2007 August

Alcohol.
千鳥足
Chidori ashi
Staggering, lurching, wobble-walking (mostly associated with being drunk)

まっすぐじゃないじゃないって
“Massugu ja nai ja nai tte”
“You’re not walking in a straight line, I’m tellin’ ya.”
The “ja nai ka” construction (you’ll also hear “ja nai desu ka” quite frequently) is pretty colloquial. You’ll be well on your Japanese fluency if you can use it right.
The first “ja nai” […]

Here’s a cool vid (imho). It shows the 300 year-old Hotta Family house in fantastic condition, designated as an important cultural asset by the Japanese government:

Here’s what the description of the video says:
堀田家住宅は、江戸時代中期、正徳年間（１７１１～１７１６）に建てられたといわれて いて、その後修理・増築を重ね、県道拡幅工事のために昭和４８年に約６０ｍ西の現在の 場所に移されました。この住宅は、主屋と３棟の土蔵から成っています。国の重要文化財 。
Roomaji:
Hotta ke juutaku ha, Edo Jidai chuuki, Shoutoku nenkan (1711 - 1716) ni taterareta to iwarete ite, sono go, shuuri/ […]

Updated the video below with Nihongo and roomaji scripts.
Sore ja.

…where pro wrestling and politics intersect at the Iwate Prefectural Assembly Meeting.
Jump forward 2 minutes into the video. (Either two minutes in, or one minute remaining, depending on how your browser works.)

That would be “The Great Sasuke” there, engaging in important prefectural business.
I’ll be back with some Japanese fer ya.
UPDATE:
Here is the script from […]

My wife accused me this morning of acting:
いらいら / iraira
annoyed, irritated, short-tempered
Iraira suru = to act annoyed, short-tempered, nervous, impatient
Here’s Iraira-chan, a little girl that’s always “iraira”:

Examples:
何いらいらしてるの？
Nani iraira shiteru no?
What’s got you all worked up/ annoyed?
子供がうるさくて、いらいらしてしまった
Kodomo ga urusakute, iraira shite shimatta
The kids were acting too busy, and I got ticked off
いや、いらいらして、すまなかったね
Iya, iraira shite, sumanakatta ne
Sorry […]

…get this song out of my head, neither should anyone else.

Algorithm March with the Kawasaki Frontales
行進 / koushin / march
行進する / koushin suru / to march
UPDATE:
I guess I should make a few comments here, ‘cuz it’s such a good opportunity.
For those of you who are new to Japanese, you have your nouns, your adjectives, […]

So who gets to decide?

Meiji Candy Commercial
きれいなあなたに食べられたい
Kirei na anata ni taberaretai
I want to be eaten by you, beautiful/ you beautiful person.
The last part here (taberaretai) has a few things going on we should talk about.
Taberu = to eat (-eru verb, or shimo-ichidan verb, if you want to get technical)
Taberareru = To be eaten. This […]

やめた
Yameta
I quit
Not the blogging thing. I just wanted to show you how most people in Japan say “I changed my mind.”
If you looked up “change one’s mind” in an E>J dictionary, you might find some other words, but generally in Japan, when someone changes their mind about doing something, they use “yameru” (to quit).
“I thought […]

CM for “HAL,” a 専門学校 / senmon gakkou (trade school/ vocational school) in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya.
Click the pic to see the vid, and then we can talk a bit after:

Script:
誰かに笑われても
Dare ka ni warawarete mo
Whether I am laughed at (by someone),
馬鹿にされても
Baka ni sarete mo
whether I am made fun of,
自分の信じたことをいっぺんにやってみる
Jibun no shinjita koto wo ippen ni […]

I’ve been waiting for this one to show up on YouTube.
Rip Slyme’s Blue Bebop.
I like the “o-tera” (お寺) vibe (buddhist temple).
The temple I spent the night at in Nara wasn’t nearly as grand as the one in this vid, but it was cool nonetheless.

If you ever get a chance, try and visit a Buddhist temple. […]