Posts from May 2009

Ainu

Posted by Ginny No Comments
May 14 2009

The Ainu (アイヌ) are an indigenous group of people living in Hokkaido (北海道). The Ainu (アイヌ) are the original inhabitants of Hokkaidoo (北海道). It’s a population that’s slowly dying out from poverty and malnutrition. The Ainu (アイヌ) have also intermarried with the Japanese people out of a desire to assimilate into Japanese society.

 

The Ainu (アイヌ) have their own unique culture separate from the Japanese. They have their own language, distinct from Japanese. They are mostly an oral culture. However, they do have a writing system that is based upon the Japanese katakana (かたかな). Unfortunately, assimilation is steadily killing the Ainu (アイヌ) language. There are less and less children that can fluently speak the Ainu (アイヌ) language.

The Ainu (アイヌ) have a striking look as well. The men have long beards and the women tatoo their mouths. Both sexes wear jewelry and clothes made of embroidered cloth. This all pertains to the group of people that choose to remain traditional. The younger generation can been seen wearing just a t-shirt and pants.

 

The history of the Ainu (アイヌ) is a sad one. The relationship between the Japanese government and the Ainu (アイヌ) people has been one of conflict. The Ainu (アイヌ) have had their lands confiscated by the Japanese government and there were numerous attempts to introduce the Japanese language in Ainu (アイヌ) schools. Since 2008, the Japanese government has officially recognized the Ainu (アイヌ) people as an independent group of people separate from Japan. However, discrimination agains the Ainu (アイヌ) still exist. Hopefully, things will change for the better.

Version of Byki Japanese iPhone App – Now you can learn List Central lists on the go!

Posted by margiebrenner No Comments
May 12 2009

New Byki for iPhone v.1.1 Learning the Japanese language any time, any place has just improved with the release of Byki Japanese App for iPhone and iPod Touch v1.1! This version is still only $7.99, and includes the original Byki App’s pre-loaded content of approximately 1,000 Japanese words and phrases. But, it adds a whole new dimension by linking to List Central on Byki.com.

You can now have the power to access and download your favorite Japanese vocabulary lists from the List Central community, including hundreds of lists created by other users. The best part is that users who own Byki Deluxe can now use their Byki Japanese iPhone App to study lists that they create themselves!

With the new version of Byki Japanese for iPhone, your learning can now be customized to your interests when you use it in conjunction with Byki.com. Whether you choose lists from the community or lists that you have created yourself with Byki Deluxe, you can now learn them on the go, wherever and whenever you have five minutes to fit in some language learning!

Try it out, and if you like it, leave a comment on the iTunes store and let the rest of the world know how Byki Japanese helps you with your language learning.

Visit Byki Japanese on the Transparent Language (our parent company) Apple App Store

Izakaya

Posted by Ginny No Comments
May 11 2009

Izakaya (居酒屋) is a place that serves food and drinks. I wouldn’t go so far as to call an izakaya (居酒屋) a restaurant. It’s more of a mini bar that serves food. It’s a place frequented by a lot of office workers called saraii man (サラリーマン) or salary man. It’s packed in the evenings. Workers go there to unleash all the stress they’ve repressed at work. Sometimes co-workers go there to complain about their boss and some heavy drinking may follow afterwards.

Izakayas (居酒屋) are noticeable by the paper lanterns that hang just outside the store. Some of the lanterns are red, and are called akachoochin (あかちょうちん) or red lanterns. The lanterns are meant to attract people to the store.

Some izakayas (居酒屋) are traditional and have tatami (たたみ) mats as seating. A tatami (たたみ) is a mat made by strips of straw woven together. Others are more Western and have stool chairs seen in Western bars.

Before you order, you’ll be offered a oshibori (おしぼり). An oshibori (おしぼり) is a moist white towel to wipe your hands before you eat. It’s a standard service offered at many izakayas (居酒屋). Typically a steaming, hot oshibori (おしぼり) is served in the winter, and a cold one is offered in the summer. Here’s an etiquette tip: don’t use the oshibori (おしぼり) to wipe the sweat off your forehead. I know it can get really hot in the summer, but it’s considered bad manners to wipe your forehead when you’re about to eat. If you really have to wipe off some sweat, bring your own handkerchief and dab your forehead gently.

Before I go, I just want to mention how convenient the menus are for foreign customers. The menus have pictures of the dish. This way, you know what you’re getting. A lot of the dishes are offered in larger quantities at discount prices. It’s a great place to go with a group of friends and share a large bowl of each food you’ve ordered.

Ok, got to go. Jaa ne (じゃあね)! See you then!

Kodomo no Hi

Posted by Ginny No Comments
May 8 2009

May 5th is Kodomo no Hi (こどもの日). Kodomo no Hi (こどもの日) is Children’s Day. It’s part of the Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク) holidays, which includes midori no hi (みどりの日) or Greenary Day, Kenpoo Kinenbi (憲法記念日) or Consitution Day, and Shoowa no hi (昭和の日) or Shoowa Day.

Originally, Kodomo no Hi (こどもの日) was called Tango no Sekku (端午の節句). Tango no Sekku (端午の節句) was known as Boy’s Day, but the government changed it to Children’s Day. On Children’s Day, parents buy their children gifts and spend quality time in a restaurant or at an amusement park. Sometimes parents just spend quality time at home with their children. The whole emphasis on this day is for parents to appreciate their children and for children to be praised and loved by their parents.

You’ll see a lot of homes that have fish streamers called Koinobori (鯉幟). The koinobori (鯉幟) fly in the wind and are held high by poles. The black colored streamers symbolize fathers, the red streamers symbolize the eldest son. If a family has more than one son, other than the eldest, the other sons are represented by either blue, green or purple streamers. The streamers also vary in size. The bigger the streamer, the older the person.

The reason why the streamers are called koinobori (鯉幟) is because koi (鯉) is a type of fish called a carp. Carps are thought to be one of the bigger fishes in Japan, and it symbolizes the parent’s wish to have strong and healthy children. On picnics and other outdoor activities, you may see people eat chimki (ちまき) which is a type of glutinous rice wrapped in a bamboo leaf. The bamboo leaf is just a covering. I just eat the rice, which is mixed with salt or vinegar.

Midori no Hi

Posted by Ginny 2 Comments
May 5 2009

Midori no Hi (みどりの日) is Greenary Day. Greenary Day is kind of like Arbor Day or Earth Day and occurs every May 4th. It’s a day to respect nature and to spend time outdoors. People take family outings to public gardens and take a stroll in the fields. Of course, the majority of people just like to have the day off from work.

This whole day originated from the desire to name it after the late Emperor Shoowa (昭和天皇). However, the Emperor isn’t so popular in other countries, so the Japanese government felt it would be best just to name it Greenary Day. Supposedly the Emperor loved plants and so the day is supposed to indirectly refer to the Emperor.

Well turns out that the government decided to name a day after the Emperor, and just added Greenary Day for Golden Week. Golden Week or gooluden uiiku (ゴールデンウィーク) is sometimes called Oogata renkyuu (大型連休) or Oogun Shuukan (黄金週間). Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク) describes a string of holidays that provide people the opportunity to travel or take a vacation from work.

Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク) is a busy time in Japan. Many of the flights are booked and filled to capacity. If you do manage to get a ticket around this time, it’s going to be way more expensive than any other normal time of the year. One piece of advice I can give you, is that it’s a good idea to book a flight early. That way you don’t have to compete for a seat and pay outrageous prices for it.

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