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This week marks the 20th Kanji Scrabble! Thank you so much for playing each time so far!

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Kanji Scrabble #20, Key Kanji: [社]

名、友、人、間、一、会、入、小、新、来

(Learn How to Play Here)

To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101

(What’s Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.)

Answers: Read the rest of this entry »

Today, August 31st 2009, is the final day to enter to WIN!

1. Enter to Win Your Share of $10,100 in FREE Subscriptions! To Enter, Simply Subscribe to JapanesePod101’s YouTube Channel, follow  JapanesePod101’s Twitter Account, or Become a Fan of JapanesePod101’s Facebook Fan Page.
   
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Welcome to the JapanesePod101.com newsletter. These periodic newsletters will deliver  to  you  all  the  exciting developments that are going on at JapanesePod101.com.  With  each  issue,  you  will  receive  the latest announcements, promotional offers, blog news, and forum news, while getting a  rare glimpse of the behind-the-scenes life at the JapanesePod101.com office!

Read and Enjoy! And as always, if you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at contactus@japanesepod101.com.

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I’ve found the nearly perfect kanji sandwich! Check this out:

徒競走 (tokyōsō: running race)
     to go on foot + to compete + to run

What a thing of beauty! If you took the first kanji, 徒, and removed 彳 (a radical that Henshall defines as “movement along a road” and that Spahn has as “to walk a short distance, stop, linger”), you would have a completely symmetrical compound! (Well, it would be symmetrical in the ABA or ABBA sense. Sticklers might argue that true symmetry requires the word to start with the mirror image of 走. But such people are not permitted to take a bite out of my kanji-sandwich joy.)

Tokyōsō is also one of those great Japanese words where a vowel repeats down the line. If you insert one more kanji into 徒競走, you keep the same sound effect while introducing even more fun:

徒歩競走 (toho kyōsō: running race)
     to go on foot + to walk + to compete + to run

Together, the first two kanji, 徒歩 (toho), mean “walking.” But whereas 歩 means “to walk,” 徒 can mean either “to walk” or “to run.” Hmm, there’s a big difference between walking and running! Strange to blur the distinction. Maybe this word gives runners a nice “out”; if they get tired and start walking, they can point to the 歩 in 徒歩競走 for confirmation that walking is very much part of a running race.

An Array of Races

But let’s get to the root of the matter:
Read the rest of this entry »

Hi everyone!
Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we’re going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That’s right - kanji seen and used everyday!

This Everyday Kanji theme is Clinic signs! There are good to know in case you get sick when you are in Japan! In almost every clinic sign, you will see the kanji 科 (ka) which means “department”.  Words on clinic signs are usually “one or more kanji + 科” and the kanji before 科 indicates which medical field the clinic specializes in.

Read the rest of this entry »

「早起きは三文の徳」ということわざを知っていますか？　辞書には「早起きをすると、何かしら得になる」と書かれていますが、具体的にいくらの得になるか気になりますよね。 Read the rest of this entry »

The Kanji for this week are as follows: (Remember, each compound must use the Kanji in the brackets [ ].)

Kanji Scrabble #19, Key Kanji: [道]

車、小、上、気、食、新、人、早、大、入

(Learn How to Play Here)

To start, all you need is a Twitter account and to follow our Twitter account @japanesepod101

(What’s Twitter you ask? Read our guide here.)

Answers: Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Forum Spotlight! Here we’ll be introducing interesting and useful posts made by members at our very own JapanesePod101.com Forum. This week’s forum spotlight post is by mint, who asked how to buy tickets to the famous Ghibli museum (for the works of animator Hayao Miyazaki) in Mitaka, Tokyo. Forum users robopanda and fangorn responded with the answer and a useful link!

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Question from mint
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I’m trying to buy my tickets just now as i fly out in a week’s time and havent got anything sorted out yet haha, Well i have my hostel’s etc and rail ticket etc but no set plans on what were doing for 2 weeks…

Anyone know where we can get them? I believe we can get some at Lawson’s shop?? Im guessing Lawson’s is like an AM/PM? Is the sign Yellow and Blue? I think i remember it from last time i was in Japan back in Jan…. If so, What do i say to them? I was told if i mention “Totoro” to them they will understand with My Neighbor Totoro being pretty famous in Japanese Anime?

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Answer from robopanda
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I had to buy the tickets in japan as well. In the lawson convenience store, there is a machine called “Loppi” that looks like a ATM but it sells tickets for concerts and sports events.

Heres a link to the instuctions to use the machine to buy tickets for the Ghibli museum:

http://www.lawson.co.jp/loppi/ghibli/english.html#how_to

I hope that helps a bit. It’s not too difficult using the L-code, but I’m sure if you need help the staff can do it for you.

** More Advice from fangorn**

Yes, you can follow the instructions in this page to buy the ticket. However, it was missing one last step. After Step 7, the system will ask you for your name. So you will need to enter a proper full name in Katakana/Kanji (e.g. surname <SPACE> firstname) before proceeding to Step 8.

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Thank you robopanda and fangorn for that useful information! The Ghibli museum in Tokyo is a great place to visit, so definitely stop by if you get the chance
You can find a lot more useful information and tips like this at the JapanesePod101.com Forum, so stop by and join in the many discussions with fellow listeners and the JPOD101 crew!

I’ve made an exciting discovery! As you may know, I’ve been collecting exceptions to a rule. If there are back-to-back instances of the same kanji, the repetition symbol 々 typically replaces one (as in 時々, tokidoki: sometimes). Thus far, we’ve seen five anomalies:

夜中中 (yonakajū: throughout the night)
     night + middle + middle

中城城 (Nakagusukujō: a castle in Okinawa)
     inside + castle + castle

民主主義 (minshu-shugi: democracy)
     people + to play a central role + to play a central role +
     righteousness

One occasionally sees 民主々義, but it’s not common.

直接接触 (chokusetsu-sesshoku: direct contact)
     straight + contact + contact + contact

東京特許許可局
Tōkyō Tokkyo Kyoka Kyoku
Tokyo Department for Patent Authorization

For the breakdown of this tongue twister, see the link.

In the first two examples, the yomi changes with the duplication (e.g., naka versus JŪ for 中 and gusuku versus JŌ for 城).

Anyway, the big news is that I’ve found a sixth exception, and it, too, involves a yomi change:
Read the rest of this entry »

The 2009 JLPT (December)

The 2009 JLPT (December) is scheduled to take place on Sunday, December 6.　This year, the JLPT was held in July for levels 1 and 2, but the next JLPT (December) will be held for all levels, 1 - 4.

If you want to take the JLPT in Japan, you can apply during the period from August 28, 2009 through October 2, 2009. You can get the application form at various bookstores starting this week! Read the rest of this entry »

最初の自己紹介の中で、私は、幼い頃から日本文学や日本語が大好きだったというお話をしましたが、今日は、私が日本文学に興味を抱くきっかけとなった和歌を紹介しましょう。

忍ぶれど　色に出（い）でにけり　わが恋は　物や思ふ（う）と　人の問ふ（う）まで Read the rest of this entry »