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I found that "No Sex Please; We're Japanese" article extremely fascinating! I can't say I blame those women either. I'm a bit like that now myself, as there is no way I want another relationship myself. The idea of looking after a man and have him invade my space is totally abhorrent - I'd rather stay "single" for the rest of my life :lol:

I don't think it's the Japanese women who need to compromise, I think it's Japanese men who need to change and accept the fact that they may have to take notice of their wife and kids and maybe even do a little housework :wink:
 
Yeah recently I've been reading around on this because it got me curious, some wierd stuff. I think Miaka Chan might be right in that it's at least partly to do with the fact that husband doesn't really seem to spend as much time with the family (outsiders perspecitve again, or course).

One thing that struck me though were some comments I read by some Japanese people on a forum for a Japanese news website (the site was largely in english though) was that they viewed the declining birth-rate as a good thing, as this would mean less pressure on jobs and space. The theme was essentially that the only reason that corporate society and the government are interested in pushing the birth-rates back up again was to provide industry with more workers at less cost and higher competition for jobs meant that people would gladly take what they could get. I think there was also something about how a declining population would help the social security situation, but I can't remember the details and honestly, I don't see how that would work with an ageing population.

Is this a common strain of thought amongst Japanese people or are they more worried about the falling birth-rates?

EDIT: Oh, and this was just plain funny

What's more, an increasing number of those visiting love hotels aren't there for romance, AERA says; they've found that love hotels offer the cheapest access to karaoke machines and video games.
Click to expand...

:lol:
 
Population
The low population will mean more jobs but, it will also mean that people who have paid for their pensions with their tax during their working years will be extreemly short-changed. The social security system would be in ruins. Last years pension scandal was an eye-opener and still, there have been no real plans brough forward on how to deal with it. One of the main reasons why people aren't having kids now, is that it's too expensive. There are very few benifits available for people with children, unlike how it is in the UK (and even thats not all that good).
 
What can you tell me about the condition called hikikomori?

I realise most news stories are inevitably over-hyping this phenomena and making it out to be a massive problem, so I just wanted to ask you your thoughts on it, what appears to be the general cause and is it becoming more prevalent?

In case you're wondering, the questions arose after seeing this article.
 
Ok i'm not sure if you will be able to find this for me, but i was wondering if you could find a recipe for Melon Bread for me. I've been watching Yakitate Japan and they are always making so many wonderful types of bread i think they only have in Japan, and one such bread is Melon Pan. I've searched the internet, but i've never been able to find a recipe for actual Japanese Melon Bread, can you help :)
 
Hikikomori
Yeah, it still is a problem. I think a lot of it is to do with bad parenting to be honest. I know there is also a lot of bullying to blame, but kids who get bullied usually have a reason- if they stood up for themselves they woudn't get bullied in the first place (I got bullied at school, it stopped when I beat-up the biggest one after flipping my lid, so I know what its like).
A lot of the time the parents do nothing until way after its become a problem, and the lack of communication between parents and children is also to blame.
You see a lot of cases on TV and it really annoys me. I wish someone would just grab hold of them and get them sorted out (like that woman from Nagoya or somewhere who goes and has a go at them- usually with them ending up in tears- and also gives the parents a right seeing to).
In a lot of cases they are already a bit short of a few things upstairs to begin with and need some level of therapy anyway.

There is a lot of pressure from school- the pressure to get into a good university etc... But its the same for everybody, despite what most Hikikomori think. They seem to be overly selfish and their parents just make them even worse- I mean, come on! Your kid wont go to school/work, won't even leave their bleedin' room, they spend their day using your electricity to play video games/watch TV/surf the net, and you give them food and water and say "why won't you come out?", who bloody would!!! It's like... the best life ever!!! No worries- you get all you need to survive and don't ever have to leave your room!
If the parents are so worried about their kids, they should take drastic action, even if their kid never speaks to them again. After all, isn't that what parenting is all about?



