The task of choosing where to eat out (gaishoku, がいしょく, 外食) in Japan can be a difficult one. Upon venturing out to a busy area in the evening in Japan, you will be met by a dazzling array of neon, endless signs for eateries, often from basement up to the seventh or eighth floor or above and stretching off into the distance in all directions, with menu-bearing touts (yobikomi, よびこみ, 呼び込み) intent on herding potential customers in the direction of their particular restaurant. How can you navigate through this to a meal that fits both your palate and your wallet?

Low-budget Eateries

For the frugal, there are three donburi (どんぶり, 丼) chains that you cannot fail to come across in Japan: Sukiya (すき家) , Matsuya (松屋, ), and Yoshinoya (吉野家). At these establishments, open 24 hours a day, you can buy a filling meal starting at just 250 or 290 yen, generally variants of bowls of rice covered with beef and vegetables (gyuudon, ぎゅうどん, 牛丼), although other options such as eel (unagi, うなぎ, 鰻) are also available. Selection of a dish and payment are often made via a machine, sometimes situated outside the restaurant to save space, so even foreigners with no spoken Japanese can order if they can read the text on the buttons, or try ‘pot luck’ and press a random button to select their meal.

Another option besides the donburi chains is yatai (やたい, 屋台), small food stalls with a few stools for customers. Ramen noodles are often the dish of choice at these places, and they are great in winter to warm you via both the food and being huddled around the stove/cauldron where the food is prepared. Alternatively, octopus balls (takoyaki, たこやき, たこ焼き) are a quick and tasty dish served at yatai that is particularly prevalent in Osaka.

Regular restaurants

A step up from the Japanese fast food options above is the izakaya (いざかや, 居酒屋). For an authentic Japanese eating experience, these are hard to beat. Often referred to as a Japanese pub, this translation really fails to do it justice. There are certainly similarities in the way that you will be greeted upon entering and leaving, the crowded seating arrangements that encourage interaction between tables and groups, and the ready flow of beer and other alcoholic beverages.

However, food takes a far more central stage in an izakaya than in a pub, and indeed, taking up a table just to drink without sampling the food is frowned upon. A visit to an izakaya can be challenge to one’s Japanese, as the menu is often written by hand on pieces of paper attached to the wall, which can make the kanji even more difficult to decipher than usual. However, as a meal at an izakaya usually involves many small dishes, if you are not sure of the meaning of an item on the menu then you can always order it and see without risking spoiling your meal. Other signs to look out for at particular izakaya are for tabehoudai (たべほうだい, 食べ放題) and nomihoudai (のみほうだい, 飲み放題). These refer to systems in which you eat or drink, respectively, as much as you like in a 60-, 90-, or 120-minute period for a set fee.

Besides the izakaya, there are a number of other middle-range restaurant options, at which, in contrast to the izakaya, the specific type of food available is reflected in the name of the category. Restaurants can specialize in food items such as yakitori (skewered chicken; やきとり, 焼き鳥), okinamiyaki (Japanese omelette/pancake; おこのみやき, お好み焼き), monja (pan-fried batter; もんじゃ), tempura (battered seafood or vegetables; てんぷら, 天ぷら), shabu shabu (Japanese hot-pot; しゃぶしゃぶ), and noodle dishes such as udon (うどん), soba (そば), ramen (らめん), and reimen (れいめん, 冷麺). Of course, sashimi (さしみ, 刺身) and sushi (すし, 寿司) are also always available. One particularly enjoyable option is the kaitensushi (rolling sushi; かいてんすし, 回転すし) , where the dishes pass by you on a conveyor belt, and the bill is determined by the number and colors of the various dishes that you are left with at the end of your meal (again not requiring too many Japanese language skills).

Foreign options

Despite the huge variety available within the category of Japanese food, you may sometimes hanker after something from outside the country. One budget option is Japanese curry, such as curry rice (kare-raisu, カレーライス), a hugely popular and somewhat watered down version of the traditional Indian dish. Alternatively, Korean food is a widely available option, which includes kimuchi (spicy Korean cabbage; キムチ), chijimi (Korean pancake; チジミ), and yakiniku restaurants (Korean barbecue; やきにく, 焼肉), at which you can grill food just like a barbecue at your own table. Such restaurants should be sought out in the Korean districts of the major cities, such as Shin-Okubo (しんおおくぼ, 新大久保) in Tokyo and Tsuruhashi (つるはし, 鶴橋) in Osaka, where the alleys around the station are clouded with the smoke of grilled beef. Any gourmet will really be spoilt for choice in terms of food in Japan.

