dli japanese headstart modules 1-5.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
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J P NESE
HE DST RT
MODULES 1-5
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The Japanese words
tha t appear
in th i s t ex t are writ ten
according
to the
Hepburn
System
of
romanization
of
Japanese.
Pronunciat ion of most of
the
l e t te r s presents no di f f icu l ty to
an American.
Those l e t te r s
or combinations of
l e t te r s
con-
sidered d i f f i cu l t to pronounce wi I I be explained in the Vocabu-
lary Section of the modules. You
may
have di f f icu l ty with the
following:
I. When
the
le t te r n is the
las t
le t te r
in
a word, i t may
sound
somewhat
I ike the ng
in sing.
2. When double le t te rs appear
in
a Japanese word, the sound
is repeated. Think
of double l e t te r s as
having
a hyphen between
them
and pronounce both le t te rs
dis t inc t ly .
3.
The l e t te r s
marked
with a bar ,
a e i and
0 are
pro-
nounced
longer
than ones
without
a
bar.
4.
When and u are writ ten with a s lash mark through them,
they
are
s lurred
or
barely
pronounced.
5.
The l e t t e r in
the
middle of a word is pronounced I
ike
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ONTENTS
MODULE ONE
CULTURAL
BACKGROUND
.
. .
.
.
. . .
.
...
An
Island Nation
The Climate
......................................
The Government
........................ ............ .
Too Crowded for Comfort?
Some Ways to
Show
Courtesy
..........................
Invitat ions
.....................................
How to
Be
a Good
Guest
Foods
..............................
Conversations
You
Might
Get
Into
....................
What the Japanese Do
for
Fun
........................
5
6
7
I
5
7
23
8
30
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MODULES 1 5
CONTENTS
Part
5 •
Dialogues
Part 6 •
Sel f evalua t ion
Quiz
Part
7 •
Review and Remediation
Part
8.
Supplementary Self evaluat ion Quiz
Part
9.
Additional Vocabulary
MODULE
THREE:
DIRECTIONS
Part
I . Objectives
Part 2. Vocabulary
Part
3. Notes
Part
4.
Fluency
Dri
l s
Part 5. Dialogues
Part 6. Self evaluat ion
Quiz
Part 7.
Review
and Remediation
Part 8.
Supplementary Self evaluat ion
Quiz
Part 9. Additional Vocabulary
65
7
71
72
73
74
74
75
78
79
9
98
1 I
1 2
1 3
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MODULES
1 5
CONTENTS
MODULE
FIVE:
SHOPPING ND REPAIRS
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
39
Par t
I .
Objec t i ves 39
Part 2. Vocabulary 42
Part
3. Notes
45
Par t
4.
Fluency D r i l l s 47
Par t
5. Dialogues
58
Par t
6. Sel f eva lua t ion
Quiz
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 69
Par t 7. Review
and
Remediation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 72
Par t 8. Supplementary Se l f e va lua t ion
Quiz
• • • • • • • • • 73
Par t
9.
Addi t iona l
Vocabulary
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
74
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J P N
~ I n t e r n a t l o n a l
boundary
® National capital
Railroad
Road
50 100 150
M
~ - 5 ~ ~ ~ ~ 6 0 - - 1 5 r l ~ - - K - o - m ~ : t e s
HEJU DO
SE
OF
f
4 V
P CIFIC
OCE N
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MODULE
CULTUR L
B CKGROUND
N ISL ND
N TION
The Japanese cal I the i r country
Nihon
or Nippon. The
two
names are
interchangeable.
Both mean, l i t e ra l ly , source
of
the sun.
Because Japan I ies to the eas t
of
the Asian
mainland,
to
many Asians the sun seemed to r i se each morning from Japan.
They,
too, accepted Japan as the land of
the
r is ing sun.
Into modern times the sun motif
has
remained a
favor i te
design among the Japanese,
and the
national flag is
the
hinomapu
or
sun f lag.
Japan
has
four
ma
i n
is lands,
p I
us
severa
I
hundred
sma
II
is Iands tha t dot
the
coast l ines. Of the four ma i n is
lands,
the
largest
is
Honshu,
followed in size by Hokkaido, Kyushu,
and Shikoku.
The fact tha t Japan
is
an island nation
is s ign i f i can t in
any
considerat ion of her past ,
present ,
or future.
Japan has had a
well-kni t ,
highly organized society
for
many centur ies . uch
of
the land
area
on
each
of the Japanese
islands is
rugged and mountainous, and th i s
probably
kept the
earl
ies t
inhabi tants separated into smal I groups. But hIsto-
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND
N
ISL ND
N TION
to the great centers
of Asian civi I izat ion. There they
could
learn f i rs thand about
new developments in science
and
the
ar t s
from
the
Chinese and Koreans, for example. At
one
point , Japan
is
only
about
125 mi les
from
Korea.
The
Japanese
of
earl
ier
centur ies , l ike thei r descendants
today, showed an eagerness to learn from
other countr ies
and
to
borrow
ideas
and
methods
from
other
peoples
if
these
seemed workable in Japan.
Some
have
cal led
Japan a nation
of
borrowers,
but the
term can
be misleading.
Historians note
that
the Japanese
were never mere copyists . Almost al I borrowing by the
Japanese
was (and
s t i
II is) a very careful process. The
Japanese
re jected
much from other cul tures tha t they judged
unworkable for
themselves.
Too, whenever
a foreign idea
or method
was
introduced
into
Japan, the
Japanese
invar iably
adapted
i t to
the i r own use,
often improving in some way on the or ig ina l . Using many for-
eign ideas and
methods,
the Japanese have almost
always
arrived
at
thei r
own (often ingenious)
ways
of
doing
th ings .
Beginning in the
la t te r
half
of
the 19th
century, the
Japanese
learned
primari Iy from industr ial nations
of
the West
in
much
the
same
way
they
had
learned
from
neighboring
Asian
nations. s a resu l t ,
Japan
was the f i r s t Asian country to
become an industr ial power.
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND
N ISL ND N TION
s tudied
by the
people
of many
nat ions. Durable qual i ty pro-
ducts made
in
Japan are purchased in
al
I
parts
of the world
and
great ly affec t world economy. Japanese
ar t s influence
a r t i s t s
on
al
I
cont inents . Japanese sc ien t i s t s contr ibute
heavi
Iy
to worldwide research. Many people bel
ieve
the
way
Japan
adjus t s
to current problems wi I I help much of the res t
of
the
world
solve
problems
of
the
21st century.
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THE
CLIM TE
Japan
is
about as far north
of
the equator as the
continen
ta l United s ta tes and
has
a similar cl imate .
Hokkaido,
Japan s
northernmost
i s land,
has
cold
winters
with much snow.
Cold
t e m p ~ r t u r e s las t for
about
four months
each year,
but
because of the ocean winds, temperatures seldom
drop below zero degrees (Farenheit) .
The
cl imate
is
milder in centra l Japan, which
includes
Honshu
and
the
northern
parts of Kyushu and Shikoku. The lower
two-thirds
of
th is
region, especia l ly
on
the side facrng
the
Pacif ic receives summer monsoon
winds,
which
bring fa i r ly
heavy
ra infa l l .
Winters
are
usually
mi
Id
and
sunny.
The
southernmost
parts of Kyushu and Shikoku are the warm-
es t
regions
of Japan. Here the winters are mi Idest
(al though
some
snowfall
occurs) and
the
summers
are
warm and humid.
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TH GOV RNM NT
Japan has a
pari
iamentary
government.
The na t ion s
con
s t i tu t ion gives the grea tes t power to the national legis la t ive
body, the Diet
(the
Japanese term for th is body is kokkai .
Like
the
U.S.
Congress,
the
Diet
is
made
up
of
two
houses.
Japan
is divided
into
electoral di s t r i c t s , each of which
sends
representa t ives to Japan s House of
Representatives
shugi in) .
