第五: J-CULT THURSJAY!

ゲスの極み乙女

Gesu no Kiwami Otome

"Girl at the height of rudeness"

One of my good friends, who is still living in Japan, has just sent me a link to an awesome song by this band. The song, 私以外私じゃない "Not a me other than me", was released this month (I think), and I have not been able to stop listening to it. You know, it's one of those songs that is just as good as the very first time you heard it. A real banger! Well, more of a real bopper.

I love all aspects of the song, especially how the song gets all jazzy at the end. The music video, accompanies it perfectly, once again incorporating the image of old traditional Japan with images of Japan today - oh, and there's a slightly 70s disco look thrown in there as well. AND some coke bottles on the stage. From having a look and a listen at their other tracks, it seems like a lot of their songs have this interesting mix of musical styles.

Each of the band members, including Enon Kawatani from Indigo la End, enjoyed having a jam together, so they formed Gesu no Kiwami Otome in 2012. Here is their latest song: 私以外私じゃない.Once you've checked that out, have a look at the music video to one of their earlier songs ドレスの脱ぎ方 ("How to take off a dress").

第四: J-CULT THURSJAY!

Some J Soul Brothers? Anyone? Yes, please! 

Here is their new track Storm Riders feat. Slash which was released this April! I have been waiting for some new Jpop tunes for my iPod, so I am super happy right now, and also really excited to do the ironing (I iron as I listen to music)...

I love it - I think J Soul Brothers (and Exile), are defs my favourite Japanese boy band. Actually, I know so! I can't think of any others that I like more. I tend to prefer Korean boy bands to Japanese ones, and it is often hard to beat Korean boy bands because they all dance and sing so well. The music videos are also so creative. Enough about Kpop.

So, I have heard that they are releasing another song this month called Starting Over - but I haven't been able to find it sadly. If you find a link, please send it to me. I think it might be a ballad, which is usually not my cup of tea. Then again, I think they could convince me otherwise somehow. Very easily...

Well, here's the new one for your enjoyment. I added some older ones that I love to the bottom too. Hey, who is Slash, by the way? 

STORM RIDERS feat. Slash:

O.R.I.O.N:

R.Y.U.S.E.I:

FUYU MONOGATARI: (My favourite!)

第三: J-CULT THURSJAY!

I love サカナクション (Sakanaction), and for those of you who don't know them yet but like Japan and electro music, BANG! Sakanaction is a beautiful union of the two and you should have a really good listen to all of their stuff. Their lyrics are equally as beautiful.

After my time in Japan, Sakanaction holds an even more special place in my heart than it did beforehand. I got on very well with one of the ladies at my school and one day it snowed and snowed and snowed, so much that there was no way I could ride back home on my bicycle. She kindly offered to drive me home, and as the car started, Sakanaction started playing loudly from her car stereo. As she turned it down, she frantically apologised for having it so loud, but I told her to turn it back up because she was playing a song I loved! We both laughed hysterically as she couldn't believe I liked Sakanaction, and also because I had unfairly expected her not to be into such music! It was a great moment and one I will always remember. In fact, I have just finished writing a letter to her by hand and in Japanese! (I haven't written in Japanese since I left almost four months ago!)

So, here are my personal favourites which you should go and look up on youtube:

- 夜の踊り子
- ミュージック(Have a look at the lyrics for this one!)
- Ame(B) 
- minnanouta 
- ユリイカ

The reason I am posting about Sakanaction is because they have recently released two new songs, さよならはエモション (Goodbye Emotion) and 蓮の花 (Lotus Flower) which has a really awesome music clip as you will see below. One thing I love about Sakanaction is the dreamlike nature of their music and videos. As you watch, it is as though the imagery leads you toward a place where you are closer to the music, and that in turn sets your mind off on a beautiful adventure! 

On a different topic, have you ever heard of Rabbit Island? ウサギ島 (Usagijima) or 大久野島(Ōkunoshima)? Well, neither had I! It's a little island located near 竹原 (Takehara) in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Originally a home to Japanese fishermen, the island was used in WWII as a place for producing poison gas for chemical warfare. After WWII, the poison gas factory became a museum and hotels, a golf course and camp sites were built. Now the island is home to hundreds of rabbits which are tame and can be fed. I am so sad I never visited the island when I was in Japan, but as I love rabbits, I will add it to the list of places to go.

