My Kanji Adventure: Days 4 and 5

I am soooo loving not working full time right now. I realize that I'm going to have to get over that soon as, yknow, money, it's an issue and all. And I've got to be a productive member of society and all. But for now, I'm only working a few hours a week, and I am having SUCH a great time learning kanji and watching dramas and learning Python. And I've even started trying to learn Russian. Of course, I'm still working on the alphabet (which is, for some reason, harder than learning the Japanese alphabet - perhaps because I find it so much more difficult to pronounce the letters), and I can say hello! Preevyet! Or, to my boss, Zdrastvuytye!

Anyhow, I just finished watching １ポンドの福音 (One Pound Gospel), and I absolutely LOOOOOOOVED it! Seriously! I'd heard from people that it was only so-so, and, since it was about boxing and nuns, I wasn't convinced. I'm glad I finally found the time to start it, though, as I absolutely ADORED it! Kamenashi was adorable beyond words. And I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed at the end. I want more!!!!
Now, I've started 夏の恋は虹色に輝く (Summer love shines like a rainbow), and it's okay so far. But I've always kind of thought that Matsumoto Jun looks like a sewer rat, and this drama is no exception. Also, I feel like the female lead does NOT look the part she's playing at all. She just seems to old for it, somehow. I dunno, there's just something. . . wrong about her.

Anyhow, this is NOT about the dramas I've been watching. It's about the KANJI I've been learning. And I have been learning!
DAY 4
切 - cut
召 - seduce
昭 - shining
I imagine the sun sending giant rays down to people, shining on them, seducing them. People are seduced by the shining of the sun.
則 - rule
副 - vice-
別 - separate
丁 - street, nail
町 - village
可 - can
頂 - place on a head
子 - child
孔 - cavity
I have a bit of trouble with this one. If I see the word cavity, I can write it. But looking at it, I couldn't remember what it was. I think of a child in the dentist's office. He has a big hole is his tooth and is super afraid because the dentist is coming at him with a giant hook to take out what's in the hole.
了 - complete
女 - woman
好 - fond
如 - likeness
This one is somewhat vulgar. When a child comes out of a woman's hole, it is a likeness of her and the man that made it.
母 - mother
貫 - pierce
呪 - curse
克 - overcome
If I had 10 teenage older brothers, I would be OVERCOME by big brothers, overcome by teenagers. Agh!
小 - little
少 - few
大 - large
多 - many
Many moons ago. . .wait, I don't remember what happened many moons ago. It's so far away that it's clouded in my memory.
夕 - evening
汐 - eventide
外 - outside
名 - name
石 - stone, rocks
DAY 5
肖 - resemblance, candle, sparks
If a little bit of flesh is the same, there is a resemblance
硝 - nitrate
砕 - smash
Take a rock and throw it down, SMASH it into 9 pieces; no, that's not enough, 10 pieces!
砂 - sand
妬 - jealous
削 - plane (i.e. shave wood)
光 - ray
太 - plump
器 - utensil
臭 - stinking
嗅 - sniff
If this is ACTUALLY how the kanji is written, with a drop to make the bottom right kanji dog and not big, it's written wrong in the book.
妙 - exquisite
省 - focus
厚 - thick
奇 - strange
川 - stream
州 - state
順 - obey
水 - water
氷 - icicle
永 - eternity
Find eternity in a drop of water
泉 - spring
腺 - gland
原 - meadow
願 - petition
泳 - swim
沼 - swamp
沖 - open sea
汎 - inter-
The wind goes around the WHOLE word, picking up drops of water in one place and dropping them off in another. Very INTER-continental!
江 - creek
A CREEK is WATER that has been CRAFTED into what it is.

I actually had to look up quite a few of the kanji this time, to know their pronunciations to be able to type them. And some of them didn't seem to have the meaning that Heisig has given them at all. I wonder if I should be worried about what I'm learning. At the same time, the meanings that he has given them have really helped me in remembering how to write some of the ones where the meanings are what they should be. Still, I'm nervous. And I wonder if I shouldn't try to remember them with their proper meanings. It just seems weird that he would give them meanings that don't exist. Like 召. According to him, it means seduce. According to jdic, it means a summons or a call.

