精米機：Rice Machine

Let me introduce you to a thing that I think many native Japanese people aren't too familiar with:

精米機

( せいまいき / seimaiki )

pour the rice in here

You non-Japanese people are saying: "What's this?"

You Japanese people are saying: 「これ何！？」

Well let me enlighten you. Simply, this could be called a rice cleaning machine. If you don't know yet, rice isn't born white. After the rice grows to its maturity, the farmer takes a blade to it and decapitates it. They collect all the heads and then strips each one so that each grain comes loose. Unfortunate these grains still have their shells, and, unless you have tons of kids and tons of time, you probably wont try to deshell them by hand. This is where the machine comes into play:

Pour the (shelled) rice into the machine...and out comes beautiful, deshelled, white rice!

put the bag down here 

Unless your a big-time farmer, you probably don't grow your own rice. You buy rice in big bags like the ones shown above. 

1) Bring the bag of rice to the machine (In the country-side these machines can be found everywhere)

2) Usually these machines are coin-operated. So, pay the appropriate amount (300¥ for 30 kg)

3) Open the bag

4) Pour the rice in the hole

5) Place the empty bag under the hole where the rice comes out

6) Start the machine (or it may start by itself)

7) Wait for beautiful rice to come out!

The whole process takes around 5 to 10 minutes.

Now, I said that some Japanese may not be familiar with this. I say this because I think that this is a machine used mostly by country-side folk (like me!). I mean, I just don't expect Tokyo city-folk to use this on a daily/monthly basis (I may be wrong of course).

Well, that's it about  rice cleaning machines. If you have time watch this video below. If you don't have time, watch it anyways! (Again, the whole process is only like 5 minutes or so). And if you absolutely don't have time, watch it and fast forward through the boring parts.

Until next time, またね～

美味しい：delicious!

Question: What do you say after eating this?

some gyoza we just made

Here's the word of the day~

美味しい

( おいしい / oishii )

You and your friends go to eat out. You order food. Wait a few minutes. Bam, the waiter comes out with your food. You pray over your meal (or you don't :P). Now comes the itadakimasu. You take a bite of your food and then...

Oishii! Oh boy. If you are even remotely interested in Japanese culture, you know that this is the word for "delicious" or "tasty"! Of course, just like in America, you can use this word even when you don't mean it.

Taking a bite out of that natto-nori...."oishii"...(oh help me...)

The word is made out of two kanji characters: "Beautiful" (美) and "Taste: (味). Pretty straightforward. If something has a beautiful taste, it is delicious.

Ok, dinner is calling. Time to eat some おいしい food!
いただきます～

田んぼ: Rice fields

When I first visited Japan, back in the summer of 2009, I went to where everyone first thinks of visiting: Tokyo. It had always been my dream of visiting Japan, and of course I had to go to Tokyo.

I remember arriving in Narita International airport being totally dazed and confused (I had only studied Japanese for a year at that point). On top of that, I was a little sick. This was during the 2009 Swine Flu Pandemic, and I was actually pretty worried that they would throw me into quarantine and/or deport me back to Hawaii.

Miraculously, I am not stopped, I get my bags, and am ready to make my way into the gigantic metropolis of Japan, when my friend/guide tells me that we gotta ride a train to get to Tokyo. Also, it's going to be an hour or so train ride. Well, I guess I can wait an hour.

We hop on the train, travel through a bunch of tunnels, and then finally the light of day breaks through the windows. I take a peak outside, ready to see gigantic buildings, robots, Godzilla, and Ultraman, but all I see are rice fields. Well, I found out later that Narita wasn't a big city at all. It's basically just farmland and an airport. Really?! An international airport in the middle of nowhere? Whatevers~

Well, let me introduce the word of the day:

田んぼ
( たんぼ / tanbo )

If you come to Japan, be prepared to see the rice fields (tanbo) everywhere! Like I mentioned earlier, even if you do just decide to spend all your time in Tokyo, you will still see rice fields on the way there.

tanbo right next to our house

Of course if you get away from the city, you'll see this more and more. As you probably are well aware, rice is a staple in Japan. You either eat rice or noodles with every meal, and sometimes the noodles are even made out of rice! You even have some dishes that are over 90% rice: sushi, onigiri, etc.

