Big Bird in Japan (1989)

Due to a random link posted by a friend on Facebook today, I was introduced to Big Bird in Japan, a TV special from 1989, featuring Sesame Street’s Big Bird.

I found the whole show in YouTube, and here it is!  It’s not great quality (especially the last two parts, which have a lot of background noise), but I’m nevertheless very grateful to the person who posted them on YouTube!

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I found this show really interesting and entertaining, especially the little “ichi ni san” song Big Bird learns with the Japanese kids! It was also interesting to see a couple of places I have been to, and to see how they looked 20 years ago!

Motivation…

A student asked me today, “how do you keep yourself motivated to study Japanese?”.  I found it really hard to answer her question. Recently I haven’t been very motivated. Despite the looming Japanese test, I have been feeling that I don’t want to study much. I’m sick of all the grammar and vocab…. I feel that it’s too much in too little time, and I’m drowning in things I can’t possibly understand in the next two weeks.

But, this evening, I went to the convenience store (conbini). I wanted something warm and filling for dinner, and I found a new soba with tempura in the fridge section. I scanned the ingredients to look for meat kanjis. I couldn’t see any, but I wasn’t 100% certain (I don’t eat cows and pigs, you see). So, I asked the conbini girl in Japanese…

あの。。。かんじ　あまり　よめない。肉がはいっていますか？ (Um… I can’t really read much kanji. Is there meat in this?)

I’ve asked this question before. Many times. Usually the shop assistant freaks out at the scary foreigner asking something in Japanese, which makes me freak out about my bad Japanese, and then we both freak out together and I leave with either no food, or something which probably has meat in it.

But tonight, she just smiled, read the pack, and responded:

はいってないよ (or something like that). (There’s no meat in it.)

And with that small conversation, and the understanding smile of the conbini girl, I re-found my motivation.

That’s why I am studying Japanese. Because I want to communicate. I want to have longer conversations. I want to speak to Japanese people. I want to, one day, read that damn package myself!  It’s easy to lose motivation when other factors kick in.  Life is hectic right now.  Work is busy, and I’m often too tired to study.  But if I can just keep remembering that feeling, that satisfaction of having a whole conversation another language, no matter how short, then maybe, just maybe, I can keep motivated, and maybe I can do this…

がんばります！

Ichihashi

I don’t often get into anything too serious when I blog, but I feel compelled to share this news story with you today:  http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20091105a1.html.

As I am sure many of you know, in 2007 a British woman named Lindsay Ann Hawker was murdered in Japan.  Her killer has been at large ever since, and the suspect is Tatsuya Ichihayshi.  According to the Japan Times article above, Ichihashi has undergone appearance altering surgery and has been sighted recently in Nagoya.  They say the police will be releasing postoperative photo images soon.

I find it amazing that the police can have all this ‘information’ about a wanted man, and still not be able to catch him.  He’s been running for so long now.  Now, I can’t judge if he really did commit the crime or not, but if they suspect him, they should have at least caught and questioned him by now.

Lindsay’s parents have been searching for an answer ever since she was taken from them, and I really think they deserve to have a police force who are willing to work a little bit harder on the case.  I know nothing can bring her back now, but they need some kind of resolution.

I don’t know if there’s anything that we can do to help in this search, but please check the Lindsay Ann Hawker website and Facebook group.  And of course, if you’re in Japan, keep your eyes open, and stay aware of the people around you.  I can’t believe he would strike again, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.

If you have any information please visit the Lindsay Ann Hawker contact page or email: info@lindsayannhawker.com. You can contact the Japanese police on 00 81 47 397 0110.

Pocky

One thing I promised myself before I came to Japan was that I wouldn’t get hooked on Pocky.  On my first visit to Japan in 2006 I ate a lot of Pocky and brought a lot of it back with me.  It was one thing I was aware of before I came here, and I had to try it.  After that I occasionally bought it from the Asian food stores in London.  But I managed to avoid it pretty well when I moved here last year.  (Instead, I got hooked on Kit Kats, but that’s another story…)

Anyway, today, perhaps for the first time, I found myself on the Pocky website.  It’s an awesome site, and incredibly cute.  Actually, it reminds me a lot of the Kit Kat website, Breaktown.  I wonder which came first?  I noticed on the site that they seem to be having some kind of dance contest.  I can’t read much of the site, but don’t let the Japanese put you off – the videos are great!  Try to find the one of the little kid dancing with two sticks of Pocky in his hands!  Haha!  There’s so much stuff on the site besides actual Pocky, I was quite surprised.  Everything from dancing, to human beatboxing, to this strange sound machine/game thing!  There’s actually a whole page of games on there, including applications for iPhones.  I love this retro “Pocky Balloon” game, which you can play on your PC.

