The news gets better with the addition of giveaways this year from the prize-worthy folks at White Rabbit Press, who sell the best Kanji Flashcards on the planet.

Prizes include a stunning Kanji Wall Poster plus Volume 1 & 2 of the Japanese Flashcards, which I own and love – you won’t be disappointed.

Photo Requirements

The theme of this contest is Spring. Spring in Japan. So that kind of gives you a lot of information right there. The photo must meet these very simple requirements to win a prize:

• Be set in Japan
• Have a Spring theme
• Have been taken during the past six months
• Have been taken by the person who is submitting the photo
• Be no less than 1200 pixels on any side

Get on over to Wide Island View and enter now to support the JET Programme in Hiroshima Prefecture.

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If you spend any time reading around the interwebs this time of year, you’ll notice the great unwashed coming out of their caves and denouncing the JLPT as a waste of money and/or time.

While it is true that neither JLPT N4 or JLPT N3 are going to get you a job labelling life-saving pharmaceuticals in Japan, they do provide a consistent and relative summation of your Japanese skills. You take exactly the same test as everyone else in the world – it doesn’t get much fairer than that.

Of course, the JLPT on all levels is clearly lacking in some areas – particularly speaking and writing – but it is the best that is available outside of Japan so we can’t be too picky.

There’s really no simple answer as to why you should (or shouldn’t) take the JLPT, as everyone has a different reason for putting themselves to the test.

If you’re like me, you need a solid goal to get your arse in to gear.

As a full-time member of Procrastinators Anonymous, a tight, immovable deadline coupled with the fear of being mocked by my peers for coming up short would be reason enough for me to take it and to do well.

Perhaps your motivations are far less self-centred than mine, you may actually be looking at the JLPT certification for something important, like a job in Japan.

If you’re trying to secure any type of professional job, your employers will require at least JLPT N2 and more than likely JLPT N1.

Depending on the company, they may waive the JLPT requirement if you can prove in an interview that you are fluent. However, having that JLPT certificate in your hands confirms, at least on paper, that you have the required skills.

In a recent job ad on www.dannychoo.com, the ubiquitous Mr Choo posted his requirement for a new developer as:

You need to be well versed in Japanese – at least JLPT level two or equivalent speaking/reading and writing skill. If you can read most of the Japanese version of this post then you qualify for this requirement.

While JLPT N2 was used in the ad to set a benchmark that most understand, in reality if you knew your stuff and could prove your Japanese fluency then the job was yours. Unfortunately it counted me out of the race on both counts (^_^).

As with most things in life, it is best to do what you think is best for you and your future and not what others believe is best.

If you want a piece of paper hanging on the wall to tell your friends and family that you know 100 kanji and that your Japanese rocks, then do it.

If you’re eyeing off a future that includes well-paid employment in Japan then do it.

Take it for what it is, a simple test of skills. If you find the idea abhorrent then don’t apply.

What have you got to lose?

It’s a few hours out of your life and costs less than you’ll spend on beer at the pub this Saturday night.

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We stayed at Hotel Claska a while back in Meguro, which is located on the famous Yamanote line. It’s one of our favourite areas of Tokyo – not quite sure why but it’s got a great fresh feeling about it with quirky designer furniture stores, lots of beautiful trees plus the Meguro River.

I stumbled across a local park on an afternoon photo walk and in the middle of it was a large concrete pond with one side lined by mostly old guys fishing for carp. It appeared to be a user-pay system but I can’t confirm the cost or bag limits, if any, as the signage was a bit beyond my Japanese skills at the time.

I’m not sure it was all as laid back as the picture suggests however, as everyone was decked out with everything from extra rods and reels, tackle boxes, fishing gloves, landing nets and much more.

Possibly a little bit of neighbourhood rivalry going on down at the park each afternoon.

Meguro Park Via Google

Expand Your Vocab

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I shot this image in the grounds of Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) in Shibuya, Tokyo.

As a keen photographer and Japanophile, it’s days like this, when you come across such a stunning ceremony in another country, that put a big smile on your face.

We were lucky enough to see several Shinto weddings that day and even luckier was that I had chosen to take my (very tasty) Canon 70-200 2.8 lens with me. I could sit at a respectful distance and still get the shots I wanted.

I love the Mona Lisa-style smile on this beautiful Japanese bride, who was wearing a Uchikake – an ornate outer robe traditionally worn over the top of a kimino.

Wedding Words

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I was having a play around at WolframAlpha recently and did a quick search for “Japanese language” and got the results below. The figure that I found most surprising was for one country in particular – Brazil – so I dug around some more to find out why.

Am I the only one who wasn’t aware of the Japanese-Brazilian connection? If not, then hopefully this fills in the blanks for you.

Top 8 Japanese Language Speakers

NB: 1993 – 2008 speaker estimates (WolframAlpha)

The History

Following the abolition of slave labour by the Brazilian government in the mid-19th century and the end of subsidised immigration from Italy in 1902, the Brazilians looked towards Asia to bolster the flagging labour forces they needed to run their coffee plantations.