I've been living in Japan for a few months now and I am still in awe of these rice fields. To me, they are beautiful and add such a wonderful color to the land. My meager cell phone camera don't do these fields justice; they should be at least 3 times brighter and greener!

Well, just for your viewing pleasure, I've inserted pictures of some very special rice fields in Japan. If you know where these fields can be found, let me know, and I'll add another post about it later. Until then, enjoy!
またね～

鶏のなんこつ唐揚げ: Soft bone chicken Karaage

I love food. I won't deny it...and neither will you! Perhaps one of the reasons why I fell in love with Japan and its culture is its delicious delicacies. Japan has sushi, tenpura, chicken katsu, tonkatsu, sashimi, ramen, and the list literally goes on and on. Moving to Japan has become heaven for my taste buds, and unfortunately my waist line as well :(

Among one of my favorite foods is (chicken) karaage:

唐揚げ

( からあげ / karaage )

Wikipedia doesn't do it enough justice with its meager 1/2 page of content, but karaage is amazing. To an American, I would simply call it Japanese fried chicken, but anyone who's eaten it knows that its more.

Even more surprising to me is the face that it had another trick up its sleeves. Thus, let me present to you:

鶏のなんこつ唐揚げ

Chicken soft bone Karaage

that's right, soft bones

You've got your normal chicken karaage exterior and a wonderfully delicious, crunchy soft bone interior. I found these little treasures while dining at Joyful today. Just one bite and my Filipino desires went crazy for more. Needless to say, I ate everything, including the plate...and the menu.

So, if you ever stop in Japan, try these little wonders. Even if you aren't a fan of soft bones, I think you'll enjoy eating a piece of karaage that lasts a few seconds longer. Another good thing is that its cheap. This dish from Joyful rings up to 299 Yen, around $3. So try it!

Eat well my fellow travelers~ またね！

神社：Shinto Shrines

When I went to Provo, Utah it seemed that there was a chapel every mile or so. I never thought that there could be that many chapels in one little town. Well, Japan has a similar type architecture sprawled throughout the country. 

In Japan, you simply have to travel for a mile or so and next thing you know you've run into a Shinto Shrine. In Japanese these are called:

神社

( じんじゃ / jinja )

This word is made out of the characters of "god" (神) and "society" or "company" (社). This may not be totally correct, but a good way to remember this word is to think that a jinja is where you go to be in "God's company".

"Mitanit Jinja"

Honestly, if you travel any length of distance, in any direction, you will definitely bump into a jinja. What can you do at a jinja? It's simple. You just show reverence and pray. I'm sure there are occasions when one specifically shows up at a jinja to perform a special ritual, but for the most part people go to jinjas to ask for a blessing on their crops, jobs, families, etc. Its a place of meditation and wishing.

What should you do when you find yourself at a jinja? Well, just show respect. You don't have to believe in the Shinto faith, simply show respect and then keep moving forward...I'm sure there's another jinja just a block or three away anyways.

outside the jinja

On a side note, there are many types of shrines, not all of them jinjas. They are named according to their size and purpose. Honestly, however, you can call them all jinjas and I don't think anyone would mind (don't call me on that ok).

It's my pleasure to show you more and more of Japan. Until next time! またね～

床暖房：Floor Heater

Everyone in the world, except for people in the Philippines, Pohnpei, Guam, and Hawaii will know what I am talking about when I say "it is getting so flipping cold these days!" (Sorry PI, Micronesia, and Hawaii, I know how you roll)

That is to say, it's my fingers are about to fall off and my toes are turning black from frost bite. Not a pleasant feeling. Well, the Japanese have invented a few things to really help us cold people out. One of them that I had a vague idea of before I came here (saw it in movies, but never experienced it) is the kotatsu.

Now, I'll probably dedicate a post on the kotatsu later, but basically its a table with a cloth on top that keeps whatever's underneath of it warm and toasty. Pretty neat huh?

Well, another contraption that I just learned of today is...the floor heater:

床暖房

( ゆかだんぼう / yukadanbou )

As you can see above, basically there is a thin layer of water that lies right below the top layer. You simply press your magic button (hmmm...I don't even know where that button is in my house...looks like I've got to investigate) and viola, your floor gets warm!