Anyone who wants to learn Japanese would have come across katakana (片仮名) system of writing. It is almost well known that it is used to script the foreign words / loanwords (gairaigo-外来語) in Japanese language. No doubt, it definitely helps a beginner to understand and differentiate between the original and loanwords while reading the Japanese sentences.

On the other hand, it throws up a bigger challenge of re-tracing the ‘original’ spelling of the loanword in its ‘original’ language. It is mainly because the writing system of Japanese cannot represent all the phonetic units of the loanword. For example, Japanese language has no equivalent phonetic units for the sounds of ‘c’, ‘d’, ‘l’ and ‘t’ in English. In reading, one can make out the loanword by katakana and strive to re-trace the original word and understand; but when it comes to spoken Japanese, the beginner is lost in the jungle ‘gairaigo’!

A foreign student who joined a literature course at some ‘tandai’ (短大 – junior college) in Japan was asked to learn Japanese. She was fun-loving as well as pun-loving and her friends admired her ability to learn Japanese using rhyming words. A Japanese friend asked “je-n chan, ‘buranko’ tte shiranaino?” (Jane, don’t you know what a ‘swing’ is?)

With a dramatic action, the gaijin started thinking aloud “are kana (Is it that) … kore kanaa (Is it this)… nihongo ja nai kanaa (It isn’t Japanese; is it?)… ah wakatta! yappari katakanaa… (Ah! I got it! It is katakana)” giving her usual naughty answer with a ‘kanaa’ pun.

And by the time she understood that ‘buranko’ (ブランコ) is the ‘refined’ form of ‘balanço’ of Portuguese, she was out of tandai! She still wonders why the most common thing like swing at a park does not have original Japanese word!

Another student Sarah still remembers an incident that happened the very next day she arrived. Her friends had planned a surprise visit to another friend Hanako’s place to wish her on her birthday. One of them asked Sarah in Japanese – English

“sara- chan, tsumaro- is Hanako’s ba-su de-, wiru you go?”
“Oh! Tomorrow is a bus-day? Sorry, but I’ve already bought train tickets.” came a quick reply!

Anyway, the friends tried their best to show her what is a ‘ba-su de-’ (バースデー), by enacting puffing a candle – “wan, tsu-, tsuri-, seino ooof” (One, two, three, let’s go for ooof) and finally she understood that it was a ‘birthday’ and had nothing to do with the city bus!

Alien students come across similar words and incidents which make their study more interesting and they learn Japanese with great fun and pun! After sometime, they get used to the katakana style and one can listen to their routine conversations in Japanese accents:

“maza-bo-do ga nai!” (There is no Mother board!)
“za ringu mita?” (Did you watch The Ring?)
“sankyu; chippu wa iranai” (Thank you; No need of tips)

And when a Japanese girl says “ai rabu yu” to her alien boy-friend, who knows katakana, he never wonders what she would rub him with. Instead, he definitely knows that she meant “I love you” and immediately he replies “ai rabu yu tsu-”!

One aspect of Japanese with which many foreign language speakers seem to struggle is that of verb-argument relations. What is an argument? An argument, in the context of Japanese, is any noun marked by 助詞 (particles) such as: は、が、で、を、に、とした, etc. Every language, within the context of an utterance, assigns its verbs in accordance to what linguists describe as “valence.” Simply put, valence is a fancy word that describes the number of arguments a verb requires to make sense in a sentence; valence is often described in terms of one, two, or three. A verb with a valence of one is any verb that is only able to take a single argument relation, it is known as an intransitive verb in English, and includes examples such as: fall (“I fall-”- “I fall him” does not make any sense), or sleep (“He sleeps”; a transitive verb is any verb that requires two arguments, generally some kind of subject and some kind of object: kick (“I kick a ball”); lastly, a ditransitive verb requires a subject, a direct object, and an indirect object; it has a valence of three, and includes verbs such as: give (“I gave you a book”–”I gave,” I gave you,” and “I gave a book” all require more information to make clear sense).

