Most people know that geisha, kimono and haiku are Japanese words, but did you know that typhoon, tsunami and tofu are also Japanese words? Here are a few other Japanese words we hear in our everyday lives: shiitake, karate, karaoke and Pokemon. Let’s have a look at the meanings of these words.
Japanese is called an agglutinating language because new expressions can be made by connecting existing language elements together. Japanese is written using kanji and each kanji represents one or more ideas. Thus Japanese nouns are often created by putting two or more kanji together and the new word’s meaning is related to the combination of these meanings.
Tsunami for example is written with the kanji for harbor and waves, tsu and nami since in the past the waves arrived without warning and did most damage in harbors.
Another natural force, the typhoon, is also made with two kanji. This is pronounced taifuu in Japanese and is written with kanji for tai and fuu. The first kanji means standing and the second means wind. Despite having high wind speeds, typhoons travel quite slowly so the meaning can be imagined from the combined elements – a typhoon is a wind that seems to stands in one place for a long time.
Typhoons can be very destructive and every year thousands of trees are toppled by them. It’s not all bad news though because typhoons can lead to fresh, wild shiitake mushrooms! In the wild, shiitake mushrooms are generally found on the decaying trunks of fallen Japanese oaks. Shii-take literally means oak-mushroom. Take means mushroom and shi is a type of Japanese tree related to oak trees.
Here’s another food from decay – tofu. Tofu breaks down into tou-fu meaning beans-rot. It might not sound appetising but tofu is actually soured soy-bean milk so “bean rot” is a pretty accurate description.
Tofu can be part of a healthy lifestyle and doing karate can really improve your fitness too. As a pure martial art, karate has the meaning of empty-hand. “Kara” means empty and “te” means hand.
The kara in karaoke also means empty but “oke” is a Japanese abbreviation of “orchestra”. So karaoke means empty-orchestra. It might seem a strange name to English speakers but the idea seems to fit – an orchestra without humans.
Pokemon is our last example. Foreign words are often absorbed into the Japanese language and reused in strange and unfamiliar ways, like the word orchestra in karaoke. Pokemon comes from POcKEt-MONster.
I hope this article has helped you make a little more sense of Japanese words and made learning Japanese seem a little less monstrous!
By: James Penman
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Filed under Reference And Education by on Nov 20th, 2010. 
Imagine keeping fly fishing so simple, that all you take is a rod, short length of line and a minimum of flies. Although many fly anglers may balk at the style, the Japanese traditional form of fishing called “Tenkara” is gaining some followers in America.
This style of angling which has probably been in practice in Japan since the 9th century is sometimes compared to dapping, a form of fly fishing that is often employed in the United Kingdom. In the UK, dapping rods can be as much as 18 foot in length and rather than casting the fly, it is usually allowed to skitter across the water.
Japanese Tenkura uses rods in length up to 13 feet, and a variety of simple but effective casting techniques are used in order to place the fly where the anglers wants it. A much shorter and slower casting stroke is used.
No reel is used to hold the line. Instead, the line is attached directly to the tip of the rod. The line is usually a bit longer than the length of the rod.
In this style, it is claimed that there is more control over the fly. The line that is used is much lighter than the fly lines that are generally used today. However, similarly to conventional fly fishing, a length of tippet material is attached to the line, and a fly is then attached to the end of the tippet.
Tenkura fishing can be done on streams and small rivers, however due to the light weight of most of the rods, it’s recommended that the tippet material be no stronger than 5 lb. test. As a result, this style of fishing is not suitable when larger game fish are the target.
The rods are available in a telescoping style which means they can be packed in on camping and backpacking trips. Tenkura traditionalists also carry with them a minimum of fly fishing patterns, although they use both dry and wet flies.
This style of angling may not be for everyone, but those who enjoy it claim that it offers them a simpler way of catching fish with flies with a minimal amount of equipment.
By: Ian Hugh Scott
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Filed under Recreation And Sports by on Nov 20th, 2010.
Japanese history includes alternating periods of isolation and revolutionary influences from the rest of the world. As early as the Jomon period from about 14000BC to 300 BC, Japan had a hunter-gatherer lifestyle; wooden stilt houses, pit dwelling, and agriculture. Weaving was still unknown and the ancient Japanese clothing consisted of fur. However, some of the world’s oldest pottery is found in Japan, along with daggers, jade, combs made form shell and clay figures.
The period thereafter to 250 BC saw the influx of new practices like weaving, rice sowing, iron and bronze making influenced by china and Korea. Chinese travelers describe the men ‘with braided hair, tattooing and women with large, single-piece clothing.’ Initially ancient Japanese clothing consisted of single piece clothing. The ancient and classical Japan begins from the middle of the 3rd century to 710. An advanced agricultural and militaristic culture defines this period. By 645, Japan rapidly adopted Chinese practices and reorganized its penal code.
The peak period of ancient Japan and its imperial court is from 794 to 1185. Art, poetry, literature and trade expeditions continued with vigor. Warlords and powerful regional families ruled ancient Japan from 1185 to 1333 and the emperor was just a figure head. By the Japanese Middle Ages, Portugal had introduced firearms by a chance landing of their ship at Japanese coast; samurai charging ranks were cut down; trade with Netherlands, England and Spain had opened up new avenues. Several missionaries had entered Japan as well.
