japanese Juuitchan the national language of Japan, written using kana, kanji, and a few other characters. Sung, it sounds very cute. The only consonant that can end a word is N. 010830 ... . : * p s y b o r g * : . Japanese is my favorite language. I wish they had it for language learning classes in more high schools. Especially in pathetic small towns like mine. 011024 ... bijou god damn those half japanese boys, do it to me every time. i like em real tall. with bleached hair. *drool* 011025 ... Sonya lol...sounds like we have a fellow weezer fan on our hands!!! :) Japanese culture is very rich. I love their language, their customs, their foooood, and especially their arts and of course ANIME!!!!! 011025 ... Arekuzandah Biituru (kabuto!!) Who needs high school lessons? Teach yourself, that's what I've been doing! It's not as hard as you'd think! If only I could manage to build an actual vocabulary (and pick out more than one word in a spoken sentence!), I'd have it made. 011027 ... ellen cherry charles rice crackers, mm 020128 ... cube (I'm sure to catch flack for this one) One cannot but see the economic power struggle between east and west. At one time, i was sure the east would win, but now, i'm not so sure. I was concerned for the future. Would we in the west become the poor cousins of our eastern landlords? I stopped buying as many Japanese products as possible in the hope of stemming the tide. Not an easy thing to do, of course. At one time the work ethic of the Japanese was frightening. Sure, some of them were committing suicide under the relentless pressure, but a small price to pay for the success of a nation. Now i'm happy to report that the next generation is turning out to be as spoiled and lazy as our own. Ok, maybe that much ambition takes another generation to tone down, but the writing is on the wall. Proud they are too of their achievements - and rightly so. I should encourage that pride, for as we all know, "pride goeth before a fall"... ³ 020128 ... Saint you're right about catching flak i mean, hey, at least rednecks are obvious. What, during that time you were so worried about it all, did you run around like a rabid talk show host waving banners that screamed "Yellow Peril! Yellow Peril!" at anything that looked remotely Asian? oh, i forgot we should all be euro-centric and genuflect to the history and hegemony of the last people on earth to realize that the earth was neither flat nor the center of the universe. the truth is a lot more insidious. We as Americans, are a cultural plague on the rest of the world. I may be proud to be an american, but for fucksakes, when i get to travel overseas, i don't want every place i go to have a McDonalds and a Circle K on every corner i like loud neon-lit places to be sure, but i'd rather they retain their local charm. there's some cool places on the Ginza i need to get back to...sigh i had some great fun getting into trouble in the east. 020129 ... Casey I should learn this one day 020129 ... cube Waving banners isn't my style. I just stopped bying Japanese products in favor of North American ones wherever possible. I don't deny that i would probably be driving a better car if it was Japanese. Some are inclined to deny that a global economic war exists. They probably care less about who their descendents will be competing against for employment opportunities. Will they to be fluent in Japanese? No harm in learning a new language. Will they no longer be able to expect upper management positions because their roots are not in Asia? Perhaps in this ever shrinking globe the issue is becoming moot. I am willing to listen to a good argument in favor of selling our heritage - if you can come up with one... ³ 020129 ... DannyH Will they ever tell us where they buy their sunglasses? 020130 ... Grievance I am an admirer of the Japanese culture. Just like any other culture, they have their fall backs. But, in comparing American and Japanese cultures I've found they answer each other's questions alot of the time. I've been loosely studying Japanese culture for about two years now, and some things really strike me. Yes, the Americans are a cultural plague, as well as a cultural thief, but, I think there's also a beauty in that, when it's a sharing, another source of humanity. Their traditional houses don't have any real doors, only sliding ones with thin papers between each room, allowing you to see the shadows of what is in the other rooms. Japanese truly respect each others privacy, they don't need locks on their doors to keep their sibblings or parents or anyone else out, they simply respect their privacy. While at the same time, privacy is not as much valued in Japan, where public baths are still in common use for many people. They are a naturally intelligent people, and the way they communicate to each other is complex. Their language is often as much a barrier to their emotions as an expression of it, due to that, they have had to develop many ways in which to communicate. They consider humbleness one of the greatest traits in existance, though also honor, traditionally speaking