audio - A-bomb survivor stories

[senseionline #2358] Research on atomic bomb dropping in Japan
Posted by: "Moorman, Yukiyo"

Google "Hiroshima Heiwa Kinenkan" ...they have audio tapes
They also have a list of 20 survivors who have been giving
lecture/presentation at the site for the groups of visitors...

online encyclopedia of Shinto launched

cross-posting from H-Japan (full description of the project in the

www.h-net.msu.edu archives for H-Japan dated 30 May 2007)

online Encyclopedia of Shinto: http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/
Questions should be directed to Inoue Nobutaka, Kokugakuin University
Telephone: +81 (0)3-5466-0205 n-inoue@kt.rim.or .jp

--Guven Witteveen

worker categories, four words

[from May 28, 2007 pp.40-41 Business Week] -- clipping sent by Guven Witteveen

With the national economy looking better, companies are seeking fresh college graduates and by-passing the 1993-2003 generation, known as the "lost" or "suffering" generation. So the gov't is offering special incentives to employers who hire 25-34 year olds away from the poor work, below.

_____________________________

sidebar, "Parsing the New Underclass"

 

HAKENSHA-IN

employment agency "temporary workers"

Since 2002 their number has tripled to 1.3m

 

KEIYAKUSHA-IN

contractors have grown by 20% over the past five years

(like temps, they get fewer benefits than full-timers)

 

FREETers

estimated at 1.9m with the national govt trying to draw the 25-34 year olds into full-time, permanent jobs

 

NEETs

Not in Employment, Education or Training (a term coined in Britain)

600,000 aged under 35

Flash animations of Japanese grammar; curriculum guide; homestay guide

http://www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm
links to about 25 Flash animations of various grammatical structures and
12 downloadable PowerPoint appendices.
Before the end of summer, there will be 66 animations and 12
appendices covering major grammatical concepts in beginning Japanese.
...send feedback using the "Comments and suggestions" in the page. If you
["Shoko Hamano" hamano@gwu.ed]

"At Home in Japan" homestay guide is online at  http://athome.nealrc.org/

 

New Zeeland national curriculum guidelines for Japanese are at
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/language/curriculum/japanese/index_e.php

 

poetic names for plants & animals

How about "oiran bana (Cleome, Spider flower),
not a hanging spider plant, though.
Another is tsukimi-soo... It's bloom is yellow and it opens
around the time the moon rises (the pedals are closed in morning).
This is not as same as the white moon flower commonly found here.

 

The word for tadpoles (but also ladles and musical notes, I think.)

 

Tsukimi-so's common name is also called Yoimachigusa and there
was an old song for it.  The title of the song is Tsukimisou no Uta...
In English they call it Evening Primrose.  In the Kantou area of Japan
they recognize as yellow but obviously there is white as well. 

 

According to Koujien, the tsukimoso bloom at after sunset and time for moon to rise.
Or waiting the evening to come ("Yoimachigusa". 
It is a very romantic flower waiting her lover (the moon) to visit her.
 
Another flower is ????(???????)=???, a flower bloom in heaven
according to Sunsklist and bloom around Higan or early fall. 
This flower has many other names such as

 

Kamisorinaba, sutego-bana or tengai-bana.
 
Kappa or "Namazu ga okotta" for earthquake. 

Japanese Podcasts [c/o Charles Kelly]

A list of directories with podcasts in Japanese - Perhaps good to find conversational listening practice.

• www.voiceblog.jp
• blog.seesaa.jp/contents/genre/0271/0001.html
• pod.ladio.livedoor.com
• dedio.jp

Japanese Language Study Links : Podcasts
Blog 表現よみ作品集 - Stories (Audio Book Style)

podcast.yomiuri.co.jp - Daily News

JSL Podcasts - For Intermediate to Advanced Students

• voiceblog.jp/amane あまね☆ごえ
  Female Voice: Not aimed at JSL students, but she has a beautiful voice and these are high quality short recordings. Good for repeated listenings.
• Nippon VoiceBlog
  Apparently aimed at non-Japanese. Tanscriptions of the show are on the web site. (Not recently updated.)
• voiceblog.jp/reiki 櫻　怜祈（サクラ　レイキ）
  Female Voice: Not aimed at JSL students, but high quality recordings without background music, so good for language study. Sort of an audio diary. (Last updated on December 14, 2006)
• voiceblog.jp/taa 題名未定キャスト
  Male Voice: Not aimed at JSL students, but includes a transcription. (Last updated: July 16, 2006, 7:00 pm)
• Japanese Classical Literature at Bedtime
  RSS = http://feeds.feedburner.com/JapaneseClassicalLiteratureAtBedtime
• Kimama ni Nihongo 気ままに、日本語。
  Female Voice: Words (and sometimes sentences) are read for pronunciation practice. Good quality recordings.
  Some podcasts include French, which can be ignored if you don't understand French.  RSS = http://feeds.feedburner.com/nihongo

