News Stories

[Vexx]

Cheese is often stored in cellars and caves (or mines), usually for aging purposes. It has the advantage of being naturally cool, not too humid, and a fairly constant temperature.

(assuming we're not talking about very deep mines, of course).

[Nosauz]

well completing a meal shows gratitude to the chef who prepared it for you? Because its not like in america were portions are so overly sized that you would be consider insane to eat say 32 oz steak in one sitting. Portioning wise I feel especially in asian countires eating whats given, especially with the mentality that food is surival, makes for the reason when you don't finish your meal, its a sign of disrepect, in other words the food wasn't good enough for me to finish the meal. I mean my grandparents would ask me when I didn't finish their prepared meal, because during their generation food was scarce compared to its insane over abundance in the developed world.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Cheese is often stored in cellars and caves (or mines), usually for aging purposes. It has the advantage of being naturally cool, not too humid, and a fairly constant temperature.

(assuming we're not talking about very deep mines, of course).

also some of these caves have certain bacteria growing in it. These bacteria is responsible for certain type of cheese.

[Shadow Kira01]

Ozawa may face calls to resign

This is getting interesting...

Currently, based on last month's poll results... Ozawa, leader of the DPJ is being favored by the public with an approval rate of 25% as opposed to the current prime minister Taro Aso at 8%. Supposedly, the opposition party would definitely win the upcoming general election with ease but things took a wrong turn over the recent discovery of a political funding coverup by Ozawa's top aide. This means that the overall trust by the public towards Ozawa's leadership has become questionable, as to whether he would make a better prime minister if the DPJ were to win the next general election. On the contrary, considering that Ozawa had maintained his position as leader of his party uncompeted three terms straight indicates that there isn't a better candidate within the DPJ that is more capable than he is. Honestly, I do hope that Ozawa would step down considering that the guy visits China at least once a year. On the contrary, if the shadow minister is removed, then who within the DPJ will be capable of replacing him and winning the upcoming election, then forming a superior ruling government and save the economy? I have many doubts. However, it is also not okay for Taro Aso to continue as prime minister when his approval rate is in the single digits.

Koizumi Junichiro is still the best choice for prime minister but the only problem is that he has already announced his retirement a few months ago meaning that he can no longer represent the Liberal Democratic Party as leader anymore and for him to form a new party within a few months of time, then gaining the trust and approval of the public is close to unlikely in terms of success. That means there is currently nobody capable of leading Japan as prime minister. The only way to fix the economy and to be prepared to handle things on the international stage is to first dissolve the House of Representatives and hold a general election but there is no point of doing so when both prime minister candidates are in a fix. How will this turn out in the coming months? I wonder..

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Well I've really never gotten a satisfactory explanation for why Japanese don't take leftovers. Rather than speculate further, perhaps a Japanese in Japan might have an idea?

You called me?
Actually, the reason is SIMPLE! It has nothing to do with culture.
It's due to freshness. Leftover food is perceived as not fresh and may not be good for your body. As Japanese are very conscious of the little details, every little bit counts.
But, I don't like the idea that we throw 30% of our total food, when we import 60% of it from overseas. I have a when I organize a party - make more of food that can last for a few days without compromising much of its quality, and less of those that can't. Usually cooked food I prepare less because you have to reheat. Things like sushi, I have more [My fridge is spacious by Japanese home standards - I live further out towards the countryside in Kagoshima]. Sashimi is an exception - it's not wise to keep sashimi for too long.

[Bluehorsy]

Just after reading your reactions to the chinese sculptures...just wondering if you guys think the Parthenon Marbles should be returned or not.

http://www.elginism.com/20090214/1733/#more-1733

[Aquillion]

Apologies if this has been posted already, but it seems pretty relevant to this site:

Future of 'anime' industry in doubt
Money, success elude; outsourcing, piracy abound

...

"Thanks to megahits such as 'Evangelion' and 'Pokemon,' Japanese animation has fared well in the past. But it has already maxed out as an export industry," Iwata explained, adding that besides the lack of big-name titles and a decrease in overseas airplay in recent years, the greatest obstacle lies in the illegal Internet sites that provide free content.

"These sites upload programs almost immediately after they are broadcast in Japan," accompanied with "fan subs" — English subtitles translated by fans," Iwata said. "This is causing a very big dent in sales."

Of course, it could just be people blaming us for the bad economy (since, you know, the industry was doing fine until then, and importing DVDs of TV shows from another country is going to be a luxury regardless of anything else.)

But still.

[yezhanquan]

Originally Posted by Bluehorsy

Just after reading your reactions to the chinese sculptures...just wondering if you guys think the Parthenon Marbles should be returned or not.

http://www.elginism.com/20090214/1733/#more-1733

The Elgin Marbles: If they're returned, it's an act of charity.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Aquillion

Apologies if this has been posted already, but it seems pretty relevant to this site:

Future of 'anime' industry in doubt
Money, success elude; outsourcing, piracy abound

Already posted in General Anime subforum, here. Please redirect all further discussion on this topic there.