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

While English does not lexically differentiate verbs of differing valence values, Japanese does, making a lexical difference between intransitive verbs (自動詞; ji-dou-shi) and transitive verbs (他動詞; ta-dou-shi).Transitives and ditransitives are treated as one in the same in Japanese. What this means is that a second language speaker of Japanese must learn which verb to use in accordance with the context of the sentence, actively using different forms of the same verb for different sentences: 私は強敵を倒した(I felled a strong opponent)　vs 私が(強敵に)倒れた。(I was defeated [by a strong opponent])

Examples

Japanese intransitives include verbs that cannot be used to refer to a direct object that takes the particle, を; rather, these verbs can only refer to indirect or auxiliary objects that take the particle, に. These verbs always tend to act upon the subject of as sentence rather than the object.

変わる　　天気が変わってきたな。
Change – The weather changed

抜ける　　ビンが抜けた。
Remove – The cap came off.

起きる　　事故がたまに起きるものです。
Occur – Accidents sometimes happen.

壊れる　　今朝テレビが壊れちゃってさ。
Break Well - the TV broke this morning…

零れる　　ビールが零れた。
Spill – The beer got spilled.

By contrast, Japanese transitives always act upon an object marked by the particle, を.

It is important to note that no arguments need be explicitly stated in Japanese, being that Japanese tends to be a language that likes to drop its arguments in everyday speech; however, regardless as to whether or not a particular sentence happens to omit its arguments, semantically the value of a transitive sentence is the same. i.e. 「忘れて残してしまった。」　and　「私はノートを忘れて残してしまった。」have the exact same meaning in the context that one is running toward class and realizes one forgot one’s notebook at home.

Some transitives:
変える 気分を変えて、このパーティを楽しんでみた。
Change – I changed my mood and tried to enjoy the party.
抜く 私はビンを抜いて飲んだ。
Remove – I removed the cap and drank it.
起こす　　　事故を起こせないようにきを付けてください。
Cause – So as not to cause an accident, please be careful.
壊す 友達の車を壊してしまった。
Break – I broke my friend’s car.
零す ビールの零したや不や皆を秘密にすると約束させた。
Spill – I spilled my beer and immediately forced everybody to promise to keep it a secret.

Keeping track of verbs with differing valence values can sometimes be difficult for learners of Japanese; however, with a little practice, it doesn’t have to be impossible.

To become truly established in Japan, you will have to find yourself an apartment or house in which to live. Although there are now a number of estate agents (fudousan, ふどうさん, 不動産) in the bigger cities in Japan who cater for foreigners and their housing needs, and companies might sometimes sort out the housing for employees who are new to the country, there are still numerous pitfalls in this process, and the better that you understand the rules involved, as well as the vocabulary that might arise, the better. Indeed, your Japanese proficiency may well be strictly evaluated during the application process, by estate agents, on the behalf of landlords (ooya, おおや, 大家), or by guarantor companies, whereby the success of your application may be dependent on your ability to convince others that your non-native status in terms of the Japanese language will not prevent any necessary communication with you or reduce your ability to fulfill your duties as a tenant.

Searching for a home

Once you know which area you want to live in, you need to narrow down the options. The major metropolitan regions are divided in wards (ku, く, 区), or in the case of Tokyo, wards and cities (shi, し, 市). The ward or city in which you live is sometimes important, as you must register your arrival at the ward or city office (ku- or shiyakusho, 区/市役所), and local taxes are administered at the ward or city level. Rather than searching on the basis of cities or wards, locations along train lines (sen, せん, 線) can be requested, generally in consideration of one’s workplace, as well as places with a certain walking distance (time) from the nearest station (ekitohobun, えきとほぶん, 駅徒歩分) .