anyway. The Japanese are also very adaptable, they have been able to integrate Western ideals into their marketing and production in a very short time. What really strikes me in cultural Japan, is their wide range of emotions, and great capability of expressing them. Translated clearly, even some of the simple things they say are poetic. of course, that's true also of some English things, but not very many. To me, that's a small portion of the good things in Japan. They also have their general faults, just as every other culture. For Americans, it might be pride, or their position, or their blind eyes to their own cultural centrism. There are exceptions, and the realizations are coming for most Americans though. And for the Japanese, it might be a lack of forsight from their changing times, or their brutal belief in honor. However, there is a general realization in Japan of the limitations of their own rigidness formed from wives tales and war. for me, the point of which culture is in the lead is moot. I believe, if all cultures can learn from each, that's an achievment. You can't gain peace with a sword. Swords lead to more swords in defiance of being forced. New orders, reformation, destruction of war.. those are some of the lessons taught in the East. Independence, development, and diffusion.. some of the lessons of the West. 020130 ... Grievance my, that was long, and not good enough to take up that much space, sorry. 020130 ... werewolf chotto sumimasen, demo onsen wa doko desu ka? 020419 ... karasu totemo isogashii desu (so much so that i shouldn't be blathing just now) 020419 ... werewolf ima blather o surubekinai hodo isogashii desu 020419 ... werewolf anata no nihongo wa doo desu ka? 020419 ... Sailor Jupiter I love listening to this language. I wish I could speak it. I love saying, "sue me ma sen" over and over. It sounds coolie 020419 ... werewolf sumimasen demo, anata wa chotto kawaii! honto ni! anata no hanasukata wa chotto omoshiroi. Watashi to anata wa aubeki desu demo anata wa wakai daroo to omoimasu. 020425 ... sweetheart of the song tra bong half_japanese_girls 020425 ... Sailor Jupiter Werewolf, I've been told i've been cute before. ^_^ 020425 ... somebody ƒIƒŠƒWƒiƒ‹ 020503 ... werewolf demo hajimeru no watashi kara kikimashita 020504 ... e.a. read this, you won't regret it. http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~thoureau/japanese.html 020507 ... werewolf arigato... 020507 ... werewolf it's so true...i'm the deer caught in headlights...haha...i would've wrote that page if i hadn't been beaten to it. The anime people sit next to me and asked me to attend their weekly dungeons and dragons session yesterday...the know it all is one of my better friends and always accidentally swears at the teacher trying to look cool. And i panic and say wakaranai everytime the teacher even looks at me. And the frustrations of having to retranslate english loan words into english...like what's the japanese word for door? doa...oh...do i have to say it that way? yes...if you don't we won't understand...i see...well...happy dankusugibingu. thanks so much for that link...i'll show it to all of my comrades 020508 ... unhinged japanese incense smells wonderful 020509 ... PHIL MY QUESTION TO SAINT IS THIS, WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME IF I TOLD YOU THE WORLD WAS FLAT? 020510 ... tabris metallium nihon ni ikitai nihon wa subete nihon ga daisuki nihongo renshuu wo iru ^_^ hen dechu, wakarimasu ^_^ 020517 ... werewolf nani? 020517 ... werewolf boku wa moto nihongo o renshuu surubeki kamoshirenai 020517 ... zulu I take japanese. In that class my name is nani, they asked me what my name was, I said what? That's what happened. Ah the memories Saita saita, churipu no hana ga, Naranda, naranda, aka shiro kiiro, Dono hana mite mo, kirei da na I like that song, it's kawaii, we sang it in nihongo every day 020628 ... blown cherry excerpt from farmfish's_tri_rhyming_game (since no one seemed to be able to get it there) Kore wa Nihongo de.... 1. writing 2. seven 3. is pretty 020629 ... freakizh anata wa very fucked desu. ja, ne! 020630 ... trajik007 lX‚©‚çshit ¬“¯‚·‚é‚à‚¤ˆê‚‚̌¾Œê‚ª‚È‚¯‚ê‚΂±‚̐¶–½‚Í‚±‚Ì 1 l‚̂悤‚ɏZ‚ñ‚Å‚¢‚鉿’l‚ª‚È‚¢B 020730 ... shorlove Michiko Kon'- "still lives" 030425 ... shorlove Michiko Kon - "still lives" 030425 ... Habitual Perceiver #314 japanese culture (and the east in general) demonstrates how backward the west is in its understanding of the world 031215 ... misstree ethnocentrism is ethnocentrism no matter what side of the oceans you're on. if you had said, "japanese culture certainly does have a different perspective than american" and then actually conveyed some information as to what makes you believe this or how you think it arose, i wouldn't be letting it get to me in my really really cantankerous mood that i now have to apologize for because i don't mean to be snippy but it's a peeve. so say what you will, but in my little heart of hearts i'll just mumble "ethnocentrism" overandoverandoverandover. 