Japan is also divided into
6
prefectures , each of which sends
representat ives to
Japan s House of Counci
lors sangi in) .
Addit ional members of the House of Counci lors are elected
from the nation a t large.
The
adminis t ra t ive
branch
of Japan s national government
is
headed
by a
prime
minister
sor i -da i j in ) ,
who is
a member
of
the House of Representat ives and
elected by
i t
according
to party
loyal ty.
Like the U.S. Consti tut ion, the
const i tut ion
of Japan
contains
a bi
II of r ights guaranteeing
personal
freedoms,
including freedom of speech,
assembly,
the
press ,
and
rei
igion.
The Japanese const i tut ion renounces war as a w y to solve
internat ional
disagreements
and
I
imits
Japan s
mi
I i tary
estab
I ishment to self-defense forces. Also, according to the con
s t i tu t ion , Japan s emperor
is merely
a symbol
of s ta te who
owes
his
posi t ion
to
the wi II of the people.
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TOO
CROWDED
FOR
COMFORT
Firs t - t ime vis i to rs to
Japanese
c i t i e s and resor ts often
think they have
arr ived a t
the
height of
the
Japanese
t ou r i s t
season,
because of the crowds
they
encounter . But
throngs
of
Japanese
packed
into
publ
ic
places are
an
inescapable
fac t
of
everyday I
i fe in
modern Japan. The nation is crowded.
One
of the
most awesome
experiences of the crush of heavy
populat ion
to
be found anywhere in the world awaits the
t rav
e ler who boards publ ic
t ransporta t ion
in Tokyo during the rush
hours.
The Japanese themselves find crowded I iving condit ions
often
uncomfortable
and
sometimes
oppressive,
but they
are
resourceful in deal
ing
with
the
problems.
Some
of the
ways
the
Japanese
have adapted to the physi
cal and mental s t resses of crowding can be seen as
purely
prac t ica l .
For
example, golf
has
become popular in recent years in
Japan, and many Japanese
share
a passion
for the game.
How-
ever,
in
and
around
Japan s
urban
areas there is
I
i t t l e
room
for the spraw l ing go I f l inks tha t go I fers in other parts of
the world
often take
for
granted.
Of
the
complete 18-hole
courses tha t
exis t
in Japan,
most
are
control led
by exclusive
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Japanese subways and
t ra ins
are
e f f i c i en t
and prompt but can
be
extremely
crowded
during rush hours.
Tokyo Rail Station Image: Zaida MontañanaDate: 18 December 2005cc-by-sa-3.0
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TokyoStation.JPGhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TokyoStation.JPGhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TokyoStation.JPGhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.enhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sumida_river05s3200.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TokyoStation.JPGhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
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CULTURAL
BACKGROUND
TOO ROWDED
FOR
COMFORT
However, not al I space-conservIng measures in Japan are
modern
innovations. Many things the Japanese
do to
save
space
originated
centur ies
ago when
Japan
was a far
less crowded
nation.
For
example,
Japanese farmers have
for
centur ies been
masters
a t gett ing the most use out of avai lable land space.
If
you t ravel through
the Japanese countryside,
you
can
see
tha t prac t ica l ly
every
square inch of possible farmland
is
cul t iva ted. Many of the
terraced
f ie lds that have been cut
into
hi I
Isides to
create addi t ional
growing
space
date
back
hundreds of years.
Some
t radi t ional
Japanese ar t s
signi f icant ly help
modern
Japanese to adjust
to crowded
I
iving
condi t ions,
since
minia
tur iza t ion and economy of space are important in Japanese
aes the t ics .
Bonsai, for
example,
is the
Japanese
ar t of
miniaturiza
t ion of t rees to the s ize of ordinary potted plants . Sometimes,
using
bonsai and
arrangements
of
stones, gravel , smal I
ponds,
plants
and
shrubbery, Japanese
gardeners
can
crea te within
the
confines of
a smal I
backyard,
a representat ion of a
great land
scape
which
car r i es with i t
the comfort ing
i l lus ion
of
vastness
and distance.
Other
t radi t ional
Japanese ar t s and ways of I
i fe
may not
save space di rec t ly but the Japanese
make
the mental and
emotional
adjustments
tha t
help them
thr ive
in the i r
crowded
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CULTURAL BACKGROUND
TOO CROWDED
FOR
COMFORT
enjoy
these enter tainments
obviously
untroubled by
what to
some
foreign vis i to rs are dis t rac t ions onstage which are a t f i r s t
d i f f i cu l t to ignore.
According
to
some observers,
the
nature
of t radi t ional
Japanese
homel
i fe
also helps
explain the Japahese abi i ty
to
ignore many
dis t rac t ions .
Much Japanese
housing remains
wholly
or
part ly
t radi t ional
in s ty le with the iving space
within
houses and
apartments
divided into
rooms
mainly by s l id ing wal l panels sho j i ) made
by
s t re tch i ng parchment-I ike paper
shoj i -gami) over
wood
frames.
Such households,
with i t e ra l ly paper
walls ,
provide
few oppor tuni t ies for the kind
of
privacy avai
lable
n Western
s tyle homes. n spi te
of
(or perhaps
because
of) th i s lack of
Western-style privacy in
Japanese
homes, the
Japanese
did
not
become a
nation
of
eavesdroppers.
On
the contrary,
they
seem
to
have evolved
instead
a social t rad i t ion of disregarding
or
tuning out
the
conversat ions
of others even when these could
be easi y overheard.
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SOME
W YS
TO SHOW COURTESY
The
Japanese prac t ice
many
formal i t i e s
and observe many
ru Ies of e t i quette among
themse
I
ves, but
genera y
they
do not
expect foreign
vis i to rs to
understand
many of
the i r
customs and
ways
of
doing
things.
s a ru le a g i j in (foreigner) can
impress
the Japanese
by being pol i te and
reserved in
his
or her
behavior.
f they
see these qual i t i e s in
a foreign v is i to r
most
Japanese wi
quickly excuse social blunders or shortcomings.
However, i t is
precisely
because the Japanese are wi II ing
to accord you spec i a t reatment as a
vis
i tor that they
wi
be
impressed
if
you show you
are
in teres ted
in
doing
some
things
the
Japanese
way
You probably could not master
the in t r icacies of
Japanese
social customs
and cour tes ies even if
you spent many
years in
Japan.
You can, however,
make many
Japanese fr iends
and experience
the
best
of
J
apa
nese
hosp
i
ta
i
ty
if
you
ma
ke an
ef
for t
to
understand
Japanese
ways
and pract ice
a few
of them yourse l f .
The fo I low i ng notes
may
give you some ideas of th i ngs
to
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CULTUR L
B CKGROUND
COURTESY
Gif ts . A Japanese
may thank
you upon receiving a
g i f t
or
favor
from you
jus t as people
do
in the
United
Sta tes .
What
is di f fe ren t is tha t , in
keeping
with
Japanese
custom, he
remembers the occasion unti I the next t ime you meet--days,
weeks,
or
months l a te r - -and
expresses his appreciat ion ful ly
again.
If
you
receive
a
g i f t
or
favor
from
a
Japanese,
you
should
thank him as you would an American. However,
if
you can
remember to say a sincere thank you a second
t ime,
at your
next
meeting,
the Japanese
wi
II appreciate
both your
thought
fulness and your
observance
of Japanese custom.
If
you should present a
g i f t to
a Japanese, he
wi
I I prob
ably put
the
gi f t
aside
and not
discuss i t .
Don't
urge
a
Japanese
to unwrap
a
gift-wrapped
package whi Ie you look on.
The
Japanese
I
ike
to
open g i f t s
in
priva te .
Conversation.
When a
Japanese
person
is speaking to you,
even
i f
you are conversing in Engl ish , you would do wei 1 to nod
and say
words
of
acknowledgment
often .
