Nihongo Ninja

Happy late New Year (and new decade), everyone! Like with my Christmas in Japan post, I did some research on Japanese New Years and compiled it to share now. What's New Years like in Japan, and what relevance does it have to Japanese culture? New Years in Japan「日本の正月」 Main Tradition Overview In my Christmas in Japan  post, we talked about how American New Years is like Japanese Christmas, and American Christmas is like Japanese New Years. That's because Japan is heavily Shinto/Buddhist, as opposed to Christian. A New Year's card from 2020, the year of the rat. I guess a mouse is close enough! Many Japanese people tend to follow both Shinto and Buddhist traditions on New Years, maybe going to a shrine the day of and a temple the day after. Large temple bells (除夜の鐘, Joya no Kane) are rung at midnight 108 times, signifying the worldly desires people experience throughout their lives. On New Year's Eve, many people eat buckwheat noodles. These long so...

Merry late Christmas, everyone! I know it's almost a month late, but I did some research on what Christmas is like in Japan, and wanted to share some of the most interesting information I found. What's Christmas like in Japan, and what relevance does it have to Japanese culture? Christmas in Japan「日本のクリスマス」 Christmas Day Japan is mostly Shinto/Buddhist, so Christianity doesn't have much of an influence. This means that Christmas doesn't have much religious or cultural meaning. It's more of a consumerist holiday, similar to New Years in the U.S. (and unlike New Years in Japan). Many consumerist traditions were brought to Japan from U.S. and other foreign companies. Christmas Cakes 「クリスマスケーキ」 are extremely popular. They're generally sponge cakes decorated with strawberries and whipped cream. Tokyo Disneyland's "Christmas Fantasy" is very popular, especially for families with young children. The entire park is decorated themed to ...

Recently, I participated in "Onigiri Action", a fundraiser sponsored by Table for Two that ended on Wednesday, November 20th. For every picture of Onigiri posted to their website or #onigiriaction on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, Table for Two donated 5 meals to children in need- and with almost 300,000 Onigiri photos from around the world, 8,000 warm meals are being provided to children for a year! Learn more at  https://onigiri-action.com/en/ . This made me wonder: What are Onigiri, and what makes them so important to Japanese culture? Here is some information I presented to my school's Japanese Culture Club for our Onigiri meeting and to prepare us for the lunchtime Onigiri Action event we put on. Onigiri「おにぎり」 What are Onigiri? Not 鬼義理 (oni-giri), demon obligation, Onigiri is the Japanese word for “rice ball”. They’re an easy to carry meal, having a rice + side dish (the filling), which gives you enough energy to finish the day. They’re made for ma...

Hello everyone! Before going to Japan, I knew there were some interesting words in katakana (read more about katakana here:  https://thenihongoninja.blogspot.com/2019/04/writing.html ), but there are some that are very interesting- especially those that come from English but have completely different meanings. It was a bit awkward when my host family asked if I needed their "consent", but that's just an example of an interesting change- it really means "electrical outlet", from "concentric plug"- not that we use that word in English often. What are 和製英語 (wasei-eigo), and what are some examples? Japanese-made English「和製英語」 What is 和製英語？ “Japanese-made English” or “English words coined in Japan”, wasei-eigo are expressions used in the Japanese Language that are based off of English words or word combinations, but don’t necessarily make sense in English. Some terms are recognizable as English, but others may be English word combinations that don’...

２０１９年７月５・６・７日 旅行の ７ 日・８日・９日 こんにちは皆さん、 (Konnichiwa minasan,) Japanese elementary schools are a lot different than American elementary schools. I learned that firsthand today when I volunteered at 都南小学校 (Tonan Elementary School). First of all, not many American elementary schools would have three stories + roof access! We didn’t go on the roof (and I don’t think people are allowed up there often), but that that is an option. As we walked in, elementary school kids hung out of every window waving and yelling “hello” at us. I haven’t had much experience with elementary school besides being in one, but I think the atmosphere was a bit different here. The kids were very talkative and energetic, moreso than America, but also good at listening to direction- pushing tables to the side quickly so we could teach them “duck duck goose” and being fully in charge of serving each other lunch. They were learning about metamorphosis and had boxes of tens of silkworms. They really liked us holdin...

