります。我々は注意しない場合、我々は笑袖にステップ実行することができます。

Dance ダンス---Belly Dane

I dance for fun in my free time. Here are several types of dance that I do.
私は自分の自由な時間に楽しみのために踊ります。ここで私はダンスのいくつかの種類があります。

Belly Dance
ベリーダンス
When I belly dance, I need to have good control over every muscle in my upper body all the time. And we rarely even take notice of those muscles in daily life. So this is very challenging.
とき私はベリーダンス、私は私の上半身にすべての時間を、すべての筋肉の上に良好な制御を持っている必要があります。そして、我々はまれであっても日常生活の中でそれらの筋肉の通知を取ります。だから、これは非常に困難です。

An old library book on Japanese social organization日本の社会組織上の古い図書館の本

Yesterday I borrowed a book called "The Japanese Social Organization" from Firestone Library. It was written by a Princeton PhD student in 1908 after living in Japan for seven years. It was a short overview of Japanese history from prehistory. I find the strict and fixed social hierarchy particularly interesting. And that kind of explains why the respect for authority is so deep in Japanese culture.

昨日はファイアストンライブラリから「日本の社会組織」という本を借りました。これは、7年間日本に住んでた後1908年にプリンストン博士課程の学生によって書かれました。これは、先史時代から日本の歴史の簡単な概要でした。私は厳しいと一定の社会的階層が特に興味深いです。権威の尊重は、日本文化に深くである理由とその種類の説明。

Revised goal statement

I am able to speak some (broken) にほんごwithにほんじん. I am very excited about my improvement. As I learn more in にほんごのじゅきょう, I will start to speak Japanese-English, which is mixing words from two languages in one sentence. I can also be creative in my combination of words in ちゅごくごとえいごとふらんすごとスペイン語。



Here are my specific goals:


---Converse about everyday topics with full proficiency.


---Sound natural so that native speakers can understand me without problems.


---Able to read signs and words in a Japanese supermarket or on the street.


---Able to read 村上春樹。(たいへんですね！)




Here is what I'll do to achieve the goals:


---Come to office hours to practice speaking every week.


---Shadow audio files on blackboard every week.


---Go to Japanese Student Association events that interest me.


---Go to Japanese tables every week or every other week.


---Read quotes from 村上春樹's books.

私のビデオをお楽しみください!

Cute J-Pop dance video

Midterms are coming next week.  Check out this cute dance video to help destress:-)

ストレスを解消します

The lyrics are below the video.

ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
今日はどこに行こうかな?
ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
ふたりの思い出を重ねて

眩しくて　目が覚めた日は
ちょっとだけきもちいい
眠いけど　せっかくだし

キミはもう　起きているかな?
今日の予定を　勝手にたてるの

ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
今日はどこに行こうかな?
ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
ふたりの思い出を重ねて
ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
もっと沢山の歌詞は ※ Mojim.com
明日はどこに行こうかな?
キミといると行き先はどこも特別に変わるの

信号が青に変われば
あとはこの先に
まってるのは　広い海

海岸を沿うように駆ける
いつもの音楽を
BGMにして

ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
今日はどこに行こうかな?
ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
ふたりの思い出を重ねて
ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ　ねぇ
明日はどこに行こうかな?
キミといると行き先はどこも特別に変わるの

"Nee" (ねぇ?, "Hey") is the seventeenth single released by Japanese girl group Perfume. "Nee" is used in a tie-in campaign with Japanese apparel brand Natural Beauty Basic. The full version of "Nee" was aired on Perfume's radio program Perfume Locks on 21 October 2010.[1] The single was released on November 10, 2010 in Japan.

Dear Japanese partners

Hi Japanese partners!

I am trying to use phrases in Japanese in my blog posts, but they may contain grammatical mistakes. I'd really appreciate it, if you could correct me in the comments. ありがとうございます！

会えてうれしいです！＾＿＾

Anime Screening

Dear Friends,

Come check out this anime watching event!

私はあなたがそれを楽しむいただければ幸いです! 

3-part "Women in Anime Film" Series showing of Japanese anime film:

Patema Inverted

Thu, Oct. 22 in Lewis 138 at 7:30pm

Part 2 - Millennium Actress, Thu Nov 12

Part 3 - The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Thu Dec 3

• Post-film discussion about Japanese culture, language, and society in relation to the film
•  Film will be played in Japanese with English subtitles

Yushima Seido Temple

If you're a serious student in Tokyo you're probably familiar with Yushima Seido Temple. It's the best place in town to pray for good grades. At exam time, students queue up to write a Ema and to pray at the temple.

Yushima Seido is one of relatively few Confucian Temples in Japan. The vast majority of Japanese temples are Buddhist. 

The temple played an early role in Japan's education system. Its institutions of learning went on to become some of Japan's top universities.

Check out this video about Japan Shinto Shrine Jinja Ema Prayer Plaque

reference: http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/yushima-seido-temple

midterm

Do you know how to say "midterm" in Japanese?
"midterm" はにほんごでなんといいますか。

ちゅうかんしけん　です！

Koto

Hey guys!

Come check these two videos of Japanese koto and Chinese Guzheng. Koto has its origin in Chinese Guzheng. Can you tell the difference between the sounds of the two? Do you know which one is which?