You
wi II see how im-
portant th i s
is
to
the Japanese i f
you watch them
converse
among themselves. The
pat tern
of much
Japanese
conversation
is one tha t Ii ngu i s t s ca II a conf i rmi ng
pat tern .
The
Japan
ese
often
I
ike
to
express
obvious
facts
in
only
a
tenta t ive
way and many sentences are ended with the
Japanese
equivalent
of i s n ' t i t? or don ' t you agree? Thus, when a Japanese
speaks,
he is accustomed to get t i
ng
frequent
nods and'
react ions
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CULTUR L
B CKGROUND
COURTESY
American-style
t ipping
in
Japan.
The
Japanese
are
especia l ly
t roubled by t ips offered in an open, obvious, or showy manner,
and in general are not
comfortable
even with t ips offered
quiet ly and discree t ly .
Receiving Change. When making purchases in Japanese s tores
you may notice tha t Japanese clerks do
not
count
change
for
customers
in
the way American clerks do. Japanese clerks
usually count change as they
remove
i t from the cash
reg i s t e rs .
Then
they
hand
the
sum
to
the
customer
without
bothering
to
go
through the count again for
the customer 's benef i t .
Japanese
customers make
mental
calcula t ions
of
the change they expect to
receive, then cast inconspicuous glances a t the money clerks
re turn to make sure the amount
is
correc t . Giving and receiving
change
in
th i s
manner resul ts from the Japanese
disdain for
f lashing money
in publ ic
places . Clerks do
not
mind if you
check the i r accuracy by counting
your
change upon receiving i t
but avoid spreading bi J Is or coins across a counter top,
for
example,
or counting or
otherwise
handl
ing your
money
in
any
way
tha t might invi te a t ten t ion .
Privacy.
Because Japan
is
a crowded country,
and because
o p po r
tun
i
t i e
s
for
p r i va c y for man y J a pan e
s e a r i
i
mit ed,
the
Japanese reta i n a so l id app rec i a t i on for the p r i vacy tha t is
avai
lable
to them, and for good
manners
when in trusions become
necessary.
mong the
Japanese,
foreign vis i to rs should always
be on the i r
best
behavior
where
matters
of privacy
are
concerned.
Like the Japanese, they should
make frequent
use of the
expres
sion sumim sen
( excuse
me ). They should always
knock
a t
doorways before enter i ng and a I ways avo i d i mpo l i t e I y i nter-
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See the Bank of Japan website:
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/note_tfjgs/note/valid/index.htm/
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/note_tfjgs/note/valid/index.htm/http://www.boj.or.jp/en/note_tfjgs/note/valid/index.htm/
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INVIT TIONS
I t is
not
real i s t i c
to
expect
to
be
invi ted into a Japanese
home
Such an inv i ta t ion
may be extended
to you during your
stay in Japan,
but
the
odds
are
agains t
i t . Many fore igners
who
have
resided
in
Japan
for years
have
never
been
ins ide
the
homes
of
close
Japanese f r iends .
This is not because of rudeness on
the par t of
the Japanese.
Rather, most Japanese
are
uncomfortable with the
thought
of
using the i r
homes
as places to en te r t a in gues ts .
Some
say
a reason
for
th i s
is
tha t
even more
than other
peoples around
the
world, the Japanese
I
ike to th ink
of
the i r
homes
as
informal
places to
re lax
from
the
tension
and formal
i ty
of
the i r
socia l
and working I ives .
The Japanese genera l ly
seem
re luctant
to
think
of t he i r homes as something other than
per
sona I or fam i I Y preserves .
Most Japanese
homes
are compact, and
many
householders
e s p e cia I I Y tho
sew
i t h sma I I
c
h i I d r
en may
con s id e r
the
i r
homes too
smal
I and
crowded for the kind of enter ta in ing they
would
I
ike to of fe r .
Also, since enter ta in ing guests very often includes
serving
a
meal,
many
Japanese feel tha t res taurants are be t te r places
to enter ta in
than
t he i r
homes. One
Japanese
notion
of
hospi
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CULTUR L
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INVIT TIONS
a
Japanese host
may not say so an invi ta t ion tha t he extends
might not apply to the wife of the individual whom he is in-
vi t ing
American men whose wives are with
them in Japan
should
check
with
hosts before accepting inv i ta t ions
Also an American in
Japan
should be spec if ic in any invi-
t a t ions he might
extend
to
Japanese.
If you expect a
Japanese
to
bring
his
wife
to
a
dinner
or
party
be
sure
you
have
made
th i s c lear to him. ome
Japanese
men and the i r wives are un-
accustomed to at tending dinners and par t ies
toge ther
and both
husband and wife might be
uncomfortable if
you
ins i s t
tha t
they
do so.
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HOW
TO BE GOO GUEST
You
may not
receive
an
inv i ta t ion
to
enter
a private
res i
dence during
your
s tay in
Japan
but
the
fol lowing notes can
help
you to be
the kind of guest
with whom the
Japanese wi
I I
be
comfortable
whether
you
are
vis i t ing them
a t
home
or
e lse
where.
Removing
Shoes.
Remember tha t the Japanese do not
approve
of the
wearing of
shoes
in
some indoor se t t ings . Most
notably
they
are offended by
the thought of shoes worn inside
the i r
homes a
prac t ice tha t most Japanese
associa te with
the
t rack
ing in of d i r t
dust grime and mud from
outdoors .
The
Japan
ese
remove the i r shoes upon
entering
a residence of ten a t a
small
alcove
cal led
a
genkan
The
pract ice
of removing shoes
before
entering extends to
some
other
places besides
pr iva te
residences such
as
some
t rad i t iona l -s ty le res taurants . So whenever invi ted
out
be
sure to note upon arrival whether guests have removed the i r
shoes
and be
prepared
to remove
yours.
Bathing.
I t is possible tha t if you v i s i t a Japanese home
your
host
might
extend
to
you
an
invi ta t ion
to
bathe.
You
should
not
take th i s as a comment on any suspected
lack of
cleanl iness
on your
part . Bathing
to
the Japanese can
be an opportunity
to
relax
as
much
as
to get clean. Offering a guest a
refreshing
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CULTUR L
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OW TO BE GOOD GUEST
Here are some notes that
can
help make you a good dinner
guest in
Japan.
Rice. Never underestimate the signif icance
that r ice
can
have-rDr the Japanese.
Of
al
I foods consumed in Japan, r ice
is
the most basic .
Gohan
is
the Japanese name for pla in steamed r ice tha t
is ready to be eaten (the Japanese have other names for un
cooked
r i ce for the r ice
plant
i t se l f and for other r ice
dishes) .
Long-grained white r ice
is
the
variety most favored
by the Japanese for making gohan, and
every
Japanese acquires
a
refined
sense
of
t as te for gohan cooked
to
jus t the
r ight
softness and texture . To many Japanese a mea l s hard I y com-
plete without
a t leas t
one steaming bowl
of gohan, and
i t
is
so essent ia l to Japanese
eat ing
habi ts
that
the word is some
t imes
used
to
mean
food in
general .
n
indicat ion
of the s igni f icance of gohan
is
to be noted
in
the
fac t
that
the
Japanese
words
for breakfast ,
I
unch, and
supper are each formed from
combinations
of the word for
morn i
ng
asa), noon hiru), or
even
i
ng yugata), and the
word
gohan. Breakfast is
asa-gohan
(often
shortened
to
asahan),
lunch
is
hiru-gohan
(or hiruhan), and
supper
is yu-gohan
(or
yuhan)
One popular
box
lunch sold in
Japan consis ts
of nothing
more
than
an individual portion of gohan
served
in a shallow
rectangular t ray with a bright red plum placed in the center .
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CULTUR L
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OW
TO
BE GOOD GUEST
You def in i te ly should not
announce
a dis tas te for r ice
when a bowl of i t is being passed your way.
