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I'm a translator. I do Eng/Jap, Jap/Eng tanslations.
I have no formal qualifications, just language skills. I also specialise in Japanese regional dialects (mainly Osaka/Kansai, Touhoku/Hokkaido) and slang.

I do a lot of translations for cooking seminars, press releases, interviews etc... and have worked a lot on books/magazines, some work on films/tv/game software.
I'm quitting soon though- it's too much stress :cry: and my company piss's me off :evil:
I'll probably go into office work or something to do with food.

Most foreign people go into teaching- because it's so easy to get a job there. You don't need any qualifications for that, just a university degree for getting the work visa, or nothing if you are married to a Japanese (like me).
 
hmmm thats very interesting thank you, but what kind of subject do people teach if they have no qualifications?

Where did you learn Japanese? Did you learn to speak fluently over here and then go to japan, or go over there knowing nothing and learn when you got there, or go over there knowing a little etc, etc.
How easy is it for someone to cope in Japan if they know no Japanese?

Since you know Japanese slang do you think you could teach me some?
 
Hi! Chris

Just one of my stupid questions that I ponder over at odd times!
Is the moon really red in Japan? I've watched so much anime where the moon looks absolutely gigantic and bright red and here it's always so tiny and rarely shiny :(
 
If you have no qualifications it would be very hard to get any job. Unless you marry a Japanese. You need a degree to be eligable for a work visa- no work visa, no job it seems :?
I'll do a bit of checking and get back to you on that.

Yes of course I can teach you some slang, what do you want to know?

I didn't speak Japanese before I came here, only basic greetings etc... I learned from talking to people and watching TV. It actually suprised me how fast and easily I picked it up :shock: It's really easy to live here, everything is a lot more efficiant than in England (except the police- see earlier in the thread) Once you get a grip on the language it's nothing.

The moon is not red, however it does seem a little bit bigger than in England and it shines brighter. Probably the position on the globe that does that. The sun is a lot different, the light seems different to the UK.
Also, when kids draw a picture of the sun, they colour it RED :shock: :?:


Superstitions:
I'm not sure about in the provinces etc... but most Japanese are superstitious. Stuff like: If you whistle at night, snakes come out. If you cut your nails at night you won't meet your parents when they die. They also have many lucky days during the month "taian"- weddings are mostly on these days, and days that are bad, like "tomobiki" which means something along the lines of "bring a friend"- It's bad to have funerals on Tomobiki, because they think that the dead might "bring his friends" and they'll die or have bad luck.

Beck:
I know that the manga is still coming out- well, I'm pretty sure anyway. The anime is still showing on TV. Thats about all I know for the moment.
 
I'm not really sure what slang i would like you to teach me, anything i guess, what kind of things do people (or you) commonly say?

Had you visited Japan much before you decided to move out there? I'm asking because i was wondering how much you actually knew about the country before you went there, i think it would be great to move out to Japan because i feel i would much prefer the culture, but although i love Japan i can't say i actually know much about everyday life and the little things that make up the adverage day.

I can imagin the light would be different, i've never really thought about that before, but i suppose the light is a little different in every country. I know that if i've watched a program on tv and it's set between both England and America you can tell the difference (the light in England is paler and has less of a sunny glow, i think).

Also i would like to ask you about festivals. I've heard of white day, the doll festival, golden week (although i'm not sure what this is about) and kids day, are there any others i don't know?
 
Japanese holidays: (dates are rough, because some of them change days each year, they're around these dates)
January:
1 (of course)
12- coming of age day
February:
2/3- bean throwing ceremony
11- national day
March:
3- doll festival
20- spring day
April:
29- green day
May:
3- constitution day
5- childrens day (used to be boys day then they changed it)
Golden week is usually from the 2/3 to the 5, not really a week is it. Apparently since Japanese people love to work, the government lumped together a few holidays and named it "golden week", giving a chance for familys to have a little holiday together. however, at this time, the roads are VERY crowded and trains and planes are at maximum capacity, also
if you plan to get a hotel or go on hoiliday somewhere the prices are INCREDIBLY high, sometimes upto 10 times the normal rates!
July:
19- sea day
September:
20- respect for the elderly day
23- autumn day
October:
11- sports day
November:
3- culture day
23- respect for workers day
December:
23- emperors birthday

I think thats all I know...

Before I came to live in Japan, I had never come here before. My fiancee at the time was Japanese- she's my wife now- and I decided one day to go and live in Japan. I didn't know anything about living here before I came. I had no expectations, so I haven't been dissapointed. Thats the best piece of advice I can think of- have no expectations, and think of yourself as at the bottom of the food chain till you can get yourself established. Japan has a very strong senpai/kouhai system so you have to stick to it.
It's a lot better not to really know what everyday life is like, because most of the books etc you read about it in England (as I have heard from my friends) or the Japan you might see on TV are almost 99% WRONG or very outdated.
Everytime you see a guidebook for Tokyo, you always seem to see those knobheads dressed like teddy-boys dancing in Yoyogi park, that was like, 20 years ago!!!