Melon pan
This is one I found on the Yahoo Japan gourmet section. I'm not sure if its good or not. I'll have a look in one of my friends books and see if he has a recipe for one. For the time being:

main (A)
bread flour 200g
plain flour 50g
sugar 25g
salt 4g
instant dry yeast 7g

main(B)
whole egg 1
milk 100ml

unsalted butter 50g

"melon" covering (C)
unsalted butter 40g
sugar 70g
whole egg 1
lemon escensse (a little)
plain flour 150g
granulated sugar (enough)
vegetable oil (enough)

1. Put (A) into a mixer and mix together

2. In a separate bowl: break the egg and beat it a little, add small amounts of the milk and add a little lukewarm water (if your room temperature is 24 degrees C, have the water at about 28 degrees)

3. Set the mixer timer (or leave it going for) 20 mins, and add small amounts of 2. When it's all added and the dough is starting to come together nicely, add the butter.

4. after 20 mins, take the dough out of the mixer and leave it to rise (about 40 mins)

5. When the dough has risen to twice its size, remove the gas and separate into 9 pieces then roll them into balls and leave them for bench time (10 mins)


"melon" covering
6. place the butter in a bowl and mix it until it becomes creamy, add the sugar and mix well, then add the lemon then the flour. When its mixed, cut into 9 pieces and leave for a while, then roll each into a flat disc .

7. take the dough (A) and roll it into a ball again and cover it with the covering (B).

8. cover with a generous amount of sugar and draw the design on top using a knife.

9. place on greasproof paper and leave for about 40 mins.

10. cook in a pre-heated gas oven at 170 degrees for 15 minutes.
 
Yeah, having had problems with bullying myself, I can understand where you're coming from. A lot of it stemmed from the fact that whenver I had those kinds of problems, I was alwasy told to 'just ignore it'. You don't retaliate, no, becuase that's now what nice children do you see. You simply suck it up and let it wash over you. Eventually they'll get bored and stop.

Doesn't work. Absolute frigging nonsense to be blunt. Teachers always say things like that. Because bullying is character building don'tcherknow. Parents and teachers are rarely ever supportive enough in these situations, and often times don't even realise just how damaging it is to children

Being passive just invites more and more extreme intimidation in order to get a response out of you. It's only when I started retaliating out of my own volition that it eventually came to a halt (although it took a while since things had built up quite a bit by then). I didn't even have to get physical. I find having a good wit on you can be far more damaging to a bullies self esteem than anything you could do to them physically, with the added bonus that they're not as certain as to how to retaliate anymore. You'd be surprised how quickly a kid can get enraged when you question their sexuality. :mrgreen:

I have to say, until I stopped listening to the people who kept telling me to be passive and started giving as good as I got, up until that point my life was an absolute misery. I am so glad to be out of that phase. Things improved so much for me after that, my grades improved, I was much happier, I was able to make a good circle of friends, and I became a whole lot more self confident.

Sorry for going on like that, bullying is just one of those topics that gets me going. It's like a lot of stuff that adults would never stand for, and which would ordinarily be classed as physical and mental abuse, assualt and harrasment, is just shrugged off as "bullying" when it comes to children, and then it's allowed to perpetuate. The parents and teachers often ignore it, until as you say, it goes way past being a problem. Though I wouldn't say it's just a bad parenting issue. I think it's a whole societal attitude that says it's safe to ignore anything as "bullying", and that it's alright because it'll be 'character building' in the end. Then the kids aren't given any help or support, are just told to shut up and ignore it, and things get worse. Well, this is speaking from personal experience anyway.

It's more the case in the UK that the passive students don't withdraw from society, but end up getting beaten up, killed, or ultimately commit suicide. I don't know whether you've been keeping tabs on UK news, but it's become quite a political football recently after some high profile cases. I could go on about that but I'll stop before I sink this whole thread. :mrgreen:
 
Thanks for the help with the recipe, i was especially wondering about the covering. I'm a hopeless cook, but it will be great fun giving it a go :)
 
Hi! Chris
I don't know if you remember some time ago, I asked you if you knew what the name Yayoi meant and you weren't sure? Well, I've just finished watching Tsukikage Ran and this old guy in one episode kept saying "yayoi, yayoi, yayoi" to Meow and the subtitle came up as "truly excellent, truly excellent, truly excellent". I was wondering how correct that translation was and if it does mean that, I'm kinda glad I didn't use it as Sakura's 2nd name!!

