Plain Talk
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD JANUARY 17. 2025Is It Easy for You to Learn a New Language? by Chris Pooh
I'm a German in Tokyo and have been trying to learn Japanese for several years. Some people learn new languages quickly, while others only slowly. I seem to belong to the latter. Plus, everyone communicates in German and English at work, and I’m very busy there that I simply don't have the energy left for learning the language at home. I have to push myself somehow.
The other day, I met up with a Japanese friend of mine for the first time in a while, and heard for the first time that she started learning German on her own. What's the turn of events? She said she studies using NHK’s German learning program on TV or radio. At the cafe´ where we met, we tried a language exchange spontaneously. Our conversation was slow; no wonder if the density of the contents was only about one-tenth of what it would have been if we spoke only in English. It took us three minutes to say “Today, I woke up at eight o'clock, ate breakfast, then took a walk in the park. There were many dogs!” Still, it was fun and fulfilling. We knitted the brows, closed the eyes, bit our lips, looked up at the ceiling, drummed fingers on the table, but laughed a lot as well.
I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that Japanese language has far more words used in conversation than German or English. One reason may be that Japanese words and Chinese-flavored words often coexist in the Japanese language for a same thing. It's no secret there are many onomatopoeias. Another factor that makes understanding difficult is the infinite number of variations in wording depending on the person and the settings. And people don't speak in the textbook language. And the kanjis… For now, I tell myself that hiragana and katakana are enough for me.
Still, I believe that as long as you keep up the motivation, you can get closer to your goal. Motivation derives from a variety of sources, including a pure interest in the language, necessity at work and strong interest in anime and music and so on. In my case, I guess it's just a general interest in Japanese society and the natural environment in Japan. I think there's a lot of useful information that I'm missing because I don't understand the language well enough yet.
As we all know, there are many ways to learn a language. Some people may hear and memorize expressions that their friends use. Others read textbooks and books for children carefully by themselves. I also hear that shadowing is very effective. There are many language learning clips on YouTube.
If you're trying to learn a language, let’s enjoy the process and not get discouraged and disappointed. We’re not alone!
東京にいるドイツ人ですが、私はもう何年も日本語を学ぼうと努力しています。言語習得が速い人もいれば遅い人もいて、私はどうやら後者のよう。加えて皆ドイツ語か英語でしゃべる職場で、しかもそこでは非常に忙しく、家で語学学習をしようという気力が残っていないこともしばしばです。自分にハッパをかけなければなりません。
先日久しぶりに日本人の友人に会い、彼女が独学でドイツ語を学び始めたと初めて知りました。どういう風の吹き回しでしょうか。NHKテレビやラジオの語学番組を利用するそうです。会ったカフェで自然発生的に語学交換をしてみました。会話はゆっくりで、内容の密度が英語だけで話した場合の10分の1程度だったとしても不思議ではありません。なにしろ互いに「今朝８時に起きて朝食をとり、それから公園に散歩に行きました。犬がたくさんいました！」と言うのに３分かかるのですから。それでも楽しくて充実した時間でした。私たちは眉をひそめ、目を閉じ、唇を噛み、天井を見上げ、テーブルの上を指でコツコツたたきながらも、よく笑いました。
真偽のほどは定かでないですが、日本語の会話には、ドイツ語や英語よりもずっと多くの単語が使われると聞きました。その一因は、ひとつのことに対して、しばしば和語と中国語風の単語が併存しているからかもしれません。擬声語・擬態語が多いのも周知の事実です。他にも、人や状況に応じて数限りない言い方があるから理解しがたいのです。さらに人々は教科書的にはしゃべらない。そして漢字があり…今のところ、私は平仮名とカタカナだけで満足ということにします。
それでも動機があれば目標に近づくことができると信じています。動機は様々なところに起因します。たとえば純粋に言語に対する興味、仕事上の必要性、アニメや音楽への明確な関心などです。私の場合は日本社会や自然環境全般に一様に興味があります。まだ言葉を十分に理解していないために見逃している有益な情報がたくさんあると思います。
ご存知のように、言語学習には色々な方法があります。ある人は友達が使う表現を聞いて覚え、別の人は教科書や子供用の本を自力で丁寧に読み込むかもしれません。シャドーイングが効果的だとも聞きます。もちろんYouTubeには言語学習動画が多数あがっています。
言葉を学ぼうとするなら、落胆したり失望したりせずにその過程を楽しみましょう。あなたは１人ではありませんよ！
Plain Talk
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback OCTOBER 09. 2015Language Survival Skills by Rebecca Marck
When it comes to “reading da lingo,” Japan is not an easy country. You can’t depend on written cognates here as in other countries where you can decipher words: (Malay: sekolah, Swedish: skola, Spanish, escuela, etc.) Here in Japan, you know it's a school if you see a clock on the front and dirt all around it. But you can’t read words unless you actually study OR develop “linguistic survival skills.”
When I first came to Japan, I made the usual mistakes: buying Ajinomoto instead of salt and miso when I wanted peanut butter, mistaking anko for chocolate. This led me to develop language coping skills that have served me well. Regrettably, I did that instead of honing my Japanese reading skills, but I manage to get my needs met using such survival techniques, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
Here, I won’t address really basic techniques like gesturing wildly, “reading” the pictures or roaming the store aisles hoping to stumble upon what you seek. “Newbies” quickly learn to keep their home address written in Japanese and perhaps even a map to get themselves home. If I needed my address in Japanese, I cut it out of any incoming mail addressed to me in Japanese and glued it onto outgoing post. I showed it to “takyu-bin” clerks, too. Of course if you receive something with red ink, underlining and deadline dates, that needs to be addressed ASAP.
