We did a post a while back about travel books for Japan and Tokyo. Reading a travel book is a great way to get some history, culture, geography, a good dose of practicalities, and a real taste of life there. It’s not expensive and it might spark some ideas for you of how to get over there!
We received a few suggestions from readers and fans, for books we hadn’t included. Here they are.
Living Abroad in Japan (Moon Living; Ruth Kanagy)
From an Amazon review–
I lived in Japan in my youth, speak the language, and often visit my Japanese friends, I found much new information that was helpful for planning to live in Japan again. Ruth Kanagy illustrates her guidebook with beautiful original photographs and gives accurate descriptions and background explanations, social customs, and the Japanese lifestyle.
This book is a useful guide for planning a quality short trip, including important money saving details that a travel agency won’t tell you. It’s also great for longer stays, an extended work project, or even relocation to Japan.
Eyewitness Travel Guide to Japan (Dorling Kindersley publishing)
This one was recommended by KCP alum Matt Henry. He heavily praised the photography and layout in it.
From an Amazon review–
This book is chock full of useful info and wonderful photographs. I particularly like their suggested “walks,” tours (such as Kiso Valley or Saga Pottery area), and maps.
Other highlights are detailed diagrams (such as the Gassho-zukuri houses and Toshu-gu Shrine in Nikko) and lots of photos and descriptions. Japan is a fabulous place to engage with the culture; this book can help you make the leap from reading/observing to engaging, since it takes away the reams and reams of text found in other books. It’s not at its best as a standalone reference, though.
Tags: Japan travel, KCP, resources, study abroad
Posted in: Resources, Travel in Japan | Comments (0)
In 2007, the talented staff at KCP created this book/DVD–
Virtual Hiragana Class in One Week (published by Bonjinsha).
It’s a fun, very educational workbook getting you up to speed with these basic characters in one week. This bilingual workbook includes romaji for basic pronunciation, but it mostly uses visuals to help you remember the phonetics when you see these characters.
The course teaches pronunciation and writing of Hiragana by showing their appearance and using simple sentences. Each of the 8 units consists of a lecturer on screen teaching the Hiragana individually, explaining stroke order, common errors, pronunciation and more. The workbook has clear, short explanations, written practice, and simple fun tasks. Visual associations aid in memorizing each character. You’ll also pick up basic vocabulary through the quizzes.
It’s not widely available in the U.S. . . . Prices top out at around $52, but the Kinokuniya Bookweb has it for under $30. When you click the link below, choose Bookweb USA and type Virtual Hiragana into the search box. Much of the info is in kanji, but click a shopping cart symbol at the right of the page to see the order form. Click “In English” just above the form. The site figures your nearest Kinokuniya branch store, or you can have it mailed (and pay the shipping cost).
To buy the virtual class–Kinokuniya
(Company info–Kinokuniya Company Ltd., founded in 1927, is the largest bookstore chain in Japan, a leading importer of information products like books, journals, and electronic databases, and the operator of a Yahoo award–winning online bookstore.)
If you want to get closer to the Japanese language–and to Tokyo–this is a fine start that’s not too spendy.
Tags: books, Japanese language, learning Japanese
Posted in: Learning Japanese, Resources | Comments (0)
The Takoage-Gassen (凧揚げ合戦) , or Kite-Fighting Contest, is a spectacular festival of some 100 large kites (tako) flying in the sky over the Nakatajima Dunes, Hamamatsu, City, Shizuoka Prefecture. It happens May 3-4.. The Nakatajima Dunes are one of the three largest sand dunes in Japan, which overlooks the Enshunada Sea.
Here you can see many large kites measuring 3.5 meters by 3.5 meters (roughly 11 ft. x 11 ft.). Then to the sound of the trumpet, the fighting starts. Making the 5-mm thick hemp strings intertwine, the kite-fliers try to cut their opponents’ strings by friction, which is very exciting to watch.
The strings burn, giving off a scorched smell. You can try flying a kite yourself in the grounds adjoining the shuttle bus terminal.
This festival dates back to the 16th Century when large kites were flown in celebration of the birth of a baby son to the Lord of Hamamatsu Castle. Even today, kites are flown at Hamamatsu when a baby boy is born.
A festive day to pray for boys’ good health and a bright future, it is the custom in Japan to fly decorations called koinobori, which are carp-shaped streamers.
Carp are known to swim up waterfalls and this powerful image of the carp overlaps with the image of advancing in one’s career.
Tags: festivals, Japanese traditions, KCP, study abroad, Takoage-Gassen
Posted in: Events | Comments (0)
KCP Alum Michael Mazak has some great Tokyo shots, *with captions,* on his facebook page. Check them out. Thanks, Michael!
NTT DoCoMo Building at night.
Tags: Japan, KCP, opinion, photography, study abroad, Tokyo lifestyle
Posted in: Japan Context | Comments (0)