031216 ... Habitual Perceiver #314 i think i'm entitled to a bit of national pride ... and since i'm not actually japanese and i'm pretty certainly english i select not to take any. I just wrote what i believe to be true. The problem with the west is that the ignorant masses have a tendency to mock cultures and traditions that are beautifully different because people don't run around working themselves into death in an effort to achieve wealth, status and self definition. I guess it jst depends on whether you are someone who fully embraces the physicality of reality or if you reflect sometimes on what the meaning of reality is. 031216 ... werewolf first of all, cultural relativism isn't really a stance i favor. i don't think ethnocentrism is all that's happening when i say i'm glad our country doesn't perform clitorectomies or when i say i'm disappointed because our country still pays men more for the same job than women on average. there are certain value judgements which are only relative to what's best for the general universal human heart. secondly, the japanese don't work themselves to death? sore wa chotto machigatte imasu. nihonjin no sarurimanu wa yoku yoru osoku made hataraku. nihonjin no hataraku no seikatsu wa kibishi node jisatsu shimasu. gendai no hitobito wa ima masa ni karera no oya no seikatsu o kyozetsu shite imasu. 031216 ... neesh i have no idea what that means, but i do think the eastern ethos is one of ritual, formality and duty, and as such places, for example, family above work. that's what i thought anyway, and though i know very little about japanese culture, i feel it fair to say it can't really be worse than western society. or is that an ethnocentric (whatever that means) thing to say? 031217 ... misstree how do you define worse? 031217 ... misstree ethnocentrism is the belief that one culture is better or more valid than all others, usually the culture that one belongs to but not always. 031217 ... Habitual Perceiver #314 so you did understand what i said. oriental culture is better than american culture ... its great when you can come to a conclusion everyone's happy with. 031217 ... neesh how do you define "better"? and if we're going on definitions, i don't think ethnocentrism is a fair word to use really, because of its jingoistic connotations, its implications of close-mindedness. it seems to me more like HP314 is disillusioned with his own society and its ideals (materialism is only the tip of the ice berg really), and loves that another country has a different set, a better set, in his opinion, and in mine it would be hard for it not to be better. (better is for you to define.) english society is dead, cold, cynical, bitter, amoral and as false as can be. and having lived in america i think it worse. as usual, my value system is one of morality, and while england makes no claim to being a morally good country (or at least when it does everybody laughs cynically, bitterly and coldly), america not only pretends it is, but believes it is, which i find shocking. so i don't think it is jingoistic, nor close-minded, it seems more to me like he's got a clear understanding of what his country really stands for, and the sense of morality to be disgusted by it. and since i've probably just offended everyone, i better stop there. 031217 ... stork daddy you're making that value judgment based on a binary opposition of west and east that mainly exists in popular conceptual imaginings. where is the orient and what is "oriental" culture? modern japanese culture is so influenced by america and has been since after WWII that to set it up as its opposite isn't really accurate. even where they differ, that difference is an active construction between the two cultures and not some inherent difference that has and will always exist. cultures are reactions to the envoirment one lives in, and choices play a large part in that, the choices of the generations present and prior. japans' choices are no panacea to the problems many face in the western world. it was the militancy of "old japan" by the way which led to the brutal invasion and exploitation of manchuria and korea and the phillipines by japan. don't get me wrong, japanese culture is one of the ones i find most interesting, but it is not simply a wise old mendicant playing a haunting tune on the bamboo flute all day long or a samurai, anymore than america is a steelworker bringing home the bacon or a cowboy. in japan you have a country where technological advances such as cell phones, computers, and the like have mixed with the cultural values of obligation to family and country and its corollary work ethic to create much alienation from those around you so that the worker's world consists largely of human contact only as business or duty neccesitates. and yet many young japanese are now into the cult of the individual and the ridiculous to try and combat that much as you see in america's youth (whether they end up capitulating like america's youth did during the 60s will be seen in one generation or so i suppose). you have on the one hand a country that invented artificial girlfriend and boyfriend video games for people too constrained by their proscribed