The type of home may be describable using katakana, such as the somewhat misleading term manshon (マンション; an apartment in a larger building) or the familiar sounding apaato (アパアト; apartment in a smaller, often older, building). Types of such residences are further classified into 1K, 1DK, 2LDK etc., terms that shouldn’t prove a problem to English speakers, with the area (menseki, めんせき, 面積) generally given in m2, although the term tsubo (つぼ, 坪), equivalent to two tatami mats, can be used. The year in which the building was built is also more of an issue than it is in the West, with the dates of implementation of new building codes, with a view to earthquake durability, being key thresholds.

Moving in

Once you have found a suitable abode, all that is left is completing the application. Moving into a home in Japan can initially be expensive. Extra fees such as shikikin and reikin (refundable deposit and non-refundable ‘key money’; 敷金 and 礼金) can be added to the initial month or two of rent (chinryou or yachin; ちんりょう [賃料], やちん [家賃]) that is required upfront. Additionally, confirmation from your employer that you are employed is required, or an additional ‘guarantor’ fee is charged. However, nothing can beat the feeling of stretching out on the tatami for the first time with a heated boxed lunch (bentou, べんとう, 弁当) from the nearest konbini (コンビに; convenience store) and feeling truly at home.

There are several unique sports that originated in Japan such as Sumo, Karate, Aikido, Judo, Kendo (Japanese fencing), Kyudo (Japanese archery) etc. In this article I would like to introduce you to sumo, the sport of Japanese wrestling.

相撲（すもう）- Sumo is one of the traditional Japanese sports which is viewed and enjoyed by many Japanese people. Generally, sumo is a sport more popular with older adults than children. I was born and raised in Japan, and I started to have interested in watching sumo in my late 20s. Sumo has simple rules and each game is short (at longest 4 minutes), so it is easy to understand and enjoyable for many people.

The basic rule in sumo is: the competitor who is forced out of the ring first, or who touches any body parts besides feet on the ground first is the loser. Sumo techniques include, Oshi-dashi (push to the outside), Uwate-nage (grab the mawashi, or loincloth belt, from the top and throw), Hataki-komi (push down the oppornent’s shoulder or back when he approaches in the low position) and many more. There are fouls like punching with a fist, grabbing hair on purpose, poking eyes, kicking chest or stomach, etc. It’s very rare but if the sumo wrestler’s mawashi falls off, it is considered a foul and results in an automatic match loss for him.

Sumo tournaments are held in Japan every odd month: January, March, May, July, September, and November, and each lasts for approximately 15 days. Tournaments are held in Tokyo every other time, and the other locations which host tournaments are Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. When it is in Tokyo, they have the tournament at Kokugikan (a.k.a. Ryogoku-Kokugikan). Kokugikan is an arena specifically made only for sumo tournaments, so I recommend going to a match at Kokugikan if you can. For the people who cannot go see the matches live, the matches are also broadcasted for free on TV on the NHK channel (usually the channel 1) from 3:15 to 6pm.

Check out the finals from the most recent 2011 July Sumo wrestling tournament here.

Sumo matches start early in the morning. Depending on the day, the tournament usually starts from either 8 or 10am and finishes around 6pm. The order of matches are based on individual sumo wrestler’s ranking and scores. The more advanced and stronger sumo wrestlers’ matches usually start later in the day from around 3:30 to 4 in the afternoon. There are places to buy food and eat in the sumo arenas, or you can even bring your own food/drink from outside. The food available inside is mostly Japanese food, so if you’d like something different, it is better to buy beforehand. Your ticket is good for the entire day, so you may leave and come back at any time you please. Make sure to have your tickets stamped for re-entry at the exit before you leave.

If you leave the stadium, you may bump into sumo wrestlers who are coming to the games or going home after their match. If you like to take a picture with them, simply ask them friendly. Most sumo wrestlers are willing to take a picture with you, unless they are in a hurry. Make sure to thank them if they are generous to spare their time for you. Seeing a sumo wrestler in real life if a unique and fun experience.

Tickets – You can purchase tickets before or on the day of the game. The ticket prices vary depending on the seats. The closest section is called “Tamari” seat, and one seat costs 14,300 yen (as of September, 2011). The cheapest ticket is 2,100 yen. All the seats are assigned, and you are supposed to sit at your assigned place. However, if you go early enough before a lot people come in, it is possible to go closer to the ring and watch or take pictures of the games. You should stay in the area with the seat cusions (zabuton) and stay clear of designated areas for officials or judges.