That's all for today. Wish me luck in my continued kanji learning journey! I'm off to watch more Natsu no Koi ha Nijiiro ni Kagayaku!

My Kanji Adventure: Days 2 and 3

I spent the last three days, between kanji studying and working, watching Ikemen Desu Ne (イケメンですね), a Japanese drama about a nun who poses as her brother in a pop band while he recovers from having broken his nose. Apparently, it was based on a Korean drama. I loved it SO much that I might just have to watch the Korean version as well. I fell in love with all of the characters, and I was totally routing for the love connection that seemed to be getting the least attention (as is, somehow, always the case with me. Guess I have weird taste).

Anyhow I'm super sad it's over, I miss the characters, and I might just have to watch it again. In the meantime, though, I have started One Pound Gospel （１ポンドの福音）, which also has a nun, and which I am loving. :-) But which is not Ikemen Desu Ne. :-(
Anyhow, KANJI STUDYING! I'd say it's going pretty well! DAY 2
白 - white
百 - hundred
中 - inside
千 - thousand
舌 - tongue
升 - measuring cup
It could be because I don't really have a clear image of what this is, but I had SO much trouble remembering this one. So, I just think of it as 1000 needles, and then I think of a shot class, used to measure sake, covered in those 1000 needles. And that sort of does it.
昇 - rise up
And, perhaps because it uses measuring cup as a primitive, I have a ton of trouble with this one, too. So I think of the top kanji as a mouth with a wagging tongue and the bottom kanji as that needle covered sake glass. If that wagging tongue goes to take a drink, which is does, the person can't help but rise up out of their seat in shock and pain. It's stretching things a bit far, but it's the best I've got.
丸 - round
寸 - measurement, glue
He says: one drop of a ten. Hopefully that will eventually do the trick. Luckily, I have more trouble remembering the story than remembering the kanji.
肘 - elbow
The elbow is the flesh that holds/glues the body together, as it is what connects the body to our hands, which are basically our livelihood
専 - specialty
Having a specialty is like taking 10 separate aspects of one field and gluing them all together in your mind to make one thing that you are supremely awesome at.
博 - Dr.
A doctor uses a fine pointed needle to glue those fields together, and don't forget the . at the end/top for the abbreviation
占 - fortune telling
上 - above
下 - below
卓 - eminent
I thought I would never remember his story, but, bizarrely enough, I find the image becoming clearer and clearer in my head: her eminent highness the sunflower queen running around lazily with a sunflower as a magic wand
朝 - morning
嘲 - ridicule, derision
morning mouth
只 - only
貝 - shells, shellfish
Though he doesn't say it, I find that it really helps in forming other kanji if I remember with this one as paper as well
唄 - pop song
Taking what's on paper, the music, and having it come out of your mouth
貞 - upright
員 - employee
貼 - post a bill
見 - see
DAY 3
児 - newborn babe
元 - beginning
頁 - page, head
頑 - stubborn
凡 - mediocre
The wind is amazingly strong, but just one drop of wind - not so much. I'd even call it mediocre.
負 - defeat
I keep the image of a person crumpling up a piece of paper in defeat; no matter how much they study, they just can't do it
万 - ten thousand
句 - phrase
肌 - texture
旬 - decameron (season for something)
勺 - ladle
的 - bull's eye
I thought I would NEVER remember his story of a white bird being painted in the middle of a bull's eye on an old rusty ladle. And that bird going chirp every time it's hit. But now, every time I see this kanji, I hear the bird chirp in my head.
首- neck
乙 - fish guts, hook
I find that I remember this thanks to the adorableness of Yaotome Hikaru (八乙女 光)
乱 - riot
直 - straightaway
具 - tool
真 - truth
工 - craft
左 - left
右 - right
有 - possess
賄 - bribe
貢 - tribute
Making a tribute is crafting paper into money or shells into something else to serve a purpose
項 - paragraph
AGH! I have SO much trouble with this one. Crafting heads, what? Crafting pages, what? Somehow, it seems like it should make sense, but it just REFUSES to stick in my head.
刀 - sword
刃 - blade

Learning and Remembering the Kanji: Day 1

Okay, so I've been thinking about just HOW I'm going to document my progress, as it seems silly to just write out the kanji I learned along with their meanings and stories. Soooo, I've decided that I will write out the list of kanji that I learn in any given day along with their meanings.