２０１９年７月 3 ・ 4 日 旅行の 5 日・ 6 日 こんにちは皆さん、 (Konnichiwa minasan,) These past two days, I’ve done a lot of shopping! First, we went to 秋葉原 (Akihabara), a very busy electric-and-geek culture shopping Mecca for anime-lovers and technology-fanatics alike. Wherever you are in Akihabara, you’re likely to be able to see some kind of anime girl staring down at you from a poster, sign, or shop window trying to get you to buy their products. I spent my 3 hours of free time shopping with a friend at various stores- looking for any merchandise of my favorite characters and shows or anything else that might be nice to have. Some of these stores include Mandarake (a secondhand-yet-high-quality merchandise shop), amiami (a big anime/manga merchandise shop within Radio Kaikan, a huge 10 floor mall) and Gachapon Kaikan (a shop dedicated to capsule-toy vending machines). I found a couple things I liked but ended up getting less than I expected. I also got to try some made-on-the-spot Takoyaki, which ...

1 日 7 月２０１９年・２日７月２０１９年 旅行の 3 日・ 4 日 こんにちは皆さん、 (Konnichiwa minasan,) It’s been a bit busy going to new places every day! I’ve been busy from when I wake up to around 9-10PM going places, speaking Japanese with friends, or just working on homework together. One of the assignments is actually to keep a diary in Japanese, so I’ll end up having a log of my travels in both Japanese and English! Because I was very tired last night, I am going to record my travels for yesterday and today in one post. Yesterday, it truly hit me that I was in Japan. Walking to 参宮橋駅 (Sangubashi-eki), I looked around and really felt like I was in Japan. This feeling intensified more as we waited on the platform for our train to arrive and started our way towards Shibuya. I never thought walking through a train station could be so exciting, but it almost felt like I was in an underground city. Once we resurfaced, a canopy of tropical-looking trees and suspended roads sheltered us from the non-existent s...

30日６月２０１９年 旅行の 2 日 こんにちは皆さん、 (Konnichiwa minasan,) It’s funny waking up early, getting on a nine-hour flight  at 11:30AM , and then arriving  at 1:30PM  the next day! It’s like I went 26 hours into the future. The moment I stepped off the plane, Florida-like humidity slapped me in the face. I could already feel my hair complaining, threatening to puff into a black cloud of ugly, but who cares- I had made my first step in Japan. Lots of escalators later (one welcoming me to Japan with Mario characters!) I got my baggage and went through customs and immigration. Afterwards, it was a bit of a maze to find the post office and get my WiFi hotspot, but after I discovered their map kiosks it got a lot easier- they’ve got touchscreen maps that support a multitude of languages which show you the exact path to take to get to your destination, and can even print mini customized maps! Once I found those, it became a lot easier to get my hotspot and then exchange my USD for ...

I am traveling to Japan with Intrax Ayusa these next three weeks! I'll be documenting my travels and experiences here, so everyone can see what it's like to be in Japan from my perspective. Feel free to ask any questions! 29日６月２０１９年 旅行の１日 こんにちは皆さん、 (Konnichiwa minasan,) Today, I’m flying to Narita International Airport in Japan! It’s my first time travelling internationally by myself, but having a direct flight and not needing to worry about connections makes it a lot less stressful than it could’ve been. I got through security without a hitch- I don’t like SEA-TAC’s new TSA conveyor system but having been through it a week prior going to California for college tours, I knew how it worked. There are three lines, but everyone lines up in the last one- so I got to practically skip the line by just knowing which to go to. That was pretty sweet! I had a lot of time to catch the tram to S gates, and there was an open seat at the electronics table right next to my gate- ...