You can reserve most the types of the seats online or buy tickets at convenience stores in advance. You can also buy tickets on the day of the match at the ticket counter of the site. The cheapest tickets can ONLY be purchased the day of the match and are only good for that day. If you are planning to go on weekends or in the final days of the tournament, buy your tickets in advance because there is a good chance that all tickets could be sold out. Especially during the final days of the tournament, the best remaining sumo wrestlers will be trying to win and be crowned the champion so tickets on these days are usually the hardest to get. You should go early in the morning to reserve seats. If you purchase tickets in advance at a convenience store, you will need to use a computerized ticket machine (e.g., Loppi at Lawson). You may need to ask assistance on how to buy tickets from the workers, but they are usually very helpful.

Sumo is a very unique and traditional sport in Japan. I recommend you go to a live match once and watch the matches as close to the ring as you can. Sometimes the sumo wrestlers come right at you when pushed out of the ring and being so close to the action is very exciting. If you have the opportunity to see a sumo match while in Japan, make sure to bring your camera and some of your favorite snacks to enjoy the matches!

Although most of the hard work has been completed by the time you move into a new apartment or house in Japan, there are still a number of tasks to be completed and things to learn, especially if this is the first time you have lived in the country. A good starting point is to give a small gift to your immediate neighbors; this is a good way to meet and greet, to demonstrate that you are not completely helpless in terms of speaking the Japanese language, and to show yourself so that any future encounters won’t generate too much surprise.

Garbage disposal

Another way to ingratiate yourself with your neighbors, as you should assume that they will be checking, is to follow the garbage (gomi, ゴミ) disposal and recycling (リサイクリング) instructions as closely as possible. The garbage collectors will also leave and label anything that you leave out on the wrong day or with the wrong packaging or preparation. Japan is one of the leading nations in terms of developing in an environmentally friendly direction, as is demonstrated by the relatively emission-free and quiet cars that you see on the road, for example. In the case of recycling, it could be said that the over-packaging of food and other products in Japan offsets the high level of recycling to some extent, but nonetheless, the level of adherence and dedication to recycling is to be applauded.
The key distinction to make first is between burnable (moeru, 燃える) and non-burnable (moenai, 燃えない) garbage. The burnable kind usually consists of items like old food and flimsy wrappers, while the non-burnable includes items that are somewhat more durable, such as pieces of metal, coat-hangers, and CDs. In terms of directly recyclable items, cans (kan, かん), plastic bottles (bin, びん), glass (グラス), and newspaper (しんぶんし, 新聞紙) are key items to be left out for collection. Burnable garbage is usually collected twice a week, with other items once every one or two weeks; the exact days and times will usually be displayed at the site near your home where garbage is left.

Paying Bills

A further issue that you need to deal with to ensure a smooth period of residence, besides not forgetting to keep paying the rent, is to pay the bills. The typical resident will have to pay electricity bills (denkidai, でんきだい, 電気代), gas bills (gasudai, ガスだい, ガス代), and charges for internet (インタネット), and mobile phone (keitaidenwa, けいたいでんわ, 携帯電話) each month, as well as for water/sewage (suidou/gesuidou, すいどう/げすいどう, 水道/下水道) every two months, although this can vary depending on the area. Payment can be made on a direct debit-type setup in some cases, although simply dropping in at a local convenience store (konbini, コンビに) or post office (yuubinkyoku, ゆうびんきょく, 郵便局) once you have received your bill through the post can be more convenient.

Well, definitely I am not speaking of the physics part of the title here because everybody knows that any matter is made up of particles. And I am sure that any student trying to learn Japanese language would appreciate the analogy. Yes, the subatomic particles make up the matter, while the grammatical particles make up the language. Perhaps this would emphasize the need to study and use the particles (“joshi” – 助詞) in Japanese language very carefully. Post-positional particles, commonly known as “joshi” in Japanese, play a vital role in giving a definite sense to the sentences. The use of particles is one of the challenges a beginner faces while studying Japanese language.