And THEN, if I changed the story from what was in the book (it was day 4, and I've already had to do that a few times, to suit me), I'll write that. Or if I have trouble remembering the story, I'll write that. To help me remember. Also, kanji I feel like I forgot from the day/s before.

So, let's get started!
DAY 1
Day 1 was easy, as it involved mostly kanji that I already knew. I for some reason, though, have always had trouble remembering the kanji for the numbers (specifically 7 and 9), so hopefully that will help with that. I learned:

一 - one
二 - two
三 - three
四 - four
五 - five
六 - six
七 - seven, diced
八 - eight
九 - nine, baseball
十 - ten, needle
口 - mouth (in every sense of the word)
日 - day, sun, mouth with a wagging tongue
月 - month, moon, flesh
田 - rice field, brains
目 - eye
古 - old
For this one, he says to imagine a tombstone, but I find myself imagining a skill with a giant mouth wearing a headdress of needles
吾 - I
冒 - risk
朋 - companion
唱 - chant
晶 - sparkle
品 - goods
呂 - spine
昌 - prosperous
早 - early, sunflower
旭 - rising sun
I can't remember the story he came up with, but I just imagine someone hitting a home run with the ball flying/rising up into the sun
世 - generation
胃 - stomach
旦 - nightbreak
胆 - gall bladder
Don't let the night break on your anger/gall
亘 - span
凹 - concave
凸 - convex

And there we have day 1! Since there were quite a few I already knew easily,I learned more than I think I usually would! And I feel confident about remembering them! Yay! Tomorrow, I'll have to update for 2 days, so I can catch up with myself. In the meantime, to reward myself for the hard word I've done today, I'm going to eat some soy ice cream and watch an episode of イケメンですね。超ー可愛い！！！！

Learning and Remembering the Kanji, an Adventure

I started this blog as a place for myself to talk about Japanese things, in the hopes that, just maybe, I would want to talk about them in Japanese. Which would in turn help me to practice Japanese and not forget it, being away from Japan and all.

Unfortunately, my laziness and business combined to bring you. . . ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I would get afraid of writing in Japanese and so just not write anything. My Japanese since moving away from Japan is limited to short conversations every week or two. (oh, and also of course lots of listening practice via music and dramas. Though less than I would like). I hardly ever talk, I never read, and I never write. As such, my level in Japanese is getting closer and closer to non-existent, and this makes me SAD. :-(

I've always been extremely awful at kanji. People would regularly make fun of my because my kanji level was WAY lower than you would think for someone speaking at my level (I'm sure it still is, but just because the number of kanji I've forgotten is proportional to the amount of Japanese I've forgotten).

Once, though, I had a teacher tell me that I was something like a genius - because I could read through and understand Japanese texts without being able to read any (or almost any) of the kanji. I was able to do this because, somehow, through it all, I had managed to remember the MEANINGS of the kanji without having any clue how to pronounce them.

And then, I was looking through some of my Japanese books the other day, and "Remembering the Kanji" by James W. Heisig caught my eye, and I realized that that's what it's all about. Remembering the MEANINGS of the kanji without knowing how to pronounce them. And then I thought "Hey, I can do that! That's what I've been doing all along!"

And then I thought "If I know the meanings, it will be MUCH easier to learn the pronunciations after." And then I read the introduction and realized that that's EXACTLY what Heisig's Remembering the Kanji is all about.

So now I've decided that I WILL learn the kanji his way, and I will do it in a maximum of 3 months, meaning that I'll be learning about 25 kanji, more or less, a day. And I've decided to use this much-neglected blog to document that process, in the hopes that it will help me to hold myself accountable and actually LEARN them!

The goal: Learn the meanings and the writings of the 2,200 kanji in Jame's W. Heisig's Remembering the Kanji
The time limit: Do this by September 22, 2013
The way: Using Heisig's Remembering the Kanji and learning stories for each one! (and them documenting what I've hopefully learned in this blog!)