Distinct features of the lifestyle, ancient Japanese clothing and women is difficult to decipher for the simple reason that it is super-imposed by the Chinese culture. Ancient Japan readily adopted other cultures and practices and most of its own culture is lost among these adaptations.
Ancient Japanese clothing was mostly unisex, with differences being in colors, length and sleeves. A Kimono tied with an Obi or a sash around the waist was the general clothing and with the advent of western clothing are now mostly worn at home or special occasions. Women’s obi in ancient Japanese clothing would mostly be elaborate and decorative. Some would be as long as 4meters and tied as a flower or a butterfly. Though a Yukata means a ‘bath clothing’, these were often worn in the summers as morning and evening gowns. Ancient Japanese clothing consisted of mena and women wearing Haori or narrow paneled jacket for special occasions such as marriages and feasts. These are worn over a kimono and tied with strings at the ****** level.
The most interesting piece of ancient Japanese clothing is the ju-ni-hitoe or the ‘twelve layers’ adorned by ladies at the imperial court. It is multi-layered and very heavy and worn on a daily basis for centuries! The only change would be the thickness of the fabric and the number of layers depending on the season. Princesses still wear these on weddings.
Since the Japanese people don’t wear footwear inside their homes, tabi is still worn. These are split -toe socks woven out of non-stretch materials with thick soles. Clogs have been worn for centuries in ancient Japan and were known as Geta. These were made of wood with two straps and were unisexual. Zori was footwear made of softer materials like straw and fabric with a flat sole.
Ancient Japanese clothes, culture and footwear are slowly regaining their popularity with the western world. There is an honest curiosity in knowing more, wearing kimonos or using silk fabrics with beautiful floral prints from the ‘land of the rising sun’.
By: Christopher Schwebius
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Filed under Arts And Entertainment by on Nov 20th, 2010.
Since the creation of Japanese animation movies, the world has learned to fall in love with them and since many are in Japanese, you will see that people have gotten used to reading the subtitles and still enjoy watching these movies. Animated movies in Japan began in 1917, and since have gone on to make more than just movies but animated cartoon series.
Some of these Japanese animation movies would be suitable for little children, however since a growing majority of adult viewers started watching the movies make more mature and with more mature scenes that little children could not watch. However they also started creating more family oriented movies that the whole family and not just kids or adults could watch.
Since the movies were animated it was easier for the creators of the Japanese animation movies to be creative and go all out with art and the drawings. You could find that the movie was very imaginative and full of fantasy. It was easier for the movie director to make a story work because it was animated and all the olden Japanese stories of vampires and all other creatures were easily created and made for entertaining movies. Another key figure in Japanese animation would be the samurai and his sword. Many of the movies featured samurai warriors and the funny thing was that they were warriors of the past in the future is actually quite interesting to watch.
Many of the animation was like a work of art and the work of Japanese calligraphy and Japanese painting also came into play in creating most of the qualities of the animation style. If you are looking for animated Japanese movies then you can always get them from the internet and they are quite interesting to watch.
By: Peter Gitundu
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Filed under Arts And Entertainment by on Nov 20th, 2010.
You cannot but be impressed by Japanese tattoos. The intricate detail and stunning colours set Japanese tattoos apart, placing them in a league of their own. They are thought of, by many, to be the pinnacle of tattoo art.
Japanese tattoos are complicated and very detailed. Often they extend over large portions of the body, for example the entire back of the wearer. Getting a Japanese tattoo is long and often painful process, but one that is worth the effort for the rich clarity and detail of the scenes. The tattoos are truly works of art, not some horrid piece of ink slapped on in a drunken haze on holiday as are too many tattoos these days.
The history of Japanese tattoos as an artform is interesting. In the early 1600s, tattoos were worn proudly by Japanese people. The tattoos would be shown off and were much admired. A stark contrast to today where very often, tattoos are regarded by large portions of society as something to cover up and hide, especially in corporate contexts. There is one “corporation” though, that still encourages tattoos; the Yakuza.
The Yakuza are basically the Japanese mafia. A strictly organised criminal society, that has spread its influence throughout Japanese society – politics, media, you name it, the Yakuza will have infiltrated it. And with them, the Yakuza have brought their tattoos more and more into the mainstream. Japanese Yakuza tattoos, also called irezume are often still hand-poked – in other words, they are created without the aid of electric tattoo needles, making the actual tattoos more expensive and more painful to have done, not to mention slower – in fact some of the larger more intricate tattoos have been known to take years to complete.
By: Baz VonDemHagen
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Filed under Arts And Entertainment by on Nov 20th, 2010.
By: GreenwavesShieera
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Filed under Languages by on Nov 19th, 2010.
Are you looking for the answer to the question “what is the best way to learn Japanese”? If so, keep reading, because you are in the right place. In this article I’m going to help you! Here are three tips that will help you learn Japanese in the best way possible.