There are some students who learn Japanese from an English point of view. They translate English prepositions into Japanese particles to make a ‘satisfying’ sentence! I found two students arguing about the correct use of particles when one heads towards, enters, walks and exits a park:

The first said “kouen e ikimasu, kouen ni hairimasu, kouen wo arukimasu, kouen kara demasu”.
“No! The correct ones are…” the second argued “kouen ni ikimasu, kouen ni hairimasu, kouen de arukimasu, kouen wo demasu”.

The first student learns by translating the English prepositions and so, he first imagines “go to the park, get into the park, walk through the park, exit from the park” and translates -to, -into, -through, -from as e, ni, wo, kara. However, this leads to more of confusions and wrong usages of “joshi”. While it is fine to use e/ni with “ikimasu”(go), “hairimasu”(enter) must have ni with it always and “demasu”(exit) in this context must have wo as the particle. “kouen wo arukimasu” means that you are crossing the whole length en-route, while “kouen de arukimasu” shows that the action of ‘walking’ is taking place at the park. So, both are correct grammatically but their sense and intention are different. There is one more similar pair – “densha wo norikaemasu” and “densha ni norikaemasu”, both meaning “I will change the train”. In fact most of the students choose one of these options spontaneously and that would be practiced further, without their knowledge. But a good student must have a good observation in sensing the intention and choose the correct particle. And that surely would help students learning Japanese language to develop a skill to use appropriate particles.

I know a beginner working at an Indian restaurant in Osaka. He wants to learn Japanese but gets confused often with these particles as well as the context, while at work. A Japanese lady, a frequent visitor to his restaurant, was found enjoying a funny dialogue with him:

“kumaru-san, nan dekitano?” (Mr. Kumar, is Nan ready?)
“watashi desuka?” he replied in confusion “basu de kimashita” (Me?, I came by a bus!)

And the lady started laughing at his confused countenance because he misunderstood her question for “kumaru-san, nan de kitano?” (Mr. Kumar, how did you come?). Later he served the Nan bread and stood at a corner with a grinning face! The Japanese lady reminded him –

“kumaru-san, kare- ga kitenai desu yo!” (Mr. Kumar, curry is not served!)
The guy got perplexed as he asked “e, dare desu ka?” (Er, who?)

The lady started laughing aloud again, clapping her hands. He had mistaken “kare-” (カレー=curry) for “kare” (彼=he) and to him it was “kare ga kitenai desu yo!” (He has not come!). Anyway, later I heard that he used the perplexed behavior as an entertaining skill to attract more customers and keep his “joushi” (manager) happy with his confused “joshi”!

Looking for a job in Japan after college is called Shuushoku Katsudou. The process starts during the third year of University and by the beginning or middle of the forth year, most students have already been hired. Though on the surface similar to most western countries, small differences in the way people see both education and work in Japan give way to a noticeably different system in which a majority of people follow. The thoughts going through ones head as they go through Shuushoku Katsudou are not always easy to understand from a western point of view. In an attempt to explain the job hunting process in Japan, one must start from elementary school.

Entrance Exams: Teaching for the test

Exams are part of almost every level of Japanese society. Companies often require prospective employees to take tests as a first round in the interview process. There is even a test one must take in order to pump gas, become a librarian or be a street musician; virtually everything besides working at a convenience store require some sort of certificate gained from passing an exam. School is no different. Whereas, in America for example, people often worry about their grades, Japanese students are all worried about entrance exams which start as early as elementary school. High school in Japan (and often Junior High Schools as well) are all ranked and one will have a much easier time getting into a good University if they went to a good High School and they will have a better chance at going to a good High School if their Junior High School was high ranking. Getting into high school carries the same stress for a Japanese student as getting into college does for western students. This stress causes many students to focus on nothing but the entrance exam from a very young age. At best, most students ignore their grades and instead just focus on learning what they know will be on the test. At worst students ignore class altogether and kill time by daydreaming and reading books or sleeping because they know what will help their future will be taught in Juku.