Let’s consider advanced techniques such as “Take a sample.” Suppose you already have something you like or a copy of something you need, but now you need a new one. Just “take-a-sample” to the store / office / station and show it to someone there. It does mean carrying odd stuff around, but clerks can easily understand what’s required. A variation is getting a bilingual friend, student, or family member to write it down in Japanese and take the paper with you. (IF that person actually knows how to write “exfoliant” in Japanese, for example.) I’ve even taken chewed leaves from my pest-infested rosebush to show at the garden center!
“Googling it” is a useful technique when you get medicine or devices that you don’t understand. If it’s foreign-made, there’s probably an owner’s manual or patient information online in English.
Fortunately, we now have smartphones to help us cope linguistically. You can call a bilingual friend from a store, taxi, doctor’s office, etc. hand your phone over and have them explain what you can’t say. The camera function lets you take a picture of your linguistic dilemma and show it to a Japanese friend. Better yet, email the photo to someone who can explain all those buttons on your new appliance. Water leaking from the apartment above? Take a cell phone video and show it to your landlord.
Coping skills like these have helped me muddle through. But the most effective linguistic coping technique might well be to:
Convince a Japanese person to marry you!
Unfinished business
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MAY 17. 2019Farewell to a Japan Jazz Icon by David Gregory
The messages from all over Japan read aloud during the service helped us realize how widely Koyama-san touched lives and how many like us were feeling something newly missing from our worlds. But, although wonderful and sometimes saddening us, they did not trigger crying. That happened next.
Those first few notes of the "'Round About Midnight" Miles Davis version, the cut Koyama-san always used to open Jazz Tonight, performed by a live piano and trumpet duo up front near the coffin, did it: Instant recognition, recollections, sighs around the room, eyes closed, arms crossed, heads dropped back or down, and tears, at least for me. How many times had we heard, after Miles breathed his somber opening, Koyama-san's low, raspy voice welcoming us into the studio with, "Minna-san, gokigen ikaga desho-ka everybody, how are you feeling?"?and never thought that someday we would hear him ask about us no more?
Koyama-san's widow, whom, like him, had never known me, stood alone at the coffin head and bowed in silence to everyone in turn after they placed flowers around his body as the duo continued with another slow number, the trumpet sounding so strong and crisp and unusual in a memorial service hall. After we placed our flowers, she responded to my hand on her shoulder, a touch just meant to console her, by immediately turning and reaching for me?a total stranger?burying her head in my chest, and breaking down. She needed that hug that everybody sometimes needs. She let go after her respite when she was ready to face the coffin and everyone else again, and returned to her position. Going to Kashiwa in a snowstorm was worth it just for those few moments when I could do something for her.
So our Kashiwa day was both sad and good. But, why did I even want to go a funeral for a man whom I only knew by voice, and who, although linked to jazz, was not even a musician?
Koyama-san and his Jazz Tonight program I listened to since at least the early 2000s. For more than sixteen years, while my life in Japan has been filled with huge uncertainties, he has been here Saturday nights on the radio, reliable, keeping me connected to the world's music and opening my ears to music from Japan I would not know without him. Listening to him always made me feel good, no matter what had happened in my life during the week or what was coming up in the weeks ahead. Koyama-san and Jazz Tonight were my respite. How well can I replace that comfort?
Koyama-san, thank you for helping this foreigner feel good in Japan. Please rest well in jazz heaven.
NHK Radio, thank you for giving Koyama-san a way to connect with us. Please encourage other DJs to continue doing what he did so well.
To Koyama-san's surviving family members: Please care well for yourselves now, and thank you for supporting and sharing Kiyoshi with us.
The Smallest Box by David Gregory
She came over to my table and asked if I remembered her.
“That’s my boyfriend over there.”
Their table hugged a pillar blocking the sunny Tokyo Bay view enjoyed by the other customers that afternoon in Chiba’s AquaRink ice skating facility café.
“Maybe we will marry next year.”
On my way out, I stopped to congratulate the potential groom to be. What I later heard happened with Hiromi and Hiroshi that night at another place also close to the bay sounded so too good to be true that I visited that place to confirm it really happened. It did.
Hiroshi had reserved for the course menu that night at OCEAN TABLE, next to Chiba Port, on the second floor, where tables sat by the huge windows facing Chiba Port Tower and Tokyo Bay. No view-blocking pillars there. And they had a wait, even with their reservation, because it was Christmas Eve, which in Japan matters much more than the following day; the Eve is the year’s couples’ night out, and single women without dates that night can feel their whole year was wasted.
Hiroshi had changed into a suit after skating, and had urged Hiromi, against her protests about overdressing, into a plaid one-piece, raising expectations. They had never come to a place this nice, one requiring reservations. Saizeriya was more their speed: fast faux-Italian, cheap, and everywhere.
The unexpected wait made Hiroshi antsy. He relaxed and all was perfect after they were seated.
They talked. They ate the Christmas Dinner courses. They ignored the soft Christmas background music. They admired the gleaming, golden Christmas Tree rising from the first-floor buffet area through the open center space across from their table. They could see outside the sparkling flashes and half the tree in Port Tower’s Christmas Illumination, and beyond, the lights from the ships on and facilities around Tokyo Bay, appearing almost twinkling. Perfect—but not for Hiromi.
She went to the toilet. Still he had not asked. The day was done. The reservation system only allowed them two hours there. They had been together all day. He had remembered her birthday-just by coincidence, also that day-with a necklace at AquaRink. Nice, but was that all? He had pestered her since early December about what Christmas present she wanted until she had finally exploded with, “Nothing! Don’t you know I just want a proposal?!” And had added she wanted it to be a surprise. Here he had the perfect chance, and he was wasting it.
She could try enjoying what was left of the evening. Dessert was next. At least here was better than Saizeriya….She was still stuck when she returned to the table, and had no chance to do or say anything, anyway. It was his toilet turn.
Their desserts came. Hiromi sat and waited and pondered the future. Outside, the tower stood alone against the dark sky and Tokyo Bay’s inky darkness.