I found a lovely little video of the rabbits which you can see here (click me!), or have a look here at the following video by David Tang on his adventure to the island! After seeing it, I really want to go there and have rabbits jump all over me! 

I hope you enjoyed the THIRD J-CULT THURSJAY! Here are some links that might interest you:

Sakanaction on Wikipedia

Sakanaction Youtube

Okunoshima on Wikipedia

第二: J-CULT THURSJAY!

I'm already one day late for my J-Cult Thursjay post! How awful. I will try harder next week!

This evening, after finding articles on Japanese art trends, strange panda seats on trains, and an elaborate advert for the Japanese department store Isetan with their song isetan-tan-tan (you really should have a look. It's so cute!), I finally found something really awesome! 

Vampillia is a Japanese band which was started in Osaka in 2005. They have a really interesting style which I find incredibly exciting yet difficult to describe. Their music takes you on a journey from gentle, hypnotic sounds and experimental orchestral music to fast-paced death metal crossed with punk/grunge. I'm not very good at describing musical styles - never have been - but this one is really hard to label. They say it themselves on their facebook page! Anyway, who needs labels.

This evening I have been checking out their newish song Mirror Mirror. The video clip complements the music incredibly well with beautiful and sometimes shocking animations playing with fractals and images melding together to form interesting shapes. In fact, the more I watch it, the more intriguing it is seeing the beauty juxtaposed with quite horrific images! Have a look! 

Having a quick listen to some of their other music, lilac is also really lovely! Such beautiful orchestral music! Northern Lights is really awesome as well! I will definitely spend a little more time with these guys! From the look of it, they have been quite successful and have done a lot of tours all over the world including one to Australia! I wish I'd known beforehand! Here they are for your enjoyment! 

If you want to know more about Vampillia, here are some links!

Vampillia Official Web Page

Vampillia @ facebook

Buy an album!

End of the World: 世界の終わり

I didn't know much about the Toy's Factory record label, and just discovered a nice list of bands to look up! One of them is "End of the World" or nihongo-de 世界の終わり (sekai no owari). Here's a video clip for their song RPG. (If you happen to be afraid of Clowns, best not watch this. I find nice-looking clowns scary, so I thought in case there were others out there who feared them like I do, I should let people know!)

This song comes from their new single, entitled RPG and released in 2013. I thought I'd have a look at some of their earlier stuff and found a nice song entitled "幻の命" (maboroshi no inochi), which apparently made them quite popular. Here it is for your enjoyment! :)

Well, of the clips I have seen, and the songs I have listened to, I quite like their sound and their feeling. If they got rid of that clown, all would be ok! :)

I was going to leave it there, but I just discovered a band called "湘南の風" (Shounan no kaze). Their song 純恋歌 (junrenka) is nice. : ) 

新しい好きな曲を見つけた

サカナクションが好きで、今日は新しいサカナクションの曲を見つけた！この曲の名前は「ミュージック」と呼んだと思てて、絶対知らないんだ。どうぞビデオを見てね。：）

皆さんはサカナクションを好きだったら、「夜の踊り子」も見つけてみてね。：）昔日と今日のミックスのはすっごく好きだ。このミックスは、日本の現代美術によくあるよ。僕はこのテーマがとても面白いと思う。日本の現代美術のアーチストはよく昔日を現在の芸術品に組み込んでみると思う。日本人のため、昔日は特別だそうだと思う。昔日の接続を維持することは現在にとても大切な事だ。

僕のブログを読んでいる日本人は、この考えどう考えるの？どうぞコメントを書いて、レスポンスしてね。

PASSPO!