Slang:
A few useful words of slang that you would hear almost everyday, but not find in a dictionary (I think) are:
Note:
(the translations are direct translations from the Japanese words, so they sound a little "unsaid" in English, the words in brackets are a more "English" way of saying them, staying closer to the meaning rather than the actual words)

"Uzai"- it means something close to "irritating"
for example "aitsu wa sa, chou uzai yo ne"- "you know, he(she)'s really irritating isn't he!" ("he's a right ****** isn't he"

"Dassai"- meaning "uncool".
eg. "nande sono dassai fuku kiteru no?"- "why are you wearing those uncool clothes" ("what the **** are you wearing!?"

I'll give you some more next time :wink:
 
Thanks alot, you've been really helpful; i knew there were alot of Japanese holidays but i really had no idea there were that many, it seems they have just about everybody covered.

I can't decide whether i want to live in Japan or not. I defiantly want to go there at some time, maybe do a tour of the country or something, ideally i'd like to be a millionair and have a home both there and here and use my private jet to commute between the two....but i think thats a bit of a long shot.
I defiantly understand that books etc, covering daily life woud be pretty useless as a while back i taped a series of bbc language/culture programs off the tv, the language was good but i could tell by the clothes and the hair that it was set probably about ten years back so most of the cultural and everyday life information was a bit out of date. I will just have to go there, keep a open mind and remember there will probably be things i may dislike about japan as well as enjoy.

Thanks for the slang, i'm defiantly going to try and use that, especially since no one will know what it means.

I know there are plenty off other thing i've been wondering about (i just can't think of anything at the moment), so i will get back to you with that.
 
Some more slang:
"chou" not really slang but is used as slang. Means Ultra, or very. You can stick it onto other words; ie. Chou uzai, chou dassai etc...

"Kimoi" (means- weird, creepy)

"M8" ("M hachi")- means "full of confidence"
This comes from the word "jishin" which means confidence, and also when spelt differently, earthquake. M8 being a very big earthquake, the slang means being full-on confident.
 
Thanks, thats brilliant.

Just one small question, and i'm not sure if it's stupid or not.
Do they celebrate easter in Japan, you know with chocolate etc, just something i got thinking about with the arrival of easter eggs in the shops, i though i don't think i have ever seen them celerbrate easter in a anime before.
 
No, Easter is almost non-existent here. I have no idea why, they seem to have taken up most of the other Christian festivals :?

Todays episode of Samurai Champloo was AMAZING!!! I'm soiling my underwear to see what happens next :cry: :cry: :cry:
 
Sorry if these have been asked before..

1. Do you ever see bosozoku?

2.I heard the convenience stores are set up so that you pay on the door, or something of the sort -- is there any truth to this?

I try to be realistic with information i collect -- genshiken has helped with my ideas about japan's anime world, and i have read books on the society, but all the books tell opposite stories! T_T

Thankyou for your time! ^^;
 
Bousouzoku:
I have seen them around. A few years ago there was a big problem with a group called "The Black Emperors". You see grafitti of their names and Bousouzuku words sometimes. But in Tokyo you don't see them around much. I know that there are a lot more in the countryside because there's nothing much for young people to do there so they join the bike groups.

Conveniance stores:
They're just like normal shops. What do you mean about "paying on the door"?

I know what you mean about books on Japan :lol: Sometimes I have a read of them in bookstores here and can't help laughing :lol: They're SOOOooo out-dated and are mostly written by 1. people who've only lived here for a short time 2. "Professors" or "experts" on Japan who really know nothing and seem to think that Kyoto is the best place in the world when really it's one of the dullest- everything looks the same and the way the people talk can get on your nerves, i.e "otsukarehan doshita-", AAARRRggghhh!!! (Also, a little bit of trivia- MacDonalds signs in Kyoto are apparently not red, but white. Not sure if it's true still now but when I went a few years ago, and once is enough, it was so) 3. people who came to Japan in the 80's or early 90's and still think that what they experianced is relevant now.

So, if you have ANY questions, feel free to ask me :wink:
 
I read a very interesting book dated from the 90s that followed individual people -- a Yakuza loan shark, a porno actor + director, a bosozoku, a teenage boy, and some gaijin, among others.

naturally it gave a very jaded view -- showing mass control of japanese government by Yakuza, and the laziness of Todai kids -- it was biased.

With the convenience stores, my uncle said he had to pay a direct amount before he shopped, i think. Weird!

One more question..

1. Do you adjust to the Tokyo subway fast? I have a map of it, and it's awfully daunting.
 
Conveniance stores:
No, they're just like an ordinary shop. The only places where you have to pay money on the door are places like kyaba-kura or strip-bars etc...

