Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Soap Bubbles! Posted by Ginny on May 31, 2011
There’s a cute Japanese children’s song called “Shabondama” (しゃぼん玉). Shabondama are ‘soap bubbles’. It’s an old Japanese children’s song, but it’s a prominent one, so take a listen: しゃぼん玉 飛んだ (shabondama tonda) The soap bubbles flew away 屋根まで 飛んだ (yanemade tonda) As far as to the roof 屋根まで 飛んで (yanemade tonde) As far as to the roof and……
Contracted Japanese Words Answers Posted by Ginny on May 21, 2011
Here are the answers to the Contracted Words List that was posted last month. The words in parentheses are the original words while the words in brackets are the meanings of both the contracted and original words. １．テレビ (テレビジョン) [TV/television] 2. HP (ホームページ) [homepage] 3. アニメ (アニメーション) [animation] 4. エアコン (エアコンディショ) [air conditioner] 5. PV…
Sushi Posted by Ginny on May 9, 2011
I think there is still the impression that sushi is just a bunch of raw fish with a bit of white rice, but that’s only one variety of such sushi. Nigirizushi (握り寿司) is probably the most well known outside of Japan. It’s a type of sushi where vinegared rice is pressed into a cylinder shape…
Contracted Japanese Words Posted by Ginny on Apr 17, 2011
The Japanese language has many examples of words that are contracted or abbreviated for convenience. For example the word デパートis often used to mean ‘department store” in Japanese. However, デパート is a contracted form of デパートメントストア. When you think about it, デパート is much easier to say than デパートメントストア. Some people wrongly assume that Japanese…
Sakura Sakura Posted by Ginny on Apr 13, 2011
The sakura (桜) or cherry blossoms in Japan are in full bloom. I guess you can say that cherry blossoms are one of the iconic symbols that people associate with Japan and Japanese culture. There’s also a Japanese folk song about the sakura. You might have heard of it before because it’s often chosen as…
April Festivals Posted by Ginny on Apr 11, 2011
Part of the reason why Japanese locals try to organize local festivals is because they attract visitors to the area. There’s a lot of teamwork and cooperation that goes into putting a festival together, but in the end it may help stimulate the local economy. If you want to help Japan out by going to…
Japanese Rice Cakes Posted by Ginny on Apr 7, 2011
The generic term for a Japanese rice cake is mochi (餅). Mochi is made from rice, so although it is a sweet snack, it isn’t high in cholesterol or saturated fats. In the past, mochi was typically consumed for special occasions. Today, people consume mochi both on special occasions and in everyday life. Kiri mochi…