Their desserts waited. Maybe his tooth was bothering him again. Maybe he was just tolerating it to make the night go well. Maybe for her. Maybe she should go to check on him. Wait-maybe she just heard his voice across the room.
No, only Santa Claus, posing for photographs with diners at the far table. He then started circling the room, giving a small present from his big sack at each table. She could check after he was done.
Hiroshi still had not returned to his seat when Santa reached their table. He handed Hiromi a big, red stocking, by far the room’s largest gift, accompanied by a squeaky, “Atari! You’re a lucky one!” Yeah. She set it aside and Santa moved on. What was he still doing in the toilet?
Santa finished his round, returned to Hiromi, and pointed at her unopened stocking with squeaky, “Un! Un!” grunts. The other diners had opened their presents. She forced a smile and said she was waiting for her boyfriend to return. “Un! Un!”
When Hiromi still resisted, Santa took the stocking in his white-gloved hands and opened it himself. Out first came a big, pink box, heart shaped. He opened that and pulled out another heart-shaped box, and then, from inside that, another heart-shaped box. Another smaller, heart-shaped box followed. He removed from that an even smaller heart-shaped box, and thrust it to Hiromi with one more squeaky, “Un!”
Still gone. Well, he’d miss it. Hiromi obeyed Santa this time and opened it, the smallest box in the room …and her mind and face went blank.
After that frozen moment passed, Hiromi looked at Santa. The second shock hit, and more followed. Santa Claus had ripped off his gloves, furry hat, sunglasses, and huge, flowing beard. He took the box from her?she was still speechless?dropped onto one knee, held the open box out and up to her in both stretching hands, and said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “Hiromi-san, boku-to kekkon shite kudasai! Hiromi, please marry me!”
Outside, to anybody looking, Port Tower’s Christmas Illumination still flashed, and the lights on and around Tokyo Bay still appeared almost twinkling. Inside OCEAN TABLE, on the second floor, everything was happening so fast that Hiromi just did not know which was more difficult to believe: Hiroshi and the ring he first tried slipping onto the finger on her right hand, the one he had taken in his before she held out her left hand, or the following PAN! and PAN! PAN! PAN! PAN! PAN! and PAN! PAN! and PAN! explosions ripping and ribbons shooting around the room as diners at the floor’s other tables popped the party crackers they had found with the notes in their presents from Santa Claus.
Copyright © 2018 David L. Gregory All rights reserved.
I Did It! by David Gregory
She had been here before. But, those were tour-guided or hand-held visits. After living most of her life in white-bread suburban USA, driving everywhere, shopping in giant malls and supermarkets, and needing only one currency and one language, my mother ventured out on her own, within and beyond Chiba, during one trip to Japan. From her notes, here are Dorothy's...
ADVENTURES IN JAPAN
Grocery Shopping in Neighborhood―Walk five blocks...buy only one bag...walk five blocks back. Survived it!
Shopping in City Center―Walk six blocks to bus stop. Ride bus fifteen minutes. Arrive at stores. Walk around. Look. Decide: cookies.
Buying: “Ikura desu-ka how much?” Hmm. “Kakimasu kudasai write please.”
Paying options: give large bill, let clerk figure change, or open change purse, let clerk take out correct amount. Decide to just give some cash.
Clerk shakes her head (“NO! MORE!”), then counts out correct amount needed from register and shows me. I mimic her action from my change purse. Smiles! Deep bows with many, “Arigato gozaimasu thank you very much!”-es.
(My error: thought there was decimal point in Yen price....)
Open cookies, expecting pirouettes with chocolate centers. Instead, peanut butter waffle rolls, no chocolate. No wonder, now I see peanut sketch on package. “Shoganai can’t be changed,” I did it to myself. It could have been worse!
~~~
Travelling to Visit Friend’s Family on Other Side of Chiba―Walk ten blocks to train. Purchase ticket. Electronic lady on ticket machine screen says, “Arigato gozaimasu” and bows. Ride train twenty minutes, watching for correct stop, get off, walk seven blocks to house. I did it myself!
Visiting Hisae Overnight―My Japanese study partner in USA returned to Japan, now lives on other side of Tokyo Bay.
Take large purse and large tote bag with jacket, nightie, toothbrush, cosmetics. Walk six blocks to bus stop. Ride bus to train station. Ride train eighty minutes to Yokohama. Find correct exit from station. EASY. Did not even look at note in pocket explaining route and Japanese signs. And, look! Hisae and three-year old Kei are waiting! “Hello!” they say! Many hugs!
I did it!
Then, still more travel: train together fifteen minutes, short taxi uphill to lovely apartment, sunny and bright.
Returning to Chiba, just reverse process. Next time, we can meet at a station halfway in between. I can do it.
I can do it!
Copyright (C) 2015 David Gregory. All rights reserved. Chiba, Japan
Book Review
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MAY 11 2018Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami
by Rey Ventura Reviewed by Randy Swank video maker and scriptwriter Rey Ventura won the 2015 National Book Award for his third collection of essays, Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami, but for some strange twist of fate you will find very little information on this book. You can’t even buy it on Amazon. This is a shame because Cherry Blossoms... is a beautiful, insightful and thought-provoking book. |
Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami |
In "Miniskirts and Stilettos" we meet Ginto, a young lady who comes to Japan dreaming of making it big as a singer and entertainer but has to deal instead with a much darker reality; while "Mr. Suzuki Tries Again" and "Into the Snow Country" are tragicomic tales of arranged marriages where the dreams and expectations of bride-starved farmers from Japan's Deep North clash with those of young Filipino women who want to escape their poverty and go into marriage "as a girl goes into a convent." Ventura tells these stories with a great eye for detail and manages to find a ray of light even in the darkest corners, or poetry in the midst of a nuclear disaster. The book's first essay is called "The Slow Boat to Manila" and indeed, slowness is the first word that comes to mind when considering Ventura's approach to writing. Everything Ventura does is slow. He is no magazine reporter after all, and will spend days or even months getting to know a person he wants to write about. That's the kind of personal commitment and deep connection with his subject that one feels when reading his essays. |
Tokyo Fab
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD JANUARY 17, 2024
Fuyusai: Winter Festival - Local Sake and Gourmet
Winter Festival “Fuyusai: Winter Festival - Local Sake and Gourmet 2025” to be held in Yoyogi Park for 3 days Jizake & Jibanami 2025” is a winter gourmet festival where visitors can enjoy local sake and specialty foods from all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Including the concurrent “Gotochi Nabe Festival,” visitors will be welcomed by a variety of heartwarming tastes.
