Join Our Newsletter
  • Visit Our Store
  • Come Write for J-List!
J-List Blog
Visit J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
No Result
View All Result

Greetings from J-List 12/5/04

Peter Payne by Peter Payne
19 years ago
in Your Friend in Japan

Hello to everyone in J-List land. It’s time for another installment of the J-List Infrequent Updates, for people who receive too much email and who only want to hear from J-List every once in a while. The site has been updated regularly over the past two weeks, and we’ve got hundreds of new items for your to check out, from every possible category you would wish for. We hope you’ll visit us at http://www.jlist.com

Every rule has an exception, and the Japanese writing system is riddled with so many exceptions, it’s almost as complex as English grammar. Japan adopted China’s kanji writing system back in the 6th century; before this time the Japanese had no writing at all. As a general rule, each kanji is supposed to have two pronunciations: the original Chinese one (suitably shoehorned into the Japanese phonetic system), and a native Japanese one. Thus, the character the Japanese use for car, which originally meant wheel, is read kuruma (Japanese reading) when used by itself, or sha (Chinese reading) when combined with other characters to form a more complex word, such as jidosha, automobile, or jinrikisha, a “rick-shaw”). The two-ways-to-read-a-kanji rule is more of a guideline, though — many characters have only one reading, while a few have a dozen or more. Underlying the kanji system are the two kana syllabaries, hiragana for writing Japanese words and grammatical particles, and katakana for writing foreign-loan words and the names of foreign people and places. But katakana is sometimes used in place of hiragana for emphasis (kind of like writing in italics in English), and a few English words like tobacco, coffee and club have had kanji assigned to them, since they’ve been in use for so long. Incidentally, if you’ve ever wondered why the Japanese don’t do away with kanji and write using the two kana syllabaries, the reason is that without kanji, the brain can’t easily take in the chunks of meaning on the page — for me, there’s nothing harder than reading a children’s book because there are no kanji to break up the sea of hiragana. Here’s an example of some of these writing systems in case you’re curious what they look like: http://www.jlist.com/writing

Christmas in Japan is very different from in the U.S.. First of all, it’s a normal day like any other — people fight traffic jams to get to work, and if they’re Christian, they attend mass in the evening. Gifts are given, but mostly between couples, or from parents to children — Toys R Us Japan has made sure that no child will go without toys each year. More important than Christmas Day is Christmas Eve, when most families have a special dinner, and eat the Christmas Cake that they reserved a month in advance. It’s easily Kentucky Fried Chicken’s busiest night, but sushi shops also do very brisk business. Christmas Eve is also a night for lovers: if you want to reserve a room in a popular love hotel on Christmas Eve, you have to do it at least a year in advance.

The largest group of foreigners in Japan aren’t American or Australians or Brits. They’re Koreans, an interesting group because many of them were born and raised right here, and often don’t even speak Korean unless they attended one of the Korean-only schools that pepper the country. To an American like me, it’s odd that these people would not be considered Japanese, as all children born in the U.S. get to be American citizens automatically. But the relationship of Korea and Japan is a very complex one, somewhat akin to that of Britain and Ireland, and more or less by mutual agreement of both sides Koreans often live for generations inside Japan, never allowing themselves to become culturally assimilated. Or is it the Japanese who keep the Korean population from truly becoming part of their society? I couldn’t possibly say for sure. On the one hand, it’s not difficult for anyone (even white-boy gaijin me) to get Japanese citizenship as long as he meets certain reasonable requirements. Japan is always very sensitive to possible accusations of racism, so there are no groups that aren’t “allowed” to become Japanese citizens. Many Koreans object to the Japanese requirement that all persons wanting to become naturalized must take a Japanese name, e.g. Taro Yamada, as well as requiring that many jobs, including teaching at public schools, be done only by persons with full Japanese citizenship. Koreans living in Japan make sure they only hang out with other similar-minded Koreans (e.g., South with South, North with North), lest questions arise about their loyalties. There is, unfortunately, a lot of organized crime related to North Koreans, everything from making North Koreans born in Japan pay protection money to “support” relatives back home to mass-production of high-grade cocaine. Gunma, the prefecture we live in, has many companies that make pachinko machines, and for some reason, pachinko, North Korea and crime always seem to go hand-in-hand around here.

Well, that’s all for now. Remember that the J-List site has ben updated several times since you visited last. Please stop by J-List and see all the great items we have for you!

Tags: crimegaijinJapanese languageUSA

More Posts Like This

A Look At The Kyoto Animation Arson Trial
Your Friend in Japan

Kyoto Animation Arson Trial Begins! What’s in Store for Shinji Aoba?

by Peter Payne
4 weeks ago

The trial for the man responsible for the arson attack on the Kyoto Animation headquarters has begun, and the Japanese...

Watashi No Shiawase No Kekkon
Your Friend in Japan

‘My Happy Marriage’ is a Serotonin Boost For Your Brain

by Peter Payne
2 months ago

There are so many worthwhile anime series for fans to enjoy each season it can be easy to miss one....

Learn Japanese Through Anime! Otonari No Tenshi

Learn Japanese With Anime! Otonari no Tenshi-sama Edition

6 months ago
Soft On Demand President Arrested

President of JAV Maker Soft On Demand Arrested

7 months ago
Bbc Reporting Scandal Among Johnny's Idols

BBC Posts Expose on the Dark World of Johnny’s Idols

7 months ago
Caught Selling Bootleg Dakimakura Pillows?

Japanese Police Bust Bootleg Dakimakura Ring!

8 months ago
Next Post
J-List Default Featured Image

Greetings from J-List 12/6/04

Trending Today

Why Is Umi Yatsugake So Popular
Your Friend in Japan

Why is Umi Yatsugake The Most Popular JAV Actress?

7 days ago
Ayakashi Triangle Blu Ray Censorship
Your Friend in Japan

Are the Ayakashi Triangle Blu-rays Uncensored? YES THEY ARE.

2 days ago
Roxy Migurdia Blog Post
Figures

This is the Roxy Migurdia Figure We All Needed!

1 week ago
J List Staff Pick Waifus 2022 3
Featured

Fashionable Gyaru Girls in Anime

2 days ago
Megami Magazine November 2023
Anime Magazine

Need More Anime Posters? The New Megami Magazine is In Stock!

2 days ago
Get the Newest Figures from J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
Megami Magazine November 2023
Anime Magazine

Need More Anime Posters? The New Megami Magazine is In Stock!

by Peter Payne
October 3, 2023

Production I.G Scores With Haikyu!! Final

Anime Rewind! Let’s Look at Koi Kaze, the Best Sister Love Anime!

My Tiny Senpai, Episode 11: Smol Fan Wants Big Hug!

Tokyo Game Show Celebrates the Return of Cosplay

20 Years of Saya no Uta Pt. 2 — Story Analysis

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Discord
  • YouTube

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.