2007 June

I saw this dude in front of the Shibuya Station a few years back.
Not something you’d ever forget…or ever want to remember.
Here’s the vid…I’ll be back with some Japanese language stuff later on.
セーラー服おじさん Seeraa fuku ojisan Old dude in a sailor girl school uniform

Sore ja.

Hi, All:
Here’s a very important bit of Japanese culture for you:
二次会 にじかい nijikai = After-party
三次会 さんじかい sanjikai = After-after-party
Let’s say you have a company party at a restaurant on Friday night. After the party has died down, say 9 o’clock or so, a group of you might get together and say:
二次会はどこでしようか？
Nijikai ha doko de […]

Hey, Guys:
This might not be that interesting to many, or even most, but…I tend to get a lot of contracts to translate. Two phrases unique to contract translation in Japan:
甲 (こう/ kou) The First Party
乙 (おつ/ otsu) The Second Party
Japanese contracts always use these phrases to identify the “parties” to the contract.
I guess older contracts […]

Hi, everyone:
Here’s a segment from an old Doraemon anime. Nobita wants his own place to hang out where he can do whatever he wants. Some good “wagamama” (selfish-y) Japanese here:

ああ、欲しいな〜
Aa, hoshii na
Oohh, I want one.
何が？
Nani ga?
Want what?
僕だけのうち。
Boku dake no uchi.
My own house.
うん、僕だけの町。
Un, boku dake no machi.
No, my own town.
いつ、どこで、何をしても、誰にも何も言われない。
Itsu, doko de, nani wo shite mo, […]

…for another Pocky commercial, don’t you think?

若いね
Wakai ne.
You’re so young. (ah, youth)
あなたも私もポッキー
Anata mo watashi mo Pockii.
You and I are Pocky.
夏は冷やして
Natsu ha hiyashite
Cool off in summer. [For summer, cool off]
Sore ja.

I always thought “gackt” sounded like something caught in your throat.
Anyway, here’s a Gackt CM for Fuji:
Online Videos by Veoh.com
Script:
いいな、一人旅は。
Ii na, hitori tabi ha.
I like traveling by myself.
だめ。いつも一緒！
Dame. Itsu mo issho!
No. [We] always have to be together!
デジカメ？
Dejikame?
A digital camera?
撮っちゃいま〜す
Tocchaima~su.
I’m taking a picture.
ノーだよ。
Noo da yo.
No.
笑って
Waratte.
Smile.
笑いません。
Waraimasen.
I won’t smile.
写真にしっちゃいま〜す。
Shashin ni shicchaima~su.
I’m going to develop it/ print it into […]

Japan Ad Council ad from way-long-back times. Based on the “Nihon Mukashibanashi” cartoon series.

I’m testing out “ruby” markup on the first line, so bear with me, please.
昔 むかし,和尚おしょうさんが子供達こどもたちを晩ご飯ばんごはんに呼よんでくれた。
Mukashi, oshou-san ga kodomotachi wo bangohan ni yonde kureta.
A long time ago, a Buddhist priest invited some children over for dinner.
大根、嫌いじゃ。
Daikon, kirai ja.
I hate daikon.
豆、嫌いじゃ。
Mame, kirai ja.
I […]

OK, you’ve probably noticed postings have been light, lately.
One of the things I’ve been working on is a new free eCourse: Rocket-Boost your Japanese.
Lots of tips and tricks…not actual language teaching, but giving you hints on how to get better at Japanese faster.
Sign up for the course on my sidebar.
The course is evolving…it’s not “pretty,” […]

Here’s a commercial for the “new” DoCoMo 904i phone/ 2.0 rollout.

People in the CM:
妻夫木 聡 Tsumabuki Satoshi
長瀬 智也 Nagase Tomoya
浅野 忠信 Asano Tadanobu
瑛太 Eita
吹石 一恵 Fukiishi Kazue
北川 景子 Kitagawa Keiko
土屋 アンナ Tsuchiya Anna
Script:
恒例のメール交換！
Kourei no meeru koukan!
It’s our usual mail exchange!
[All right. That translation sucks. “Kourei” = usual, customary, periodic…so it doesn’t translate especially […]

OK. Call off the search parties. Put the bloodhounds back in their kennels. Take my picture off the milk cartons.
I’m back.
Sorry…way too much “stuff” and way too little time, but I’ll rededicate for my “J-go peeps.”
Sony has new tech to show images on a thin film of plastic.
I can see the T-shirts with the […]