Another quick thing! Do you know why manga and anime creators are obsessed with step brothers and sisters and why it's so taboo to fall in love with a step sibling if they're not blood related?
I've come across this scenario about 10 times in various anime and manga, in the past few weeks!
 
I have a REALLY big favour to ask of you. Would you be up for translating some song lyrics for me?
It's a song called Midnight Crow by Lucifer from the anime Kaikan Phrase. It's one of those songs I love and would just love to know what the lyrics mean.
Thankyou ^_^


kanashimi no juu ni utareta
kizuguchi o GAMU de fusai de
DJ to waratteitara
chimamire no namida ga ochita

komi ageru kuyashisa o
nadamete nemurou
ima ha tada asa o matsu
KARASU ni nareba ii sa

yume ha itsumo sora no kanata ni aru
kyou yori takaku tobu tame ni aru
taiyou no naka itsuka tsuki nuketara
yami no you na kuroi tsubasa mo
...tenshi ni mieru sa

omoide o RAMU no BOTORU ni
tojikomete BAIKU de hikeba
kokoro made tsubushita you de
hikarabita namida ga ochita

ore dake ha ore no KOTO
shinjite yaritai
fukitsu dato kirawareta
KARASU ha shitteiru sa

yume ha itsumo itami no naka ni aru
kyou yori tsuyoku naru tame ni aru
eiri na ame ga hitomi suki sashite mo
yami ni kakaru niji o sagaseba
...ashita ha mieru


I'm not sure if the line "yume ha itsumo" is correct or if it should be "yume wa itsumo"

P.S. If you honestly don't mind my cheek and don't mind the translating, perhaps I can ask again?
 
I don't think its anything to do with Yayoi anime/manga. It is probably a coloquialised form of "yoi"= "good". "Ya" is sometimes said at the start of in in some places, or maybe its "iya", which doesn't really mean anything in this case (it does in others).
I don't know why there is stuff concerning step-siblings so rife in anime? I'll ask the Mrs tonight.

Anyway, heres the lyrics for that song. I looked up the original lyrics, written in Japanese so I could get a better translation. It's a near "raw" translation, I haven't altered very much, so it might read a bit weird in places :) If you want any other songs translating I'd be glad to do it.
Just give me the band name and song title :)

Midnight Crow - Lucifer

Shot by the sadness gun
cover the wound with gum
while I was laughing with the DJ
a bloody tear fell

sooth the feeling of resentment and sleep
Just waiting for morning now
I wish I could be a crow

Dreams are always distant in the sky
to fly higher than today
thrust into the midle of the sun
with black wings like darkness
I look like an angel

memories trapped in a bottle of rum
run over by a bike
like being crushed to the heart
a dry tear fell

I am the only one who believes in myself
unlucky, hated
the crow knows

Dreams are always in the middle of pain
to be stronger than today
even if sharp rain stabs my eyes,
travelling over darkness
If I can find a rainbow I can see tomorrow

Dreams are always in the middle of pain
to fly higher than today
thrust into the midle of the sun
with black wings like darkness
I look like an angel
 
Thankyou Chris ^_^
I'm always a little surprised when I see a translated song, but I have to admit, those lyrics definitely fit well with Lucifer's image!
Shall I just give you the song title and artist in future then? There are a couple of other Lucifer songs I'd like a translation for if that's OK?
Thankyou again - lots ^_^
 
Just a random question, but are there word games like Scrabble available in Japan and if so, how are they adapted for the language? I had a weird and comical image of Kanji Scrabble in my head, with hundreds of tiles and an enormous board!
 
hi chris..i was curious if you could give me helpful hints or even books i should get that can help in my learning of kanji...as i would much like to be able to translate texts well...it would be much appreciated if you could give me helpful hints. Thanks in advance
 
Sorry for not being able to reply for a while :oops:
The other day I went to have lunch with my best friend. After, as I was walking back to get the subway I saw hordes of people dressed up as manga/anime characters, most of them forigners :shock: They were pretty crap but there was one kid who looked identical to Ed from FMA :lol:

Song lyric translations
Yeah, if you just put the name of the artist and song up I'll search for the Japanese lyrics on the web and translate them for you :)

Scrabble
No, I've never seen a Japanese version, they sell the English one here. I don't think they would use Kanji, with stuff like crosswords you write them in Hiragana, or sometimes Katakana.