この曲、大好きだよ！XD

PASSPO☆ - Sakura Komachi Vidéo Milano-san sélectionnée dans Musique

パフューム

パフュームの曲はあまり知らないけど、この歌がちょっと好きです。日本語の音楽の中に、キャッチーな歌の方が好きだと思います。キャッチー名歌とバラードの歌も好きです。中島美嘉のバラードはとってもきれいです。（その歌のスタイルはバラードだと思っています：P）

これはパフュームの「ねぇ」と呼ばれている歌です。何を考えますか？

これはパフュームの新しい歌です。一緒に聞こえましょうね。

...

...

...かわいすぎるかな。

「ねぇ」の歌の方が好きだと思います。：）パフュームのファンは、歌のおすすめがありますか？

Daesung's "D'scover"

I love Daesung's warm voice and here he is singing away in Japanese! This is a song from the new solo album "D'scover". XD Enjoy everyone! 

忙しい日

今日は、JETProgramの面接がもうすぐにありますので、背広を買いに行きました。お金をあまり払いたくなくて、しかし背広はとても高かったです。でも将来のために投資でしょう。面接を合格できるなら、とにかく背広を日本で要らなければなりませんでしょう。

面接がもうすぐありますので、すごく怖くなってきてます。今晩面接準備をしましょう。

背広を買った後、ランチを食べて、帰りました。僕の仕事着を着て、電車を乗るために駅に出て行きました。でもレストランに着いてとき、誰もいなかった！ホテルを二時間ぐらい働いて泊まりました。その後で家に帰りました。

昨日の晩、友達とKPOPのパーティーをしました。楽しかった！：D　KPOPが好きですか？　少女時代とビッグバンがとても好きです。：）昨日は僕たちはビデオクリップを一緒に見てて、一緒にKPOPの歌を歌いました。きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅの「ぽんぽんぽん」のビデオを僕の友達に見せてくれたけど、彼らはそのビデオを好きじゃありません！悲しいですね！そのビデオにはたくさん怖いものがあるのを認めますけど、怖いものがあるというのに、好きです。：）

今晩の好きな曲

みなさん、

今晩はYouTubeでたくさん音楽を聞いた！プーケットのクラブで現在なポップ音楽をたくさん聞いていて、いいメモリーを思い出すために、その曲をダウンロードしたい。
僕のパートナーは、家でラジオ放送局を一つだけを聞いていたいので、僕は通常はアメリカからのポップ音楽を聞いていない。そのラジオ放送局は、インディポップ曲だけを果たす。曲があまり変わりないので、新しい音楽を見つけるのは嬉しい！

最近日本語があまり勉強しない、ごめんね！

風は好きじゃない！:P

今日は風がとても強いです。28度ぐらいです！まだ冬なのに，暑いです！ 少し変な天気だと思います。今日はショーツを着ていて、とてもすきです！ シャワーのあとジーンズを着たけど、暑すぎるから、ショーツに変えました。

風は好きじゃない！今朝天気はきれいだから窓とドアを開けた。風が来た後で、残念窓とドアを閉めなければならなかった。よくカフェへ行って、はじめは風がなくて、それで風が来て、僕の雑誌がそこここに吹きます。

僕は忙しかったから、日記を久しくに書かないことはごめんね！またね！

ヨヒオ知っていますか？ ヨヒオは「せれめでぃー」と呼んだグループから人です。「せれめでぃー」はスウェーデングループだ。今ヨヒオはソロキャリアをして、一人で曲を付けます。

疲れます

みなさん、おはようございます！ 今朝ベッドで書きます。（「で」は正しいの助詞ですか）今週はたくさん働きました。水曜日と木曜日から昨日まで働きました。殆どの人に比べあんまり仕事じゃないですが、僕はたくさん働きました感じます。ですから今朝はベッドに泊まりますね。

ベッドに泊まるのはほかの理由もあります。昨夜同居人が友達を招待しました。パーティーするのはあんまりしたくないから、寝ました。仕事の後で疲れてすぎましたから、六時午前から、六時午後まですっと寝ました！五月蝿い音楽がある時に、寝る事が普通出来ません。ですから今晩寝るが出来たは呆れます。（この文章は分かりますか？「I was amazed I got any sleep」と言ったがっていましたね）