Meanwhile:

Aso's reading blunders spark study spree

Tokyo (Mar 5): Reading Japanese isn't easy — even for the Japanese. Take Prime Minister Taro Aso. He's made so many public blunders that an opposition lawmaker tried to give him a reading test during a televised session of Parliament.

The Japanese leader bungled the word for "frequent", calling Japan-China exchanges "cumbersome" instead. Another time, he misread the word "toshu" (follow), saying "fushu" — or stench — and sounded as if he were saying government policy "stinks".

While the media and Mr Aso's political rivals have been quick to heap ridicule, many Japanese have seen a bit more of themselves in his gaffes than they would like to admit. Since his missteps, books designed to improve reading ability have become all the rage.

Mr Aso's nemesis is his mother tongue's notoriously tricky mishmash of Chinese characters, known in Japan as kanji, and its two sets of indigenous syllabaries.

Just reading the newspaper requires knowledge of about 2,000 characters. Another 50,000 are less common but useful to recognise.

And that's just for starters.

Most characters have several different pronunciations, depending on the context. For instance, the two characters in the prime minister's surname can be read several ways. The first character, which means linen, is pronounced "asa" or "ma". The second — meaning life, raw, or to occur or grow — can be pronounced "nama", "sei", "sho", or "ki", to list just a few possibilities. And together, they are pronounced "aso".

During last month's televised parliament session, opposition lawmaker Hajime Ishii chided Mr Aso for his stumbles, saying: "We'd better discuss kanji."

Then holding up a cardboard panel with a list of a dozen words, he asked: "Can you handle them?"

Mr Aso refused to take the impromptu test, but Mr Ishii didn't back down. "Today, those who can't read kanji are scoffed at, and people are rushing to buy textbooks," he said. "Perhaps you deserve credit for boosting their sales."

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Looks like it's time for you to read more than just manga, Mr Aso.

[Vexx]

Or maybe he should level up his manga material and go for the late teen and grownup manga

Related articles also discuss how his blunders have bumped up the market for continuing education and self-help books on kanji in Japan. No one wants to make an Aso-blunder in public so he's like an anti-posterchild for good reading skills. "Practice hard or you'll look like Aso giving a speech"

[Kamui4356]

Couldn't that mostly be avoided if he went over and rehersed speeches before hand? Or have the script or teleprompter with the text in kana? No one would know, and it'd avoid the potential for this.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Can you read Japanese? If you do, you'd realise that a sentence written entirely in kana can be just as difficult to understand, because there are so many homonyms in the language. There's an important reason why kanji is used in written Japanese, after all.

The problem arises, as suggested in the quoted article, from the use of one kanji for more than one native Japanese word. And since that's a legacy issue, I don't see how it can "solved" other than through very diligent study.

That's why I regard Japanese as one of the most murderously difficult languages in the world to master. Chinese may seem intimidating because of its many more thousands of characters to remember but, in truth, its grammar is far simpler and therefore much easier to grasp.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Can you read Japanese? If you do, you'd realise that a sentence written entirely in kana can be just as difficult to understand, because there are so many homonyms in the language. There's an important reason why kanji is used in written Japanese, after all.

The problem arises, as suggested in the quoted article, from the use of one kanji for more than one native Japanese word. And since that's a legacy issue, I don't see how it can "solved" other than through very diligent study.

That's why I regard Japanese as one of the most murderously difficult languages in the world to master. Chinese may seem intimidating because of its many more thousands of characters to memorise but, in truth, its grammar is far simpler and therefore much easier to grasp.

What an irony, as someone said that kanji is a simplified derivative form of the Chinese character set.

Furthermore, Aso not able to read more complicated kanji is just as bad as having a shoe thrown at him.

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Can you read Japanese? If you do, you'd realise that a sentence written entirely in kana can be just as difficult to understand, because there are so many homonyms in the language. There's an important reason why kanji is used in written Japanese, after all.

The problem arises, as suggested in the quoted article, from the use of one kanji for more than one native Japanese word. And since that's a legacy issue, I don't see how it can "solved" other than through very diligent study.

That's why I regard Japanese as one of the most murderously difficult languages in the world to master. Chinese may seem intimidating because of its many more thousands of characters to remember but, in truth, its grammar is far simpler and therefore much easier to grasp.

chinese is not as simple as you make it seem, many words also have different sounds and meanings based on the way that their used. other than pure memorization and over familiarization there is no way to just understand chinese via rules. All i'm saying is don't make a blanket statement about chinese, just to try to emphaisize how difficult japanese is. For complex use of chinese it gets very intricate to requiring you to have understood literature in the past and the usage of those terms and their implications.