Juku

Juku can be thought of as school after school. While most public and private schools (at least in theory) aim at creating well rounded, responsible and well educated students, juku aim teaching things that will help a student get a good grade on entrance exams in order to improve their chances of getting into a good high school which in turn helps them get into a good college and then find a prestigious job. What juku usually helps students with is rote memorization. Since rote memorization is what actually will help students pass their tests, many students, especially in public schools, will fool around or space out in class making many teachers feel like glorified babysitters. Many teachers are frustrated by the system and wish students would take their classes more seriously, especially teachers who want to teach students more than just memorization but these standardized tests don’t end with education.

The Ideas and Insecurities of “working” in Japan

When Japan began to modernize, many companies tried to keep to certain uniform standards inside the business culture. They promised lifetime work for employees and many people, worrying about their financial stability favored this and worked at the same company from the time they were born until the time they were forced to retire (Japan has laws that make it difficult to work after 60 years old). This made the working situation inflexible. Loyalty from both the company and the employee, while great for most people, meant that people would not be quitting much, nor would they be getting fired much and so companies generally only looked for young new employees that could work for them with loyalty and for as much time as possible to replace old and retiring employees. In the rare case that an employee was fired, if a company went bankrupt and laid off employees or if someone was so miserable that they felt they had to quit, they often felt as if their life was over and honestly, things didn’t look good for them. This strong emphasis on stable work for one company created a pressure on college students to find work as soon as possible because once you started working you were basically set for life as long as you did your job. The way these companies chose and still choose employees is based on how they look on paper, in other words, their test scores. This pressure reverberates itself down to junior high school and elementary school, a step further than in the west where it is more often felt only in High School. As both companies and employees become less loyal for various reasons, the job market has become more flexible, and with it less stable. This may give some people who fall between the cracks and find themselves looking for work in their 30′s and 40′s a little more hope, but many in the younger generation still feel that their life will be over if they don’t succeed at their first attempt to find a job. Students who can’t find a job straight out of college are referred to with the same word as high school students who couldn’t get into college right away; Ronin, a word used for wandering samurai without a feudal lord, something that was looked down upon. They often feel the same way as someone in their 40 or 50′s who can’t find a job; hopeless. It is understandable that they would feel this as it is, by far, the best chance they will get hired by a company.

Starting Out

Once hired, many people will stop taking school seriously and some stop going all together. The schools generally accept this. Unlike in the west, where experience is preferred, Japanese companies will thoroughly train new employees, starting with occasional orientations and business etiquette while the employee is still in school. This training may continue for months after the employee starts working full time. This creates not only a prepared worker, but a loyal one, as it is much more difficult to quit a company that has taught you everything you know, especially when you know how hard it will be to find a job after gaining a reputation as a “quitter”. Starting work is one of the biggest commitments people in Japan have to make and more often then not, one that will stick with them for a large portion of their life.

Despite the high-tech nature of much of Japan’s transportation system, the humble bicycle (jitensha, じてんしゃ, 自転車; compare with the kanji for car: 自動車) still plays an important role in the everyday life of many in the country. Although the streets aren’t heaving with cycles in the same way that you might see in Beijing or Amsterdam, they are frequently used to get to the nearest station and back as part of a commute. In fact, newly purchased cycles played a key part in enabling people to get from their offices to the suburbs of Tokyo and other affected cities when the Great Tohoku Earthquake struck earlier this year, when most public transport was shut down for safety reasons. The machine of choice for this role is usually the mama chari (ママチャリ) , a basic, sturdy, and reliable bike utilized by all different types of people. These can be purchased new for under 10,000 yen, and must be registered. This is usually completed by the bike shop (じてんしゃや, 自転車屋) for new bikes, and can be performed at a local police box (koban, こうばん, 交番) when buying second-hand bikes.

Bicycle parking

Ownership of a bicycle in a big city in Japan means that you will soon become familiar with chuurinjou or bicycle parking areas (ちゅうりんじょう, 駐輪場). The limited amount of space in the cities, and the sheer number of bicycles that can be left in some places, particular stations, mean that you can’t just leave your bicycle wherever is convenient for you, and there are numerous attendants around to ensure that you don’t and who remove those bicycles whose owners haven’t used the spaces designated for bikes or paid as necessary (signs saying 有料 [charge] rather than 無料 [free] should be looked out for). An eight-hour stretch usually costs 100 yen, although monthly passes can be bought for parking spaces at local stations. In fact, Japan is leading the way in terms of storage of bicycles at such sites; as it can often be difficult to find a space, a machine has been developed that can automatically whisk your bike off to some remote basement at the touch of a button, and deliver it back to the same point when you return (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE4fvwTBtno).

