Fun Learning Games and Resources
I assume you have zero knowledge of Mom Son XXX the Japanese language and guide you through each step. The difference between honorific and humble speech is particularly pronounced in the Japanese language. Humble language is used to talk about oneself or one’s own group (company, family) whilst honorific language is mostly used when describing the interlocutor and their group.
National Anthem
Karaoke (カラオケ) was invented in Japan and can be found in virtually every Japanese city. Pronounced kah-rah-oh-keh, it is abbreviated from the words “empty orchestra” in Japanese; most locals won’t have any idea what you’re talking about if you use the English carry-oh-kee. You and your friends have a room to yourself — no strangers involved — and the standard hourly rate often includes all-you-can-drink alcohol, with refills ordered through a phone on the wall or through the karaoke machine. The major chains all have excellent English-language song selections.
Grammar
The country’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, has long sought to bolster Japan’s independent security capabilities and become a more equal partner in its military alliance with the United States, which has for decades pressured Japan to step up. Even before President Donald Trump’s re-election, Japan had begun to make bolder military pledges. Most nouns in the Japanese language may be made polite by the addition of o- or go- as a prefix. O- is generally used for words of native Japanese origin, whereas go- is affixed to words of Chinese derivation. In some cases, the prefix has become a fixed part of the word, and is included even in regular speech, such as gohan ‘cooked rice; meal.’ Such a construction often indicates deference to either the item’s owner or to the object itself.
But sometimes, they are the only way to get where you are going. Taxi meters are strictly regulated and clearly visible to the passenger. If you are not sure if you have enough money for the trip, your driver may be able to guess the approximate cost of a trip beforehand. Even if money is not a concern, if you get a cost estimate beforehand, some taxi drivers will stop the meter at the estimated price regardless of how much further the destination may be.
However, IC cards like Suica and PASMO are often accepted for payment, particularly in train stations. Cigarette vending machines require a Taspo card (age verification), which are not available to non-residents, but local smokers are usually happy to lend you theirs. Pretty much every dot on the map, no matter how small the town, has some product it’s known for. The most common ones are food; some are fresh foods such as fish or cooked dishes you would have to eat while there, but many others are packaged foods, beverages, or ingredients that can be brought home. Local products also include arts and crafts; while some are mere trinkets, others would serve well as decorative keepsakes or practical items to use at home. The most common cards are JR East’s Suica and the Tokyo area PASMO, both of which can be purchased for ¥500 at train stations in Tokyo.
In addition to the usual youth hostels and business hotels, you can find several kinds of uniquely Japanese accommodation, ranging from rarefied ryokan inns to strictly functional capsule hotels and utterly over-the-top love hotels. Typically about 10-15% alcohol, it can be taken straight, on the rocks (ロック rokku) or mixed with soda (ソダ割り soda-wari). Shōchū (焼酎) is the big brother of sake, a stronger-tasting distilled type of alcohol. Traditional shōchū are most commonly made of rice, yam, or grain, but can be made of other materials like potatoes, too. Typically around 25% alcohol and often cheap at less than ¥1000 for a big 1L bottle, these can be served straight, on the rocks, or mixed with hot or cold water.
- These onsen can still call themselves “onsen”, but you have to decide for yourself if they really are.
- In the izakaya section, you can sit in a booth and watch anime, pay as little as $4 for a beer, and eat life-altering karaage wings.
- If I could pick one place to add to any Japan trip itinerary, it would be the Kiso Valley.
- The key ingredient of most meals is white rice, usually served steamed.
The first people in Japan were the Ainu people and other Jōmon people. They were closer related to Europeans or Mongols.19 They were later conquered and replaced by the Yayoi people (early Japanese and Ryukyuans). The Yayoi were an ancient ethnic group that migrated to the Japanese archipelago mainly from southeastern China during the Yayoi period (300 CE–300 AD). Modern Japanese people have primarily Yayoi ancestry at an average of 97%.2021 The indigenous Ryukyuan and Ainu peoples have more Jōmon ancestry on the other hand. Six homes have been damaged in city of Okayama, where a fire started on Mount Kaigara and burned 250 hectares (600 acres) of the forest.
Depending on the event, you may be able to buy tickets at convenience stores (using a numeric code to identify the right concert), online, at record stores, or in various pre-sale lotteries. Rather than doing general admission, tickets may be numbered to divide the audience into smaller groups which are admitted in order. Music festivals (ロック・フェスティバル rokku fesutibaru, shortened to ロックフェス rokku fesu or just フェス fesu) are also popular, drawing tens of thousands of people. Fuji Rock Festival is Japan’s largest festival, and covers many genres.
In the largest Japanese cities, it’s easy to spot a geisha if you look in the right part of town. (At 4 minutes per song, 15 songs would keep you singing for an hour.) These days, many machines use a tablet or touchscreen which you can use to search for songs by a variety of criteria; if you can get one of these set to English, great. You can also look up songs in the phonebook-sized catalogs, which is what you’ll have to do if you can’t get an a tablet in English, or at older places that just have a large remote control.