Japanese English

You thought studying Japanese was hard.... well you should try learning English. English is a very difficult language to learn and many people here speak it so well. However sometimes you come across some unusual attempts at english. Here are a couple i found recently. 

 The sheep is beating. 

 The rabbit isn't chirp.

Drop you ticket here stop.

It is great that there is so much English spoken and written in Japan. The train stops are announced in English. Train staff and Police are all expected to speak some English. It helps when you are a just starting out in japanese.

Emergency Services

Japan has a lot of emergency services and their fire trucks are always very well polished. I called into the station the other day to say hello. Two men were standing in front of a 30 metre practise tower. One of the guys climbed up the outside of the tower about 10 metres off the ground. It was quite amazing because he was only allowed to use his arms. Even on the way back down he couldn't wrap the rope though his legs. He really was the "Ninja Warrior". 

The ambulance drivers have to get through a lot of traffic at times and some drivers are not so helpful. The medic in the front with the driver talks nicely to any annoying drivers through the loud speaker. "Please get out of the way! Yes that's it pull over a little more."

Ambulance or Kyukyu-sha  = "k-you k-you sha".

Fire engine or Shoba-sha = "Show bo shar".

Happy Train

I saw this rather bright and happy train travelling between Arita and Imari. It is quite a small train for Japan, but it looks fun! Many children in Japan grow up dreaming of being a train driver. There are so many trains here that for many children their dreams come true. The Japanese word for train is "densha" = den sha.

The happy train whizzing towards Arita city Office.

Gliding over the rice field with its many happy passengers.

We're on track.

Nice French colours.

Super Fast Sushi - Catch me if you can!

I found this Sushi restaurant in a big department store. Actually Yodobashi camera in Fukuoaka to be exact. Each plate costs $1.20 and is deliver at high speed by a racing bullet train or Shinkansen, or by an F1 racing car. You can order via a computer at your seat then the train comes rushing out with your sushi. I had to laugh when a young girl dropped her phone onto the train by accident and it rushed off to another hungry customer. "Wow you can order phones here too!" I thought to myself.

Formula 1 Sushi

Shinkansen Sushi

Ebi (shrimp) Sushi - My favourite.

Normal slow Sushi - Just as delicious, but not as fun.

Night Time Visitors - Golem?

These guys have been have been hanging around my apartment at night. Are they attracted by the lights? I hear you ask. Yes they are after a free meal. Beetles and moths are on the menu. I think they look like Golem from the Lord of the Rings. They are a kind of fleshy colour and have big eyes. When they see you they scurry off with their tails flapping in circles. They are funny little critters. The Japanese name for these is "Imori or Yamori". 

 Golem

Golem Geko

Water Gods - Protecting The Water

I went into a little shop to buy some fruit and on they way out I wanted to wash it before I ate it. It is a small orange tropical fruit called Biwa. I bent down to use the tap and I saw a water God. I should leave him 10 cents or a little food to thank him for protecting the water. He seems to like hanging out by the mop. He might be a cleaning God too.

Rice Planting Season!

Rice planting season is an exciting time for families and farmers in Japan. Last years seeds are carefully raised in trays and fertilized to help them get off to a good start. It was my job to "put on the medicine" when I joined a family's seed preparation day. The trays were wrapped up in a large plastic sheet to help them germinate. After seven days they sprout. About 100 trays will give you 7000kg of rice. Wow! While the rice is sprouting the fields are being weeded and the soil is hoed. Most of this work is done by machines now, but some people like to do it the traditional way and have a small rice field. When the soil is light and fluffy a small stream is diverted into the paddock, flooding it with cool, clean river water. The water is left there for a few days then the ground is hoed again making a sloppy, custard like consistency. Rice loves to have wet feet in its early days. So the little sprouts get off to a great start they are fertilized again, by hand. People are excited around this time of the year and looking forward to delicious new season rice. 
The watery habitat makes an ideal place for frogs to live, so the fields are alive with frogs, birds and sometimes snakes. 

Rice in Japanese is "gohan" = go harn. A mountain rice field is called "Tanada" Tarn na da.

These are being used to fill in any gaps left by the planting machine.

Tanada or mountain rice field.

This is back breaking work, but this granny or Obachan is built tough.

Here some international students from Fukuoaka try rice planting. There's a kiwi girl in there.

High-tech rice planting.

Sun protection is important when working outdoors, even if the sun is nowhere as strong as NZ.