Pics from Japan: Halloween Lesson

This scary devil is me. I'm with about 30 kids (+parents) and we are trick or treating at a few designated spots. It made for a fun, one time gig. More pics to come in a video on my youtubes.



Wat? Tinsel is teh scary yos.

Ueto Aya Has a Drinking Problem

An Oronamin C drinking problem.



Poor Aya-kun messes up at work and halucinates about posters coming to life. Time for another swig of that special C. At least it didn't make her revert to a perverted form of adolescence like Fantaro.

Okay, the deal is I've been wanting to make a post all about Oronamin C for a while now. But this is not that post. Stay tuned for future postings...

Two New Perverted Clay Videos

False advertising! Only one of these is a perverted video.



Link to the next poster contest here.

Next up, Azuki Pepsi tasting!

Flailing in Slow Motion (music video)

This video will make you feel so good. Stay for the sumo wrestler!



I don't usually see much point in re-posting something from Japan Probe, as most of my readers have probably already bookmarked it, but this find was too good.

Pic of the Moment: Spida

I'm currently sitting under Ropongi Hill's famous spider sculpture. I think it's pregnant, 'cause those white things seem to be eggs.



If you want to see a more natural Japanse spider, albiet with an accent, be sure to check my recent YouTube videos (link on the upper-right of this blog).

I'm off to see the Tokyo Film fest (that's why I'm in the hills)!
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This has been a mobile post

Gods and Devils in the Japanese Language

As a living contradiction, I love linguistic ones.

Here's a breakdown of all the words I use in the vid (besides 一期一会), in WWWJDIC order. Remember, I said in the vid what 鬼 and 神 mean.

Gods and Devils Breakdown:

鬼子母神 【きしもじん; きしぼじん kishimojin/kishibojin】 (n) Hariti (goddess of childbirth and children)
子 shi: child
母 bo/mo: mother

鬼神 【きしん(P); きじん(P); おにがみ kishin/kijin/onigami】 (n,adj-no) fierce god

牛鬼蛇神 【ぎゅうきだしん gyukidashin】 (n,adj-no) wicked and perverse; weird and incoherent
牛 gyu: cow
蛇 da: snake

神算鬼謀 【しんさんきぼう shinsankibou】 (n) inscrutable stratagem; ingenious scheme
算 san: calculate
謀 bou: strategy

神出鬼没【しんしゅつきぼつ shinshutsukibotsu】 (n,adj-no) appearing in unexpected places and at unexpected moments; elusive; phantom
出 shutsu: come out (appear)
没 botsu: without (disappear)

Bonus sentence I found after the video (figure it out on your own :p):
断じて行えば鬼神も之を避く 【だんじておこなえばきしんもこれをさく】 (exp) (id) Where there's a will, there's a way

Pic of the Moment: Macha: Green McFlurry

Not too long ago--er, maybe a year ago, knowing how long it takes me to blog some things-- Makku (that's McD's for those of you outside of Japan) had macha McFlurries. I love macha in my food. Greeny catechin goodness.

Related: Catechin Coke.

Bronze Horses ain't fer Ridin'

Hey folks, this is a test post from my iPhone. I figure it may be a good solution on weeks like these where I go, "Meh, too typhoony to write a post. I'm going home*."
So here we have a sign that was in front of a bronze horse at Edo Wonderland in Nikko. Let's break them nihongoes down!

Breakdown:
此の kono: this (bet you didn't know there was a kanji for this word :-p)
馬 uma: horse
乗る noru: ride/mount
べからず bekarazu: should not (a word only used on signs, never spoken. べかざる+noun is the non-sign version)

Gloss: Stay off this horse statue!

I want to call this sign language, but, well... Anyways, there is also a sign-specific use of こと to tell people what they should do. Ex: 五時に集合のこと= gather at 5.
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*: yes I still live an internet-free life at home. Kinda.

Fantaro Collection

Fantaro (from Fanta [Fanta soda] +Taro [a common name]) is an exchange student that really likes to shake things up. I love these commercials.


Did you catch the handprint joke in the first CM?

Japanese Slang: Salary Man Derivatives

I've noticed that マン (man, from the English) gets used in a lot of words over here. The most common word is サラリーマン (sarariiman) which I think is actually not slang (it's too common), but a set word for Japanese business men (and women) from the British English term salaried man. The ubiquity of salary men has led to the use of a lot of "riiman" getting affixed to other words and used as slang. Here's a few of the manly words.

Mega Salary Man Breakdown:

ザラリーマン: zara (common)+riman= a boring salary-man, like all the rest of them.
Nuance: can be used in self-derision

ヒラリーマン: hira (from 平社員, rank and file staff member)+riiman= a peon with no power at work.
History: this word got a boost when a politician, one the Koizumi Children, described himself as a former peon. "I'm just a small town girl that likes hockey and is looking forward to working with a political maverick," is the quote I think.
Alternate form: hirarii without the man

チャラリーマン: chara (from チャラチャラ, to show off)+riiman= a salary man that tries to pretend he is cool by wearing gaudy clothes and styling their trendy FF7 hair. They reserve a lot of their showing off for outside of work.
Alternate meaning: A salary-man commuting on his granny-bike (from ちゃりんこ).

モバリーマン: moba (mobile phone)+riiman=One of those dudes that can't put the phone or laptop down outside of work and relax.

Maybe I'll do a few more salary-man words some time, but for now, enjoy
Salary-man-man.


EDIT: Oh, care to add your own riiman words, Dear Reader?