The venue will feature a variety of areas, including a “Sake Tasting Festival” where visitors can enjoy sake from all over Japan, a “Gotochi Hot Pot Gourmet Corner” where visitors can taste dishes made with local ingredients, a “Gotochi Hot Pot Zone,” a winter staple, and a “Product Zone” where visitors can purchase local specialty products. This event is the perfect place to enjoy warm, hearty food with local sake, and is a great way to spend winter time with family and friends. On a cold winter day, why not rediscover the charms of various regions of Japan while enjoying a taste sensation that warms both body and soul?
https://fuyumatsuri-japan.com/
60th Ekiben (train station boxed lunch) & Local Gourmet Fair
The popular annual event will celebrate its 60th anniversary, bringing together approximately 300 kinds of ekiben from all over Japan.
At the venue, visitors can enjoy “Demonstration Ekiben”, which are made right in front of their eyes, and rare “Transported Ekiben” delivered from all over the country.
Demonstration ekiben: This refers to the “demonstration sales” that take place at the venue. The “ekiben demonstration” is a realistic experience where visitors can see ekiben being made right in front of their eyes.
Transported Ekiben: Ekiben that are delivered daily to the venue by air or land from the various locations where they are prepared are called “Transported Ekiben". Due to the number of ekiben is limited, they are highly rare, and some are sold out within an hour of the opening of the store.
The event showcases about 350 types of ekiben, including those made with ingredients and cooking methods associated with the region, containers made from local specialties, and ekiben made in collaboration with animations and characters with strong ties to the region. Enjoy the ekiben convention, which will allow you to indulge in nostalgia by recalling the “tastes of that place or that region” while you are in Tokyo.
https://www.keionet.com/info/shinjuku/ekiben2025/index.html
Have You Been To...
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD JANUARY 17, 2024
Kurokawa Onsen [Minamioguni, Kumamoto]
Kurokawa Onsen, located in Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture, is one of the most popular hot spring resorts in Kyushu. From December to April, Kurokawa Onsen Yuakari is held and the hot spring resort is enveloped in the warm light of approximately 300 spherical “ball lanterns” and 2 meter high “tube lanterns”. The lights are arranged in harmony with the natural landscape, and the reflections on the Tanohara River are sure to soothe the soul.
Yunishigawa Onsen [Nikko, Tochigi]
Yunishigawa Onsen is a hot spring resort in northern Tochigi, where the legend of the Heike clan remains. If you visit in winter, you can see old houses with thatched roofs covered with snow. The “Kamakura Festival,” a winter festival held from January to February in Yunishikawa Onsen, is recognized as one of Japan's “Heritage of Historical and Cultural Night Views” and one of the “Three Great Night Lanterns of Kanto.
Lake Shikotsu [Chitose, Hokkaido]
The “Chitose-Lake Shikotsu Hyobaku Festival: Museum of Ice” is a festival usually held from late January to late February, where dynamic ice sculptures stand side by side. All the buildings in the festival site are made of ice. Even without coloring or lighting up, the objects, which are made by spraying water from the lake, which is one of the clearest in Japan, emit a pale Lake Shikotsu blue glow.
Nabana no Sato [Kuwana, Mie]
Nabano-no-Sato is one of the largest illumination spots in Japan. This year's theme for the main venue, which is decorated with a different theme each year, is “Famous Mt. Fuji, a beautiful and majestic mountain of which Japan is proud to be a part of the world, is vividly expressed in bold compositions and colors. Visit the 200-meter-long “Flower Corridor” decorated with cute petal-shaped light bulbs and more.
Tokyo Voice Column
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback: FEBRUARY 13. 2015
Kodo by Nobuyo Honda
Kodo is the practice of incense burning, a part of Japanese art. I’m interested in Kodo because I do aromatherapy, and it is better to know about Japanese fragrances.
I took a series of five Kodo classes at a culture center, and learned the way of Kodo manners for a guest. Historically, incense first came from China with Buddhism in the 6th century, and it started to be used in religious ceremonies for purification and meditation. Around the 11th century, aristocrats used it like a perfume in their daily life, and they invented Kodo along with Sado (the tea ceremony) around the 15th century.
It is similar to Sado, but you hand the next person an aroma cup and enjoy an intelligent game using incense. It involves a smoking piece of aromatic wood, sandalwood, aloeswood and etc, and is also the practice of enjoying the changing seasons with Waka (poetry) and classic literature. Those who practice Kodo refer to the action of smelling fragrance as “listening”.
For example, one of the Kodo games is named Genji Ko. Genji is the name of a noble man, and the story called “Genji Monogatari” is a book which was written in the Heian period (the 11th century), and Ko means “fragrance”. The master has five kinds of aromatic wood. Each type has five pieces; all twenty-five pieces of wood are put into a separate envelope in advance. Then the master takes out one envelope, and puts the piece on the top of the cup. It is in a cake of hot charcoal and is covered with ashes, so it will smoke and float the aroma. This is repeated five times. The visitors are listening each aromatic cup and guess if the aromas are the same, and mark special lines on a sheet of paper. There are 52 aroma patterns, and each line’s marks are named after female characters in the Genji story. Finally, the master collect up the visitors answers and announces the result.
