“legend having it a foolish king of the ancient Chinese Qin dynasty, upon seeing a deer, fatuously said ba instead of ka, and was the first to have earned himself the nickname baka” Read the rest of this entry »
Why is baka (馬鹿- stupid) written with the kanji for horse plus deer?
March 31, 2008 at 1:37 pm (Japan and China, Japanese insults, Japanese language, Japanese slang, Japanese Street Slang- Peter Constatine, Japanese word origins, Kanji (Chinese symbols))
Why do Japanese TV and newspapers usually show the pronunciation as well as the kanji of Korean names but only the kanji of Chinese names?
March 30, 2008 at 9:34 pm (Furigana, Japan and China, Japan and Korea, Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japanese language, Japanese newspapers, Kanji (Chinese symbols))
Famous historic Chinese figures etc are usually known by the Japanese pronunciation of their names, so showing the names’ Chinese pron would only confuse people. There is also the fact that Chinese names have various pronunciations for the same kanji depending on whether you are speaking Cantonese, Mandarin etc, which is not a problem in Korean
Why is Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy that Canon is named after) male in some countries but female in others like Japan?
March 30, 2008 at 12:31 am (Alan Booth, Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japanese Buddhism, Japanese company names, Japanese language, Japanese religion and superstition)
“he is generally with so tender an expression on his face that, in the Japanese imagination, he has undergone a sex change” Read the rest of this entry »
Why is normal to see cyclists crossing a pedestrian crossing on red, but much rarer to see a pedestrian do the same thing?
March 28, 2008 at 9:18 am (Japanese conformism, Japanese cyclists, Japanese group mentality, Japanese law and law breaking, Japanese road rules)
My personal theory is that being a pedestrian is being part of a group and so the usual Japanese social pressure to conform exists, whereas the route, speed etc of cycling is totally individual and therefore you are totally free. As a pedestrian in Japan, it is also possible to switch off totally just by following the person in front, so jumping the lights or even looking at them can just seem like a pain.
Why are there signs everywhere saying ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’ in English and Japanese?
March 28, 2008 at 1:32 am (Japanese cults, Japanese religion and superstition, Japanese signs)
??
Might be something connected to this:
but why would they let a cult go around putting up signs everywhere??
Why is the Japanese rainy season called tsuyu (梅雨- plum rains)?
March 27, 2008 at 10:11 pm (Japanese nature, Japanese rainy season (tsuyu), Japanese seasons, Japanese word origins, Princess Masako by Ben Hills)
According to Ben Hills in Princess Masako, because it usually comes when the plums are ripening. Makes sense, and clears up one that I have always vaguely wondered, but never remembered to research when I had Google handy
What the Japanese really mean New Additions
March 24, 2008 at 2:32 pm (Dirty Japanese by Matt Fargo, Japanese idioms, Japanese language, Japanese slang, What the Japanese really mean)
Japanese- Iro otoko (色男)
Literal translation- Colour man
Real translation Read the rest of this entry »
Why has the long Japanese near recession coincided with an increase in the number of flagship brand shops?
March 19, 2008 at 11:02 pm (Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japanese business and economics, Japanese shops)
According to Shutting Out the Sun, because “with the previous decade’s deflation and the consequent erosion of land prices in Tokyo’s best neighbourhoods, the real estate needed for such a large project had become cheap enough…to acquire” pg 150