Cycling Away from the Cities

Besides the usefulness of bicycles within the cities, Japan is an ideal location for longer-distance cycling. From Tokyo (東京), the slopes of the Japanese Alps and Mount Fuji (Fuji-san, ふじさん, 富士山), the beaches of the Shonan (湘南) coast, and the rugged terrain of Miura (三浦半島) and Izu peninsulas (伊豆半島) are all within easy reach. Similarly, from Osaka (大阪), the Kii peninsula (紀伊半島) and Lake Biwa (琵琶湖) are accessible. In fact, Japan boasts one of the world’s top cycle links, on which one can cycle from Shikoku (四国) to mainland Japan across six islands and bridges over the Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海), exclusively on cycle lanes. It is a great country for avid cyclists.

There are currently a large number of fun and efficient ways to learn Japanese online or with specialized Japanese software. Electronic dictionaries and online searches can speed up translations. With video chat, you can talk to friends in Japan live for next to no cost and immerse yourself for a few hours a day.

Even then however, there are several reasons that studying Japanese the old-fashioned way… pencil to paper can be a great way to master the language.

Learning to Write Kanji

Arguments can be made that the advent of Japanese language capable word processing programs have harmed the ability for both non-native and native Japanese speakers to write kanji. With modern IME (Input Management Engines), writing the pronunciation and hitting the space bar a few times will bring up the correct kanji for anything you want to say. In fact, you only need to be able to recognize the character to use it, cutting out the need to be able to actually write the strokes in the proper order and direction.

The best way to learn to write kanji is to take out a paper and pencil (or a fude brush for the traditionalists) and start copying them over and over until it sticks. When writing kanji it’s important for strokes to go in the right direction and order, and variations from the correct writing method can often be obvious.

Why is it important to be able to write kanji by hand? Well, as technologically advanced as Japan is, the country still uses a lot of handwritten documentation. Resumes are still now traditionally forms written by hand. In fact, the care and ability with which a person writes and utilizes kanji is considered a good indicator of such things as organizational skills, attention to detail, and even intelligence.

Being able to handwrite kanji is definitely worth the effort to step away from the computer screen for a few minutes each day and spend some time putting pen to paper.

The Cultural Side of Japanese Language

The old-fashioned method by which Japanese culture can be learned is simply heading over to Japan and immersing yourself in the culture. It is easy to read and remember various facts and caveats about Japanese business culture, but another thing to actually find yourself in a real-life, high-stakes situation in which the proper bow or turn of phrase is needed.

Another important aspect of the culture is being able to speak intelligently about concepts and even objects that are not as common outside of Japan. Having actually visited a Japanese hot spring, anime conference, university lecture, or business meeting can really help students learn Japanese in the proper perspective.

Reading Japanese Newspapers and Other Media

While learning Japanese should definitely be fun, applying Japanese requires a bit of old-fashioned reading. Sometimes one of the best textbooks for would-be Japanese translators is a Japanese newspaper, magazine article, or book. Sitting in a tea shop and reading through some real-life examples of written Japanese can help people learn Japanese better by revealing some of their weak spots. If the grammar used is a mystery, if there are an excessive number of new kanji, or if the big picture meaning of an article is hard to understand, it can indicate where review might be helpful.

Mixing New Japanese Learning with the Old

Students who hope to learn Japanese, no different from people learning anything, will benefit from a wide variety of study techniques. The latest technology, newest Japanese learning software, and best textbooks are all valuable, however they can be so fun, effective, and encouraging that it can be easy to forget about some of the more labor intensive aspects of writing, reading, and communicating in Japanese. Taking even a few minutes to supplement the modern learning techniques by practicing writing kanji, reading materials designed for a Japanese audience, and immersing yourself in Japanese culture can add some fun and variety and help you achieve a more well-rounded Japanese fluency.