Haruki Murakami (Or, I can no longer type in Japanese on my laptop)

I'm probably the only one who still updates their Japanese blog voluntarily. Oh well.

A little over a month ago, I posted the trailer for Norwegian Wood, which I had been reading also at the same time. I've finished Norwegian Wood, and my feelings for it are still mixed. I had a couple people tell me that it would be my cup of tea, but I just couldn't relate really to the characters, especially when I felt that I was supposed to. It was wonderfully well-written, and whenever I read Murakami I end up narrating everything that goes on in my life for a while, as if I was in one of his novels. I also read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which I enjoyed much more, even though it was much dreamier and surreal than Norwegian Wood. That's what I liked about it though; I enjoyed all the detours we took from the "true" plot of the book.

Toru Okada in The Wind-Up Bird, in his passiveness, was much more believable than the passiveness Toru Watanabe portrayed in Norwegian Wood, who I thought was forcing his passiveness almost. It's hard to describe I guess, and it took me a while to finish Norwegian Wood, whereas it only took me a few days to finish The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. This is what happens when I don't have school in the way.

Windows 7 doesn't allow you to type in different languages without a language pack, which costs money unless you have Enterprise or Ultimate or something. I don't, so now I'm left not being able to type in any other language besides English! So as much as an improvement it is over Vista, this one thing is really quite troublesome.

Anyways, that's about it. I'm in the city until the end of July, so that's that.

ノルウェイの森

I'm so excited for this. I've been reading the novel, though with mixed feelings...

Random Update

I miss Japanese class :(

http://yowayowacamera.com/

私の冬休み

わたしのふゆやすみはちゅうごくえいきました。かれといきました。ちゅうごくのシャンハイとホンコンにいました。

とてもおもしろいです。Oriental Pearl Tower おみました。

そして、おおみそかに、ワイタン(The Bund)えいきました。とまだちとかれとさけおのみました。 Privéのクラブえいきました。

さよなら。。。

...forever.

It's been a good run, いちねんせいにほんごクラス. But with 二十一 credits, and the junior year semi-formal, and Lunar Gala planning,　たいへんです。

But I might be making a guest appearance in someone's podcast!

06/11/11 Edit: This didn't seem to post, so I'm posting it now, out of order. I don't think anyone will mind.

じゃまた！

きょう、ブログプロジェクトはおわります。

:(

Maybe I'll keep on adding posts anyway though.

まめしば！！！

My favorite part is the giggle at the end.

Their website, with all the little animation shorts: http://dogatch.jp/mameshibaworld/?red=mameshibaworld

And with subtitles:

Composition #3

わたしはオーサーがけっこんしました。しゅじんはほんおかきます。とてもゆうめいです。わたしたちはやまのうえにいます。うちはとてもおおきいです。さんいんこどもがいます。はたらきません。まいにちうちにいますから、りょうりがじょうずです。まいしゅうパーティーおします。ゆうめいなひとがいます。やまはきれいです。そして、とてもしずかですから、パーティーはにぎやかです。

Katakana Literary Work

Click to enlarge!

"クシュ!" is the onomatopoeia for a sneeze, much like "achoo!" is in English. In general, the use of onomatopoeia in literary works makes the work seem to "come to life," since you can "hear" the sound.

Inspired by Silent Reaper.

Katakana Analysis (final)

"ピーチグミ" is used to phonetically translate "Peach Gummy," which is the name of these candies. However, why not simply translate "Peach Gummy" from English to Japanese? Even if "gummy" is a loan word, the Japanese have their own work for "peach." My only hypothesis as to why they chose to use katakana for the entire phrase is not only as a loan word, but also for emphasis.

Just as Western cultures, in many ways, have a fascination with all things Eastern (and therefore, exotic), the Japanese, and by extension, Eastern cultures, have a fascination with the West. The popularity of anime and manga in the US, and Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt in Asia are a testament to this. By choosing to phonetically translate "Peach Gummy," Kasugai (the company that makes these candies) makes them seem "cool."



In contrast, a company name like "Doritos" must be translated phonetically into "ドリトス", since there is no direct Japanese translation, making it purely a loan word. However, the flavor that is described "ガーリック", or "garlic," is technically a loan word (since it is a phonetic translation of "garlic") but the phonetic translation of the English word "garlic" as opposed to using the Japanese word for garlic means it is also used for emphasis, just like "Peach Gummy."

What is particularly interesting is the use of カタカナ even when the word is originally Japanese, as shown with テリヤキ, shown below. In this instance, the use of カタカナ is for emphasis.



And, just like in the US, popular culture is sometimes featured on packaging.



A commenter on my previous post hypothesized that perhaps カタカナ was used because there is not enough "real" garlic, or "real" peaches in the snack to be actually called a "garlic chip," and it is actually a "garlic flavored chip." However, I don't think this is the case, since there is actually 30% of peach juice in the ピーチグミ, and its name is still in カタカナ.

While it is easy to spot that カタカナ is used for onomatopoeia and loan words, the use of カタカナ for emphasis is a bit fuzzier. Perhaps this is because it's much like the English way of using italics to emphasize words or phrases—it is almost entirely up to the author's discretion.