Actually, I have to say, I found it a little difficult to find the actual chocolate on the Pocky website! But I found it in the end: here it is! I wish I could start collecting Pocky like I do Kit Kats, but I know that would be beyond my budget, and it would be very bad for my waistline!!  There are so many amazing flavours out there though…

Oh, and I mustn’t forget to mention, November 11th is, I think, International (?) Pocky Day!  (See, the date is 11.11, which kinda looks like four sticks of Pocky…).  And this year is also Pocky’s 11th anniversary, so that’s even more 1s to add to the equation!

There’s a delicious new “fruits mix” flavour out to celebrate:

As the Pocky catchphrase goes… “Stick to fun!”  Um.. right! 

P.S. For those of you living in the UK, have you seen something called Mikado?  Well I saw this in the summer and thought it was a rubbish Pocky rip off, but actually it’s Pocky’s UK cousin! A distant and less attractive relative!   I think it’s named Mikado after the game, also known as “pick-up sticks”, which I remember loving as a kid.

 

In 33 days…

…I will be taking the JLPT 3 Kyu (Japanese Language Proficiency Test, level 3).

Today happens to be a holiday, Bunka no Hi (or, Culture Day), so I have been spending my day in my PJs, drinking tea, eating satsumas (mikan), and studying, studying, studying!

My Japanese teacher has been great.  She’s been piling me up with reams and reams of homework every week in order to help me prepare for the exam. But I think I might have reached my maximum.  I feel like my brain is exploding with kanji and grammar, and as fast as I shove some new piece of information in something else just leaks out the other side.

What does it matter anyway?

Well, it doesn’t. I mean, I don’t have to pass this exam for any reason other than to please myself.  If I don’t pass it this year I can always try again next year.  But, the thing is, I’ve been studying Japanese since September 2006.  That means that by the time I take the exam I will have been studying Japanese for about three years and two months.  Granted, when I was in England, although I did have a fantastic teacher, I couldn’t take my studies that seriously due to work and other commitments.  But now I’ve been living in Japan for over a year and seven months, I think I really should have something to show for my efforts.

I know, in the end, all I can do is keep studying for another month and try my best.  But I also know that come February/March next year when the results are in, if I don’t pass, I’m not going to be a happy bunny.

So how can I maximise my time?

Well, I think I already have way too many textbooks, website links, handouts etc. (I’m drowning in resources!) – I just need to work out how to use what I have to the best effect.  Before dinner tonight I’m going to try a practice listening paper (I already took practice writing/vocabulary and reading/grammar tests today), and then for the rest of the night I’m going to study kanji.  I get the feeling that kanji might be the key for me.  In everything I’ve done so far my two main stumbling blocks have been not being able to read the kanji, and not knowing the vocab.  With grammar, you can often guess at what sounds right, but if you don’t know the meaning of a word, or you can’t read the kanji, you’re screwed.

So, who else out there is trying the exam this year (any level)?  Why not say ‘hi’ below and let’s support each other in this! がんばろうね！

Grass-eaters…

Today, a friend of mine used the phrase “grass-eaters” in an email, and I really couldn’t fathom what she was talking about!  I queried the phrase, and she sent me a link to a very interesting article.  According to Slate, Japan is currently panicking about “the rise of ‘grass-eating men’, who shun sex, don’t spend money, and like taking walks“. These so called “grass-eating men”, in complete contrast to the “metrosexual” Japanese man (who likes to straighten his hair and wear expensive pink shirts) get pleasure from living a more natural life, and probably even use an eco-bag (pronounced in Japan as “echo-bag”) when he buys his organic vegetables.

So where does the phrase “grass-eating men” come from?  Well, apparently it comes from the Japanese “soushoku danshi”.  See here for another interesting article on this subject, which explains the Japanese term.  “Soushoku” means “herbivorous” or “grass-eating” and “danshi” means “young man”. The term was coined by Maki Fukasawa, a Japanese editor and columnist for NB Online, in 2006.

So, why is this such a bad thing?  A guy who likes to cook, take long walks, stay home and relax, be kind, sweet and sensitive… sounds good, right?  However, the other side of these so called “grass-eaters” is that apparently they have no interest in finding a girlfriend, although they could if they wanted to.  They’re quite happy to stay home alone and persue their hobbies, and have no interest in relationships or sex.  According to some surveys quoted in the Slate article, in one survey 61% of unmarried Japanese men in their 30s identified themselves as “grass-eaters”, and in another 75% of single Japanese men in their 20s-30s thought they were herbivores, too.  Hmm.  I guess this doesn’t bode well for the future of the Japanese race!

What do you think? Do you know guys like this? Does it matter?  Are single girls in Japan going to have to do all the work now if they want to get a date?

Share your thoughts below, please!