I must say that it is amazing. Because of this, my feet can survive the harsh winter ahead. The best part is, it's not just for your feet, but the warming effect will also rise through the floor boards and heat up the rest of the room (because hot air raisess, of course).

our floor. looks pretty normal right? but try walking on it!

So there you have it. Another example of Japan Smarts~ Until next time:

またね～

PS. Just thought I'd add this is: If you have this in your own snow-infested country, don't attack me for saying that this is a Japanese invention! I simply have never lived in snow, so I don't know these kind of things :P

垂れ目：Droopy Eyes

Now, I'll be one of the first to admit that I don't have a splendid eye for fashion or an inkling on how to become more beautiful or gorgeous (my only advise is to exercise/workout -_-), but I thought I knew what a droopy eye was before I came to Japan.

Just the other day, I was told that I had:

垂れ目

( たれめ / tareme )

A quick consultation with a dictionary will tell you that this means "drooping/droopy eyes".

What?! I know I'm no Brad Pitt, but I never knew I was this:

whatcha looking at kid?!

Well, apparently I was in the wrong because it was soon explained to me that having 垂れ目 was a compliment. It meant that I had nice curves to eyes; even better, the edges of my eyes slanted downwards.

Now, I don't know if it was just the way that I slept the night before, or if I've always been blessed with droopy eyes, but either way I was shocked and happy at the same time. Happy because no one has ever complimented my eyes before (why do blue/green-eyed people get all the compliments?!), and shocked because I could never imagine people wanting droopy eyes.

In America if someone says you've got droopy eyes, you've either:

1) Have a medical condition

2) Been training for the UFC too hard

3) Been hitting the drugs too hard

And only number 2 sounds like it has any merit. 

The point is, in Japan, having droopy eyes means something totally different. Even after reading my banter, I still would recommend talking to a good ol' fashioned Japanese High School girl because she could probably explain the detail a whole lot better. But, simply look at this picture and try to understand:

look into my eyes...

Yep, droopy eyes are beautiful in Japan. That's all there is to know.

Hope you learned something! I kinda did...kinda~

おつかれさま！

My suggestion for Katakana カタカナ

Katakana is one of the three written languages used in Japanese. I like to describe it like this:

Kanji- Chinese characters that will give you a headache. Used for Japanese words.

Hiragana: Japanese characters that are wavy and beautiful. Used for Japanese words.

Katakana: Japanese characters that are very rigid and straight. Used for foreign/loan words.

So, what's my beef with Katakana? Well, personally, I hate it! I'm terrible at reading and writing it (even after studying  Japanese for 4+ years). AND there are many Japanese natives who confess that they have trouble with it!

One reason that katakana is so hard for Japanese learners is (and this is just my opinion) that it doesn't have enough characters to compensate for all of the phonemes found in other languages.

Here's an example:

Yummy oil!

If you look at the big, blue letters you'll read:

ヘルシー

ライト

In other words, "healthy" and "Lite/Light" (oil with low cholesterol ).

What's wrong you say? Well, the word ライト can also refer to the word "right" or "rite". In fact, when I first read this word (on this bottle of oil) I let slip the "right" before correcting it to "lite". This is just one out of possibly hundreds of examples, but the bottom line is, the current system of Katakana is not sufficient for all words that could possibly be borrowed from around the world.

Well, I want to offer a suggestion (instead of just ragging on Japanese). Perhaps, the government should think about adding more characters or symbols (in addition to ゛ and ゜) to this written language. For example an additional symbol to this ラ could help us know if this should be an /l/ or /ɹ/.

I think Kanji and Hiragana are fine the way they are, but Katakana I believe will continue to be used more and more as Japan is influenced more and more by foreign entities.

Have you had any difficulties reading, writing, or remembering Katakana? What do you think? Please leave your comments below.

焼き鳥: Japanese Fried Chicken

Take a look at this!

