Don’t let being older stop you from having a crack. Every year I renew my desire to learn more Japanese. And every year I add a few new words or sentences... sadly no fluency.
Thanks for the encouragement! I add a few words each year, so can count on two hands now instead of one Still, it would be great to be able to converse even a little. Somebody explained how to pronounce vowels which has made quite a difference. I get the polite "I have no idea what you are trying to say" look much less often...
This probably goes in the Conbini chatter thread, but since I have only been able to find them in Japan, I'll post it here. I miss these puppies....
Only had the green packet ones on the shink back form Nagano last year, no idea what flavour they were but I rate them.
This is actually "not only in Japan" and therefore completely off topic but Toto have gone mainstream in Australia. For sale at Harvey Norman. Never seen them advertised here before. $9,000 for a dunny is an expensive way to do your business.
Assume it's been covered but I find it crazy how hot some places are inside during winter/spring. Especially on trains and busses. Makes no sense to go from a comfortablr 8c outside to 30c inside. I'm not sure how everyone does it with their big coats. I sometimes wear shorts even in winter when I know I'm frequently going to be going in and out. Maybe baka gaijin but I just don't get how the locals do it.
When all I want is one of those old-fashioned loo setups where you wash your hands with water that then fills the tank. But that's somehow still only in Japan, can't find it anywhere here (Europe that is)
they’ve been here for a few years those prices are substantially higher than those I saw in Tokyo a few weeks ago spouse says she wants one they might be cheaper than bog roll soon
today I saw a man on his way to work, and a new type of backcountry splitboard I haven't seen before.
Haa, I saw him as well, he was about 4 chairs ahead of me and I passed him on the cat track out of King #3. So I may have missed you by that II much, unless you saw him after a tootle down Dynamic. As for the splitter, looks more like very short & very wide skis to me. And a bad accident waiting to happen.
he had just come off hana 3, so must have done a run down there. he fell while getting out from the chair, and it turns out that dress suit pants aren't waterproof or resilient against snow. the ski shoe things look like fun for about 5 minutes. similar to the ski bike idea. that chick looked quite experienced on them tho.
he didn't seem too bad when i followed him. that briefcase sure threw him off balance tho. i dont think it was designed for snowboarding. should have gotten the "pro" model
Some Japanese people are using 47 years old toilet papers. I mean, the oil crisis 47 years ago also caused toilet paper to disappear from stores in Japan. When societal anxiety surges amid situations in which future prospects are unclear, people can be manipulated by hoaxes. What's happening today mirrors what happened in 1973. It is reported that some Japanese people found numerous toilet paper rolls in their storage rooms that their parents or grandparents bought 47 years ago. The image below is one of the cases (the toilet papers are 47 years old). Toilet paper rolls were in all boxes below, and it's just one Japanese family own. The same thing might happen in Australia in the future, I mean, COVID-70(a new corona virus appearing in 2070) might cause another toilet paper shortage and the toilet papers they bought in 2020 might help their children and grandchildren in 2070
You mean, this kind of toilets?. I guess it's been quite common for long years but somehow we don't see them in recently built / renovated houses. When we renovated our lodge, we visited three showrooms (Toto, Inax and Panasonic = Japanese major toilet manufacturers) but I don't think we saw this type in the showrooms. Somehow, it's been getting less common in recent years and I feel sad. I mean, something which used to be very common suddenly disappears and it makes me feel "Oh, I've got old. Can I still call myself very young now?" After we renovated the toilet room, it became like this (it's not ours but looks similar). Most recent home toilet rooms have a tap (faucet) for washing hands separately from the toilet itself just like the image below. I'd say this one is more hygienic and better. Japanese people have been always fussy on cleanliness, so no wonder the old type is disappearing now.
Yes, that one! It’s such a waste if you flush the toilet with perfectly clean water, much better if you use it first, like for washing your hands. I always thought it such a neat and simple idea.
Except there's nowhere to put soap and it can stuff up the internals, sorry don't like [ plumber speaking ]
Nothing should go into a cistern but water, no soap, no chemicals just water. The point is they are useful as tits on a bull, no soap holder means you still have to go to another room to wash your hands properly of
Quaran the Quarantine mascot: https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/...UTnxEPnYaoyLMA-TW8wSbOD4syUoqlys0kQmZWGjqqipM
Hanko and handwriting (=fax) have been a kind of "Japanese culture", but COVID-19 is likely to end the culture, and I'm happy for it!
I prefer letter-writing to email, so I think there is something to be said for handwriting... it has a warmth that computer text can't emulate. But in a business setting, it's just annoying and time-consuming. No complaints if COVID sweeps fax culture away. And I've heard that employers want handwritten CVs so they can get an idea of the applicant's character from their handwriting. That's just idiotic (and probably discriminatory).
There is a Japanese proverb "字は体を表す". If it's translated into English, it's like "Handwritten letters embody the person's nature", or something like that. So, handwriting has been considered "important" in Japan and well-educated people are supposed to have beautiful handwriting. Mixed feeling for me, I mean, I like Hanko and handwriting culture as Japanese culture but I dislike them at the same time in that it's less efficient (time consuming) and my handwriting is not beautiful. The countries in the world have been getting too similar one another, which I find a bit boring, so it's a bit sad if fax / handwriting and Hanko disappear from Japan(but basically, I'm very happy if they disappear from business world).
Maybe there was more of a link between handwriting and education in the past, but as anyone under 40 has grown up typing I think it is becoming less and less important. I think it's the same anywhere the world, although in "kanji" countries there's the extra dimension that people struggle to write unusual characters... I think for the younger generations especially, it mostly comes down to whether or not you are interested in having good handwriting! I'm always happy when I spot unusual or quirky handwriting. Do you remember the guy who escaped from prison and cycled around Japan? He has amazing handwriting (see below)! I guess he had a lot of time to practice in jail!??
Australia is one of those too, although the majority of the fax "machines" are digital. Report delivery to a clinic is an example of where it's still in use. https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/why-is-it-so-hard-to-wean-healthcare-off-the-fax-m
Sorry if this has already been posted but I have stopped in the middle of cooking dinner to post this so I do not forget. Story on ABC news radio, reporting of Covid-19 cases is sometimes delayed because they gave been sending a fax to a central location where the pieces of paper are counted. This is being replaced by some other digital system. Funny that this follows another post about faxes
I need a fax machine for that. In our industry the govt department we deal with decommissioned theirs about 5 years ago
We had one in the office where I used to work in the UK. I think it was there for faxing Japanese and Australian clients
Oh, wait, it's really him who wrote it?. I mean, the letters look very beautiful. My handwriting looks more "criminal" / "poorly educated" than his
