Almost 2010

In Japan, it’s almost midnight on 2009 December 31.
In about ten minutes the year 2010 will start in Japan.

Click here and you see the current time in Tokyo on my main website.

Last year, I wrote about 大晦日 (New Year’s Eve) in Japan and some of the customs in Japan…including 年越しそば (New Year noodles), which we ate today as we always do, and the 「紅白歌合戦」 (Red And White Music Battle) TV show that we’re watching now.
Click here to read my New Year’s Eve post from last year.

Since the year 2009 will be over in a matter of minutes (at least on this side of the world), how about a list of new words that entered the English language in 2009 and new words that entered the Japanese language this past year too?

New English-language words for 2009 (according to the Oxford Dictionary (since I don’t live in an English-speaking country, these were all new (and interesting) to me):

Intexticated – Distracting by sending text-messages via cell-phone while driving.

Paywall – Part of a website that is only available to paying subscribers.

Sexting – Sending explicit photos and/or text via cell-phone email.

Funemployed – Unemployed people taking advantage of their free-time to pursue interesting activities.

Choice Mom – A woman who chooses to be a single mother.

And the 2009 English-language “Word Of The Year”…Unfriend – To remove someone from your list of “Facebook friends”.

Are these words common in America (or other countries)?

And the new Japanese-language words in 2009:

「歴女」 (Rekijo) – (Eng. “History Women”) – Japanese women who are interested in Japanese history. It’s a new trend. They enjoy visiting historic spots in Japan such as graves of famous Samurai and other historic landmarks.

「ファスト・ファッション」 – (Eng. “Fast fashion”) – Due to the bad economy, cheap retail fashion stores such as “Uniqlo” and “Forever 21” have seen an increase in business.

「派遣切り」 (Haken-giri) – (Eng. “Temp Staff Cutbacks”) – It used to be that temporary staff of large companies could almost count on becoming permanent staff one day, but the economy has caused many companies to lay-off their temporary workers.

「政権交代」 (Seiken-Koutai) – (Eng. “Regime Change”) – The Liberal Democratic Party has won every Prime Minister election for decades…but this year Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party Of Japan became the Prime Minister.

「新型インフルエンザ」 (Shingata-influenza) – (Eng. “New Flu”) – The Swine Flu is called New Flu in Japan.

200,000 hits

I started this blog 21 months ago (on 2008 March 26).
In the beginning, this blog only received about twenty hits per day, but since then, the number of visitors has steadily climbed, I’m happy to say.
Now my blog gets an average of 840 hits per day.

My blog's monthly stats for 2008 March - 2009 December

Last summer, this blog reached 100,000 hits.
In the four months since then, my blog has gotten another 100,000 hits.

This blog has had 200,084 visits at the time I wrote this post.

Thank you to all of the people who visit this blog…especially the ones who visit and comment regularly!

My most popular posts are currently about:
A Japanese manga called “Death Note“,
another one called “Detroit Metal City“,
McDonalds in Japan,
the Hollywood remake of the Japanese movie titled “Hachiko“,
King Kong vs Godzilla, and
Sea Shepherd.

Which the first post you read on my site? Which types of posts do you like?

Japanese for all seasons

A new year is about to begin…in fact a new decade.
It’s almost 2010. I can’t believe how fast time flies…this coming year will be twenty years since I first came to Japan!

So, for the new year, I thought I’d mention a few common seasonal terms in the Japanese language.

— First, this time of year (late December), we say 「良いお年を」 (“Yoi-otoshi-o“). It means “Have a happy new year“.

— On New Years Eve, you can go to a temple in Japan and hear 「除夜の鐘」 (Joya-no-kane), which is a Buddhist traditional of ringing the temple bell by the monk 108 times for a good new year.

— In the first week or so of January, 「明けましておめでとうございます」 (“Akemashite-omedetou-gozaimasu“) is said…it means “Happy New Year“.

— Also in early January, people in Japan go to a shrine to wish for a good year. The first visit to a shrine in the new year is called 「初詣」 (“Hatsu-moude“).