おいし= delicious

Great, I've got your attention (food has always worked for me)! This, my fine friends, is a picture of 

焼き鳥

( やきとり / yakitori)

Roughly translated, comes out to baked/fried/grilled chicken. The first character is "to grill" (焼) and the other is "bird" (鳥). Pretty simple, don't you think?~

Yakitori is a must have in Japan. These are basically comparable to BBQ shish kabobs and can be found in tons and tons of restaurants (not to mention food vendors sprawled throughout towns and service areas).

Although it can be translated as "fried chicken" or even "grilled chicken", please don't expect it to look like what you'd normally see in America. In fact, most yakitori is comprised of bite-sized pieces of meat and of course served via skewer or sharp-pointy-stick.

Many times you are given the choice of having your yakitori cooked in salt (shio) or with a sauce generally made up of mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar.

Now, I've always known that this food was darn good, but when I took a bite out of this last bunch, I noticed a few different words on my kabob sticks. I've outlined them below:

ねぎま: Chicken with green onions

もも: Chicken thighs

レバー: Chicken livers

つくね: Minced chicken

かわ: Chicken skin

I tried all of these and found all of them to be quite delicious. So far, my favorites are もも and かわ.

Wikipedia says that there are other kinds that can be purchased, but alas, I have not been fortunate enough to eat them yet. However, when I do, I will be sure to make a follow-up post.

The main point is, if you come to Japan, please try this. You won't regret it!

Until next time, またね！

声が低い：A low-deep voice

This is an example of a difference in word choice. In America, when we listen to someone talk with a good bass-like voice, we say that he/has a "deep voice". 

However, Japan is different. In order to say that someone has a deep, rumbling, booming voice you have to say something like, "彼の声が低い” (kare no koe ga hikui).

Directly translated comes out to "his voice is low". 

In English, if someone's voice is low, it means that the volume of his voice is low (or soft). Then you reply, "speak up! I can't hear ya!"

Well, this isn't Japanese at all, but I thought it was someone related because a Japanese person would probably say that he has a low voice.

Hope you learned something! Now use it!

日本語がんばって～

寝てください: Please sleep soundly

Imagine this: You are a 10 year-old kid in America. You've been working hard on your homework all day, and finally, finally, finally you're able to complete it right before dinner. 

You eat dinner like a zombie, lethargically spooning heaps and heaps of food into your mouth. Right as you finish, your mom tells you to brush your teeth and then ________ (?)

Choices:

a) quickly go to bed

b) take your time and fall asleep

c) take sleeping pills

d) watch the news in order to fall asleep quicker

If you answered (a) you're correct!!!

Japanese sleeping pillow

Incidentally, in Japan, your Japanese mother (okaasan) would tell you differently.

In this situation a Japanese person would tell you "ゆっくり寝てください” (yukkuri netekudasai), or roughly translated, "please sleep slowly".

Of course it doesn't mean that you should take 3 hours to fall asleep, nor does it mean you should take your time to prepare for bed, but I think it falls more upon the lines of sleep soundly.

So, if a Japanese person says this to you, don't look at them like they said something outrageously idiotic (like I did :P), simply nod your head, quickly go to sleep, and then take your time in the land of dreams.

Well, it's almost time to sleep, so everyone: ゆっくり寝てください and またね！

注意：Watch out!!!

If you come to Japan, you will probably see this picture (or these words) in many places that you go:

Stop, in the name of love...

I took this picture inside an elevator (エレベーター), but you can find it on tons of other signs in tons of different places. I've found this on signs telling you to pick up your dog poop or on power generators on the side of buildings. So what is this word!?

注意

( ちゅうい / chuui )

This is Japan's version of "caution", "warning", "attention", or simply, "watch out!!" This word is made up of the kanji "to pour" (注) and "opinion" or "thought" or "feeling" (意). Basically you can think of this as meaning: "Pour your thoughts into this."

When you really think about it, if you really pay attention to something, you are pouring your attention or thoughts into it. And, if you're not, you're probably not cautious enough.

Well, again if you see this sign it could mean something really important...but at the same time, it usually just means to "use your brain a little"; don't put your hand here (or you'll lose a finger), pick up your poo (or someone's gonna be mad when they step in it), and don't touch this (or you're gonna die of electrical shock).

So everyone please 注意!