True, most
Japanese
can accept tha t foreigners have t as tes
dif ferent from
the i r s .
But
to
the
Japanese,
not I
iking
r ice
is unusual indeed. To
add
to
the strangeness
of th i s by
say-
i
ng
outr i ght tha t one does not l ike
r i ce
espec i a I I Y when
i t
is being served
during
a meal,
can
be
regarded
as
astonishingly
rude.
There
is
one blunder tha t foreigners
sometimes
commit
when
dining with Japanese tha t
can
t rouble the i r hosts even
more
than
refusing r ice and tha t is accepting
a
serving of r ice
and then
asking for the wrong
thing to
put
on
i t .
Butter
or
sugar, for
example, is
commonly
added to
steamed
r ice when i t is served
in
Western count r ies but the
Japanese,
I
ike
many
other
Asians, f ind the
combination of
e i ther
of
these
with r ice to be almost
sickening.
You wou I d do we I I to
add
noth i ng
a t
a I I
to
r ice tha t is
served to you by
Japanese
hosts unless i t is something you
notice your hosts adding to
the i r s . Many
Japanese are apt
to
be si lent ly
disturbed
even if more than a few drops of soy
sauce shoyu),
probably
the
most
favored condiment
in
Japanese
dining, is
sprinkled
upon a serving
of
gohan.
Port ions.
I t
is the
Japanese
way to
serve
a meal
using
severa
I
sma
I I pla tes and bow I s for each
diner , ra ther than
heaping servings of di f fe ren t foods on a
s ingle
pla te as
in
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CULTUR L
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OW TO BE GOOD GUEST
In Japanese, ois i i means tas ty or del iclous, and the
word
is
often repeated around a table several t imes by well
mannered guests a t
a Japanese
meal.
Appearance
of food. No
people in
the world are
more
con
cerned than the Japanese about arranging foods
to
be
appetizing
and colorful on a pla te . I t
is
sometimes remarked tha t the
Japanese
eat with
the I r eyes as we I I as
with
the i r
mouths.
Almost
always
the
Japanese
make a
special
ef for t
to
make
foods
look
good
to guests .
comp I iment, therefore ,
about
the
appearance
of a serving
of food before i t is eaten
can hardly fai I
to appeal to
Japanese
sens i t iv i t i e s .
Chopsticks. Silverware is usually avai lable in
Japanese
restaurants
and in many Japanese homes
if
you request i t ,
but
for
eat ing Japanese-style
meals
the
Japanese
use hashi (chop
s t icks) . You can learn
to
use hashi expert ly
with
only a
I i t t l e prac t ice .
For
Japanese-sty
I e mea Is, the Japanese genera I I Y need no
other
utensi
Is,
since
such
foods
are
always cut
into bi te -s ize
morsels
by
the
person who
prepares them.
When
using
hashi,
bi te -s i ze
items should
be
raised
from
the pla te to the mouth,
but
the best way to tackle a bowl of
gohan
is to pick up the bowl from
the
table .
Hold
the
bowl
near
your mouth with one hand and use your chopsticks with
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CULTUR L
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TO
BE
A
GOOD GUEST
Att i tudes toward drinking. Alcohol ic
drinks,
especia l ly
beer and s ke (Japanese r ice wine), are popular with Japanese-
s tyle meals. If you are
invited
to drink when being served a
meal
or
on
any other occasion,
some
knowledge of Japanese a t t i -
tudes toward drinking may
be
helpful .
mong men an
invi ta t ion
to drink s ke or any other drink
is not an offer to refuse casual ly. Many Japanese can be
offended by refusals
of
such
invi ta t ions,
al though they are
not
apt to say so. Drinking and
relaxed
social izing are close-
ly l inked, in the minds of many Japanese men and a refusal
to drink without some good excuse can be interpreted as a
reject ion
of
the i r company.
The
hos t s
suggest i on.
n
Amer i can host
may
typ i ca I I Y ask
a
guest
to name the kind of drink he might prefer , and be
prepared
to
serve or
mix
any
of
several
kinds of
drinks.
A
Japanese
host, however, is
more
apt to suggest something
speci-
f ic that
he would I
ike
to
serve to you.
Whether a
hos t s suggestion is to drink s ke or something
e lse , you should
regard
the offer as something more than a mere
suggestion, and you
should not announce
a
preference for
some
other drink.
Refi
l Is .
If
you
are
being served
any
alcohol
ic
drink,
including beer, allow your
host
to pour your drink
for
you
and
also to ref i l l
your gla ss. mong Japanese
i t
is general ly
understood
that
a good
host wi
I I be
a t t en t ive
to the
cups
and
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND
OW TO BE GOOD
GUEST
On the other hand despi te the discipl ined way they
general
ly go
about the
serving of dr inks many
Japanese
do enjoy heavy
drinking as
nat ional
s t t i s t i c s on alcohol consumption reveal .
Women in Japan are
expected
to refr in from
drinking
in
toxica t ing
amounts but
i t
is
widely
accepted
in Japan
th t
men are f ree
to
seek
re
Iease from the tens ions
of everyday l i fe
by
drinking heavi
Iy.
Probably
more
so than most Americans
~ s t Japanese can accept
with
understanding the behavior of
men who
are drunk in publ ic.
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FOO S
If you are unfami I iar
with Japanese foods
you
should
sample the
dishes and
styles
of cooking for which Japan is
world
famous. Simple t h r i f t
might be
one in i t ia l reason
for
you
to
do
so.
ome American tour i s t s re turn
from
Japan with t a les of
outrageous res taurant
prices.
The cost of dining
out
can
indeed be
high in Japan but
many
Americans
go
wrong
by
dining
on
steak
and other favori te American
foods
during the i r stay
and do not
consider
the possible
scarci ty
of
such foods
In
Japan.
Knowing
how to
dine
inexpensively
in
Japan
begins
with
knowing some basic
facts
about
Japanese eat ing
habi ts .
You should know for example that the people
of Japan re ly
heavi l yon
seafood as
a
source of protein.
The
Japanese
have
always had
easy
access to the sea and
they
lack
abundant
grass
land for grazing animals. Beef
p r ~
and
other meats have not
been as important to the average Japanese
as
to the average
American and t rad i t iona l ly meals with meat
were
served only
on
special
occasions
in
Japan.
The Japanese depend a great deal on r ice; potatoes
and
some
of
the Western array of
foodstuffs
made
from
wheat f lour
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CULTUR L
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FOODS
Apart
from
the
food
a t
fast -food restaurants
and
a t some
American-style
coffee shops ktssa-ten) , American
fare
in Japan
can
be extremely expensive. For tha t matter,
most
of the
internat ional restaurants
of
Japan, which
special
ize, for
example, in the
foods
of France, I ta ly or Mexico, while not
exact ly hard to
f ind in
the larger c i t i e s of Japan, are also
qui te
expensive. Some Chinese res taurants in
Japan
are ex
cept ions.
Many
of
these
are
qui te
expensive,
but
many
others
are not, since Chinese food is
qui te
popular
among
the common
people of
Japan.
I t
is
t rue
that
the Japanese
themselves
pay heavi Iy
for
some of
the
exot ic spec ia l t i es of Japanese
cooking
served
a t
f i r s t -c la s s
res tcurants .
And as
in
the
United Sta tes
some
res taurants in
Japan
can be very expensive
simply because of
the luxurious surroundings tha t they offer to
diners .
n ent i re category of
luxurious
res taurants bars , and
other places of enter tainment in Japan
is
priced
far
beyond
the range of ord
i
nary
wage
earners, and rea
II y
exi s t s
on I y
for
cl
ients
with expense accounts or some other source
of nearly
unl
imited spending power. Some Japanese
businessmen wield
. expense accounts
that would boggle the
minds of the i r counter
parts in other countr ies . Some of the most generous
expense
accounts to be found anywhere in the
world are
part of the
salary
s t ruc ture
for
managerial
posi t ions
in
Japanese business
and industry , and those
who
have them are famous for making
ful
I
use of
them
to enter ta in business associa tes and guests
in lavish s ty le unmindful of the cos ts .
