Learn Japanese @ Japancast.net

I found this on Lifehacker.com the other day. It’s a collection of secret “tips” from Japan. It has things like fixing scratched CDs, a better way to clean a stinky toilet and how to keep your bathroom mirror free from fog. I love little Lifehacking tips, and the fact that these are from Japan make them that much cooler.  Click on the image for more info.

From:Japan Today - News - Tezuka’s manga work to go online

Sadly for us in America, the dollar is at an all-time low versus the yen, so costs of items from Japan are much higher than before.  If you visit the site, you can click the banner at the top and there are some free sample issues available.  It’s using a proprietary online reader, but it seems to work fine.

Tags: manga, anime, e-book, Tezuka

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Manga Bible

This is not available yet, but it’s supposed to ship soon.  Talk about a cool Bible.

ThoughtAudio.com is offering several free audio books. One of them is Japanese Fairy Tales:

Although they’re not in Japanese, it’s still a good opportunity to listen to some very famous Japanese fairy tales and learn the stories. Then as your Japanese progresses, you can try reading the Japanese version and you’ll already have an idea of what the story is about.

The audio books can be downloaded HERE.

Ok, I’m not recommending this book at all. I’m just amused by it. It’s in “English”, so you’re not going to learn any Japanese from it. I’m just stunned by the full title of this book:
How to Good-Bye Depression

Part of the book description:

In addition, he also can have burned a strong beautiful fire within his abdomen. It can burn out the dirty stickiness of his body, release his immaterial fiber or third attention which has been confined to his stickiness. Then, he can shoot out his immaterial fiber or third attention to an object, concentrate on it and attain happy lucky feeling through the success of concentration.

If you don’t know concentration which gives you peculiar pleasure, your life looks like a hell.

And one of the reviews on Amazon says:

While I’m inclined to believe that both Castaneda and Nishigaki are both lunatics who need to be institutionalized, I didn’t buy the book to learn about the healing effects of anal-clenching; I got the book because it looked like a good laugh.

The content of the book doesn’t really justify its price, but some of the mangled “Engrish” is REALLY funny, and I absolutely love the horrified looks on my roommates’ faces when they bring guests over, only to discover this book lying on the coffee table.

For those of you interested in learning more about Japan than you can by reading tourist guides comes this book. I think it’s a real eye-opener for people who see Japan as the land of electronics, anime and women wearing kimono.

Theft News has this report:

“Yakuza Moon” is a shocking story of the side of Japan most Japanese would prefer the rest of the world never knew about.

But thanks to Kodansha International, yakuza gang boss’s daughter Shoko Tendo’s best-selling autobiography is now out in English and accessible to a wider audience.

“Yakuza Moon” tracks 38-year-old Osaka-born Tendo’s life from her early years where her status as a yakuza gang boss’s daughter started her roller-coaster ride through luxury, bullying, discrimination, domestic violence and reform school. It moves on to her time as a teen biker gang moll sucking on first paint thinner and then shooting up speed, a substance that later become an addiction fostered by one of the many brutal thugs she shares her life with in early adulthood.

More vicious beatings, exploitation by infidel men, rape, miscarriage and heartbreak follow. Reconciliation with her parents is tempered by grief at their deaths. Mental illness and a suicide attempt add to the already bleak picture. But as “Yakuza Moon” is written with such candor and huge investment of emotion, it’s impossible to desert Tendo and put her book down.

To read the full review CLICK HERE.

To purchase the book - click the book below.

From the Daily Yomiuri Online:

A Japanese-English dictionary of keywords used in domestic and
international news reporting, compiled by The Daily Yomiuri and
published by Tokyodo Publishing Co., has been put on sale.

“Saishin Nyusu Eigo Jiten” (A Dictionary of Keywords in News) lists
about 7,000 terms that frequently appear in newspaper, television and
other media reports, including newly coined and technical terms.
Hard-to-translate expressions peculiar to the Japanese language also
are included.

For easy reference, the 496-page dictionary is divided into seven
major categories–politics, business, city news/culture, international
news, military affairs/security, science/technology/environment and
sports.

The up-to-the-minute dictionary incorporates a large number of
footnotes, commentaries, charts and illustrations to give users a
better understanding of and in-depth information about a variety of
topics. It also lists laws, treaties, government offices and major
corporations.

We hope “Saishin Nyusu Eigo Jiten,” the fruit of 50 years of
extensive news reporting by The Daily Yomiuri, will serve as an
indispensable reference not only to English-language learners, but also
translators, interpreters, journalists and other professionals.

“Saishin Nyusu Eigo Jiten,” priced at 2,730 yen, tax included, is
on sale at bookstores nationwide. You may also order a copy of the
dictionary through Tokyodo’s Web site at:

http://www.tokyodoshuppan.com/

The folks over at Kucoon.com have a review of Ken Watanabe’s new film:

After working for the same company for 26 years, I didn’t expect to end my career life like this.” This is just one of the lines that’s calling for contemplation on the subject. Do we have to wait till we’ve got an incurable disease to start to have a life other than just work? Do we have to wait until it’s too late to treat our family right? Have we forgotten what is truly important to us?

Click here for the full review.

I can’t vouch for this software, but I just read about it in Computer Graphics World Magazine and I HAD to let you guys know about it. It’s supposed to help you create a complete manga without any other software. It looks really cool since it’s so specialized. You can do the same type of work in Photoshop, but it’s a lot more expensive and is really made for photo editing. There’s a professional version that’s around $300 too, but I don’t know what the difference is.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A DEMO OF THE SOFTWARE

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE USER INTERFACE

PC Version

Mac Version

Japanese Lesson #13 - In this lesson we work on some fundamental anime words and phrases. We also are announcing our voice mail system. Now you can call and ask questions, make comments or just practice your Japanese. Listen to the podcast for our voicemail number.

Lesson #13

And thanks to our sponsors below!

Click here to order Kaze Ghost Warrior on DVD. Don’t forget to use the coupon code mentioned in our podcast!

The Making of Kaze Ghost Warrior is an inspiration book for anyone who’s ever considered making their own animated film.