The smells which Kodo uses are really delicate. Kodo has many aspects, not just aroma games. If you do Kodo, you will probably improve your aesthetic senses. Some people are not good at sitting on their heels for a long time, but there are some classes that you can take while sitting in a chair. How about trying Kodo?
香道とは、香木を焚き香りを楽しむ日本の文化の１つである。私はアロマセラピ―をしているので、日本の香り文化についても知りたいと思い香道に興味を持った。
私は5回シリーズで行われたカルチャースクールの香道教室で、香道に招かれたときの作法を学んだ。日本でのお香の歴史は、6世紀に仏教とともに中国からやって来て、宗教の儀式の瞑想や浄化に使われた。11世紀になると、貴族が日々の生活の中で香木を香水のように使用した。15世紀になると、香道は茶道と共に発展した。茶道と共通しているところもあるが、香道は香りの器を次の人に渡しながら、香りを使った知的なあそびを楽しんでいく。白檀、伽羅などの香木の薫香を使い、季節に合った和歌や古典文学も楽しむ。香道の世界では香りを「嗅ぐ」とは言わず、「聞く」と言う。
香道の源氏香という組香あそびを例にして説明する。源氏は貴族の名前で、平安時代（11世紀）に書かれた“源氏物語”に出てくる。“香”は香りのことだ。親は、5種類の香木を用意する。5種類の香木を５組用意し、事前に全部で25の香木の破片を１つずつ包みに入れる。親は１つの包みを選び、香木の破片を器の上にのせる。器の中には灰と炭火が入っているため、香木から薫香が漂う。これを５回繰り返す。招待客はそれぞれのカップの香りを聞き、香りが同じ香りかどうかを考え用紙に決められた記号を書いていく。そこには、52パターンの香りの組み合わせパターンがあり、源氏物語に出てくる女性の名前が付けられている。最終的には、親が客の答えを集めて結果を発表する。
香道で使用される香りはとても繊細だった。香道は香りのゲームだけでなく、色々な側面を持っている。香道を体験すると、感性が磨かれるだろう。長時間の正座は苦手な人もいると思うが、椅子に座って香道を学べる教室もある。香道を体験してみてはどうだろうか？
MUSEUM -What's Going on?-
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD DECEMBER 06. 2024
Poke´mon x Crafts Exhibition:
Great Discoveries of Beauty and Craftsmanship
In the 1960s and 1970s, the media landscape drastically changed with the pervasive adoption of television and the emergence of video cameras, leading artists to integrate these new technologies into their work. Meanwhile, social activism gained momentum around the world, with major protest campaigns including the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements in the US. During this era, feminism emerged in the US as a mass movement with broad support, challenging the prevailing male-dominated social structure as an increasing number of women called for equality both in the workplace and at home. This environment spurred female artists to articulate the challenges and injustices they faced. In contrast to the predetermined subjects and forms of traditional painting, video was a relatively open and underexplored medium that proved effective in challenging societal norms and the one-sided portrayals common in the mass media. In this exhibit, which continues from the previous term, we present video works from the 1970s to today that emerged against the above-described historical background. Please also note several keywords that serve to contextualize the works.
Taiichiro Yoshida, Jolteon, h62 118X45
copper, gold gilding, silver gilding, engraving,
hammering, patination, cloisonne´, 2022
While 8mm and 16mm films require developing and printing after shooting, video does not require such processes. The immediacy of video led to the widespread staging of live performances that are shown on the spot as they are shot, as well as improvisatory filming practices. Video’s minimal gap between generation and completion of images allowed artists to engage with their images while shooting, resulting in works that incorporated everyday subjects and personal elements.
Period: − Sunday, February 2, 2025
Venue: AZABU HILLS GALLERY
Closed: Tuesdays
Hours: 10:00 - 19:00 / -20:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and days before holidays (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission: Adults: 1,800yen / Vocational school/university students: 1,600yen / High school and junior high school students: 1,300yen / Age 4 - Elementary school students: 600yen
For more information, please visit
https://www.azabudai-hills.com
Feminism and the Moving Image（2025.2.11−6.15）
In the 1960s and 1970s, the media landscape drastically changed with the pervasive adoption of television and the emergence of video cameras, leading artists to integrate these new technologies into their work. Meanwhile, social activism gained momentum around the world, with major protest campaigns including the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements in the US. During this era, feminism emerged in the US as a mass movement with broad support, challenging the prevailing male-dominated social structure as an increasing number of women called for equality both in the workplace and at home. This environment spurred female artists to articulate the challenges and injustices they faced. In contrast to the predetermined subjects and forms of traditional painting, video was a relatively open and underexplored medium that proved effective in challenging societal norms and the one-sided portrayals common in the mass media. In this exhibit, which continues from the previous term, we present video works from the 1970s to today that emerged against the above-described historical background. Please also note several keywords that serve to contextualize the works.
Martha Rosler, Semiotics of the Kitchen, 1975
Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York
While 8mm and 16mm films require developing and printing after shooting, video does not require such processes. The immediacy of video led to the widespread staging of live performances that are shown on the spot as they are shot, as well as improvisatory filming practices. Video’s minimal gap between generation and completion of images allowed artists to engage with their images while shooting, resulting in works that incorporated everyday subjects and personal elements.