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND FOODS
kinds of seafood, and
sometimes chicken,
are also used. Deep
f r ied along with
these
are
mushrooms,
chunks of onions, chunks
of sweet potatoes, and sl
ices
of peppers
and
other vegetables .
Domburi l i t e ra I I Y means bow I , but when a
Japanese
orders
tanin-domburi or oyako-domburi, he
is asking
for a bowl of
gohan
topped with
an
omelettel ike
mixture
of cooked egg,
meat,
and
vegetables .
Tanin-domburi
is topped
with a b e e f a ~ d e g g mix
ture ( ingredients considered unre la ted , the I i t e ra l
meaning
of
tanin ;
oyako-domburi
is topped
with an egg-and-chicken mix
ture ( ingredients considered
parent
and chi ld ) . Other kinds
of
domburi
are tendon ( f r ied shrimp on
r ice)
and
katsudon
(pork
cut le t on
r i ce) .
The
Japanese
I
ike marinated meats cut in th in sl ices .
Teriyaki
is marinated beef; y k j tor i is marinated chicken.
These
are
often skewered
and
roasted
and
then served on s t i cks
six or eight inches
long.
Udon and soba are names for two popular types
of
long
noodles which are general ly served hot in a
th in
broth with
bi ts of
meat
and vegetables and seasoning. Udon is noodles
made from wheat f lour ; soba i s darker-colored noodles made
from buckwheat f lour . A
large
bowl of udon or soba is a con
venient ,
inexpensive,
and
therefore popular lunch in Japan.
S ~ s h i can be any
of
a
var ie ty of bi te - s ize
por t ions of
pressed
go
han to which bi t s of seafood
or pickled
vegetables
have been added. Sushi is served
cold.
A few drops of
mi
Id
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND
FOODS
ably priced shops
which
special
ize
in preparing them,
usually
to the exclusion of other menu
i tems.
In
Japanese,
ya
added
to the end of a word can mean store or shop, and when i t
is added to names for
foods
such as
soba,
yaki tori , or s ~ s i
soba-ya,
yaki tor i -ya
sushi-ya) ,
the
new word in
each
case
means a shop
that
spec i a Ii zes in prepari ng tha t food.
At
one time i t
was
the
Japanese
way to
dine only on low
tables raised
I i t t l e more than a
foot from the
f loor ,
with
diners
seated on f loor cushions zabuton). Woven straw
mats
tatami)
covered the f loors of most rooms in Japanese houses,
including
rooms used
for dining.
Some Japanese retain
t radi t ional
furnishings for dining at
home but increasingly
in modern Japan the use of Western-style
tables and chai rs
seems to be considered more
convenient.
mong
res taurants
only the
more
expensive
ones,
notably
the
t radi t ional
countryside inns ryokan), are apt to s t r ive to
provide al I furnishings
and
decor associated
with
t radi t ional
Japanese
dining. Most shokudo and special ty
shops
are out
f i t t ed much I
ike
American
res taurants with
t ab les chairs, and
counters .
With
almost
any
food
the Japanese serve hot tea o-aha).
Both sof t drinks and mi Ik
are
consumed in Japan, especial ly
by
young
people,
but
they
general ly
do
not
complement
t radi t ional
dishes, in the Japanese view.
mong adul ts cold beer
or
warmed sake
is
popular with most
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CULTUR L
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FOODS
Many Japanese
do not seem especia l ly in teres ted in desserts as
a
f inish
to a meal
cons is t ing
of
Western-s tyle foods and seem
to
think tha t such desser ts as pie or ice
cream
are rea l ly
bet te r
as
between-meal
snacks.
Two young guests a t a Japanese inn enjoying the i r dinner
which
is
served
in the i r room. The kimono they are wearing
is
fur
nished by the inn.
Image: Tomo/shishamo72 Date: 29 August 2009cc-by-2.0
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CONVERS TIONS
YOU
MIGHT
GET
INTO
Because
you
speak
Engl
ish,
some Japanese might regard you
as a
loarning resource.
Engl
ish
is by
far the most popular
foreign
language s tudied in
Japan, and many
Japanese begin
studying
Engl ish in
junior
high school and continue studying
i t
in
univers i t i es .
Other Japanese enrol
I
in pr iva te
language
schools
tha t special
ize
in Engl ish , and in
Japanese
magazines
you
can
see
advert isements for
home-study
courses
in
Engl
ish
conversat ion.
Don't be
surpr ised i f
a
Japanese
introduces
himself to
you
on the s t ree t and asks
i f
he
may pract ice
the Engl ish he
has
learner . This happens
frequently to
Americans in
Japan,
and
some
Japanese
have
been
known to offer Americans the i r services
as
on-the-spot
tour guides around
Japanese c i t i e s
in exchange
for the
opportunity
to sharpen the i r English-speaking ski I Is .
Except perhaps when
they
want to pracfice the i r Engl
ish,
most Japanese
probab I y wi I I be very
interested
in
any
ef for t
on your
par t
to
use the i r
language. They
will gladly help
you
in your at tempts
and
encourage
you with compl
iments.
In
fac t ,
some Americans f ind
Japanese praise of
the i r
lan
guage abi
I
i t ie s
a
bi t
overwhelming. Some
Japanese
may be
so
happi Iy
surpr ised to
hear
you speak
Japanese tha t they
wi I I
make a
great
fuss
about
your language
ski
l i s ,
however
l imited
they may
be.
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WH T
THE J P NESE
DO
FOR FUN
American influence on Japanese ways of I i fe has
been
very
st rong.
n American in Japan can
hardly
fai
I
to notice tha t
the Japanese
enjoy
themselves
by
doing
many
of
the same
things
Americans do. Mi II ions
of
Japanese
seem
to l ike
American
popu-
lar
music, t e lev i s ion shows, and movies ful ly as much as
simi
lar
Japanese
enter ta i nment.
Like Americans, mi
II ions
of
Japanese
love
basebal Ii
they spend
summers preoccupied
with
Li t t le
League games and with
the
ups and downs of the i r favori te pro-
fessional teams
and players .
However,
a Japanese who enjoys
these
things may also enjoy
par t ic ipa t ing in Japanese fes t iva l s
of
ancient or igin, and
may
enjoy
pract icing
or
appreciat ing
ar t s and craf t s
deeply
rooted in Japanese
t rad i t ion . The same
Japanese may also
en-
joy such past imes
as
photography and golf ,
which
are very popu-
lar in
modern Japan, and
he
may
I
ike to frequent paahinko par-
lors , playing
the ver t ica l
pinball
machine game which
mt
II ions
of Japanese enjoy.
s in few other countr ies , I i fe in modern
Japan
combines
the very old
with
the very new and foreign influences with
t rad i t ion .
No
one can
get
to
know
the
Japanese
very
wei I
with-
out
knowing about the i r
diversi ty , and
some
ins ights
can
come
from knowing
how they have
fun.
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CULTURAL BACKGROUND
FUN
umo
is
a
t radi t ional
Japanese
wrestl
ing contest
that
seems
to a t t rac t vi r tua l ly no in te res t
outside Japan, but
among
Japanese the sport fo II ows
close
I y af te r
baseba
I
l n specta tor
populari ty.
umo wrest lers t ra in to achieve great body proport ions and
weight in addi t ion to s t rength . After ceremonious
int roduct ions,
man-to-man
grappl
ing takes place in
a small
c i rcu lar
r ing.
Japan s networks t e l ev i se sumo
year-round
a t regular in ter-
vals , covering
six major
sumo tournaments,
each held annually
in a
different
region of Japan and each las t ing 5 days.