— 「節分」 (Setsubun) is a tradition on February third of throwing beans to ward the home of evil. Click here to read my FAQ about this holiday.

— The first warm breeze of Spring is called 「春一番」 (“Haru-ichi-ban“).

— In late-March to early-April, Japanese people love 「花見」 (Hanami)…”Cherry-Blossom Viewing“.
Click here to see some photos and video that I took of Hanami in Tokyo last April.

— Around Golden Week time, 「新緑」 (Shin-ryoku) starts. Shin-ryoku is the new green foliage of spring.

— June is Japan’s 「梅雨」 (Tsuyu), or “Rainy season“.

— It couldn’t be Summer in Japan without 「蝉時雨」 (Semi-shigure)…the chirping of Cicadas, and 「花火」 (Hanabi)…fireworks displays.

— The 「赤蜻蛉」 (Aka-tonbo), Red Dragonflies, can be seen in Autumn.

— Autumn is known for both 「日本晴れ」 (“Nihon-bare“), “Blue Skies Over All of Japan“, and 「紅葉」 (Kouyou), Autumn foliage.
Click here to see the photos I took in a park last Autumn.

— In Winter, the leaves fall off of the trees…in Japanese, it’s called 「木枯らし」 (Kogarashi).

How many of these words did you already know?

Big America

McDonalds Japan will be offering four new versions of their “Quarter Pounder” burger starting next month.
Only one of the new burgers will be available at a time though.

All four of the new burgers are known as “Big America burgers. And individually they are: “Texas Burger“, “New York Burger“, “California Burger“, and “Hawaiian Burger“.

The first of the four that will be available is the “Texas Burger“. It will be available starting on 2010 January 15.
It has bacon and BBQ sauce.

Next will be the “New York Burger“. It will go on sale in early February 2010.
It’ll be like a BLT meets a Quarter Pounder“…bacon, lettuce and tomato on the burger.

Then in late February 2010, the “California Burger” will be the one available.
It’ll have Monterrey Jack cheese.

And finally, in March 2010, the “Hawaiian Burger” will be on the menu.
It’ll have a egg and is called a Hawaiian Loco-moco style burger.

On the McDonalds Japan website, visitors an click a button if they intend to try all four of the Big America burgers. When I checked the site, it said that “105,423 people will try all four burgers“.

To me, none of them sound all that special. I don’t think I’ll buy any of them.
How about you? Which of them sounds good to you? Would you try all four?

Are these burgers available at McDonalds in your country…or is it only in Japan?

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Anyways, the Xmas decorations went down yesterday in Japan and were replaced with the traditional Japanese New Years decorations.

New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday.

Here’s a New Years window display at a store that my family and I went to today.

And while we were out, we passed a little league baseball game near the river:

“New” Kanji of the Year

Every December a kanji character is chosen in Japan that represents the year that coming to an end, and the character is written in traditional 習字 (calligraphy) by the head monk at a temple in Kyoto and presented in a ceremony to the public.

Last year (2008), the character 「変」 (“change“) was chosen. Click here to read my post from last year to see why that character was chosen.

It was decided that since the U.S. elected a historic new President, Japan elected a Prime Minister from a new party, and also because of the global epidemic of “Swine Flu” which is called 「新型インフルエンザ」 (“New Flu”) in Japan…that the kanji character for 2009 is 「新」, which means “new“.

The 2009 Kanji of the year is the character for "New"

Here’s a picture of the head monk writing the character 「新」 (“new”) in traditional Japanese calligraphy:

メリークリスマス

Today is X-mas.  So, “Merry Christmas“.

In Japan, people often eat Kentucky Fried Chicken for their X-mas dinner.
(Click here to see my post about it last year.)

Japanese 「ケンタッキーフライドチキン」 (Kentucky Fried Chicken) stores are very crowded on X-mas Eve and X-mas Day. And they have a special “X-mas Menu”:

(Besides Christmas, Japan also has another unique relationship with Kentucky Fried Chicken…the “Curse Of The Colonel“. Click here to read my post about it.)