頑張ろう。

I find it quite useful to use the following website to memorize time expressions in Japanese. Hope it makes life easier for you guys. ガンバて！

apitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/Charting3/Builder.aspx?companyId=50027568#

築地市場（つきじいちば、つきじしじょう）とは、東京都中央区築地にある公設の卸売市場。東京都内に11か所ある東京都中央卸売市場のひとつだが、その規模は日本はおろか世界最大（広さでは大田市場のほうが広いが、取引金額は大田市場より大きい）であり、代表的な卸売市場である。この項では外郭に存在する築地場外市場商店街（通称：場外、場外市場、築地場外、築地場外市場）についても記述する。なお、ニュース番組等で、しばしば築地市場の場所を指して「つきじしじょう」と呼ぶことがあるが、場所を指す場合は「しじょう」ではなく「いちば」である。The Tsukiji Fish Market appears in literally every guide book about Tokyo and on most people’s tour itineraries, plus entrance is free! It isn’t just the largest wholesale fish market in Tokyo and Japan, it’s numero uno for the entire planet. It also has a kick-ass Tuna Auction before the sun rises most mornings. The Tsukiji Fish Market is destined to relocate (despite considerable opposition) to a larger and slightly more inconvenient location in Toyosu – a move that has been set for November 7, 2016. However, until then, there is a giant fish market and live tuna auction just begging to be seen.

Hiroshima

I've watched only two Japanese films so far, one of which is "Hiroshima Mon Amour". It's not really a Japanese film, because it was directed by the french director Alain Resnais. I've always been fascinated by the Japanese interior design, tea ceremony and flower cutting art. I have much respect for Japan, partly because it was able to recover so well from the World War II.

"This classic black-and-white story of love, war, suffering and forgetfulness, which was sweated out of an affair between a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) and a married Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) in the titular bomb-ravaged city" ---L.A. Times


Key words: 広島, 愛、戦争

Why is the pronunciation part so hard...

Speaking Chinese, French and Spanish gave me the habit of devoicing "k" and "p". Now I have to distinguish "k" from "g" and "p" from "b". So challenging. そう挑戦~(>_<~)

[Tokyo] Edo Castle 江戸城

江戸城（えどじょう）は、武蔵国豊嶋郡江戸（現在の東京都千代田区千代田）にあった日本の城である。江戸時代においては江城（こうじょう）という呼び名が一般的だったと言われ、また千代田城（ちよだじょう）とも呼ばれる。

江戸城は麹町台地の東端に、扇谷上杉氏の家臣太田道灌が築いた平山城である。近世に徳川氏によって段階的に改修された結果、総構周囲約4里^{[出典 2]}と、日本最大の面積の城郭になった^{[出典 3]}。

徳川家康が江戸城に入城した後は徳川家の居城、江戸幕府の開幕後は幕府の政庁となる。明治維新後の東京奠都で宮城（きゅうじょう）となった。以後は吹上庭園が御所、旧江戸城西ノ丸が宮殿の敷地となっている。その東側にある旧江戸城の中心部である本丸・二ノ丸と三ノ丸の跡は皇居東御苑として開放されている。南東側の皇居外苑と北側の北の丸公園は常時開放され、それらの外側は一般に利用できる土地になっている。

Edo Castle (江戸城 Edo-jō^?), also known as Chiyoda Castle (千代田城 Chiyoda-jō^?), is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is today part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province.^[1] Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also functioned as the military capital during the Edo period of Japanese history. After the resignation of the shogun and the Meiji Restoration, it became the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Some moats, walls and ramparts of the castle survive to this day. However, the grounds were more extensive during the Edo period, with Tokyo Station and the Marunouchi section of the city lying within the outermost moat. It also encompassed Kitanomaru Park, the Nippon Budokan Hall and other landmarks of the surrounding area.

Announcement

I will be posting about interesting places in Japan hopefully every day. I wish that this can be of use for those who plan to visit Japan in the future.

Information about these places of interest will be from wikipedia. ~~~ヾ(＾∇＾)

My goals

Even though my initial reason of learning Japanese was just to be able to explore the Japanese cuisine in Tokyo in the native langue, I am going to have high standards for myself as I am in JPN 101. Hopefully, by the end of my sophomore year, after taking JPN 101 and 102, I will be able to converse in Japanese about quotidian topics and practice speaking the language in Japan in the summer 2016. 

Here are my specific goals:

---Converse about everyday topics with full proficiency.

---Sound natural so that native speakers can understand me without problems

---Able to read signs and words in a Japanese supermarket or on the street.

Here is what I'll do to achieve the goals:

---Come to office hours to practice speaking every week.

---Shadow audio files on blackboard every week.

---Go to Japanese Student Association events that interest me.

---Go to Japanese tables every week or every other week.

はじめまして 。Jiangです。どうぞよろしく。Princetonだいがくのにねんせいです。せんこうはけいざいがくです。ちゅうごくのPekinからきました。わたしはすぺいんご、ふらんすご、えいご、ちゅうごくごをはなします。わたしはにほんりょうりやれきしにきょみがあるので、わたしはにほんごのべんきょしています。

どうぞよろしく。

Shannon