Japanese masters teach martial ar t s such as
judo karate
and
aikido
to the world. Many Japanese enjoy watching
and
pract ic ing
these
very disc ipl ined,
t radi t ional
forms of unarmed
self-defense.
On the other hand, to judge from the number of
t e lecas t s ,
the Japanese also enjoy watChing brawls known as kick-boxing
contests,
in which combatants
use
the i r
feet
for kicking
as
we
I I as
gloved
f i s t s for punch i ng. The Japanese seem to have
learned th i s sport by see ing i t pract iced
in
Thailand.
The
Japanese
have accepted the game of vo I Ieyba I I as a
spectator sport
in
ways
yet
to
be
equa
II
ed by sports
fans
in
the Un i
ted States
and in
other
countr Ies. When Japanese vo I Iey
ba I I teams
t rave
I ab road, they se I
dom
f ind worthy compet i t ion
anywhere.
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND
UN
Notable Japanese addi t ions to ski
lodge amenitIes are
nearby hot spr ings for
bathing.
Onsen is the
Japanese
word
for natural warm-water
springs which
exi s t
in
large
numbers
not only in the
mountains but
also throughout the i s lands.
Bui Iding ski
lodges
near
onsen,
so tha t skiers can
conveniently
relax warm themselves and recover from fa t igue in t radi t ional
Japanese
fashion is
an
example
of
how
the
Japanese
can happi Iy
combine foreign ideas with the i r own and achieve
unique resul t s .
The
actual
number of onsen in
Japan
is est imated a t about
13 000 a I though not a II of them are of temperatures su I tab Ie
for bathing.
Many onsen,
however
are of
temperatures that could hardly
be more
ideal for bathing and the waters of several
hundred
of them have
high
minerai
content
reputed
to
be of
health
value
to those
who regularly immerse
themselves in them. Therefore
both
the
good
clean
fun of
bathing
and
the
supposed
curat ive
propert ies
a t t rac t
many Japanese to onsen, and resor t towns
cal
led
onsen
maahi have
grown up
around
some
major hot spring
locat ions to
accommodate
the
vis i to rs who
flock to them.
Bathing. The Japanese place a high value on
personal
cleanl iness
but
the fact tha t
bathing
amounts to something of
a national
pastime
in Japan does
not
resu l t from concern about
mere
clean
I i
ness.
I n a
bath
o- furo) , most
Japanese
seek
a I
so
re laxat ion
and warming rei ief from the chi I I of winter or the
swelter ing heat of summer. Sometimes in
public bathing Ben to ) ,
a
bath provides
an
opportunity for soc ia l iz ing.
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND
FUN
aff luent
Japanese today
seem less
wi
I I ing
than
the
Japanese of
a few generations
ago
to I ive in homes without
pr ivate
baths.
Some good publ
ic bathhouses
remain in business today, however.
At bathhouses, separate faci I
i t l e s
are
used
by men and women
After scrubbing and r ins ing, patrons
soak
together in a large
bath
which
may equal a swimming
pool in
size . Bathhouse
patrons are
almost
al I
regular customers.
Other
le isure-t ime
ac t iv i t i e s .
The Japanese
watch
a
lot
of
t e lev i s ion and many homes have two or more se t s including
a t least one
color
set . Even an American
who
understands
l i t t l e
or no
Japanese
can
f ind
Japanese te levis ion fasc ina t ing.
For
one thing,
Japanese te lecas t ing is
remarkably sharp and
c l ea r
and
the
visual experience
alone
is in terest ing. Also
of
in ter-
est
are
the
several American t e lev i s ion
ser i es tha t
are broad
cast
in
Japan
af te r
having been
dubbed
into Japanese. Some
of
these
are
qui te popular in Japan,
among
Japanese
in al l walks
of I
i fe . For
example,
during
a 1975
v i s i t
to the United
Sta tes
Japan s emperor reportedly expressed a special in te res t in
meeting
the
actor
who portrayed his
favor i te
pol
ice detect ive
hero in an American te levis ion ser i es .
To
an American, Japanese
comedy,
drama and adventure
ser ies
quiz shows, and
commercial
advert ising may have a fami I iar look,
brought about
by American influence on
Japanese t e lev i s ion en
tertainment.
But
many
in te res t ing
differences
a lso
ex i s t
making
Japanese
te levis ion a unique hybrid.
Also,
an
American interested in
the
Japanese
language
can
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CULTUR L B CKGROUND
UN
You wi probably not ice
during
your
s tay
tha t the Japanese
ike to pose
for
group
photographs.
Often a s t ranger is ap-
proached and asked if
he
wi
kindly
use a member s
camera to
photograph
a group
of
f r iends
s wi
ing
as
the Japanese often are
to
pose, many are
t roubled
by photographers
who
at tempt
candid shots, and regard
such
at tempts as
infringements
on the i r privacy.
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E RTHQU KES
True to
popular
bel ief
earthquakes j i s h in ) do occur often
in Japan. However, a
vis i to r
is
not
ikely
to
experience
a
severe
one.
n the course
of
a
year
a dozen or so quakes
may
be
serious
enough to r a t t l e household or of f ice furnishings,
but
even
these are
more
ikely to
occur
in
the countryside
than
in
the urban
areas where most
people ive.
City residents also
have the assurance
that major
cons t ruct ion
in Japan s
urban
areas has
for the
past several
years been carr ied out
according
to
some of
the
world s
f inest
ear thquake-proof ing technology.
More s ta r t l ing to some Americans than an earthquake
i t se l f
is
the Japanese reaction when a tremor is f e l t . any Japanese
promptly evacuate
rooms,
stand between doorjambs or duck under
desks
or
tables
in
a ref lex ive
reaction
to what might happen
in a severe quake. any Japanese are t rained
from
chi
Idhood
to take such
precautions,
and although
they may appear
panic
str icken to Americans, they are
rea l ly
react ing only out of
habi t .
Obtain spec if ic
recommendations
about what to do in
the
event of an earthquake both
a t
your place
of
work and in your
iving
quarters .
Don t
be
fazed
by
the
react ions
of
others i f
an earthquake should occur.
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TR VEL
WITHIN
J P N
Japan has impressive s t re tches of
superhighway,
and
many
Japanese
own private
automobiles.
Most,
however, rely
on publ
ic
t ranspor ta t ion.
With gasol
ine and
other petroleum products
priced three
or
more t imes as high as in the
United
s ta tes ,
most
Japanese cannot
afford to operate
private
automobiles,
even
though mass production of
well-made, fue l -e f f ic ien t
cars
is
a major Japanese industry.
J a pan e s e pub I i c t ran s p r t a t ion i s fa mo u s for i t s e f f i c i en c
y •
World-famous bul le t
t ra ins
connect some major population
centers . They are recognized as the world s fas tes t passenger
t ra ins , reaching speeds
of up to
130
miles
per hour. Other
t ra ins
make
rai
I
t ravel
possible to
pract ical ly all
parts
of
Japan and also
of fe r courteous
service
and comfort.
Interurban
t ra in ,
subway and bus service
is
general ly
extensive
in
all
s izable Japanese
c i t i e s .
Although publ ic
t ranspor ta t ion is plent i ful
in Japan, and
runs
dependably on schedule, commuter
t ranspor ta t ion
in
the
larger c i t i e s can be extremely crowded during
rush
hours. The
t ra ins
that
I ink
distant
c i t i e s also can be
qui te crowded
dur
i
ng
Japanese
ho I i
days.
Japanese
workdays in most of f ices and fac tor ies begin and
end a t about
the
same hours as in
the
United Sta tes , but com-
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HOLID YS ND FESTIV LS
The Japanese
celebrate
2
national
hoi
idays
each year. As
with national
hoi
idays in the United s ta tes and elsewhere, in
Japan these are
days
se t aside to honor persons or
inst i tu t ions
or
to
commemorate events of great s ignificance
in
the
I ife of
the nation. Japanese
government
off i ces , schools , banks, and
some private
businesses
remain
closed
on
national holidays.