みんな、がんばって！

仕事: True work involves serving others

Today's word should be memorized by anyone who wants to work in Japan. That word is:

仕事

( しごと / shigoto )

Or in other words, "work" or "employment" or "occupation" if you really want to get technical. You can use this word as a noun or you can use it as verb with the addition of "suru" (する). 

A closer look at the kanji will probably give you a closer look at Japanese society altogether. The first character means "serve" (仕) while the second basically means "business" (事). All in all, if you put these two together, your roughly get a feeling of a business based upon service.

I think the Japanese really live up to the word "shigoto" and you can see it in everything that they do. The customer is on a higher level (especially in terms of formal language) and is treated with the utmost respect. Even the lowest of workers (at least in Americans' eyes) are trained to serve the customer with outstanding dignity and respect.

Anyways, learn this word and then enjoy this picture of a gas attendant in Japan (and hopefully chuckle a little, ok?)

Japanese gas workers will do anything to serve you, even if they are really short

Anyways, keep studying and がんばって！

芋: Japan's Sweet Potatoes

Well, I've told many people that when I went to Japan I would become a farmer. Well, I have kept my word. I have begun to live off of the land. Truth be told, I'm not really doing anything other than "glorified weeding", but hey, a samurai's got to start somewhere right?

Today, I started off by chopping some vines that normally grow around the potatoes. My wife's grandpa (ojichan) would cut the vines and I would chop them up with a fancy samurai/farming blade contraption. I'd take the chopped pieces, load them into a wheelbarrow, and then drop em off at the compost area (actually I don't know what it's called, but, hey, I can't be too far off). 

Repeat the process four more times.

Some of you might be thinking that this is pure drudgery and slave labor, but I actually enjoyed it. I love testing myself and finding fun ways to do boring things, so I made it into a game (where I was the only player). I would try to do the process as fast as I could and even ended up running with the wheelbarrow. I'm sure all the neighbors were goggle-eyed at seeing a foreigner running across the street with a wheelbarrow full of vines, but alas 'tis the price of having fun.

Ojichan then handed me the hoe and let me harvest the potatoes. Oh, what a great experience! I really didn't do much, but I honestly enjoyed the fact that I was "kinda" farming and not just "weeding". Well, for those of you (like me, a few hours ago) who don't know how to harvest potatoes. You basically hoe the earth a bit away from where you think the potatoes are, pull up, and then smile as you see potatoes start breaking free from the ground. After that, you simply stick your hands in, grab the potatoes, and then yank em free.

And that's what these suckers look like. Now, this picture gives no justice to these bad boys. Some of them are actually quite big. In fact, let me show you:

Say hello to my little friend

This imo was like the size of a coconut! Look at that thing! Imagine if you saw that on your dinner plate. I mean, I've never seen a potato so large. Anyways, after the hoe-ing, we used some blade-like tools to cut off the roots and smaller vines from the potatoes and then called it a day.

I would say that I have successfully leveled up my farming skills today. I hope that in a few more levels, I can change classes and maybe become a fisherman. Until then, またね～

安心：Peace of Mind

Well this is an easy word that is used a lot:

安心

( あんしん / anshin )

The word means to have "relief" or "peace of mind". If some one is worried about something or stressed out, you can say to them, "anshinshite kudasai". To roughly translate, this would be, "please have peace of mind", or easier, "calm down please" (I like this one better).

This word is made out of the characters for "peace/peaceful" (安) and "heart" (心). Put it together and you have a "peaceful heart", or in other words, "peace of mind". Makes tons of sense right?

Love and Peace!

Well, when you're studying, don't get too excited! Anshinshite kudasai!
相変わらず、がんばって！

教会: Church

This is the perfect word to memorize for Sunday:

教会

( きょうかい / kyoukai )

This is the word for Church. I've known it for a while, but it was only within the last couple months that I learned the kanji for it, so I thought I'd share it today.

The characters that make up this word are "to teach" (教) and "to meet" (会). For me the meaning could be seen as the "place where people meet/gather to teach each other". Of course it could also be seen as the "place where people meet to be taught", but I like my first one better.

Anyways, it's been a long day of Church, so...good night!