Anyways, as I’ve mentioned before, X-mas isn’t even a legal holiday in Japan. But, New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday.

And of Japan’s numerous music TV shows, the one that airs on New Years Eve is the biggest.
It’s called 「紅白歌合戦」 (“Red and White Music Battle“).
It’s a four and a half hour music special and ends in a countdown at midnight on New Years Eve.

Artists who are invited to appear on this show are considered the hottest acts in Japan because of the importance of this show in an artist’s career in Japan.

A number of foreign artists have appeared on this show over the years. Namely, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, and Sarah Brightman, among others.

This year, the English singer Susan Boyle is scheduled to perform live on the show.

Emperor’s birthday

Today is Christmas Eve.

In many ways X-mas and New Years are exact opposites of each other in Japan and Western countries.

In Western countries, Xmas is the biggest holiday of the year with the post office busy delivering Xmas cards, many stores are closed and families gather to enjoy a big dinner together and give gifts to children.
And then New Years is celebrated on New Years Eve and quietly ends the next day.

In Japan, it’s the other way around.
Here, Christmas is often celebrated in Xmas Eve by couples going on a date and families having a dinner of chicken and Xmas cake for dessert (just as many people have this dinner on Xmas Day as do on Xmas Eve). But Xmas ends quietly and people get ready for New Years…Japan’s biggest holiday.
Just like Xmas in the West, in Japan New Years is the biggest holiday of the year with the post office busy delivering 年賀状 (New Years postcards), many stores are closed and families gather to enjoy a big dinner together and give gifts (お年玉) to children.

Click here to read the post I wrote about Japanese Xmas last year.

Also, yesterday was 天皇誕生日 (the Emperor of Japan’s birthday).
Christmas isn’t a legal holiday in Japan…it’s a regular work / school day, but the Emperor’s birthday is a legal holiday.
It’s also one of the only two times a year that the public is allowed inside the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace (the other time is just after the New Year).
People who go into the Palace grounds can see the Japanese Royal Family and hear the Emperor give his annual birthday speech.

Last year, I wrote a post about the Emperor’s birthday too. Click here to read it.

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Completely unrelated, but I heard about a website called 「美人時計」 (“Beautiful Girl Clock“).

It show a new photograph every minute of a pretty girl in the Tokyo holding a board with the current time (of course in Japanese Standard Time (JST)).

This site is extremely popular. So they decided to make another version…now there’s a 「ギャル時計」 (“Gal Clock“) too.
“Gal” is a type of 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo) girl fashion.

Click here for the 「美人時計」 (“Beautiful Girl Clock“).
And Click here for the 「ギャル時計」 (“Gal Clock“)

X-mas Illumination

Today is 冬至 (Winter Solace).
Click here to read my post about it last year and see how fruit plays an important part of this day in Japan.

In Japan, at Christmastime, many places put up beautiful X-mas light decorations…or 「イルミネーション」 (illumination), as it’s called in Japan.

Couples in Japan like to look at the Xmas illuminations on dates at this time of year.

Last night we went to Tokyo Tower to see the it lit up special for Xmas. On TV they said that every evening until x-mas, Tokyo Tower will be lit up with a heart in the center of the tower from 7:30 – 8:00 PM…so we went to see it.

After that, we went to Tokyo Midtown in 六本木 (Roppongi) to see their elaborate display.

End of the first decade

The year 2009 will be over in ten days…but not only that, it’ll also be the end of the first decade of the 21st century.

So I began thinking about the biggest news stories of 2009 to the American public compared to the Japanese public.