In addit ion to
national
hoi idays,
the
Japanese celebrate a
calendar of matsuri fes t iva l s )
every
year.
These are not
of f ic ia l ly sanctioned
by
the
Japanese
government
as
national
events .
Almost
al l
matsuri began as regional celebrat ions , and
remain so, with only a few celebrated
throughout
Japan. How-
ever ,
many
matsuri
are
we
I I known among a I I
the
peop
I e
of Japan
and
receive
considerable
national at tent ion. For
local folk in
some
parts
of Japan, an
annua
I matsuri can be the I
ivel
ies t ,
most eagerly
awaited,and
most
careful ly
planned celebrat ion of
the year.
Japan 's national hoi idays and some important matsuri are
given chronologically in the following l i s t ing .
January 1-4.
New
Year 's
Day
(January
I)
is
a
national
hoi iday, but
f es t iv i t i e s las t
through
January
4.
The Japanese
term for the ent i re ho I i day i nterva l s
s h ~ g a t s J i ,
and i t ran ks
h i g h i n
imp
0 r tan c e amon g
ann
u a I c e I e bra t ion s for a I I J a pan e s e •
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CULTURAL
BACKGROUND
HOLIDAYS ND FESTIVALS
February 1-5. Snow Festival
yuki-matsuri)
in Sapporo.
Since the beginning of th i s fes t iva l
in
the 19505, the people
of th is
principal
ci ty
of Hokkaido have every
year
been
con
s t ruc t ing elaborate
snow
and ice sculptures
in the i r downtown
Odori
Park. Nowadays about 200
such sculptures are
created
for th i s
fes t ival , some of them
small
and f inely deta i led,
others
massive.
Colored I
ighting
ef fec t s are added during
evenings, and shows and events are staged.
February
II .
National Foundation Day (a national hoi iday).
Ca
II ed kenkoku
no hi
in Japanese, th
is
day ce Iebrates
the
founding of Japan
by
the
legendary Emperor J immu in 660 B.C.
March 3. Doll Fest iva l . The Japanese
call
th i s celebra
t ion hina-matsur i . I t
is
held nationwide and
is
also known as
Girls '
Day. I t is
celebra ted
with
displays
of
ceremonial
dolls (not toy dol l s ) , for which the Japanese word is hina
ningyo. Many households
display
se ts of dol
Is which
depict
Japan's emperor,
empress, and
imperial
cour t .
Hina-ningyo are
often
fami Iy
heirlooms. Par t ies are customari
Iy given by
young
gi r l s
on th i s day.
March 2 or 22. Vernal
Equinox
Day (a
national
hoi
iday).
The time
of
the vernal equinox-- that time in
spr ing
when
days
and nights become of
exactly
equal length-- is
of
rei igious
significance
to
some
Japanese,
reminding
them
of
Q
dividing
I
ine
between I i fe in
th i s world
and
the af te r l i fe . Graves are
vis i ted and decorated on th i s day, and for some Japanese i t is
a I
so
a
day
to ref Iect on
the
wonders of natu
re ,
espec i a I I y
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CULTUR L
B CKGROUND
HOLID YS
ND
FESTIVALS
May
5. Chi Idren 's Day (a national hoi iday).
This
hoi
iday,
ko omo
no i in
Japanese,
honors the ch I dren of Japan and
ca
II s
a t tent ion to
proper
gra t i tude of chi Idren to parents .
Boys' Day
Fest
i va I ( i n Japanese, tango no sekk-p.). The
f i f th day
of
the
f i f th
month is
also
the
t radi t ional
date for
th i s fes t iva l ,
from
which the Children 's Day holiday has
been
adapted. For many Japanese, May 5 remains Boys' Day, the time
when fami I
ies
honor
the i r
male
offspring
and
wish
them
healthy,
successfu
I I
ives.
Throughout
Japan, fami
I ies
with young
sons
hoist carp streamers --Iarge cloth or paper representat ions
of
th i s
respected f ish--which bi I low
in
the wind. The Japanese
name for these
streamers
is koinobori , and they are seen a t
many
other t imes of
the
year also.
July 7.
Star Fest ival tanabata-matsur i ) . This
fes t ival ,
celebrated in
many
par ts of
Japan on
the seventh day
of
the
seventh
month,
has
grown
out
of
an
ancient
Chinese
legend
about
two
lovers
destined
to meet somewhere
among the
s ta rs of
the
Mi Iky Way on th i s
day
throughout e te rn i ty .
This
is a very old
fes t iva l in
Japan,
and in
the c i ty
of
Sendai,
in northern Honshu,
i t
is celebrated on an
especia l ly
large scale (although th i s
famous Sendai celebrat ion usual ly takes place during
August).
Many
t radi t ional
papercraft ski l i s
are
used to crea te the
streamers, Ianterns, pompons and
origami
(fo I ded paper f igures)
associated with th is
day in
Japan. Poems
writ ten
on colored
s t r ips
of paper
tanzakA)
are
seen hanging
on
branches
a t
the
gates of
houses
and gardens
on
th i s
day_
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CULTUR L
B CKGROUND
HOLID YS ND FESTIVALS
remains much the same in
th i s
combined Japanese version: the
honoring
of laborers and
of
the
commitment
to
hard
work, plus
grat i tude for material blessings.
December 25. Christmas. Chr is t i an i ty is not a dominant
rel igion in Japan,
but
i t s
influence
is s trong. Most Japanese,
however,
enjoy Christmas
as a gi f t -g iv ing occasion. For th i s
purpose, the
Japanese have
adopted many of
the customs
of
Western
countr ies
to
celebra te
Christmas, including
simi
lar
hoi
iday decorat ions and Christmas t rees .
Many Japanese
com
panies
choose th i s
time of year
to
award
employees
the second
of
two annua I
bonuses
customar i I y pa i d to workers in Japan.
Chrisimas
shopping
sprees have become as common in
Japan
as
in
the
United Sta tes .
December 31. misoka means the Ias t
grand
day. The
Japanese
end the year by concluding business t ransac t ions ,
pay n 9
deb
t
5,
and
ex
c han
gin
9
yea
r
end
g i f t
5 •
No
0
die
s hop s
are
at
the i r
busies t , supplying
the t radi t ional
demand
for
noodles
to celebrate
the
end of the year.
Many Japanese
stay awake
unti I midnight
to
hear temple
bel ls
to l l 108
t imes,
according
to
custom, and
some go to shrines and temples
for an
ear ly
s ta r t on
New
Year 's
fe s t iv i t i e s .
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QU Z
a rk each
of
the fo
I low i
ng statements e i ther
t rue
or fa
Ise.
Then
check your answers
with the
key.
I. Because Japan has become a
crowded nation most
Japanese have lost much of
the i r
concern
for
the
pr i -
vacy
of
others .
2.
A Japanese acquaintance
wi
II
more I
ikely
invi te you to a
meal
a t
a
res taurant
than
to
a meal prepared and served
a t
his
home
3.
Japan
has
been invaded and
conquered several
times in
the
las t 1 000 years .
4.
If
you invi te a married
Japanese
male
to
attend
a
par ty or dinner he will
surely assume
that
his
wife
is welcome
to attend
True
False
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CULTUR L
B CKGROUND
9
A
J a pan e s ew j
I I
pro b a b
I Y
want
to open
a
gi f t -
wrapped
package
upon re-
ceiving i t
whi Ie
the
person who gave
the
g i f t
looks
on.
10 Eng
l i s
is the fore i g n
language
most
commonly
studied by
the
Japanese.
II . The
Japanese are
qu
i te
open
in compl imenting
hosts on
foods that
are well
prepared.