[sa547]

Now they've started giving out cash... at least in some parts, as a questionable measure:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national...06TDY02305.htm

The village governments of Nishi-Meyamura, Aomori Prefecture, and Nishi-Okoppemura, Hokkaido, started Thursday distributing flat-sum cash handouts, becoming the nation's first local governments to begin implementing the measure, for which the central government earmarked about 2 trillion yen as a pillar of its economic stimulus package.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Can you read Japanese? If you do, you'd realise that a sentence written entirely in kana can be just as difficult to understand, because there are so many homonyms in the language. There's an important reason why kanji is used in written Japanese, after all.

The problem arises, as suggested in the quoted article, from the use of one kanji for more than one native Japanese word. And since that's a legacy issue, I don't see how it can "solved" other than through very diligent study.

That's why I regard Japanese as one of the most murderously difficult languages in the world to master. Chinese may seem intimidating because of its many more thousands of characters to remember but, in truth, its grammar is far simpler and therefore much easier to grasp.

Have you ever given a speech infront of cameras on national, perhaps international television? The issue here isn't understanding it, it's pronouncing it when making a speech. I suspect the problem is that when under pressure he defaults to the pronunciation he's most used to seeing automaticly. A problem that can be easily addressed by more preperation for the speech or writing those parts in kana. It's that he's not the best public speaker more than he isn't proficient. I doubt he'd make those same mistakes while reviewing documents in his office.

[Anh_Minh]

Wouldn't getting the intonation right difficult if the speech is in Kana and he doesn't understand it?

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Wouldn't getting the intonation right difficult if the speech is in Kana and he doesn't understand it?

True, but it'd be better than saying the completely wrong word because he misread the kanji. Really that's the lazy solution anyway. The better one would be the "reherse a bit more first" option. Once again, I suspect this is more a public speaking issue than a lack of proficiency. According to the article some of the mistakes are with basic kanji. In other words, he understands it and knows what he's supposed to say, but when he's actually reciting it, he makes some basic mistakes.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Can you read Japanese? If you do, you'd realise that a sentence written entirely in kana can be just as difficult to understand, because there are so many homonyms in the language. There's an important reason why kanji is used in written Japanese, after all.

The problem arises, as suggested in the quoted article, from the use of one kanji for more than one native Japanese word. And since that's a legacy issue, I don't see how it can "solved" other than through very diligent study.

That's why I regard Japanese as one of the most murderously difficult languages in the world to master. Chinese may seem intimidating because of its many more thousands of characters to remember but, in truth, its grammar is far simpler and therefore much easier to grasp.

Well, remember that Japanese was built on Chinese in a way. Of course Japanese is harder than Chinese, but then think about Teochew and Cantonese which use archaic Chinese words, both written and spoken today.

Originally Posted by sa547

What an irony, as someone said that kanji is a simplified derivative form of the Chinese character set

Not really. It's still more complex than the simplified Chinese.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

chinese is not as simple as you make it seem, many words also have different sounds and meanings based on the way that their used. other than pure memorization and over familiarization there is no way to just understand chinese via rules. All i'm saying is don't make a blanket statement about chinese, just to try to emphaisize how difficult japanese is. For complex use of chinese it gets very intricate to requiring you to have understood literature in the past and the usage of those terms and their implications.

Unless you speak and read Chinese, I'd call bullshit.

For the complex use of any language, not just Chinese or Japanese, you have to know its literature and history to understand some of its deeper, more subtle, nuances. I happen to have been an English literature student, which is why my understanding of English is very different from most people in my country. But that doesn't prevent them from becoming fluent in the language and, in fact, many of them are.

Chinese is easier than Japanese, in my opinion, because its grammar is far simpler to master. For a start, you don't have to worry about tenses in Chinese. That alone makes life so much easier — you don't have to worry about stupid tense conjugations, like you do in Japanese or English. Yes, you're right about how some Chinese characters also have different pronounciations depending on the context, but the difference lies in frequency — there are far fewer such instances in Chinese than there are in Japanese.

And then, there is the practical matter of keigo, which is an everyday concern in Japanese. While highly classical, esoteric forms of Chinese do exist, those forms are no longer used in vernacular speech today — their use is highly specialised and mainly limited to niche literary circles. But that is far from the case in Japan, where you have to watch how you say your words depending on who you're addressing, or you'd come across as being rude, a major social taboo.

So, nope, I don't believe I'm "trying to emphasise how difficult Japanese is" by comparing it to Chinese. It really is a very difficult language for a non-native to master. Sure, Chinese is difficult too, especially for Westerners, but I don't think I've oversold its "simplicity" either. Hell, even I struggle with my mother tongue, so of course I understand the pain of studying Chinese.