昨夜もすこし音楽を聞きました。倖田來未の曲が好きで、歌詞は全然分かりませんですが。彼女の話し方、たくさん俗語がありますか。分かりたいけど、難しすぎますが。

Cooking With Dogは新しいビデオあります！Chefが順調に回復しています。嬉しいです。：）

読むのはありがとう！僕の日本語を読むのは簡単じゃないかもしれませんから、ごめんなさい。訂正があれば、コメントを書いてください。

僕の週末

この週末、僕はたくさんする事をしました。土曜日に僕の知り合いの誕生日がありました。タイ料理のレストランでたくさん美味しい食べ物を食べました。タイ料理がとても好きです。ペナンカレーが僕の一番好きな料理で、パッタイも好きです。食事のあと、居酒屋に行って、ビールを飲みます。「アグワ」っていう酒を飲んでみて、美味しかったけど、強いでした。たくさん踊った後で、駅に歩いて電車に乗って、帰りました。
次の日、車でライカートへ行って、犬カフェに行くつもりです。犬カフェの名前は「cafe bones」というカフェです。そのカフェでコーヒーを飲めて、ほかの犬と犬を遊ばさせます。カフェの隣にカナルがあって、僕の犬は誤ってカナルに飛び込みました、彼は出られなかったけど！どこか犬がカナルの外に飛び込める所を見つける事は難しいでした。一時間ぐらい後で、犬はカナルから逃げて、僕たちは帰りました。晩ご飯は美味しくないのピザを食べました。

今日は音楽をインターネットからダウンロードしました。僕の最近一番好きな曲はマドモアゼルユリアの「Gimme Gimme」という曲です。知っていますか？　あなたは知らない場合に、ここで聞こえますよ。

あなたは僕の日本語を分かりますか？出来ないなら、ごめんなさい。勉強はもっと一生懸命します！コメントと訂正は書いてください！

19

Hi all,

Just found this lovely song called あの紙ヒコーキくもり空わって by 19 (十九)! It really helps to be able to read the translation and the Japanese at the same time. I think this will be another good song for compiling a vocabulary list! Have a listen first!

裏切る　　　うらぎる　　　　　to betray
慣れる　　　なれる　　　　　　to get used to
呟く　　　　つぶやく　　　　　to murmur, mutter
顔上げて　　かおあげて　　　　"chin up!"
無い　　　　ない　　　　　　　WHAT?? How did it take me this long to know it had a kanji!
思わず　　　おもわず　　　　　unintentionally, involuntarily
押す　　　　おす　　　　　　　to push （押して）
　　　　　　それぞれ　　　　　each, every, either　　　　　
虹　　　　　にじ　　　　　　　rainbow

Ah listening again, it is such a lovely song. I bet a lot of people feel nostalgic when they listen to it. If you're reading and know this song, how does it make you feel? :)

歌の勉強

みなさん！今日は少し歌の勉強します！最初の歌はYuiの「Laugh Away」。その歌は２００８にリオの一番好きな歌でした！今聞いて、たくさん昔の思い出が戻てあります。そのときについて懐かしい感じています。そのときには僕はひどい仕事をあって、その歌は悲しいときに幸せになてくれました。：）

今日は歌からの助けを借りてボキャブラリーのリスト(語彙リスト？）を作ります。

Someone took the little video clip I had found for it when I wrote this and unfortunately I can't find a replacement so this little video will have to do. The trees are beautiful, aren't they!

自転車を漕ぎ続けた　to continue pedalling / to peddle on*

上り坂　　　　　　　uphill

駆け上げる　　　　　to run up (駆ける-to run)

追い越せる　　　　　to let overtake (追い越す- to overtake）

情熱　　　　　　　　passions, enthusiasm

逃す　　　　　　　　to miss

伸ばす　　　　　　　to stretch (to reach out your hand: 手を伸ばす）

ちっぽけな　　　　　tiny, puny, measly
悩んでいる　　　　　to be troubled, to worry

咲き誇る桜　　　　　cherry trees in full bloom

花びら　　　　　　　petal

負ける　　　　　　　to lose, be defeated

そう　　　　　　　　yes (on its own: ie. そう、笑って)