 

JSL Podcasts - For Intermediate to Beginning Students

• www. JapanesePod101.com - Daily
  High quality recording. Dialog, then very slowly for practice, then English (Warning/Comment: One non-native Japanese speaker, wth near native pronunciaton also speaks Japanese.　This probably is not a problem, since all the "listen and repeat" sections have you repeating after the native speakers.)
  RSS = http://www.japanesepod101.com/feed/rss/
  
  

• Japanese.libsyn.com
  For beginners. He uses native Japanese speakers for the sample dialogues, etc.

• Nakama Vocabulary Video Podcast (Satoru Shinagawa)
  See the English, then hear the Japanese.
  Even for those without a "pod" capable of playing video .mp4 files, these are useful if viewed online

• Talk Sushi - Learn Japanese　(Nick Kemp)
  He has a native Japanese speaker on each show. Somewhat commercial, promoting services he sells.
  RSS = http://talksushi.libsyn.com/rss

   

Not really a podcast, but downloadable MP3 files, The Bible in Living Sound

Japan schools to teach patriotism

Japan's lower house of parliament approves a new law requiring schools to
teach children to be patriotic.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6669061.stm

four-character compounds

[ssonline 18 May 2007 - Charles Kelly] Kanji Haitani has given
permission to use his material in this quiz.

http://www.manythings.org/japanese/vocabulary/kh-yojijukugo1.html
Quiz on Four-Character Idiomatic Compounds #1
This includes the 400 that he has marked as "most commonly used."

assessing Japan's shifting population pyramid

from www.japanfocus.org [using searchbox or topics list]
Vaclav Smil, The Unprecedented Shift in Japan's Population: Numbers, Age,
and Prospects

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research latest
long-range forecast of the country's population showed, once again, a
faster decline than previously anticipated: the medium variant projects
the total population of only about 90 million (89.93) people by 2055, the
igure that both Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun found "shocking". This
was followed by a population projection to 2050 by the United Nations
Population Division and Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications latest nationwide estimate of Japan's population. Japan's
population (including foreign residents) peaked in December 2004 at
127,838,000 people and only a tunning, not just surprising, turn of
demographic fortunes can prevent the combination of relatively rapid
population decline and of unprecedented aging of the country's population.
This article assesses the projections.

language fusion - Japanese & English

http://www.asahi.com/culture/news_culture/TKY200705020114.html

see also the movie, Kanji Now http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/stream/index/tvnavi/navi2.htm

archive of 80 Japan photos 1945-1952 (occupation)

cross-posting from H-Japan (www.h-net.msu.edu)
The Center for Japanese Studies, the University of Hawaii at Mnoa, is
pleased to announce the Walter Pennino Photo Collection is available on
the Internet. The collection presents eighty photos during the occupation
of Japan. Many of them show every-day life of people in Japan at that time.

http://www.hawaii.edu/cjs/pennino_entrance.html

example, "World Languages Day" for teens, hosting on campus

[not gleaned from senseionline]

Public Advocacy and (Japan) Outreach Examples as seen at

World Languages Day 2007
Saturday, April 21 at Michigan State University http://clear.msu.edu/wld/sessions.php

======= 10:30 am - 11:20 am
Let's learn Nihongo!
Japanese is one of the most popular languages offered at MSU. Learning a non-western language like Japanese can be challenging, but it is also a stimulating and eye-opening experience. Come to learn how to greet people and introduce yourself in Japanese! We will also play fun games and learn a song in Japanese.

======= 01:30 pm - 02:20 pm
Yookoso! Welcome to Japan (SESSION FULL) What do you know about Japan? Ninja? Anime? Play Station? This session will give you an opportunity to learn about Japanese language and culture through games. You will also enjoy writing your name in Japanese and doing origami, the traditional Japanese art of paper folding.

======= 02:30 pm - 03:20 pm
Unveiling Japanese culture (SESSION FULL) What do you want to know about Japan? Come and join the MSU Japan Club as they unveil Japanese culture. You will be learning simple conversations in Japanese, feel the culture, and even taste some of the traditional food!