Kanji
I haven't had any books on it myself, but I had a look in a bookshop and this seems pretty good for someone starting to learn.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos...5309/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_10_3/250-9783008-4172240

Text translation is pretty fun, better than interpreting because you don't have to be a smiling fool 95% of the time, and you can work at your own pace (i.e you don't have to wait for people to finish talking- I always like to get as much done as soon as possible).
This one looks interesting too, but, I haven't looked inside it.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos...56463/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_8_1/250-9783008-4172240
 
OK, here's one. What's up with all the watermelon?

I seem to see it everywhere in anime and Manga. Is it just readily available in Japan (like apples and oranges in the UK), or is it something that's just really liked?
 
Watermelon
They're quite popular and you can get the year-round. In summer they're eaten to cool down your body. You can even buy frozen slices in a lot of places.
Japanese watermelons are very nice, and VERY watery- like all fruits here, sweet and watery, good for eating as they are but, almost impossible to use in cooking/cakes.
They sell cube shaped watermelons in some department stores, they cost about Y10,000 (60 quid-ish).
 
Hi! Chris, there's another Lucifer song I'd like translated if you can please? It's called "Dummy".
Thankyou ^_^

Also, what exactly is Noh dancing? One of the main characters in Kaikan Phrase is the heir to a family of Noh dancers; I can figure out it's a dance with fans and very rythmic movmements, but nothing else!
 
Chris said:
Watermelon
They're quite popular and you can get the year-round. In summer they're eaten to cool down your body. You can even buy frozen slices in a lot of places.
Japanese watermelons are very nice, and VERY watery- like all fruits here, sweet and watery, good for eating as they are but, almost impossible to use in cooking/cakes.
They sell cube shaped watermelons in some department stores, they cost about Y10,000 (60 quid-ish).
Click to expand...

£60 for a WATERMELON?! :shock:
Do people actually buy those?

What about regular watermelon, that can't be too expensive can it?
 
Lucifer "DUMMY"

I was loving you till morning
Loving you to the bone
The bed broke
We were stuck together, tired
I had a feeling I was happy
...I'm a dummy

had the luxury of pizza and a movie
talked about the past
said there were no more secrets
when we met by chance at a club
you were crying at the side of a man
...I'm a dummy

If sweet pain pours out of your heart
it's 99% his
But I loved you like stupid
and I can't take being a stand-in

well, well, what should I (we?) do?
Love is a buring sea of fire
well, well, what should I (we?) do?
No!No! I'm going to burst open
Ah...I'm a dummy No!No!

I bought you a bright red flower
I wanted to get you back
It ends like this
Life is a struggle

Does love have the magic to erase the past?
This is an experiment by God isn't it?
I'll hug your fleeing shoulder until a miracle happens
But you're so cold

well, well, what should I (we?) do?
Love is a buring sea of fire
well, well, what should I (we?) do?
No!No! I'm going to burst open
Ah...I'm a dummy No!No!

...Life is a struggle


Hope its of help to you! :wink:

Watermelons
I've never actally seen anyone buy one of those cube ones, but they still sell them in dept stores, so somebody must :roll: A normal one can cost around Y1000 (5/6 quid) if you can find a cheap one.

Noh
Is a traditional Japanese chanted drama. It's related to Kyougen (wich is more like a farce or comedy) and Kabuki, and uses maily Haiku. Noh is quite slow and quite repetitive. They use masks a lot, you've probably seen them somewhere or another, most are rather scary. They use a bare stage with a weird picture of a tree in the background- I have no idea why, and it seems to be used in all of the plays. I've only seen some for a few minutes on TV as all that traditional stuff bores me.
Kyougen is better, although I only watch stuff preformed by Nomura Mansai (He played the lead role in the "Onmyouji" films if you know them), he also does a lot of Shakespere plays in Japanese too which are quite good. (click on "mansai" at the bottom)
http://www.mansaku.co.jp/english/nomukyof.html

With Kyougen, its a family thing, kids are born and start learning almost straight away, the first role they play is always as a monkey, when they are 4!!!

This site should give you a bit more info.
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/NOH-KYOGEN/english/frame.html
 
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