12. The land area
of
Japan
is
about equal in
s ize
to
tha t of Ca I ; forn; a.
13. If you buy a bowl
of
Japanese
noodles
i t
is
okay to s ip
the
broth
from
the bowl i t se l f
14. Baseball
is
a very
popular sport among
the Japanese.
QUIZ
True
False
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CULTURAL
BACKGROUND
19 waitress in a typical
Japanese
res taurant
wi
II
probably
think you are a
cheapskate if
you do not
leave her a
5 percent
t ip
20
You
should
allow
a Japanese
host
an
opportuni ty to re-
fi I I your s ke cup
for
you
instead
of ref i l l i ng i t for
yourself
21 To refuse to eat a number
of
foods
impresses many
Japanese as
a
sign of
sophis t ica t ion
22 Leaving
uneaten
food
on
a pla te
is apt
to be con-
sidered a serious social
wrong by most Japanese
QUIZ
True
False
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CULTUR L
B CKGROUND
QU Z K Y
Key
I •
False
12
True
2
True
13 True
3 False
14 True
4
False
I 5 • False
5
False
16
True
6
False
17
True
7 • True
I8 True
8 False
19
False
9
False
20 True
10 True
2 I
False
I I •
True
22
True
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BIBLIOGR PHY
Many
excel lent
books
on Japan are avai lable in
l ibrar ies
and
bookstores,
including books by Western authors and
t rans
la t ions
of books original ly publ ished
by Japanese authors .
Book-length studies are
avai
lable on many
spec if ic aspects
of
Japanese
cul ture
and
periods
of his tory. The
fol
lowing
books,
however,
are
recommended
for
the i r
general
in te res t
to
foreign
res idents in
Japan
and
for
the i r easy ava i lab i l i ty .
Condon, John, and Kurata, Keisuke, In Searah
o
What s Japanese
about Japan.
Shufunotomo
Company of Tokyo, 1977.
n in terest
ing study of many facets
of
Japanese cul ture with photographs,
by a
professor
a t
the
Internat ional Christ ian Universi ty
in
suburban
Tokyo.
De Menthe, Boye, P s and Q s
for Travelers in
Japan.
Shufunotomo Company of Tokyo, 1974. A I ively book
of
informal
advice, especia l ly good for f i r s t - t ime v is i to r s by
an
American
with a long career in Japan.
Forbis, i I I iam H., Japan Today. Harper
and
Row, 1975. Sub
t i t l ed People, Places and Power, th i s is a
useful inside
account
of
Japanese I
i fe
and thought by an American journal
i s t
who
has
special
ized
in
covering Japan.
Nagasawa, Kimiko, and Condon, Camy, Eating heap in Japan.
Shufunotomo
Company of
Tokyo,
1977. A
visual ly
appealing
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MODULE
GREETINGS
ND
INTRODU TIONS
I
O JECTIVES
pon completion
of t h i s
module you w
II be
able
to
I . greet someone
with
the appropr ia te expression in
the morning, af ternoon,
and
evening;
2.
in t roduce
two
persons to
each
o ther
3.
respond
appropr ia te ly
when
being int roduced;
4. say good-bye.
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GREETINGS
ND INTRODUCTIONS
P RT
2 VOCABULARY
The system of wri t ing Japanese used in t h i s course is
ca l led the Hepburn system. Pronuncia t ion
of
most of
the
l e t t e r s
presents no
d i f f i cu l t y
to
an
American. Those l e t t e r s or
combinat ions of l e t t e r s
considered
d i f f i c u l t to pronounce wi
I I
be
explained
in
t h i s
sec t ion
of
the
modules.
In Module you may have d i f f i c u l ty with
the
following:
I. When the l e t t e r n is the l a s t
l e t t e r
i t may sound somewhat l ike the n
in
s ing .
Miura-san
in a word
Listen:
2. When double l e t t e r s appear in a Japanese word as in
konnichiwa
3
the
sound
i s repeated . Think of
double
l e t t e r s
as having a
hyphen
between
them
and pronounce both l e t t e r s
d i s t i nc t l y .
Lis ten:
Kon-nichiwa
3.
The
l e t t e r s
with a bar above them and
a
3
are
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GREETINGS ND INTRODUCTIONS
PART
2
o h y ~ g o z i m s ~
good morning
konnichiwa good
day
kombanwa
good evening
kochirawa
t h i s
person)
sa n
Mr. ;
Mrs.
Miss
des t1
is ; am;
are
hajimemash/te
how
do
you do
dozo
yorosh/kt1
pleased
to meet
you
kochira koso
the
pleasure
i s
mine
dewa
mata
see
you
l a te r
j mata see you l a te r
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GREETINGS ND
INTRODUCTIONS P RT
3
3 NOTES
I. The
phrase
ohayo gozaimaBn l i t e ra
I I y mean s
i
t s
ea r ly .
This
gree t ing
is
not
genera l ly used a f te r about
ten o 'c lock in the morning.
Konniahiwa
l i t e ra l ly
means
as for today.
I t
is
used
from
about ten
o 'c lock
in the morning
unti
I
dusk.
Kombanwa means
good
evening and
is used
in
the
same way as
i t s Engl ish t r ans l a t i on .
2.
Although Americans customari Iy follow
a
greet ing
by
how
are you, the
Japanese
equivalent , o-genki
deB,
ka
is
not
used
by
persons
meeting for the f i r s t t ime. The phrase
is
used
by
f r iends
who
have
not
seen each
other
for
some
t ime.
3. The ending
-Ban
is added to
a
person ' s name. I t
may usual ly
be
t rans la t ed as Mr., Mrs.,
or
Miss.
-Ban
is
used
a f te r a
person 's
f i r s t name
or
l a s t name.
Note tha t
-Ban
shows
the
speaker ' s
respect
for
the
person
he
is speaking to or about. The
speaker ,
therefore ,
never uses
-Ban
with his
own name.
For example,
you would
cal l
your
f r iend
Tanaka-Ban
but
he
would
refer
to
himself
simply as Tanaka.
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GREETINGS ND INTRODUCTIONS
P RT
3
6. At a par ty or on the
s t r ee t
when you recognize a t
a
distance
someone
you know you
should f i r s t
nod
as
a
gesture of
recognit ion. s
you approach
or
are approached
by the
person
you greet him. General ly one
does not
shout
and
greet
another person at a dis tance in Japan
except
in some intimate groups
such as
young
s tudents .
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2006014327/
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GREETINGS AND
INTRODUCTIONS
PART
4
FLUENCY
DRILLS
I . Japanese, l ike
Engl ish,
has an expression for good
morn
i
ng --ohayo
gozaimasi. I t is
used
unt i I about
ten
o c lock in
the
morning.
If someone says ohayo g o z a i m a s ~
i t is
customary to
answer
ohayo gozaimasi. Now you wi I I
hear
the expression
three
t imes;
repeat
af te r
hearing i t
each
t ime.
o h a y ~ gozaimasli
o h a y ~
gozaimaski
ohayo gozaimasd
You
meet
Mr.
Naka
on
the
way to
work
in
the
morning:
Naka:
Ohayo g o z a i m a s ~
YOU
2. From
ten
o c lock
in the
morning
unt i
I dark, the most
common greet ing
is
konniahiwa. Konniahiwa
is also
the
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GREETINGS AND INTRODUCTIONS
PART 4
3. After dark
the
gree t ing is kombanwa and you
answer
with
kombanwa.
Listen
to
two
Japanese people
gree t ing
each
other when they meet
af te r
supper.
Naka:
Kombanwa.
Imai: Kombanwa.
Now
Imai
greets
you
a t 8:30 in
the
evening:
Imai:
Kombanwa.
YOU
4.
Japanese
has only one word for the English
words
Mr. ,
Mrs., and Miss. That wor