Jisho.org, or Denshi Jisho, is probably the best Japanese dictionary available on the internet. I previously used the dictionary on the Kanji-A-Day site I previously mentioned, but recently I’ve found jisho.org to be more useful. Not only does it give you the results you ask for, but it provides much more that can prove useful for those studying the language.

The results of your searches are presented in an aesthetically pleasing way. The author of the site has a knack for no-nonsense, clean, and clear design which I particularly like.

The site supposedly is optimized to run on cell phones, iPhones, and iPod Touches as well (although I haven’t tried these out as I don’t own any of them).

Rather than describe what you can figure out on your own with a few clicks, I’ll just leave my recommendation at that and encourage you to try it.

Posted on May 3rd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, japanese links. Comments: 3

I’ve mentioned before that if you ever do the Hakone Loop you may want to do it in the reverse direction as that usually directed in the guidebooks. Counterclockwise will usually get you fewer crowds, possibly better views of Mt. Fuji, and, perhaps best of all, a foot soak at the end, instead of the beginning, of your day.

If the above picture doesn’t look like heaven to you then you should walk around all day first. Then take a look. See what I mean?

This foot soak onsen can be found in the Hakone Open Air Museum. The price is right (free with admission), and it is perfect for a museum like this that requires a lot of walking to see everything. Come to think of it, every museum should have such a feature.

A man who worked for the museum was handing out towels, putting fruit in the water, and, as you can see in the next picture, he even offers to take your picture if he sees that you have a camera. I’m looking forward to the Japanese level of service again.

There are even some “doctor fish” in the onsen which provide a little fish therapy to your aching feet.

Posted on May 2nd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: hakone, museums, onsen. Comments: 2

I finished reading Mangajin yesterday with the final issue, #70. The last issue was… um… interesting? No, that’s not it. Unethical? Perhaps.

In the issues numbered in the sixties the pleas for subscriptions grew ever more loud. This seemed strange for a magazine winding up its operations. Apparently they were getting desperate for cash. But to encourage people to renew or extend their subscriptions just before closing shop seems wrong.

I expected the final issue to have a big apology on the first page and a notice that said refunds would be coming. That isn’t the case though. Nothing is out of the ordinary in this issue except that there is no “Publisher’s Note” like there is in every other issue except #69 and #70. In fact subscription information and money is still being taken on the page after the Contents page like normal.

Finally, on page 32, there is a “notice” that most readers probably won’t even notice saying that this is the final issue. Refunds were not provided to subscribers. If the subscriber did nothing they lost their money. If they wrote to Mangajin they could get their subscription converted into a FrontLine magazine subscription. They could also order back issues with their now defunct pre-paid subscription but would still have to pay postage to receive those issues. Seems pretty sneaky, and maybe even illegal, to me to kill a magazine like that.

Mangajin was great while it lasted, but they should have ended things with more class.

I still have 12 unsold issues remaining. Take them off my hands for $50 delivered in the U.S.

Posted on May 1st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: mangajin. Comments: 1

I finished the above two issues of Nihongo Journal this past week. We are leaving for Japan in about 10-12 weeks and I have about 20 unread issues to still get through so I need to keep up my pace of about 2 a week. Nihongo Journal is very enjoyable to read. It’s probably about the best method of studying Japanese on your own out there. Too bad they no longer publish new issues. It was a great run while it lasted though.

Posted on April 30th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: Japanese Language Study Methods, nihongo journal. Comments: 1

Today is 昭和の日 (Showa no hi — or the day to remember the Showa Era which ran until 1989). The reason for it being today is that Emperor Hirohito, who was the emperor during the Showa Era, was born on this day. Today kicks off Golden Week. 

Emperor Hirohito died on January 7, 1989. I remember the day well because I was living in Japan at the time–Kawasaki, just south of Tokyo, to be exact. My apartment was very close to the Mizonokuchi train station.

Foreigners living in Japan at the time didn’t know what to expect when the emperor died. Hirohito had been emperor for so long and had such a controversial reputation, given that WWII happened during his reign, that we didn’t know what would happen. Would people celebrate? Mourn for an extended period of time? What should we foreigners do? Keep a low profile? How should we refer to Hirohito when talking to Japanese people? More honorably than normal? Were there new, special terms that we should use now that he was dead rather than living? So many questions and confusion confronted foreigners in Japan at the time.

As it turned out, the Japanese were equally confused. They didn’t know what to do, what was proper, or how to react either. So, it seemed, we were all in the same boat.

Posted on April 29th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: kawasaki. Comments: 1