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooo on it!!

alfabeto

Hi guys! Have you guys ever heard the band alfabeto? They're a super energetic Nagoya-based　J-rock band, and they are awesome! When I was living in Japan, they played a lot of free lives at Sakae Hiroba, so I got to see them a lot. As first, I thought they were only okay, but the more I heard them, the more I came to like them. And now - I highly recommend checking them out!

皆さん！alfabeto というバンドを聴いたことがありますか。 名古屋を中心とした精力的でカッコイイＪーロックバンド。日本に住んでる間このバンドは栄広場で無料のライブを沢山やっていて、私はライブに何回も行った。最初はまぁまぁだと思ってたけど聴けば聞くほど好きになった。今はー凄くお勧めです。



With a friend, I saw them so many times that we became friends with Takayuki, the vocalist. Unfortunately, he decided to pursue a new dream, it seems that he quit the band. I hope he achieves it! They're also looking for a drummer now (so if you're in the Nagoya area and interested, go for it!)

ボーカルのタカユキさんと友人になったくらい、友達と一緒にalfabetoを見た。残念ながら彼は新しい夢を追うそうでバンドを辞めたみたい。夢が叶うと良いね。ちなみにバンドはドラムも募集中みたいだから名古屋の近くに住んでる方はー興味あれば、是非！



Still, with Sakurai on vocals, Toshi on bass, and Kitagawa on guitar, I am sure they are still an amazing trio, and I would love for them to come to Montreal. At their last live I went to, I was told they would try,. . .so I'm waiting!

それでもボーカルの櫻井さんとベースの敏大さんとギターの北川さんは絶対にまだ凄い3人組みだと思うよ。モントリオールに来てくれると嬉しい！最後にライブを見た時に、彼らにモントリオールに来てもらう約束をしてもらったから、。。。待ってるよ！

Review: Liphlich - Something Wicked Comes Here Against You

Artist: Liphlich

Album Title: Something Wicked Comes Here Against You

Release Date: 10/31/2012

Note: This album was first released with the original members of the band, but last year they re-recorded all the songs with the present lineup and added in a few specialties.


I first fell in love with Liphlich when I somehow randomly happened upon their video for "Ms. Luminous." I think I must have listened to it at least 48 times in a row, and it was love.

After that, with the release of Lost Icon's Price (which for some reason doesn't show up on their website discography), I was completely sold. Liphlich was slowly making their way to number one on my list of "Visual Kei bands I must see live." (Unfortunately this didn't happen before I had to leave Japan - reason number 80,000 to go back).

"Something Wicked Comes Here This Way" is everything I could have/would have expected from a Liphlich full album, and even more. Listening to his album is somewhat akin to spending the night traipsing through a dark carnival. The first track リフリッチがやってくる (Liphlich ga yattekuru), starts off slow and creepy, as if you're entering into the night circus and wondering just what you're doing there, wondering if you'll stay. It's got a somewhat jazzy feel, vocals filled with hesitation, and it leaves you feeling just the right amount of wonder, just the right amount of expectation.

With the second track, 猫目の伯爵ウエンディに恋する、Nekome no hakushaku wendy ni koi suru, you're in. The strong vocals, the nimble piano, unsure guitar, thumping bass - it all blends together in such a way that you can't help but feel as if you're being observed by all of the oddities of the night circus. I imagine standing in the middle of the tents, black clouds in the sky, as as everyone comes out and looks you over. By the end of this song, you'll know Liphlich has a story to tel with this album, and you'll be dying to know what it is.

グルグル自慰行為, Guruguru Jiikoui, a song about masturbation, will have your head spinning in circles. The sureness of the guitar, the non-stop crashing of the cymbals, the unforgettable chorus - you've just experienced your first spectacle at the night circus, and you can't quite figure out if it was horribly terrifying or wonderfully satisfying - all you know is: YOU WANT MORE! And you get more with 僕らの使い捨て音楽, Bokura no Tsukaisute Ongaku. With a title which means "Our Disposable Music," this song is anything but disposable. It's a little bit of a break after the intensity we experienced in the first three songs. But a break for Liphlich isn't like a break for other bands. You'll be dancing in circles, trying to decide where to go next, wondering if it even matters. This song has a sinister feel, leaving the listener feeling trapped, wondering if this night circus is eternal.