Subway:
The subway is not really all that daunting, it's pretty easy. For people who can't speak Japanese there are announcements and signs in English and last year the Tokyo Metro company introduced a numbering system so it's easier to understand. The only problem you have with it is that there isn't just 1 company running the whole thing. You've got the 2 big ones, Tokyo Metro and Toei and you also have JR of course- but JR isn't subway and then you have a few little private companies. So sometimes when you buy a 1-day ticket where you can travel on all lines- you can't actually travel on ALL LINES. If you buy a Tokyo Metro 1-day ticket you still have to pay extra if you want to use JR or Toei. There is a ticket that has Tokyo Metro and Toei (with a Toei 1-day ticket you can also ride on any Toei bus free) but it doesn't include the smaller companies, or JR.
The best thing to do if you can read/write Japanese that is, is rent a mobile phone- one that has internet access. That way you can use one of the web-sites to tell you where to change/get off/how much/how long/etc... I used to use it almost everytime I go out, but now I've got used to it all and I know how long it'll take to get from A to B and where to change etc, but it's still really useful.
Believe me, without a mobile phone I'd probably have to be put in a rubber room in nappies and given high doses of Thorazine :(
 
hi, i got a couple of Q's

are japanese people really obsesed wih cute things?

what is their view of takashi miike?

whats more popular naruto or one piece or golden gash bell?

is anime really the main thing that folk watch on tv?

Why is the hentai censored so much?
 
Miike Takashi:
He's not really mentioned anymore. To be honest, I've never seen any of his stuff. Any recomendations? His films are more popular overseas, the same as Kitano Takeshi.

Cute things:
I wouldn't say it was an obsession, but most people do seem to like things/people that are "kawaii". It's one of those mysteries, like why Japanese people seem to LOVE cherry-blossom :!: :?: It's the "hanami" season here at the moment, but I have NO IDEA what is so good about cherry-blossoms. This is one of the most irritating seasons of the year. Every year people seem to be transformed into staring morons :evil:

Naruto vs gashbell:
I would say Naruto. It has the better timeslot on TV and the movies/games are always highly publicised.

Hentai censorship:
I haven't really seen much, but I'm sure it's because it's fairly pornographic?

Anime on TV:
No, it's not the main thing people watch on TV. I'd say that variety TV shows are the most watched, and quiz shows. One interesting thing about quiz shows is the only about 10% of them have normal people competing on them. The other 90% use famous people (comedians/actors/idols/singers/ect...). The reason why is because viewers want to see famous people, if you put them on TV- the ratings go up. Even the Japanese version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire" is a famous-people-only show.
Anime, is popular, but recently the target audience has shifted and split. Childrens anime; Naruto, Hagaren, Bobobo-bo bo-bobo, etc... and the more adult oriented stuff like MONSTER. It's fairly clean-cut. Most anime is on late at night, the childrens stuff is on upto around 20:00.

Any other questions?
 
Chris said:
Cute things:
I wouldn't say it was an obsession, but most people do seem to like things/people that are "kawaii". It's one of those mysteries, like why Japanese people seem to LOVE cherry-blossom :!: :?: It's the "hanami" season here at the moment, but I have NO IDEA what is so good about cherry-blossoms. This is one of the most irritating seasons of the year. Every year people seem to be transformed into staring morons :evil:
Click to expand...

I love how you put that! "transformed into staring morons" :lol: I have to admit, I would probably be one of those morons, at least when it came to cherry blossoms, even here in England I get strangely entranced by flowers in the spring :D

I have a quick question please Chris!
Another of those stemming from watching too much anime! It is something I've wondered about for a long time, so here it is!!
In so many anime you see small kids ranging from around 2 or 3 to about 10 who seem to be in the house entirely on their own. This has always puzzled me, as in England you can't leave a child on it's own all day until they're 12. So is it natural for kids in Japan to be left like that in reality? and is it actually legal?
 
It's not legal to leave kids alone at home, although it is widespread. Many familys don't have enough money to stay at home and care for thier children or pay for a babysitter.
Now, most families put their kids into nursery from 2 or 3 years old. It is accepted that most children over 8 are capable of caring for themselves for a few hours while thier parents are out.
The big problem about leaving kids alone is not at HOME, but in the CAR. Every summer you hear countless stories of parents who leave their baby in the car while they play Pachinko or go shopping, to return and find their child dead from heatstroke. The Japanese summer is long and very hot, usually close to or over 30 degrees every day for over 2 months with a humidity level of over 90% (sometimes as high as 98%). If a child is left in a car, even with windows slightly open, the temperature inside can quickly get to OVER 60 or 70 degrees C :!:
A strange and very shocking thing is that these parents are hardly ever prosecuted, and if they are, rather lightly :shock: :shock:

Hope thats helped. I do tend to rattle on a lot- I haven't spoken/written English much lately except for here, so when I get the chance I go off on one! Sorry!
 
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