LDS Temple in Tokyo

Always keep studying~ がんばって！

教室: Classroom

If you're going to teach in Japan, this is probably going to be a very important word to remember:

教室

( きょうしつ / kyoushitsu )

Every teacher needs to know the word for "Classroom". 

The characters that make up this word are "to teach" (教) and "room" (室), and with many other Japanese words, makes total sense. The "room that you teach in" is indeed your classroom.

if you wanna watch a good school j-drama watch Nobuta wo Produce

Well, study your Japanese everyday, and I'll see you next time~ がんばって！

気持: Feeling/Mood

This is a word that probably all learners of Japanese are familiar with:

気持ち

( きもち / kimochi )

This word means "feeling" or "mood" and can be used the same way you use it in English. You can have an uneasy feeling, a bad feeling, a good feeling, etc. 

The individual characters here are "spirit/energy" (気) and "to have/to hold" (持). So, what kind of spirit/energy do you have at the moment? That is your mood...isn't it?

i love Calvin and Hobbes

Everyone, good luck! みんな、がんばって！

トミー・リー・ジョーンズ: Tommy Lee Jones

I have decided to label any posts dealing with the mundane and crazy things of Japan as "JapaCrazy"; and a fitting name it is. Japan is full of so many crazy things that even the natives have little WTH moments from time to time...well, more like 「何やて！」moments, I guess.

Anyways, for today's cultural post may I present to you the boss of all bosses---Tommy Lee Jones....さま.

woah is that "K"?

Tommy Lee Jones is the biggest gaijin (foreigner) to hit Japan's shores since Tom Cruise saved the samurai in 1876! You can find him in commercials for companies like Boss (Coffee) and Softbank (Cell phones). 

TLJ is extremely popular and has appeared in a variety of Japan panel television shows as well. He shares the screen with some of Japan's most popular Japanese idols and even speaks Japanese from time to time.

When you see him in commercials (CM's) he's usually portrayed as an alien with abilities ranging from being able to create shockwaves, shooting lasers out of his eyes, whipping electricity from his fingertips, creating force fields, possessing insane human strength, and much much more. In Japan, TLJ is god-like!

Well, the reason he became so popular is a mystery to me (other than TLJ is the man), but I must say that I'm impressed with how far he's gotten. It will be interesting to see which foreign idol will grace Japan's airwaves next.

In the meantime, enjoy these videos below, featuring the man, Tommy Lee Jones:

Tommy Lee Jones as a an alien teacher

Now as an alien housewife who can talk to dogs

Okay, hope you "learned"(?) something about Japan! Until next time, またね～

新着: New Arrivals

Well, I just saw this word on TV and wanted to add it to my vocabulary (and yours too if you want). The word is:

新着

(しんちゃく / shinchaku)

This word means "new arrivals", and is used when a store gets a new product or item in their line-up.

The individual characters are "new" (新) and "arrive" (着); very, very logical, don't you think?

Anyways, that's it!

Cheers! 日本語がんばって！

PS. When I first started learning Japanese, I used to hate Kanji! It was so extremely hard and I thought that the lines and strokes had no rhyme, reason, or logic behind them...but after studying Kanji more diligently I have found that it is one of the funnest parts about the Japanese language. So if you're studying Kanji at the moment, don't fret! Just keep studying and it will all come together soon!

勉強：To study

Well, since you're here you might as well learn some Japanese. So, if I learn something interesting in the Japanese language, I'll share it with you. Maybe this is more for me...but hey, maybe you'll get something out of it!

And the word of the day is:

勉強
( べんきょう / benkyou )

Individually, these characters mean "try hard" (勉) and "strong" (強).

So, if you think about it, if you try really, really hard to do something, it is in effect studying.

That's it! Super simple huh? Well hopefully since I blogged about it I can remember the darn characters...

study hard everyone!

Until next time, がんばって！

銀行：Convenient Banks

Money, money, money...can't live without it. There are times that I wish we could go back to the old days and just live off the land (I would love to just go spearfishing all day), but unfortunately we gotta deal with this issue of money.

Well, Japan has some of the most convenient banks I have ever seen! Come take a visual tour with me: you walk into the bank and immediately you are greeted by practically everyone smiling, bowing (well a small head nod), and saying, "irasshaimase/いらっしゃいませ/welcome!"