Period: February 11−June 15, 2025
Venue: The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo
Closed: Mondays (except 2/24, 3/31, 5/5) , 2/25,5/7
Hours: 10:00 − 17:00 / - 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission: Adults: 500 yen / College ＆ University Students: 250yen
Strange but True
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD DECEMBER 20. 2024
How to Stop Snoring
Sleeping next to a snorer is not only extremely frustrating but can also have a negative impact on both your physical and mental health. A sleep expert revealed that the number of snorers has increased during lockdown due to inactivity, as we're stuck inside hunched over a desk and spending less time outside moving around. Shared today is a bizarre trick that might just do the job - and all you need is a tennis ball. But before you get too excited, it isn't throwing at their head. When you lie on your back, your mouth is more likely to open and as it does so, it kind of moves back and compresses the airways, so the muscles in your tongue tend to relax more. So, anything you can do to keep yourself leaning on the side; some people find a line of pillows, or even a tennis ball sewn into the back of your pajamas can make it uncomfortable to lean over onto your back!. She also revealed there are more extreme measures you can go to, including using specially designed pieces of tape to hold your mouth shut and promote breathing through your nose instead. Failing that, there's always earplugs - or as some viewers suggested, kicking them out of bed. Best of luck.
Black Hole Missing?
Scientists are baffled by a missing supermassive black hole which should by normal expectations sit in the centre of a distant galaxy. Instead, according to researchers at a handful of North American universities, there appears to be something highly unusual about the bright cluster galaxy A2261-BCG. They believe it is the first ever example of a so-called "recoiling" black hole - a black hole that was ejected from the centre of the galaxy by a powerful force, and is now mysteriously floating through space. Dr Gultekin studied A2261-BCG, located about 2.6 billion light years from Earth, as it has a large and flat stellar core, as revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope, making it a potential candidate for a galaxy with a missing black hole.
Links
Guesthouse Tokyo
10 minutes to Ikebukuro.
Interhouse
safe and accessible solution for your accommodation needs in Tokyo.
Sakura House
1830 monthly furnished rooms at 204 locations in Tokyo.
TOKYO ROOM FINDER
Contact our international team that will assist you in finding housing
and overcoming any communication barriers in Japan!
J&F Plaza
Furnished & unfurnished guesthouses and apartments in Tokyo.
May Flower House
Tokyo furnished apartments. Ginza, Roppongi, Yotsuya and more.
TenTen Guesthouse
33,000yen/30 days for working holiday students.
GOOD ROOM TOKYO
Share room, Private room, under 50,000yen
MOVE JAPAN
Private furnished rooms in Tokyo with free internet. Call us first or call us last!
Tokyomove.com
Hassle free moving starts from 6000yen.
Tokyo Helping Hands
Very flexible working hours to effectly help you with moving, deliveries, disposal, storage and more!
AirNet Travel
We'll cut you the best air ticket deals anywhere.
Fun Travel
Discount air travel & package tours 2min from Roppongi Stn.
No.1 Travel
We go the extra mile for you. International air tickets and hotels.
JR Tokai Tours
Top-value travel to Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya from Tokyo by Shinkansen.
Matsuda Legal Office
All kinds of Visa, Immigration & Naturalization, International Marriage etc.
Futaba Visa Office
Licensed immigration lawyer & certified public tax consultant.
American Pharmacy
English speaking pharmacy since 1950.
Tokyo Skin Clinic
EU-licensed multi lingual doctors.
Tax-free AKKY
Japanese Appliance, Watch, Souvenirs
Tokyo Speed Dating
1st Sat. & 3rd Sun. at Bari n Roppongi ETC.
Tokyo Spontaneous
Picnic, Parties, Language exchange
TMA
Japanese women & Western men.
Tokyo Fab
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD JANUARY 17, 2024Fuyusai: Winter Festival - Local Sake and Gourmet
Winter Festival “Fuyusai: Winter Festival - Local Sake and Gourmet 2025” to be held in Yoyogi Park for 3 days Jizake & Jibanami 2025” is a winter gourmet festival where visitors can enjoy local sake and specialty foods from all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Including the concurrent “Gotochi Nabe Festival,” visitors will be welcomed by a variety of heartwarming tastes.
The venue will feature a variety of areas, including a “Sake Tasting Festival” where visitors can enjoy sake from all over Japan, a “Gotochi Hot Pot Gourmet Corner” where visitors can taste dishes made with local ingredients, a “Gotochi Hot Pot Zone,” a winter staple, and a “Product Zone” where visitors can purchase local specialty products. This event is the perfect place to enjoy warm, hearty food with local sake, and is a great way to spend winter time with family and friends. On a cold winter day, why not rediscover the charms of various regions of Japan while enjoying a taste sensation that warms both body and soul?
https://fuyumatsuri-japan.com/
60th Ekiben (train station boxed lunch) & Local Gourmet Fair
The popular annual event will celebrate its 60th anniversary, bringing together approximately 300 kinds of ekiben from all over Japan.
At the venue, visitors can enjoy “Demonstration Ekiben”, which are made right in front of their eyes, and rare “Transported Ekiben” delivered from all over the country.
Demonstration ekiben: This refers to the “demonstration sales” that take place at the venue. The “ekiben demonstration” is a realistic experience where visitors can see ekiben being made right in front of their eyes.
Transported Ekiben: Ekiben that are delivered daily to the venue by air or land from the various locations where they are prepared are called “Transported Ekiben". Due to the number of ekiben is limited, they are highly rare, and some are sold out within an hour of the opening of the store.
The event showcases about 350 types of ekiben, including those made with ingredients and cooking methods associated with the region, containers made from local specialties, and ekiben made in collaboration with animations and characters with strong ties to the region. Enjoy the ekiben convention, which will allow you to indulge in nostalgia by recalling the “tastes of that place or that region” while you are in Tokyo.
https://www.keionet.com/info/shinjuku/ekiben2025/index.html
Have You Been To...
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD JANUARY 17, 2024Kurokawa Onsen [Minamioguni, Kumamoto]
Kurokawa Onsen, located in Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture, is one of the most popular hot spring resorts in Kyushu. From December to April, Kurokawa Onsen Yuakari is held and the hot spring resort is enveloped in the warm light of approximately 300 spherical “ball lanterns” and 2 meter high “tube lanterns”. The lights are arranged in harmony with the natural landscape, and the reflections on the Tanohara River are sure to soothe the soul.