そっと　　　　　　　softly, easily (on its own: ie. そっと、笑って）

丘　　　　　　　　　hill

息を切らす　　　　　to gasp for air

見下ろす　　　　　　to look down

見上がる　　　　　　to look up

屋根　　　　　　　　roof

溢れる　　　　　　　to overflow

零す　　　　　　　　to spill

目の前に　　　　　　in front of one's eyes

広がる　　　　　　　to spread, unfold

景色　　　　　　　　view, scenery, landscape

落ち込む　　　　　　to feel down, to feel sad

*I don't think I've come across this before, or if I have, I've never noticed it! Japanese speakers out there, if I change the verb like 'V-ます+続ける', will that change every verb to "to continue" doing that action? ie. 食べ続ける to continue to eat
     寝続ける to continue sleeping
     読み続ける to continue reading

After making this vocab list, it helps me so much when I look back at the song lyrics! It helps to see how the sentences are put together and also helps to focus on the grammar used in the lyrics, for example I came across several grammatical patterns that I had not come across for ages and had almost forgotten! I will now try and study the list and re-listen to the song afterwards! :)

If there are any errors, please tell me! I'm unsure about how I've written and translated 見下ろす and 見上げる.

レイニー朝

みなさん！今朝、たくさん雨が降っています。ですから家の奥に泊まって、日本語を勉強します。一時午後ところを朝のコーヒーを飲んだり、TaeKimのブログを読んだりします。 I just realised I don't know how to say "although" in Japanese and according to my dictionary, 「ところを」is one of the ways to say it in relation to time or in relation to a certain condition. I also don't really know how to say "to decide to do something", and this is one phrase that I always find myself using. Apparently 事にする is the way of saying it, but I always feel it isn't expressing what I want to say haha. So for my above sentence, does「ですから家の奥に泊まって、日本語を勉強事にします」make sense if I want to say "so, I decided to stay home and study Japanese"?

As you've seen, I've been posting a lot of Japanese songs, and I'm quite sick of listening to them and not understanding everything! Back at uni, my friends would take the song lyrics and study them so they knew what the song was about, as well as how those ideas were expressed in lyric form. For ages I have been meaning to do this too but have never gotten around to it, so I've decided 「事にする」(haha), to try and study the song lyrics to Utada Hikaru's Goodbye Loneliness. I also want to read more spoken Japanese, because when I listen to people speak there are a lot of words - little words that I don't understand. (Go AWAY Deva, you're trying to fight me again!)

Well, a friend of mine just posted this video on youtube, and I thought I might share it with you! I love it! :D

I

僕の納豆の冒険

みなさん！こんにちは！

Today, I thought I'd have a little chat about Japanese food... and to begin, I will start with 納豆 (nattō).

So, the other day, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit 納豆 and give it a 6th try. Well, I admit I have actually only eaten it twice before - once was only a spoonful from some that a friend was eating for lunch, and once when I thought I might buy some and try it properly at home. That was about 5 years ago and I haven't had any 納豆 since.

My first taste of 納豆 was unpleasant. I did not like the smell, flavour nor the texture. The second time, when I thought I might be able to eat a whole bowl of it at home, I pretty much had the same opinion and gave the rest to my mum who liked it immensely and ate it all without a problem.

Well, my dear readers (one day......), last week I went to my favourite supermarket and bought a 4 pack of 納豆 - 納豆しそ海苔* to be exact. About an hour ago, I returned from an interview and seeing as it was lunchtime, I thought I may as well have 納豆 for lunch!

I made some rice, prepared the nattō with the dressing provided (which on its own, tasted quite good), and scooped the nattō onto my rice with a big splash of soy sauce. I sat down and unfortunately was very quickly reminded of how much I disliked the smell, flavour and texture. In fact, just before I wrote that sentence, I had to run to the kitchen for a drink to get the flavour out of my mouth. 

I kind of want to like it, but I'm going to have to classify myself as a non-eater. I did however make a good effort to finish the bowl. There's about a quarter left and I definitely ate much more than I did the last two times. If I ever feel I can give it another go, I will venture back into the fridge and prepare another of the 3 remaining packs. Who knows, the more I try it, the less nasty it may seem! (I'm trying this with Li Hing Mui but it isn't going well).