Then you walk over to this robot below:

domo arigatou mr. roboto

You say hello to the robot, you press a few buttons, and then bam! Suddenly the robot shines your shoes, combs your hair, gives you a massage, and then puts $100 into your pockets...ok not really. It's not really a robot, but you do press a button. After you press it, out comes a strip of paper with your number. Then you simply sit in an empty chair and enjoy your life.

Why do I blog about this? Well, in America, you walk in the door, go through a crazy maze of a line, and then, after standing in line for who knows how long, you end up talking to a grumpy old lady about some money issues. Yeah, sitting down is a hundred times better than that. 

It's not that the chairs are spectacular in any way, it's just that you get to sit down, end of discussion. Entertainment-wise, there are a couple of televisions showing what-the-heck-who-knows-what-they-are commercials, but, hey better than elevator music.

The rest of the story is quite uneventful; the bank teller calls your number, you do your business, and then you walk out. Simply put, my first time in a Japanese bank was amazing. I wish all banks had crazy robot-machines and let you sit down. Well, I wonder how long it will take America to catch on.

*On a side note, the bank also had this cool set-up on one of their tables. If you look closely you will see three reading glasses and three stickers: blue, yellow, and red. The stickers and their respective kanji (characters) basically describe the strength of the glasses.

super convenient, if I say so myself

Here's what they mean:

Blue = 弱 = Weak

Yellow = 中 = Middle

Red = 強 = Strong

I know this is not really life-changing, but I do think that this is extremely convenient. As the years go by, my eyesight gets less and less effective and my glasses get more and more heavier, so I'm really happy to see that the banks care for us people with bad eyesight.

Well, hope you learned something today, and America I hope you drop the whole maze system and let us sit down when we go to the bank! Until next time, またね～

トイレ：Amazing Toilets

Yes, another post about toilets. I know, I know, not the best topic for the beginning of a blog, but the toilets in Japan are amazing! Now, perhaps other Asian (or other countries as well) have their own magnificent versions of the "John", but for an American living in Japan, the toilets here are truly amazing works of technology.

So let me present to you what I call the "most economic toilet in the world":

Take a good look at this superior, yet simple technology. You simply do your business, flush the toilet,....and voila~ water automatically comes out from the top, allowing you to wash your filthy hands! Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking..."I am washing my hands in my pee/poop", but do you really think that the people who brought us 

the Nintendo,

the Playstation,

and the Gundam

would wash their hands in feces water??? I think not!

Well all this is my own opinion of course, but I really think that even this "simple" Japanese toilet is ingenious. It saves water, space, and I'm pretty sure it saves money.

Anyways, that's it for this toilet, but stay tuned next time for my introduction to the super-high-tech toilets of Japan. またね～！

一番のポスト：The first Post!

"Darn another blog"...I know, that's what you're thinking. But, people pressured me, I swear! Well, this blog isn't going for any professional points because I simply want to share my experience here in Japan. If we're friends on Facebook, you can probably just look at all my pictures there, but hopefully in this blog I can give you a better feel of what it's like to live here in the land of the rising sun.

For my first post and category in this wonderful new blog I am proud to present:

"Japangrish"

This category will cover random posters, signs, etc that portray the use of English in Japan. When Mami and I run into these words we get a real kick out of them, and so I hope you do to.

---

NO SMOKING in Toilet, please.

but I like to get my feet wet at the same time...

If you haven't smoked IN a toilet before, you are missing out!!!...um...just kidding, I don't smoke. Well, English students, here's what it should say: "No smoking in the restroom, please". If you leave it like it is, it would mean: "Please do not stand inside the toilet bowl and smoke at the same time". Well, at least they said please.

Although incorrect and funny, the interesting thing is that for Japanese people, this sentence is fairly correct. Japanese people actually use the word TOILET (トイレ) as an equivalent to "restroom", "comfort room", "powder room", "wash room", and etc. and it doesn't necessarily just mean the toilet bowl. So, they missed the article "the" but they could have done worst. Basically they just said "No smoking in restroom". Not as bad as you thought huh? 

Well, I hope you learned something, and remember, please, please, please, do not smoke while putting your head inside the toilet bowl! Bye bye~ またね～