With their options dwindling, the previous ban on Asian immigration was reversed and in 1907 a treaty was signed between the Brazilian and Japanese governments to grant the Japanese the right to live and work in Brazil.

The initial 790 immigrants were mostly farmers, who were forced to look outside of Japan for work due to severe poverty brought on by heavy land taxes and other changes imposed following the demise of the centuries long feudal system.

Lured by the promise of employment, a further 15,000 Japanese made the move to Brazil from 1908 to 1914, with most Japanese-Brazilians (日系ブラジル人) settling in and around São Paulo, where most of the coffee plantation work was available.

Japan’s entry in to World War I was the impetus for subsequent waves of migration, which from 1917 to 1940 totalled more than 164,000.

Decades later, Brazil is now home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan with the most recent official figure nudging just over 1.4 million.

So when you’re next walking down the street and a stranger asks you why there are so many Japanese speakers in Brazil (ブラジル), you’ll know why (^_^)

Words To Learn

** Historical figures used from Wikipedia in this article.

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Today is Culture Day (文化の日 Bunka no hi) in Japan, which has been celebrated as a national public holiday since 1948.

Via Wikipedia:

Culture Day (文化の日 Bunka no hi) is a national holiday held annually in Japan on November 3rd for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars.

History

Culture Day was first held in 1948, to commemorate the announcement of the post-war Japanese constitution on November 3, 1946.

November 3rd was first celebrated as a national holiday in 1868, when it was called Tenchō-setsu (天長節?), a holiday held in honour of the birthday of the reigning emperor—at that time, the Meiji Emperor. With the death of the Meiji Emperor in 1912, November 3rd ceased to be a holiday until 1927, when his birthday was given its own specific holiday, known as Meiji-setsu (明治節?). As Meiji-setsu was discontinued with the announcement of Culture Day in 1948, some see Culture Day as a continuation of this tradition as well—a mere renaming of Meiji-setsu—although they are ostensibly unrelated.

Current practice

As Culture Day exists to promote the arts and various fields of academic endeavor, local and prefectural governments typically choose this day to hold art exhibits, culture festivals, and parades. For example, Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture holds the annual Feudal Lord’s Parade (箱根大名行列 Hakone Daimyō Gyōretsu?) to exhibit Edo Period clothing and costumes. It is common for universities to present new research and projects on Culture Day.[citation needed]

Since 1937, the award ceremony for the prestigious Order of Culture has been held on this day. Given by the Emperor himself to those who have significantly advanced science, the arts or culture, it is one of the highest honours bestowed by the Imperial Family. The prize is not restricted to Japanese citizens, and for instance was awarded to the Apollo 11 astronauts upon their successful return from the moon.

Culture Day is statistically one of the clearest days of the year. Between 1965 and 1996, there have only been three years with rain occurring in Tokyo on Culture Day.

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The current list consists of 1,945 kanji that are officially allowed to be used in newspapers and government publications as well as being required learning for all Japanese school children.

The Council for Cultural Affairs has announced an additional 191 kanji that are being considered for inclusion, which will take the official list to 2,131 characters. Five characters are being removed from the current list: 銑, 錘, 匁, 勺 and 脹.

Via Japan Times

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This is probably not exciting news to anyone outside of Australia but today we finally crawled back up to just shy of 84 against the Japanese Yen for the first time in twelve months.

Last year in June, we booked a trip to Tokyo for November when the Yen was about 1 to 1 with the Aussie dollar but then came the global financial crisis in July/August and the AUD to YEN went in to a 6-month freefall.

So we arrive in Japan in November 2008 with our dollar hovering around the 55 to 60 mark. Our ¥20,000 hotel room went from costing about AUD$200 to upwards of AUD$350. Ouch!

Hopefully we can see it nudge up over 90 and then suddenly all those shiny new toys in Akihabara and Yodobashi are going to be back on my list.

View AUD/JPY history at Yahoo! »

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Typhoon Melor (台風１８号) has left a trail of destruction across Japan, killing two people and injuring about 30 people. Melor moved through Tokyo yesterday, leaving more than two million commuters stranded for several hours as train services were suspended following torrential rains and up to 200 kph winds.

Japanese Typhoon First Hand – Kobe

Japanese TV Coverage

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I missed the news over the weekend but it seems Tokyo has lost out to Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro in it’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

It’s a shame as Tokyo, who last hosted the Olympics in 1964, would have done a great job (okay I’m biased) but after hearing that Rio is the first ever South American city to hold the Olympic Games it is probably a fair call. The other cities in the finals race were Chicago and Madrid.

Tokyo 2006 Olympics Bid Video

Not sure it’s the most exciting video I’ve ever seen. What did you think about it?

Here the Rio De Janeiro video for a comparison:

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