I comfort myself with the fact that I'm not the only one doing badly... we go at a very fast pace (a new grammar point a day, everyday), and lots of people can't keep up. I'm hoping my grades in my other classes will balance out my Spoken Japanese so that I can stay on for the next semester.

Thank-u Toshi-san! and...well...i just really want to keep up with you lot to! you all now so much! Im so...what do you call it......羨望 you all!



p.s.I really dont know if thats right so someone please tell me!

I’m very visual, so I love anime and wood-block prints, and well as learning about Japanese aesthetic and philosophical principles, like wabi sabi. I’m also a huge fan of mythology and the myths and legends of Japan are no exception. Traditional Japanese clothing is amazingly beautiful to me, from garments that are elegant in their simplicity to those that are spectacular in their richness. I have a small collection of kimono and yukata along with two obi and one pair each of geta and zori right now that I would love to expand as soon as I have the money! Japanese weapons too, have their own beauty in a much different sense...

Then there is Japanese cuisine! It’s simple and delicious and (most important to someone with my metabolism) tends to generally be lower in fat and calories than many other styles of cooking from other areas of the world. Tea is a love of mine, and I would love to learn the tea ceremony and proper etiquette for enjoying tea in the Japanese style someday (as well as nihon buyou).

I find the Japanese language to be very beautiful to the ear, and I like how pronunciation of words written into romanji seems so straight foreword...I’m a student of French, whose letter combinations were pretty intimidating and tricky when I first started to learn...and still are! It would be great to know Japanese someday and be able to read the country’s poetry and literature in its original language.

All in all, though, I think that what I love most about Japanese culture is its observance and apparition the seasons and their changes...But if I get started on THAT, then we’ll have a whole new rant on our hands!

Welcom June-san! Hope you like it here! We are all very kind and wont bite.....well....maybe Miehina-san and Ichisumi-san will haha jk jk i kid i kid They are uberrr kind and helpful

Tsuruko-sama, Flower-of-June-san & all,

Noticing your desire for Japanese mythology, let me say that some time ago I downloaded a fairly ancient English translation by Basil Hall Chamberlain [2nd edition] of the whole Kojiki, one of the most ancient texts in Japanese at all, as a 67.4 MB .pdf-document.

You could get that at Kojiki, the place where I got it too. I must say, I still got to read it... but it's there!

OK, Japanese culture, neh? Well, the abovementioned is a good start. I've grown quite fond of the country's history, with its several drastic changes of course [Meiji is only one!]; IMO the half-century up to the Tokugawa unification really stands out.

Like some of the others, I too am fond of their architecture-cum-gardening, the typical way in which home is part of the environment, rather than a secluded separation from it.

And I really admire their ability to 'go all the way' in whatever they're doing. Their decidedly instable environment [earthquake, tsunami, fire] never seems to subdue them, to make them think 'hey, this is good enough, this work of art will only last till the next natural catastrophe'. They're not Christians, or some other faith believing in an eternal afterlife. It has to be now! So many Japanese products are top of the bill - on a worldwide scale!

Anybody got a stray katana left? From the 12th century on these were the best swords - worldwide, again. And all handiwork, which could take years. European technology made steel of comparable quality only after the blast furnace was 'up' [19th century].

And they do not copy things, they Japanisize [aka improve] them. One example: learning about the arquebus in 1543, they were better at making and using it than its European inventors within 25 years, adding a lacquered cover protecting the fuse against the rain [no European ever got that idea AFAIK]. Followed the battle of Nagashino, 1575...
In the Meiji era they made good 2.5 centuries of lagging behind within 4 decades.

[Hey, all America wants a compact, frugal car these days... ]

And was there ever a more elegant ladies' dress than the kimono? Yes. A geiko's kimono

One elegant lady produced the first novel - worldwide, again: Murasaki Shikibu, around the year 1000. Must say, though, that I like Sei Shonagon better.

Finally, I like Engrish. So sorry, can't help it... when the last Shogun went up for the American Presidency, rumors have it that at one location in Japan a proud banner shouted: WE PLAY FOR MACARTHURS ERECTION!! But no idea where... err... umm... here, perhaps?

Hm-m-m. I've heard that Korean "casual writing" is very difficult. In Atlanta we have a Korean town, a lot of businesses there, I love their saunas, cafeterias(which resemble me European cafe)
Talking about Japanese cultures, I'd say that is very tought question for me coz I've never been there. I appreciate their literature(translated), traditional art, the way they work and the way they enjoy beauty.
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