きれいはしです！

さむらいのかしです。

 

Composition #2

やまださん、

こんにちは！わたしはメイリンです。はじめまして。おげんきですか。

わたしはコロンビアだいがくのさんえんせいです。わたしのせんこうはせいぶついこうがくです。とてもむずかしいが、とてもおもしろい。

もう１１がつです。わたしのたんじょうびは１１がつ３０にちです。いまはたちです。

せいがつはいまとてもいそがしいですが、げんきです。

おとといはハルインです。すてきですが。そしてとてもたのしいです。

どぞうよろしく！

メイリン

じゅういちがつとおか

よたか

Katakana Analysis Draft

"ピーチグミ" is used to phonetically translate "Peach Gummy," which is the name of these candies. However, why not simply translate "Peach Gummy" from English to Japanese? Even if "gummy" is a loan word, the Japanese have their own work for "peach." My only hypothesis as to why they chose to use katakana for the entire phrase is not only as a loan word, but also for emphasis.

Just as Western cultures, in many ways, have a fascination with all things Eastern (and therefore, exotic), the Japanese, and by extension, Eastern cultures, have a fascination with the West. The popularity of anime and manga in the US, and Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt in Asia are a testament to this. By choosing to phonetically translate "Peach Gummy," Kasugai (the company that makes these candies) makes them seem "cool."



In contrast, a company name like "Doritos" must be translated phonetically into "ドリトス", since there is no direct Japanese translation, making it purely a loan word. However, the flavor that is described "ガーリック", or "garlic," is technically a loan word (since it is a phonetic translation of "garlic") but the phonetic translation of the English word "garlic" as opposed to using the Japanese word for garlic means it is also used for emphasis, just like "Peach Gummy."

What is particularly interesting is the use of カタカナ even when the word is originally Japanese, as shown with テリヤキ, shown below. In this instance, the use of カタカナ is for emphasis.



And, just like in the US, popular culture is sometimes featured on packaging.



While it is easy to spot that カタカナ is used for onomatopoeia and loan words, the use of カタカナ for emphasis is a bit fuzzier. Perhaps this is because it's much like the English way of using italics to emphasize words or phrases—it is almost entirely up to the author's discretion.

わたしのしゅうまつ

わたしのかれはきにょうびにきました。どようびにともだちと Flushing えいきました。Dim Sum たべました。おいしいい！






けいにくのあし！

それから、ともだちと　Korea Town (K-Town) えいきました。のみました。

World Order in NYC

Earlier I posted the synchronized running video without really knowing what group did it, where they were, etc. but a friend recently sent me another one of their videos, where they're dancing around New York.



So cool.

It's Illegal to be Fat in Japan

Thanks to an anti-obesity law passed last year, Japanese salarymen across the nation are pulling up their shirts to have their guts measured... and if they're overweight, they face consequences.

If you're male and your waist is over 33.5 inches, you're considered fat. If you're female, the limit is 35.4 inches. Thanks to those burgers, you now have to attend mandatory counseling with a physician. For every grotesquely obese employee like yourself, your company gets hit by a fine; ergo, they strongly encourage you to lose weight with gifts of gym memberships and pedometers.

The goal of all this is to prevent Japan from experiencing an obesity epidemic like so many other industrialized nations. The theory is the less overweight people you have, the lower health care costs will be across the board. Although I think the waistline restrictions are a bit strict (how is a six foot tall foreigner supposed to have a 33-inch waist?), this seems like a good idea overall. America could certainly benefit from less junk in the trunk... but would such a system work here?

http://current.com/news/91443187_its-illegal-to-be-fat-in-japan.htm

---

I agree with the basic concept behind the law, but the blanket rule of measuring waists without taking into account height at all is moronic. At least use BMIs or something.

〒

So I added a 〒 sign to my blog name, since that's apparently the symbol for a post office in Japan.

I have a bio midterm tomorrow I'm not too keen on studying for because I took so much bio in high school it's just tiring now. Sigh.

Anyways, the real purpose of this entry is to reveal my favorite Japanese band, who unfortunately disbanded in 2005.

BUT WHO APPARENTLY REFORMED IN 2008 ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA?!

Okay, well, more research will need to be done.

This is my favorite song by them though. I found it (rather embarrassingly, now that I think back on it) because of the anime InuYasha, which used this as an ending song.

No embedding, unfortunately.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIoDWTF0qSo

PS: I recently bought a Harry Potter poster from eBay AND I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR IT.

べんきょうします。。。

きのわたしごじはんからごぜにょじまでべんきょうしました。

But such is the life of an engineer, I suppose...

And I had an hour and a half meeting in there, so it wasn't exactly straight from 5:30PM to 4AM.

Tonight isn't looking much better. I have a problem set and lab report due tomorrow, as well as my daily vocabulary quiz in にほんご！

真辛苦。。。

The worst part is, this isn't even as busy as I will be later in the semester/next semester.

T___T

So here's a fun video:

From here: http://wimp.com/synchronizedrunning/

Too much Youtube.