Yunishigawa Onsen [Nikko, Tochigi]
Yunishigawa Onsen is a hot spring resort in northern Tochigi, where the legend of the Heike clan remains. If you visit in winter, you can see old houses with thatched roofs covered with snow. The “Kamakura Festival,” a winter festival held from January to February in Yunishikawa Onsen, is recognized as one of Japan's “Heritage of Historical and Cultural Night Views” and one of the “Three Great Night Lanterns of Kanto.
Lake Shikotsu [Chitose, Hokkaido]
The “Chitose-Lake Shikotsu Hyobaku Festival: Museum of Ice” is a festival usually held from late January to late February, where dynamic ice sculptures stand side by side. All the buildings in the festival site are made of ice. Even without coloring or lighting up, the objects, which are made by spraying water from the lake, which is one of the clearest in Japan, emit a pale Lake Shikotsu blue glow.
Nabana no Sato [Kuwana, Mie]
Nabano-no-Sato is one of the largest illumination spots in Japan. This year's theme for the main venue, which is decorated with a different theme each year, is “Famous Mt. Fuji, a beautiful and majestic mountain of which Japan is proud to be a part of the world, is vividly expressed in bold compositions and colors. Visit the 200-meter-long “Flower Corridor” decorated with cute petal-shaped light bulbs and more.
Tokyo Voice Column
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback: FEBRUARY 13. 2015Kodo by Nobuyo Honda
Kodo is the practice of incense burning, a part of Japanese art. I’m interested in Kodo because I do aromatherapy, and it is better to know about Japanese fragrances.
I took a series of five Kodo classes at a culture center, and learned the way of Kodo manners for a guest. Historically, incense first came from China with Buddhism in the 6th century, and it started to be used in religious ceremonies for purification and meditation. Around the 11th century, aristocrats used it like a perfume in their daily life, and they invented Kodo along with Sado (the tea ceremony) around the 15th century.
It is similar to Sado, but you hand the next person an aroma cup and enjoy an intelligent game using incense. It involves a smoking piece of aromatic wood, sandalwood, aloeswood and etc, and is also the practice of enjoying the changing seasons with Waka (poetry) and classic literature. Those who practice Kodo refer to the action of smelling fragrance as “listening”.
For example, one of the Kodo games is named Genji Ko. Genji is the name of a noble man, and the story called “Genji Monogatari” is a book which was written in the Heian period (the 11th century), and Ko means “fragrance”. The master has five kinds of aromatic wood. Each type has five pieces; all twenty-five pieces of wood are put into a separate envelope in advance. Then the master takes out one envelope, and puts the piece on the top of the cup. It is in a cake of hot charcoal and is covered with ashes, so it will smoke and float the aroma. This is repeated five times. The visitors are listening each aromatic cup and guess if the aromas are the same, and mark special lines on a sheet of paper. There are 52 aroma patterns, and each line’s marks are named after female characters in the Genji story. Finally, the master collect up the visitors answers and announces the result.
The smells which Kodo uses are really delicate. Kodo has many aspects, not just aroma games. If you do Kodo, you will probably improve your aesthetic senses. Some people are not good at sitting on their heels for a long time, but there are some classes that you can take while sitting in a chair. How about trying Kodo?
香道とは、香木を焚き香りを楽しむ日本の文化の１つである。私はアロマセラピ―をしているので、日本の香り文化についても知りたいと思い香道に興味を持った。
私は5回シリーズで行われたカルチャースクールの香道教室で、香道に招かれたときの作法を学んだ。日本でのお香の歴史は、6世紀に仏教とともに中国からやって来て、宗教の儀式の瞑想や浄化に使われた。11世紀になると、貴族が日々の生活の中で香木を香水のように使用した。15世紀になると、香道は茶道と共に発展した。茶道と共通しているところもあるが、香道は香りの器を次の人に渡しながら、香りを使った知的なあそびを楽しんでいく。白檀、伽羅などの香木の薫香を使い、季節に合った和歌や古典文学も楽しむ。香道の世界では香りを「嗅ぐ」とは言わず、「聞く」と言う。
香道の源氏香という組香あそびを例にして説明する。源氏は貴族の名前で、平安時代（11世紀）に書かれた“源氏物語”に出てくる。“香”は香りのことだ。親は、5種類の香木を用意する。5種類の香木を５組用意し、事前に全部で25の香木の破片を１つずつ包みに入れる。親は１つの包みを選び、香木の破片を器の上にのせる。器の中には灰と炭火が入っているため、香木から薫香が漂う。これを５回繰り返す。招待客はそれぞれのカップの香りを聞き、香りが同じ香りかどうかを考え用紙に決められた記号を書いていく。そこには、52パターンの香りの組み合わせパターンがあり、源氏物語に出てくる女性の名前が付けられている。最終的には、親が客の答えを集めて結果を発表する。
香道で使用される香りはとても繊細だった。香道は香りのゲームだけでなく、色々な側面を持っている。香道を体験すると、感性が磨かれるだろう。長時間の正座は苦手な人もいると思うが、椅子に座って香道を学べる教室もある。香道を体験してみてはどうだろうか？
MUSEUM -What's Going on?-
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD DECEMBER 06. 2024Poke´mon x Crafts Exhibition: In the 1960s and 1970s, the media landscape drastically changed with the pervasive adoption of television and the emergence of video cameras, leading artists to integrate these new technologies into their work. Meanwhile, social activism gained momentum around the world, with major protest campaigns including the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements in the US. During this era, feminism emerged in the US as a mass movement with broad support, challenging the prevailing male-dominated social structure as an increasing number of women called for equality both in the workplace and at home. This environment spurred female artists to articulate the challenges and injustices they faced. In contrast to the predetermined subjects and forms of traditional painting, video was a relatively open and underexplored medium that proved effective in challenging societal norms and the one-sided portrayals common in the mass media. In this exhibit, which continues from the previous term, we present video works from the 1970s to today that emerged against the above-described historical background. Please also note several keywords that serve to contextualize the works. |
Taiichiro Yoshida, Jolteon, h62 118X45 |
While 8mm and 16mm films require developing and printing after shooting, video does not require such processes. The immediacy of video led to the widespread staging of live performances that are shown on the spot as they are shot, as well as improvisatory filming practices. Video’s minimal gap between generation and completion of images allowed artists to engage with their images while shooting, resulting in works that incorporated everyday subjects and personal elements. |
Period: − Sunday, February 2, 2025