lives to try what is not laid out for them and on the other worships the archetypes of the brave warrior and even the noble failure. it is a country where fighting sports are met with unparalleled enthusiasm as people clamor to see someone experiencing real victory or defeat, with nothing left to the imagination, and yet also a country where it is often considered rude to say exactly what you mean. japan is not the last samurai, though it is a big enough and beautiful enough country to contain those lessons and more. america too though has its lessons. that's my appraisal of it anyways, although my knowledge of japanese life is, again, not complete, though not rose colored either. that said, i'd still not mind living there someday 031217 ... stork daddy and up until very recently, the company was considered your family. and the grueling hours were at least paid off with unswerving loyalty near retirement age. however, recently, there has been a trend perhaps due to the rise of multinationals of the traditional salary worker being discarded when they are of no further use, much like you see in some of the less reputable american companies. it's still not all companies, but in japan that even some would violate that unspoken rule was unsettling and the cause for a lot of fuss. 031217 ... stork daddy oh...watashi wa dilletante desu ne? 031217 ... neesh well i think that really does wrap this one up (except i still understand none of the japanese said). very well said stork daddy, a fantastically astute, just appraisal. 031217 ... stork daddy i guess the main point is this. if you see something worth idealizing, idealize it. but be careful who you champion if you haven't really looked into it. although sometimes i think it's best to turn a blind eye to our heroes flaws, it keeps us from having an excuse for our own. and as much as i advocate this open-minded approach, i've done much romanticizing of many a culture or woman or man. i suppose it can't be helped. but if what you think you like about a place or life isn't really there, you have to wonder why you need the place or the life at all to maintain your belief in and desire for the quality you thought was there. that said...any of you read musashi? 031217 ... stork daddy neesh wa watashi no ichiban suki na hito. 031217 ... japani_gurya 'im turning japanese i think im turning japanese, i really think so(8)" 031218 ... otaku careful boys and girls, too much anime will turn you into one! 040513 ... emmi my flatmate is japanese...her name is hitomi...she has fleas on her mattress...she does calligraphy...she got a perm...she likes beer...when she feels bad for herself she says "poor thing" to herself...she eats a lot of soup... so here you go, this is what it means to be japanese 041105 ... belle de jour Fumihiro adores me. We got drunk, drank tea, and never spoke again. Perfect relationship if you ask me. 050817 ... Farool Watashi wa sakana desu. Hikooki no shita ni iru otokonoko. Akai kuruma wa atarashii desu. Otokonohito to onnanohito wa odotte imasu. Tori wa tonde imasu. Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu, juuichi. Booru no shita ni iru otokonoko. Watashi wa nihongo desu. Misu. Choto. Aoi, akai, shiroi, kuroi, kiiroi. Naga, mijikai. Hi. Rokkaku. Zoo. Onnanoko. Inu, neko, oushi. Nyao. Futatsu. Hitotsu. Hana. Kodomo. Jin, gunjin, gaijin, bijin, yuujin, ninnin, honnin, taijin. Wakai, toshio totta. Kami. Furui ie, atarashii ie. And that's about all I know how to say. Rosetta Stone for one week.I'm learning though, and I love it. Intonation's a bitch. 070416 ... sffd sdf 070607 ... unhinged my midwestern palate thought sushi was disgusting (the town my parents live in only got a restaurant that serves sushi since i lived in milwaukee). i never understood the appeal of anime and samurai. i do like the original version of iron_chef much better though. i lived in a world where all i knew of asian cultures was based on the kind of restaurants they had around. then my brother moved to hawaii. all the street signs were also in japanese. he couldn't get a retail or waiter job anywhere in waikiki cause he couldn't speak japanese. we saw a shogun festival outside of a hotel in waikiki. we were fascinated. 'dude, me and you are going to go to japan someday.' we ate dinner that night in that same hotel and overheard the waiter speaking japanese to a mother and son sitting immediately to our right. a little while later the waiter brought out a bright red steamed lobster and set it down in front of the little boy. he got an excited smile on his face and licked his lips. i did the same thing when the waiter set my crab legs down in front of me. i tried sushi again after i became a vegetarian and i like it much better now. i was obsessed with it to the point that i can tell the difference between good and bad sushi now. i still don't get the culture much though unfortunately. murakami doesn't make any sense to me. most anime annoys the shit out of me. zen buddhism is not for me; pure land on the other hand seems more up my alley *shrugs* 070607 what's it to you? who go blather from