1. Language classes and handbooks don’t work
If you are looking for the best way to learn a language, then don’t take classes and don’t learn from a handbook. Really, these are the least effective methods to learn a new language. If you want to learn quickly, then learn on your own. It’s way cheaper and multiple times more effective.
2. Have fun
The best way to learn something is to have fun while doing it. Have fun with Japanese: read manga, watch anime, speak with native Japanese speakers, watch Japanese movies. All of these methods are very fun and that’s why they are very effective.
3. Travel or move to Japan
Okay, this is the most effective way to learn a language. If you live in a place in which your target language is spoken, then you have dozens of opportunities every day to learn and practice your target language. If you really want to learn Japanese and if you can travel or move to Japan, then do it. Make Japanese friends and practice on a daily basis!
These three tips will greatly help you learn Japanese. All you need to do is to take action and put them to use. Don’t forget that the best way to learn Japanese is to immerse yourself on a daily basis. You should spend most of your time using your new language, not studying it. Good luck and have fun!
By: John Doey
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Visit Language Learning Tips and sign up right now to get your FREE e-book and FREE lessons on learning languages quickly and effectively and learn Japanese even in a year or two.
Filed under Reference And Education by on Nov 19th, 2010.
Japanese Knotweed is native to China, Korea, and Japan, but it can also be found in parts of Europe and America. It is an excellent source of Resveratrol. In fact, Japanese Knotweed has long been used for centuries to cure maladies in China.
Many of the companies that manufacturer resveratrol supplements use Japanese Knotweed rather than grapes because it is available all year long. It means they can produce the supplement all year round without worry about their supply becoming depleted. We should mention Japanese Knotweed is also much cheaper than red grapes.
Japanese Knotweed has been used for centuries by eastern medicines in treating and curing heart and liver ailments. It has also long been used to relieve arthritis pain, women’s health, liver disease, and the list goes on. Knotweed is not new to the world of herbal medicine.
Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that is able to slow down the aging process and even reverse signs of aging. It is also powerful in reducing the incidence of diseases related to age such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and alzheimers. And yes, it reduces fine lines and wrinkles too.
Resveratrol has become quite the buzz; in fact, it’s being referred to as the elixir or youth. Not surprising since it can make you look and feel younger inside and out. That is because as an antioxidant it does such a great job of removing the free radicals from the body that wreak havoc by damaging cells, and cause you to age.
Until just recently research had only been conducted in mice, but recently human studies have begun. While it will take some time to prove what so many already know, what these studies do is open the doors for the drug companies to create a chemical version of resveratrol, which they hope to have to market in the next ten years.
Scientists believe that with the resveratrol pill that will likely be released in the next 10 years we will likely be able to live to 100 in good health and without many of the ailments we face today.
There is really no reason to wait, because you can purchase natural resveratrol supplements as well as anti aging skin care products that contain resveratrol already. Many have been using them for some time and swear by the benefits they have experienced.
You will want to try it for yourself and see what the results are. What you do need to do is be patient. Changes do take some time to happen, but soon you will look and feel younger.
So while the scientists are busy confirming what so many already, many more will begin to enjoy the benefits of resveratrol today rather than a decade or so from now.
By: Matt Anderson
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Filed under Health And Fitness by on Nov 19th, 2010.
By: Jamess
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Filed under 2109 by on Nov 19th, 2010.
The following article includes pertinent information that may cause you to reconsider what you thought you understood about learning Japanese. The most important thing is to study with an open mind and always be willing to revise your study methods to improve your understanding of the language if necessary.
It seems like new or newly renovated information is discovered about something every day. The topic of Japanese language is no exception.
If you are a speaker of English, or any other European language, you will find that Japanese is somewhat different, some considering this different language an impossible language to learn and although this may seem so for the beginner, I can assure you that it is more than possible. It just takes time… and effort.
If you are thinking of studying this language you will find that you will have a huge advantage right from the word go. This advantage comes from the long lived obsession that the Japanese people have with English. Many foreign words, the majority of them of English origin are in use in Japan. They are used commonly everyday and have become a part of everyday Japanese language. However, the problem that a learner of Japanese commonly faces is the inability to understand these words when they are heard. That is because these words are often corrupted to the point where they are no longer recognizable by a native speaker of English. This corruption is not limited to just foreign words and you will soon see that the Japanese like to shorten any words that are long, even their own names.
Foreign words being used in Japan can be learned really easily and quickly. Quicker than anyone would have thought. That just leaves the learner with the task of learning an extra few thousand words to increase their Japanese vocabulary.
Here are a few examples of some English words that have been shortened. They are common words and are used daily in Japan.
The word ‘building’ has been shortened to ‘biru’ – pronounced like the name Bill. It is most commonly used in conversation, but it is not commonly used in literature. The Japanese word ‘tatemono’ is preferred.
Another example are the word(s) ‘ballpoint pen’. These words have been shortened and are now known as ‘boru pen’. If you were to ask a Japanese person for a Ballpoint Pen, many of them would not know what you were asking for. This is a good example of the corruption of English words. Young Japanese people do not even know that the word was once English.
By: Lucas Uren
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Filed under Reference And Education by on Nov 19th, 2010.