So, to more positive subjects, my favourite Japanese foods are たこ焼き (takoyaki = octopus dumplings/balls), well actually I pretty much love everything else except for うなぎ (unagi = eel) and for some reason お好み焼き (Japanese-style pancake) has never been a big favourite. When I went to Japan, I ate カレーライス (curry rice), for the first time ever and my heavens, it was delicious! If only I had some now...  

*I'm not quite sure what しそ海苔 (shisonori) is. If anyone can enlighten me, please do! So far, I've found sites calling it Perilla, and on the packet the nattō is sitting on a leaf with the same shape as the one pictured on wikipedia. It says it is supposed to have a mint/fennel/apple-like flavour. As I said, it tasted good on its own! :P

Here's another video by the ウルフルズ! It's related to takoyaki and okonomiyaki! Enjoy!

Vocab!

Hi all! I was writing something in Japanese the other day about something I felt really strongly about. I noticed that my sentences in Japanese seemed to make sense and somehow I felt able to express my opinion with the words I knew. Compared to writing on Lang8 about everyday topics like gardening, drinking coffee, having lunch etc, I felt much more able to express myself. When I write about everyday topics, the use of language seems much more disjointed and vague. I should practice writing more Japanese about topics I feel strongly about! Take that, Deva!!

Here is my weeks vocabulary list! Some good words there, if I do say so myself! この言葉は出来るだけに覚える。(I'll learn the words as best I can?)

合法化する（ごうほうかする）- to legalise

伝統的な（でんとうてきな）- traditional, conventional

伝統（でんとう）- tradition

首相（しゅしょう）- Prime Minister

政府（せいじ）- government

政府（せいふ）- politics

社会（しゃかい）- society

文化（ぶんか）- culture

毛布（もうふ）- blanket

認める（みとめる）- to recognise, to appreciate

暫く（しばらく）- a little while, short while, moment, instant

呪文（じゅもん）- spell, charm, incantation, magic word

費用（ひよう）- cost, expense

急いで（いそいで）- hurriedly

急ぐ（いそぐ）- to hurry, to rush, to hasten, to make something happen sooner

用意（ようい）- preparation

そんなに - so much so, like that

お八つ（おやつ）- afternoon snack

ちゃんと - perfectly, properly, exactly

出来るだけ早く（できるだけはやく）- as soon as possible

出来るだけ（できるだけ）- as much as one can, as much as possible, if at all possible

其の儘（そのまま）- without change, as it is

Ok, here's some Teriyaki Boyz for you to listen to. I'm not into hiphop, but it was cool to hear. 

Formal or informal?

みなさん、

Everyone who studies Japanese at uni learns formal Japanese and I remember being frustrated when I came across something written in informal Japanese because it was so different from the form of Japanese I had been studying.

Since university, I've been trying to learn and practice informal Japanese and I recently bought two books - Dirty Japanese and Making Out In Japanese II, (I already have book I). Ignoring all the vulgar expressions in the two books, it is interesting to see how informal Japanese is put together, and I have been using those books to try and understand it a little more than I do.

So, when I write to people, I know I should be writing in polite language, but I feel I want to practice informal Japanese. Sometimes, in films, there seems to be a fine line between the use of both forms. I had thought that if one was chatting away to ones friends, です wouldn't be used, but in a film I saw recently the character used informal language and then threw in a です as if to place emphasis on what he had just said. 

I am yet to find anything in a book or on the net explaining this, but I think I should try and practice informal Japanese. I just worry that if I focus on informal Japanese, I might forget certain aspects of formal Japanese. When I visited Japan recently, I remember practicing informal with my friend, but then accidentally using it to a shop assistant. I understand that one can use informal language, but I felt bad and a little impolite.

UPDATE:

Deva, the little evil cat, keeps telling me that I should never have attempted to write yesterday's post in Japanese. He has been shouting at me and telling me that I am hopeless and can't speak Japanese at all. I can defeat him! I can! 

Here's some ウルフルズ for you to enjoy!