National
NRA makes new reactor safety regimen official
The Nuclear Regulation Authority officially approves new safety requirements for reactors aimed at preventing disasters like the catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Language | BILINGUAL Feb 6, 2012
Hard to give yourself up when you're a wanted man
by Michael Hoffman
‘Hirata Makoto desu. Shuttō shite kimashita.” (「平田信です。出頭してきました」”I am Makoto Hirata. I’ve come to give myself up”). Sure you are! said the first officer he spoke to, in effect. He thought it was an akushitsu na itazura (悪質ないたずら, a malicious prank). Never mind that Hirata ...
Language | BILINGUAL Jan 30, 2012
Japanese films offer some memorable one-liners
by Mark Schilling
Famous movie lines have a way of insinuating themselves into popular culture and language, until even those who know a film only by hearsay quote from it, if only because everyone else does. Japanese films have generated their share of 名せりふ (meiserifu or famous ...
Language | BILINGUAL Jan 23, 2012
It's Murphy's Law if you don't get the joke in Japanese
by Mark Schreiber
If you miss the punch line to a Japanese joke, don’t feel bad. It’s simply unrealistic to use something as elusive as humor to measure your ability to understand a foreign language. On the other hand, knowing what makes people laugh is a great ...
Language | BILINGUAL Jan 16, 2012
Men can be sexy when talking about themselves
by Kaori Shoji
An often misunderstood perception about the Japanese language is that it’s long-winded and excessively polite. True, there’s an entire lexicon devoted to politeness, called keigo (敬語, the language of reverence) and in Kyoto, there’s such a thing as kyūtei kotoba (宮廷言葉, palatial language) — ...
Language | KANJI CLINIC Jan 9, 2012
The Kanji of the Year for 2011: human ties that bind
by Mary Sisk Noguchi
Every November, in its Kanji of the Year poll, the Japanese Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation invites the public to vote for the character that best symbolizes the year drawing to a close. It then announces the winner in mid December. Since 1995, when the ...
Language | BILINGUAL Dec 26, 2011
A look back at the buzzwords and street slang of 2011
by Mark Schreiber
On Dec. 1, publisher Jiyukokumin-sha announced that the winner of its annual 流行語大賞 (ryūkōgo taishō, buzzword grand prix) for 2011 was 撫子ジャパン (Nadeshiko Japan). This of course is the name of the winners of the Women’s Soccer World Cup held last June-July, and you ...
Language | BILINGUAL Dec 19, 2011
Drinking the blues away and how to do it properly
by Kaori Shoji
It’s that time of year when opportunities to reach for a glass, tumbler or ochoko (おちょこ, sake cup) increase by the evening, while days continue to be crammed with duties, professional and otherwise. That’s what shiwasu (師走, the old calendar name for December) is ...
Language | BILINGUAL Dec 5, 2011
Unknown consequences if Japan joins TPP
by Michael Hoffman
Japan couldn’t make up its mind, so it was up to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. On Nov. 13 he made it official: Japan would join multilateral negotiations aimed at forging a free-trading Kan-Taiheiyo Keizai Renkei Kyotei (環太平洋経済連携協定, Trans-Pacific Partnership, TPP). It was an agonizing ...
Language | KANJI CLINIC Nov 28, 2011
Some kanji can take a lifetime to fully appreciate
by Mary Sisk Noguchi
I made my first kanji connection with the graphically unassuming character 生 in the early days of a beginners Japanese class, when I stumbled through a self-introduction using the standard 私は学生です (Watashi wa gakusei desu. I am a student.). My instructor explained that one ...
Language | BILINGUAL Nov 21, 2011
You think you're funny, but really you're not
by Kaori Shoji
In this age of shūshoku hyōgaki (就職氷河期, the employment ice age) the one industry that’s filling young people with hope and plans for the future is this: the world of owarai (お笑い, comedy). Gaining a foothold in other facets of the entertainment business like ...
Language | BILINGUAL Nov 7, 2011
Occupy Tokyo lacks focus but still demands change
by Michael Hoffman
“Tokyo wo senkyo seyo! (東京を占拠せよ！ Occupy Tokyo!”) Tokyo’s “Occupation” last month was a relatively small-scale affair, with crowds measured in hundreds as against thousands and tens of thousands elsewhere in the world. But is size everything? Uōru-gai wo senkyo seyo, (ウォール街を占拠せよ, Occupy Wall Street) ...
Language | BILINGUAL Oct 31, 2011
This Halloween watch out for yūrei of all kinds
by Matt Alt
Urameshiyā! (うらめしやぁ！) Oops! Didn’t notice you there. Don’t mind me. I was just practicing my Japanese ghost-call. “Urameshiyā!” is pretty much the standard opening line for any self-respecting Japanese ghost. It’s nonetheless a word that is peculiarly tough to translate, but in a nutshell ...