Japanese Language Blog

2010 was a notable year in Japanese music.

In particular it was a big year for Hikaru Utada (宇多田 ヒカル,). She held her first major US/UK tour and broke the record of being the artist with the most consecutive number of chart topping albums in Japanese music history. Later in the year, she announced that she would be taking a hiatus from her music career to focus on her personal life.

AKB48 (エーケービー フォーティーエイト) is a forty-eight member girl group. They are the largest female theater idol group in Japan. You can see AKB48 every week performing at a theater in Akihabara. This year they sold their 18^th single titled “Beginner”. The single sales are said to be the highest first week sales ever for a female idol group.

This was a very busy year for Arashi (嵐). The group provided a theme song for the 2010 Winter Olympics and released their new album this year. The members of this boy band all starred in a drama called Saigo no Yaksoku (最後の約束) or “Last Promise” and was award the “Artist of the Year” by the Japan Gold Disk Awards.

This year was very good to KAT-TUN as well. The group released their album “No More Pain” and a single called “Kimi ga Kirai na Kimi ga Suki” (君が嫌いな君が好き). Popular member Jin Akanishi (赤西仁) revealed that he was leaving the group to pursue a solo career. Akanishi toured the US and sang his songs mostly in English.

It was an interesting year for Mika Nakashima (中島 美嘉). She released her album “Star” later this year, but cancelled her first performance at the Nippon Budokan. The performance was supposed to commemorate ten years of her music career, but she had some medical issues with her ears. Nakashima was also involved in a drama called “Unubore Deka” and starred in the movie “Death Kappa”.

Museums are not all enclosed spaces with objects in them. Some Japanese museums are in the open air. Here are some great Japanese open air museums :

The Hida Minzoku Mura (飛騨民俗村) or  Hida Folk Village is a museum of traditional Japanese houses. The houses are hundreds of years old and are typical of the type of farmhouses that Japanese farmers used to live in. The slope of the thatched roofs is very steep to keep the snow and rain from accumulating on the roof. The inside of the houses are also well furnished with farmer’s tools.

Meiji Mura (明治村,) means “Meji Village”. This open air museum features buildings that were built in the Meiji (1867 – 1912), Taisho (1912 – 1926) and Showa (1926 – 1989) period. The Meiji Period was a time of rapid modernization in Japan. These buildings all have some historical importance in Japan. Other items (not including the buildings) include locomotive steam trains and horse drawn carriages.

Nihon Minka-en (日本民家園) is a Japanese village that preserves the old style of Japanese houses called minka (民家). These houses date from the 17^th to 19^th centuries. These houses contain tatami (畳) mats. Tatami mats are mats made out of straw or grass. The roofs are made of similar materials as the mats, but in addition to the straw and grass, clay baked tiles line the roofs.

The Edo Tōkyō Tatemono En (江戸東京たてもの園) or Edo Tokyo Buildings Garden includes residences that were once the home of powerful and wealthy individuals to the humble homes of the middle class. The photo above is the entrance to the Edo Tokyo open air architectural museum. The name Edo was the former name used to refer to the capital city of Tokyo.

The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama are both UNESCO World Heritage sites. UNESCO World Heritage sites are places of cultural or physical significance. The villages of Shirakawa (白川) and Gokayama (五箇山) contain houses that were built in the Gassho-zukuri (合掌造り) style. Gassho-zukuri houses are characterized by steep slanted roofs.

I thought it would be good to get in the Christmas spirit by posting some Christmas songs in Japanese.

The first one is the Japanese version of “Silent Night” :

This one is the Japanese version of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” :

Lastly, this the Japanese version of “Jingle Bells” :