And then Recall comes along and makes you feel better about anything. It is soothing and soothingly beautiful, beginning with a piano solo that wraps itself around you and makes you feel like everything is and always will be okay. In this song, Kuga shows that his vocals have range, and Liphlich shows that they aren't just any carnavalesque, gothic visual kei band (not that there are really all that many of those). They have talent, they have range, they are Japanese they are more than what they seem.

Lest we forget that they are also DARK and GOTHIC, Recall seamlessly leads　into 淫火, Inbi, which, for me, is by far the creepiest song on the album. Not my favorite song on the album, but it certainly did a good job of reminding me where I was - in the middle of the dark circus that is this album.

With 嫌いじゃないが好きではない、Kirai ja nai ga suki de he nai, they make a smooth transition back into visual rock, and you return to the carnival. And then, with a bell, メリーが嫌う午後の鐘, Merry ga kirau gogo no kane. This is by far my favorite song on the album. It's dark, it's poppy, it's beautiful, it's creepy, and it's got everything that makes Liphlich wonderful. At the circus, everyone is dancing and laughing, as if something wonderful happened, but you, you can't decide whether or not it's appropriate to join in, and they, they can't decide if they want you to.

Are the members of the Dark Circus disappointed? Are they scared? Sudden and slow, マディソン郡の橋の上で, Madison Gun no hashi no ue de, comes in with an unexpected bang. Maybe they just want to show you that even creepiness has its down moments. This song is all about the vocals, and you should probably sit down for it. Because it's about to rain. And the rain and thunder will continue for the entire track of 航海の時, Koukai no toki. At least musically.

淡いドロップ色の髪, Awai Doroppuiro no kami, starts off with a slow, beautiful (and, of course, creepy - it wouldn't be Liphlich if it weren't creepy) violin. This is one of the two songs they added to the album. While I do love the song, if I'm honest, I don't feel like it really adds anything or takes away anything from the album. It could have been released as a non-album single. In any case, I love it! The last song on this version is ＢＡＢＥＬ. It's a little bit of a departure from the other songs, and, as such, it seems like the perfect closing song to this album. It kind of pushes you out with a tough shove, leaving you spinning in circles with the to die for chorus and wondering if what just happened was a dream or reality.

I LOVED this album, and I think you will, too!

Have you seen the Cirque du Soleil movie? Seriously, the entire time I was watching the movie, I felt like I was in the Liphlich album. I almost think they should have just had this album as background music.

Liphlich - totally LOVE! And you can bet I'll be getting a copy of Manic Pixie the second it comes out in March!

DokiDokiDokiDoki

One of my greatest regrets in life is that, when I was living in Japan, I never bought anything from 6% Doki Doki. Seriously. With the amount of pink and stars and unicorns and cuteness, anyone can tell that this store is for me. So why did I never buy any amazing 6% Doki Doki wonderfulness? Let's just blame it on the fact that I'm poor.

自分の人生の最大の後悔の一つは日本に住んでいる間６％ドキドキで何も買わなかったことです。まじで。ピンクや星やユニコーン、その可愛さを観れば誰だってこの店は私の為にあると分かるはず。何で私は６％ドキドキの素敵な商品を買わなかったのだろう？私が貧乏だって事にしましょう。

That said, now that I'm in Montreal and no longer in Japan, I feel like I have a responsibility to drool over what I can no longer have.

そう言えば、今はすでにモントリオールに帰ってきて、もう日本にいないんだが、だからこそ日本でしか買えない商品について、つい考えちゃう。

Like these earrings. Who wouldn't want hot pink unicorns jumping out of their ears?

例えば、このピアス。誰だってこの耳から飛び出しそうなピンクなユニコーンが欲しいと思うでしょう。

Or these AMAZING unicorn tights! You guessed it - I'll need the PINK ones!

それとこの素敵なユニコーンのタイツ！皆知ってるんじゃないかな？　私にはピンクのが必要だって事。

And last but not least - how have I been living without this Rainbow Telepathy t-shirt? I actually want the black one.

そして最後になりますが、重要なことを一つだけ。　どうやってこの”虹”コミュニケーションのＴ-シャツのない人生を過ごしちゃったのでしょう。実を言うとは私は黒い方が欲しいな。