Venue: AZABU HILLS GALLERY
Closed: Tuesdays
Hours: 10:00 - 19:00 / -20:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and days before holidays (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission: Adults: 1,800yen / Vocational school/university students: 1,600yen / High school and junior high school students: 1,300yen / Age 4 - Elementary school students: 600yen
For more information, please visit
https://www.azabudai-hills.com
Feminism and the Moving Image（2025.2.11−6.15） In the 1960s and 1970s, the media landscape drastically changed with the pervasive adoption of television and the emergence of video cameras, leading artists to integrate these new technologies into their work. Meanwhile, social activism gained momentum around the world, with major protest campaigns including the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements in the US. During this era, feminism emerged in the US as a mass movement with broad support, challenging the prevailing male-dominated social structure as an increasing number of women called for equality both in the workplace and at home. This environment spurred female artists to articulate the challenges and injustices they faced. In contrast to the predetermined subjects and forms of traditional painting, video was a relatively open and underexplored medium that proved effective in challenging societal norms and the one-sided portrayals common in the mass media. In this exhibit, which continues from the previous term, we present video works from the 1970s to today that emerged against the above-described historical background. Please also note several keywords that serve to contextualize the works. |
Martha Rosler, Semiotics of the Kitchen, 1975 |
While 8mm and 16mm films require developing and printing after shooting, video does not require such processes. The immediacy of video led to the widespread staging of live performances that are shown on the spot as they are shot, as well as improvisatory filming practices. Video’s minimal gap between generation and completion of images allowed artists to engage with their images while shooting, resulting in works that incorporated everyday subjects and personal elements. |
Period: February 11−June 15, 2025
Venue: The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo
Closed: Mondays (except 2/24, 3/31, 5/5) , 2/25,5/7
Hours: 10:00 − 17:00 / - 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission: Adults: 500 yen / College ＆ University Students: 250yen
Strange but True
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD DECEMBER 20. 2024How to Stop Snoring
Sleeping next to a snorer is not only extremely frustrating but can also have a negative impact on both your physical and mental health. A sleep expert revealed that the number of snorers has increased during lockdown due to inactivity, as we're stuck inside hunched over a desk and spending less time outside moving around. Shared today is a bizarre trick that might just do the job - and all you need is a tennis ball. But before you get too excited, it isn't throwing at their head. When you lie on your back, your mouth is more likely to open and as it does so, it kind of moves back and compresses the airways, so the muscles in your tongue tend to relax more. So, anything you can do to keep yourself leaning on the side; some people find a line of pillows, or even a tennis ball sewn into the back of your pajamas can make it uncomfortable to lean over onto your back!. She also revealed there are more extreme measures you can go to, including using specially designed pieces of tape to hold your mouth shut and promote breathing through your nose instead. Failing that, there's always earplugs - or as some viewers suggested, kicking them out of bed. Best of luck.
Black Hole Missing?
Scientists are baffled by a missing supermassive black hole which should by normal expectations sit in the centre of a distant galaxy. Instead, according to researchers at a handful of North American universities, there appears to be something highly unusual about the bright cluster galaxy A2261-BCG. They believe it is the first ever example of a so-called "recoiling" black hole - a black hole that was ejected from the centre of the galaxy by a powerful force, and is now mysteriously floating through space. Dr Gultekin studied A2261-BCG, located about 2.6 billion light years from Earth, as it has a large and flat stellar core, as revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope, making it a potential candidate for a galaxy with a missing black hole.
Links
Guesthouse Tokyo10 minutes to Ikebukuro. Interhousesafe and accessible solution for your accommodation needs in Tokyo. Sakura House1830 monthly furnished rooms at 204 locations in Tokyo. TOKYO ROOM FINDERContact our international team that will assist you in finding housing and overcoming any communication barriers in Japan! |
J&F PlazaFurnished & unfurnished guesthouses and apartments in Tokyo. May Flower HouseTokyo furnished apartments. Ginza, Roppongi, Yotsuya and more. TenTen Guesthouse33,000yen/30 days for working holiday students. GOOD ROOM TOKYOShare room, Private room, under 50,000yen |
MOVE JAPANPrivate furnished rooms in Tokyo with free internet. Call us first or call us last! Tokyomove.comHassle free moving starts from 6000yen. |
Tokyo Helping HandsVery flexible working hours to effectly help you with moving, deliveries, disposal, storage and more! |
AirNet TravelWe'll cut you the best air ticket deals anywhere. Fun TravelDiscount air travel & package tours 2min from Roppongi Stn. |
No.1 TravelWe go the extra mile for you. International air tickets and hotels. JR Tokai ToursTop-value travel to Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya from Tokyo by Shinkansen. |
Matsuda Legal OfficeAll kinds of Visa, Immigration & Naturalization, International Marriage etc. |
Futaba Visa OfficeLicensed immigration lawyer & certified public tax consultant. |
|
American PharmacyEnglish speaking pharmacy since 1950. |
Tokyo Skin ClinicEU-licensed multi lingual doctors. |
|
Tax-free AKKYJapanese Appliance, Watch, Souvenirs |
Tokyo Speed Dating1st Sat. & 3rd Sun. at Bari n Roppongi ETC. Tokyo SpontaneousPicnic, Parties, Language exchange |
|
TMAJapanese women & Western men. |
|
50 Shades of Yikess
