linkalearnsjapanese

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The Linguistic Hurdles of Covering an Assassination

The Linguistic Hurdles of Covering an Assassination

News outlets cover events from around the world and often have to work to get information as quickly as possible to release in their native languages. This can lead to some interesting translation errors or highlight linguistic differences. I want to make it very clear that I am only focusing on those linguistic elements, and am not at all qualified to comment on the shooting of Abe…

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At GDC 2022: Big in Japan, Not in the West

At GDC 2022: Big in Japan, Not in the West

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Games Development Conference in San Francisco this year. My favorite session from Day 1 was Anne Ferrero’s talk entitled “Big in Japan, Not in the West: The Difficulties of Cross-Cultural Appeal” discussing the difficulties Japanese indie developers face in creating and publicizing their games. Her talk shared a unique perspective that challenged my…

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A Rough History of Japanese Translation (and its relationship with pop culture)

A Rough History of Japanese Translation (and its relationship with pop culture)

I recently took a course on Soft Power/Pop Culture in Japan, and had to do a research project for my final. I’m really proud of myself for not only the research I did, but also for writing my research paper in Japanese. It’s the most complex piece of Japanese writing I’ve done so far, and I honestly didn’t think I was capable of doing it (writing has always been one of my weakest skills). But I…

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Updates, the future, and more

Updates, the future, and more

It’s been almost 4 months since I left Japan, and my life has dramatically changed. It’s interesting when periods of your life are not only defined by physical locations, but also by beginning something so different from anything you’ve done before that you know you’re entering a new stage of who you are. Anyway. Long story short, I left Japan and I’m almost done with my first semester of grad…

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Farewell Speech

Leaving my schools was difficult for me. Each of my schools hold so many memories, and so many stories of growth. Over 3 years, I watched a lot of kids do a lot of growing up. I was often awed by their kindness, their enthusiasm, and their senses of exploration and curiosity. I was also frequently annoyed by their twerpiness. Kids, amirite? I mentioned it in posts before, but I also feel like I…

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More Kit-Kat flavors!

I have so many Kit-Kats to talk about! It’s been a long time since my last Kit-Kat post, so now I have 7 flavors to discuss. I started out with 6, but as I was working on this a mango flavor came out. And then an ice cream one. Of course I couldn’t resist buying all the new flavors. Kit-Kat has continued to level up their packaging game. They have fully switched over to paper bags for all the…

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Inaka Life: New, Unmanned Bakery

Inaka Life: New, Unmanned Bakery

It’s fairly common to find local, honor system stores here in the inaka. These usually take the form of a little table or stall set up on the side of the road by a farmer’s field selling extra veggies, flowers, nuts, etc. There’s usually a sign that tells you how much each item costs, and a box or can for you to put your money in. There’s also more sophisticated versions of this, like this store…

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Straddling the skyline in Shibu Toge Pass

Straddling the skyline in Shibu Toge Pass

Ever since I moved to Gunma, I’ve wanted to visit the caldera of Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane. Unfortunately, I’m doomed to disappointment as the volcanic activity levels have been too high to safely allow visitors for the past 3 years. Despite this, it’s still well worth the effort to make the drive up the mountain. The twisty-turny road goes up Kusatsu-Shirane, around the caldera, and then branches off.…

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Farewell English Board

I have truly loved stretching my creative muscles to design and create my English boards over the past 3 years. It’s crazy to look at my first attempts, and then look at how much more refined and pretty the boards became with more and more practice. I never thought that this would be something I would be good at, but I’m really proud of the things I’ve made. I hope that sharing photos of my…

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Happy Birthday to my umeshu

Happy Birthday to my umeshu

Today, my homemade umeshu (check out my umeshu making journey here -> Making Umeshu and Ume Syrup) turned a year old! We finally cracked the jar open and it’s delicious. I think if I were to make it again, I would put in less sugar, as it is EXTREMELY sweet. It’s a liqueur, so that’s fine, but yowza. Because of the sweetness, my very professional serving suggestion is as an umeshu soda. Very…

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Saying Goodbye

I was given my work schedule for this month on Friday and realized that (including today) I only have 12 school days left. 12 more days to see these kids that I’ve known and watched grow for 3 years. 12 more days of having my cup by the coffee machine in the staffroom, a shoe locker with my name on it, of having a messy desk waiting for me every morning, of wandering through the halls and hearing…

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JIMOTO Frappuccino: Starbucks drops 47 unique frappe flavors for each prefecture of Japan

JIMOTO Frappuccino: Starbucks drops 47 unique frappe flavors for each prefecture of Japan

Starbucks Japan is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, and dropped some very surprising and exciting news this week to help commemorate the event. Using local flavors, landmarks, and ideas from baristas across the country, Starbucks has designed a special commemorative Frappuccino for Every. Single. Prefecture. So that’s 47 unique flavors of Frappuccino being released all at once…

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How to get an EpiPen in Japan

How to get an EpiPen in Japan

Disclaimer: this is written from the perspective of someone who has carried an EpiPen before and was trying to get a prescription to replace an expired injector, not get a first time script issued. This is also not intended to be a medical guide, merely a (hopefully useful) description of my own experience. Where to go and what to bring After one of my coworkers got stung by a bee at work last…

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Tsuyu English Board - Version 2

Tsuyu English Board – Version 2

When I first started working on this board, it had been pouring rain for days and a tsuyu (rainy season) theme seemed very fitting. Now that I’ve finished it, it’s sunny and hovering around 30 degrees, where it will be for the rest of the week. Uuuuuuuugh. Anyway, I’m extremely pleased with what I’ve done here. I reused some things that I’ve made before, but a ton of the (aesthetic) material is…

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Jomo Karuta (Part 3)

Jomo Karuta (Part 3)

This post is a continuation of my Jomo Karuta series. You can also check out Part 1 and Part 2. These cards are not listed in any particular order, and I will only post about a card once I have visited the pertaining location. My goal is to visit all the locations listed on the Jomo Karuta cards before leaving Gunma. All chant translations and some historical information have been taken from the…

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Inaka Life: Sweet Potato Planting

Inaka Life: Sweet Potato Planting

Both of my schools are in rural environments, so part of the curriculum includes some farming and community involvement. Every year, the 5th graders go out to the nearby farms and help plant rice. We also have a school garden and field that students cycle crops through during the year. But by far the largest crop planted at each school is sweet potatoes. Of course no one really tells me anything…

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5 Interesting Stories Behind Japanese Company Names

5 Interesting Stories Behind Japanese Company Names

I’ve heard a couple stories about how Japanese companies came to be called what they are, but haven’t really paid much attention to it until now. After finally looking one of these stories up to see if it was true, I fell down the rabbit hole of researching company name origins. There’s a lot of factors for how Japanese company names came by their English forms – from kanji reading, to…