おんがく

みんなさん、おんがくが好きですか?　ぼくはおんがくが大好きです。　毎日、五時ぐらいおんがくを聞きます。　ぼくは何もおんがくがすきだけど、カントリーが大きらい。　よくアメリカとヨーロッパのおんがくを聞きます。　でも、日本のおんがくもききます。　ぼくはmute beatとAudio Activeがすきです。　今、mute beatはぜんぜんコンサートをしません。　ざんねんですね？　よくコンサートにいきます？　来週ぼくはシカゴーでコンサートにいきます。　夏に、友だちとBonnarooに行きます。　とてもたのしいです。　昨夏、ぼくは311とZiggy Marleyのコンサートにいって、よかったです。　どんなコンサートに行きました?

Audio Active


mute beat


Headhunterz （来週の金曜日のコンサート）


Rebelution


Thievery Corporation


Pretty Lights @ Bonnaroo :D

かんじ

Next year, for the first time since 1981, the set of official かんじ used in everyday life will be changed. Apparently a committee has been working on this for the past four years, and the changes will go into effect in the fall of 2010. As far as we're concerned, I assume this will change what we study for the JLPT. As I was reading the article, one thing that struck me was one of the かんじ　being removed: 銑. It looks like it's based on one of the かんじ　we've learned already, 先. After a quick look on jisho, they both have the same on pronunciation...

Link

Japanese Music

As I've said before, I really have no exposure to Japanese music. I've heard a couple Utada Hikaru songs, but that's not really the kind of music I like to listen to. Today begins my quest to find some Japanese music that I like, which shouldn't be too hard considering the diversity of my musical interests (hopefully). In any case, an suggestions would be much appreciated as it seems many of you know much more about modern Japanese music/culture than I do. In any case, here is my first foray into uncharted territories:

Looks like something off nico :(


"Their '92 outfits remind me of Fremen stillsuits." (actually most of you probably won't get that joke)


lol wut :(


getting better...


"Sometimes I get the feeling that the guitarist was so impressed with the tone that he forgot to write a good song."


Finally hit something familiar, although I usually have to be in the mood for metal.


I'm liking Dabo, he's got some nice beats. Of course, it's a little hard to appreciate as I can't understand the lyrics...


This is good stuff right here.


I like this too, even though it still sounds popish to me.


Wikipedia was helpful, but I feel like it would be better to ask Japanese my age what they listen to...I only ended up finding a couple artists that I liked.

Edit: I went through the Oricon top10...the UVERworld song was good until they started playing. From looking around elsewhere, it seems that pop dominates the music scene, so it's not surprising I couldn't find anything in the Oricon charts.

NTT Docomo

It looks like one of Japan's most popular cell phone service providers, NTT Docomo, is looking to expand the services they offer in the US. As a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, they would use existing infrastructure, most likely that of AT&T or T-Mobile. Many hope that NTT Docomo will pick up the iPhone in the US and offer much more reasonable rates.

After doing a bit of research, I was somewhat surprised to see that Japan mostly uses CDMA technology in lieu of GSM. Basically, for those studying abroad, don't expect to be able to pop a sim card into your quad-band BlackBerry and be ready to go. You'll have to buy a pay-as-you-go phone once you get there. As you can see here, SoftBank's offerings in terms of pay-as-you-go phones are pretty weak, but hopefully that means they'll be reasonably priced...However, considering it's quite difficult (at least from what I've read) for non-citizens to get phones, I'm sure ND's study abroad program has something worked out already.

Week 2

はじめまして。ステヴェンソンです。どうぞよろしく。にねんせいです。せんこうわけいざいがくです。

It's my birthday today, which is rather exciting. As one of my friends put it, that's a fifth of a century down. In Japan I'd be celebrating with some Asahi or sake. Unfortunately, as I'm still in the US such celebrations would be of questionable legality.

As far as a Japanese person/object I like, I'd have to go with Danny Choo. His blog has been a big inspiration for me. He worked hard and achieved his dream of traveling to and eventually working in Japan. Furthermore his success creating his own business in his area of interest is equally inspirational. I'd love to meet him if I end up going to Tokyo next year.




As of now I really know nothing about Japanese music. One of my Korean friends always has us listening to whats popular over there, but he hasn't shown me anything Japanese yet. So for now, I'm listening to the following:









Finally, one of my favorite songs right now.

DPJ

In Japanese related news, the DPJ replaced the LDP which had held power for the past half a century. Exciting stuff.

Bloomberg

こんにちは

はじめまして。ステヴェンソｎ-です。どうぞよろしく。While my first blog post may begin rather predictably, hopefully further down the road the posts will contain more meaningful content. In any case, so begins my blog to track my progress through my first year of Japanese at the University of Notre Dame. Hopefully this will be a learning experience to last a lifetime. Really the main reason I'm taking the class is to explore a new language and culture with which I am completely unfamiliar. After eight years of French (romance language) and a year in Ukraine (Slavic language), I thought it was time to turn to either an East Asian or Middle Eastern language. Of course, with either choice, much time must be spent on location in order to truly become proficient. I felt Japanese was a logical choice for me as Japan has become fairly Western and yet it still maintains a cultural distance through it's centuries old roots. Furthermore, till now I've had minimal exposure to Japanese culture/history, so it will be an entirely new learning experience for me. I hope after successfully completing my first year to study abroad in Tokyo through Notre Dame's program with Sophia. In any case, I look forward to the year ahead with my classmates and any other affiliated schools.



P.S. The title is Yagan, and translates roughly to "a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start." In the Guinness Book it is listed as "the most succinct word." While I'm sure this is something all of us have experienced at some point or another, it truly sums up the way in which the class spoke it's first words of Japanese.