So first the biggest U.S. news stories of 2009:

10.	“The Miracle On The Hudson River” – The pilot of U.S. Airways flight 1549, Chesley Sullenberger safely crash landed his plane in the Hudson River and saved all of his passengers’ lives.
9.	“U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy Died” – Brother of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy died on 2009 August 25.
8.	“Fort Hood Rampage” – Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan of the U.S. Army went on a shooting rampage on 2009 November 5 and killed 13 people and injured 30 others.
7.	“Michael Jackson Died” – On 2009 June 25 at age 50.
6.	“Obama To Send More Troops To Afghanistan” – On 2009 December 1, U.S. President Obama made the announcement that 30,000 more soldiers would be sent to Afghanistan by the summer of 2010.
5.	“Swine Flu” – Called 「新型インフルエンザ」 (“New ‘Flu“) in Japan, the World Health Organization announced it as an international public health concern in 2009 April.
4.	“Auto Industry” – In early 2009, two out America’s “Big Three” auto-makers filed for bankruptcy…the other, Ford, nearly did.
3.	“Health Care” – America’s health care system underwent reform.
2.	“Obama Inauguration” – In 2009 January, U.S. President was sworn into office.
1.	“The Economy” – Just like the rest of the industrialized world, America fell into a recession.

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And the biggest news stories of 2009 in Japan:

10.	“Ichihashi Arrested” – On 2009 November 11, Tatsuya Ichihashi was finally arrested for the murder of an English teacher from England. (Click here to read my post for more details).
9.	“¥12,000 Handouts” – In an effort to boost the economy, the Japanese government gave ¥12,000 to every resident in Japan.
8.	“First-ever Budget Debate” – A large number of Japanese went to the first-ever debate of wasteful government spending. Such a thing has never been attended by the public before in Japan.
7.	“Obama Inauguartion” – This was big news in Japan too.
6.	“Noriko Sakai Arrested For Drugs” – Drug use is extremely uncommon in Japan, and Noriko Sakai is a celebrety who had a very clean image in Japan…until she and her husband were arrested for using the drug called “Ecstasy“.
5.	“¥1000 Flat Toll Road Charge” – In another effort to stimuate the economy, tolls on roads were given a flat rate of ¥l000 per day regardless the distance on certain days.
4.	“Lay Judge System” – Some cases in Japanese courts have begun using a “lay judge” (“Jury”) trial system. Until this year, all verdicts in all court cases were decided by a judge (or panel of judges).
3.	“Democratic Party Landslide” – Prime Minister Hatoyama was elected this year. He’s a member of the Deocratic Party Of Japan…the Liberal Democratic Party has won every previous election in Japan for many years.
2.	“Michael Jackson Died” – This was big news all over the world.
1.	「新型インフルエンザ」 – The “Swine Flu”. About a hundred people have died from it in Japan.

What were the biggest news stories of 2009 to you?
How about the biggest news story of the first decade of the 21st century? I think it must be the 2001 September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in America.

One Piece Vol.0

Do you know the Japanese manga (comic book) and TV anime (cartoon) titled 「ワンピース」 (“One Piece“)?

Do they sell the manga or show the anime in your country?

One Piece is about a boy called 「ルフィ」 (Lufi (pronounced: “loofy”)) who grew up in a port town idolizing the pirates.

He decides the he wants to find the “One Piece” treasure that will make him the “King Of The Pirates”.

He also mistakenly eats a magical fruit that makes his body become elastic and rubbery.

The story revolves around the adventures that Lufi and his pirate crew have while they search for “One Piece”.

Anyways, a new One Piece movie titled “Strong World” has just been released in Japan a few days ago.

I have never watched any of the One Piece movies…but my kids like to watch the anime on TV on Sundays and they have a few of the manga.

So I started watching the anime with them sometimes, and I read a few of their manga…it’s a fun story.

Well, the “Strong World” movie has been released at the ten year anniversary of the release of the first One Piece movie.

So to celebrate, they’re giving away free Volume Zero One Piece comics and 「ワンピーベリーマッチダブル」 (“OPBMW“) game cards to people who buy tickets to the new movie.

A flyer telling about the Vol. 0 comic and "OPBMW" cards

One Piece vol. 0 comic

Some "One Piece" game cards

Do they show One Piece movies in your country? Have you ever watched any?

Do you like Japanese anime and / or manga?

Here’s a trailer for the new movie: