Asakusa or the ancient (and touristic) Tokyo

It's impossible to talk of a visit of Tokyo without talking of the district of Asakusa, a district of the North-East of the city which is full of tourists... which can be explained by the famous monuments it contains (as the Sensô-ji) and by the concentration of souvenirs shops.

A short visit of Asakusa

In Asakusa (cf. Usefull informations), the most common choice of tourists is to pass though the huge gate which should be on your right if you arrive from Asakusa Station. Its name is Kaminari-mon, the door of the Thunder which contains in its pilars two Gods (of wind, on your left, and of lightning, on your right). The most impressive thing was, for me, the big lantern under which you will have to pass and... the shoes you will find attached on the left pilar after passing the gate: this giant shoe was forgotten by a giant bouddha some years ago...

Le Kaminari-mon côté Namikase-dôri

Once you have passed the Kaminari-mon, you arrive in Namikase Dôri (or street), particularly animated... and full of tourists. This is not a surprise as all the shops sell souvenirs or O-miyage, in Japanese: it is a tradition in Japan where a travel is always followed by a distribution of gifts for all the people who were aware of your trip (your colleagues, friends and family). If you do not do it, even if you are a foreigner, it does not go down well. The street Namikase will let you prepare your come-back to your home country with a lot of traditional gifts from Japan: engravings, cats, chopsticks, small Japanese pastries, flags, key chains or fans...

La Namikase dôri

At the end of this chain of shops of 500 meters, a new gate, called Hôzô-mon, anounces the entrance of the shrine Sensô-ji or Asakusa Kannon (name of the divinity to who it has been erected). It is the most ancient and known Tokyo's shrine: it appears that it was founded in 628 by three fishermen before being built as we saw it now in 1692. Although it was destroyed during the World War 2, it was identically built again. It is surrounded by many buildings, as a pagoda of 5th floors, on your left. On your right, a little farther, you should find the Asakusa-Jinja, a sanctuary which has been made to thank the three fishermen who founded the Sensô-ji. This little shrine is the point from where the procession of the Sanja-matsuri, the biggest shintoist festival of the world, begins each year, on the 3rd weekend of may, also to thank the three fishermen. If you are not in Japan on may, maybe you will be at the beginning of april: on the 8th, there is the Flower day and many children parade at the Sensô-ji.

Hôzô-mon

Sensô-ji

The visit of Asakusa is already almost done. Then, you can decide to reach Yoshiwara (around 1,5 kilometers away at the North), a former district of brothels of Edo (the former name of Tokyo) or choose to lose yourself in the little streets all around Asakusa Station. If you have to go back to the station and to the gate Azuma (or Azumabashi), do not forget to look up and to notice the golden flame on the building of the famous brend of Japanese bier: Asahi... a piece which was realized by a French designer: Philippe Starck.

Wish you a good visit !

Marièke Poulat

Little story: O-mikuji

If the number of tourist is sometimes a problem when you visit a country, it can also be an advantage... For instance, at the Sensô-ji, you will be able to read O-mikuji (good fortune teller) in English to try this Japanese tradition for 100 yens (while most of the time these littles papers are in ancien Japanese). An O-mikuji is a little paper you can pick or choose thanks to an explained ritual (you have to shake a box to receive a numeroted stick which indicates you which drawer you have to open). The paper you receive announces your fortune... and if it is a bad one, you can give up your little paper in the court-yard of the shrine: therefore, the gods will forget you.

Un O-mikuji

Usefull informations

Access: To access Asakusa, you have two options:
Asakusa stop on the Toei Asakusa Line which is the closest station from the Kaminari-mon.
For those who chosed the JR Pass and who prefers the use of Yamanote Line, you can get off at Ueno Station and walk. Go outside on Higashi Ueno 3 Exit and take the street Asakusa-Dôri. Walk straight for about one kilometer and turn left on the street Namikase-Dôri: after 200 meters, you cannot miss the Kaminari-mon in front of you.

Take a look on Google Map

Make the map bigger

Accomodation: Located on the closest part of Tokyo from Narita Airport, there are a lot of facilities to stay at Asakusa for really reasonnable prices (around 2000 yens for a night without breakfast). You also can stay longer, for one week or more, as there are some discounts for long stays in some of these accomodations. These places can be really fun even though it is not always really confortable (dorm or private rooms for 1,2 or 3 people but it is more expansive). One of these inns is les auberges Khaosan.

International Museum of Manga (Kyoto)

Settled in a former primary school and surrounded by a parc made with synthetic grass to let people read a borrowed manga lying in it, International Museum of Manga of Kyoto is a haven of peace. Caution : fan of manga you could forget the world around you... and even more if you have some basis of japanese.

Museum Entrance

Visit of the museum

Open in 2006 by the city of Kyoto in collaboration with the Seika University, which offers a manga section, the museum has been settled in a former primary school. That is why its organisation is quite intricate. After crossing the courtyard of synthetic grass where lectors can lie to read when the weather is good, we arrive in the hall. Then you can reach the cashier where they will speak to you in English or in Japanese. On your left, the entrance of the exhibition with comics from all around the world (say hello to the French Titeuf and the Belgian Tintin), and on your right, a shop where you can find some mangas, of course, but also artbooks, goodies and other specialized books to learn how to draw mangas.

There are a lot of temporary exhibitions. When I visit the museum, it was the week of the demonstration of the students'works of the university: I saw their projects: drawing, storyboards, mangas and other illustrations at the entrance of the museum and short movies were broadcasted on a giant screen. Students were around explaining their projects... even if my bad level of Japanese was a barrier... For these events, you can check the english of the museum which is quite furnished.

The most impressive part of the museum, I thought, was on the second floor of the museum when I discovered the wall of mangas... A room whose walls are entirely covered with mangas classified in alphabetic, gender and year order. Naruto and One Piece are definitively not the only mangas... even if they are the best known in France. At the center of this room, some temporary exhibitions with drawings of the biggest mangakas and some games in Japanese. The following rooms, linked by corridors covered by mangas, present the process of fabrication of a manga, how it is made, drawn... (the story, the storyboard, the drawing...).

Due to the impressive amount of books and explanations which describe each piece, it is really interesting to have basis of Japanese language to appreciate entirely the place and to lose yourself in it. Indead, the museum is full of benches and coaches where you can seat to imerge yourself in mangas. But Japanese knoledges are not necessary to understand everything. Your eyes will shine even if you are not able to decipher a single word: the amount of images the museum contains should be enough to spend a great amount of time in it if you are a lover of art or if you have any interest in drawing (and not fundamental in mangas as the presented drawings are not always stylised one).

Usefull informations

The museum is located on the street Karasuma-Oike, in the disctrict of Nagagyo-ku. From the main station of Kyoto, you can take the Subway Karasuma line and get off at Karasumaoike stop around ten minutes later. It should cost you 210 yens. From the same station, you can also decide to walk: there are only three kilometers between it and the museum.

Make the map bigger

It is opened every days (except wednesday) from 10 am to 6 pm. You can enter it until 30 minutes before the closure but you should not stay there for only half-an-hour: it is too short to really enjoy it ! During summer, between the 14th of July and the 31st of August 2011, the museum never close (even the wednesdays) and you can stay until 8 pm. Exceptionnally, the museum is closed during the New Year Hollidays (at least the fourth first days of January while almost all Japan stops leaving) and for three days in the year for the maintenance.

To enter the museum, you will have to pay 800 yens for the adults, 300 yens for middle and high school students and 100 yens for primary school students. As many museums in Japan, there is no discount for students of University... There are some advantages for those who want to go to the museum quite often: there exist the MMPass with illimted access to the museum and of its library but not to the temporary exhibitions. It is 6000 yens for adults, 3600 for middle and high school students and 1200 for primary school students. The entrance is sometimes free for some events, as for the week of the exhibition of the students of Seika university where I went by chance at the end of February in 2011.

Conclusion

After the visit of three shrines, two museums of Japanese drawings and calligraphy and of four commercial centers, a stop is inevitable at the International Museum of Manga. First, because it is the only existing one in the whole world. Second, because mangas are an another part of Japanese culture worth seing. And last but not least, because what is presented is basically beautiful.

Marièke Poulat

* Website in English and in Japanese :
http://www.kyotomm.jp/
http://www.kyotomm.jp/english/

One day in Yokohama

Yokohama is not only a famous brend of motorcycle : it is also the name of one of the biggest cities of Japan (with more than 3.5 millions of unhabitants), located in the suburb of Tokyo. You need less than 45 minutes to reach Tokyo when you are in Yokohama and many students who are from this city just make the back and forth everyday. A journey that you absolutely should do to discover this city if you are staying in Tokyo for more than one week.

To go to Yokohama from Tokyo

It is particularly easy to go to Yokohama from Tokyo, thanks to the numerous lines of train which are between the two cities and which are regulated by the JR East. The shortest and cheapest solution is to depart from Shibuya Station, with Tokyu Toyoko Line which leads you to the main station of Yokohama (whose name is Yokohama station) in 25 minutes for 260 yens (less than 3 euros !). But you can also depart from Shinjuku and Ikebukuro Stations with Shonan Shinjuku line (around 30 minutes and 540 yens, or 20 minutes and 380 yens if you go on the train in Shibuya). And one another solution (but there are actually plenty of them) is to depart from Tokyo or Shinagawa Stations by Tokaido line : 25 minutes and 450 yens from Tokyo Station or 20 minutes and 280 yens from Shinagawa.

Once you are in Yokohama, you can decide to walk through the city (which can be interesting and beautiful as the balnear city is quite calm and net) or to take the subway to go faster to the place you want to see. There are also some bus which can drive you to the main stations.

Yokohama’s places to visit

There are numerous to see : the parks, the stadium (where the Final of World Cup of 2002 was payed and where many concerts take place), the port, the museum of ramen (yes, it actually exists), a shrine where many soccer players go to pray before matches or the Chinatown… Yokohama is also one of the first place in Japan where strangers arrived and that explain the presence of an international graves. And this is also a balnear city where it is really agreable to pass by and to buy souvenirs. Yokohama is not only a dormitory but a real city, particularly specialised in entertainment, as a giant Odaiba, with some amusement parks and commercial centers. Some characteristics which turn the city into a place to visit for at least one day or more.

Zoom on the Chinatown

If Tokyo does not have a Chinatown, it has been settled in Yokohama for more than one hundred and fifty years. Officially recognized in 1955 with the construction of a goodwill gate as the main entrance of the district, it has been built after the landing of the first Chinese migrants in Japan. It is the biggest Chinatown of Asia with between 3000 and 4000 unhabitants, even if only a few of them are Chinese nowadays. It also counts a lot Chinese restaurants but if you really want to eat Chinese food there exists a lot of cheaper places in Tokyo : it seems that the status « Chinese restaurant of the Chinatown » is quite expensive for the same quality.

Even though Yokohama is close to Tokyo (in situation and in architecture), it is a slower city. Maybe it is more european in its way of living and of being organised. It is a beautiful city to discover if you are going to stay during a quite long time in Tokyo. However, if you are only spending some days in Japan’s capitale, you should choose to go either in Odaiba (which is closer and an Island of entertainment) or in Kamakura, a little farer but actually more interesting as a cultural visit (with shrines, temples and the Daibutsu).

Marièke Poulat

A sunday in Harajuku (Tokyo)

If it is less known than Shibuya, which is the district of Fashion in Tokyo with the crazy crossroad, Harajuku is one of the most famous district for the young unhabitants of Japan’s capital. It is located close to Shibuya (there is only one stop between Shibuya and Harajuku) and is one of my favourite districts of Tokyo for its diversity and its constant agitation.

Diversity of Harajuku

Without using the famous cliché of Japan’s duality between ancient and modern Japan, it is true that diversity is one of the noum which best describes Harajuku. In the same Sunday afternoon, you easily can meet young cosplayers, clothed like theirs favourite manga characters, and then a woman dressed in white celebrating her wedding in Meiji Shrine, the biggest shintoist place of Japan. And this, in a district where mostly three kind of people coexist in two parallele streets : on the first exit of Harajuku Station, the street Takeshita, where you will find teenagers and students, and on the second, the avenue of Omotesandô, which are known to be Japanese «Champs Elysées » and which appeals an older and richer public. And everywhere, internationals, « gaijin » in Japanese, who come to visit this district and who may be more numerous than Japanese people…

Takeshita Dôri

Located at the front of « Takeshita Dôri » exit (Exit 1) of JR Station of Yamanote Line, the entrance of the street is delimited by a portal topped by a clown with ballons which is illuminated at the end of the year. The narrow street is perpetually crowded. On sundays, it is almost impossible to put your feet on the ground : you are just able to follow the flow… Agoraphobic, caution ;) Takeshita Dôri counts a lot of shops whose activities are dedicated to young people : goodies, accessories, fast-foods (Lotteria, McDo…) and special restaurants (Sweet Paradise, an all-you-can-eat specialised in sweets), clothes, shoes… and different places typically Japanese : costumes to dress up as Goth Lolita, official store of Tamagochi (on the left before the entrance of the street), Idoles shops (where you can buy pictures of your Idoles), an entire floor of Purikuras (interactive photo booths), the biggest one-hundred-yen shop of Japan or even stands which sells crepes filled with cream… Yeah. Takeshita Dôri is the teenagers’Paradise.

Omotesandô

Around 200 meters away from this street, there is Omotesandô… the Paradise of (well-of) fashion-addicts. On a wide wooded avenue, with looks like the « Champs Elysées » of Paris, the most prestigious brends of Haute Couture are exposed : Prada, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Dior… If you may not dare to enter into the shops, the architecture of the buildings is interesting as designers must have been crazy while creating them. While being at Omotesandô, you really should go to Kiddy Land a toy store which is currently moving in one of the small perpendicular streets. You will find all these brends you may have cherish while being a child : Hello Kitty, all the goodies from the Gibhli Studio, Pokemon…

Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Parc

As I said in the introduction, everyone can find his own version of Tokyo he like : if you do not like too much shopping and crowd, you can go for a walk in the park of Yoyogi (Yoyogi Koen). You can easily access it from the second exit of the Harajuku JR Station. Cross the bridge (where you may see some cosplayers every Sundays, even though you will soon realise there are more photographes than desguised people…) and you will join the entrance of the Sanctuary. It is announced by a tôri. You should find it after 500 meters : you cannot miss it, it is the biggest of Japan ! It has nothing in particular but its size is huge and you could assist a wedding ceremony on Sundays. Moreover, the documentation is also available in English, as for some of the charms and predictions. A good way to discover some aspects of this religion, which is more a cohesion of habits than an actual religion in Japan.

I hope you will like this district of Tokyo as I love it : it is amazing how you can find different atmosphere from one street to another and some hours can be enough to discover most of Harajuku… However, I recommend you to spend some time in the shops to be able to feel the ambiance I like.

Marièke Poulat

Green tea and matcha powder

Not only it is a host in all our cups during all our meals and in the traditionnal tea ceremonies, but Japanese green tea is also turning in green many Japanese pasteries. Let’s discover this product that you should not miss while travelling in Japan.

Green tea everywhere…

In either school restaurants, small shops which serve some traditionnal plain meals in some industrial quantities, or on the contrary, in fancier restaurants the fashionable soft drink is green tea. The only thing which differs is the quality of it. And therefore is taste. For instance, in Waseda University’s school restaurant in Tokyo, dispensers offer green tea, hot water and fresh water… but green tea is not really tasty as there must be too much water in it. In many restaurants then, you will have to ask for fresh water if you want some, because they are going to serve you hot green tea*. And in others, you will find some taps delivering hot water and green tea powder you will have to shake to create your own drink. There again, you will have to ask for fresh water if you do not like green tea.

Fancy Green Tea

Reading the latest sentences, it is easy to deduce that green tea is a low cost product in Japan. Which is definitely wrong. Let’s examine wine, in France : there actually exist some low cost wine, which cost less than some euros, but it is also possible to find some « Grands Crus » which are very expensive… This is the same with green tea in Japan. The most expensive, the King of Green Masa super premium, cost more than 2500 dollars for one bottle of 750mL !

A special green tea : matcha

Matcha is a very special green tea as it is not from leaves that you are going to put into water to create you beverage. It is a powder that you have to blend into hot water to create a really think and bitter tea. It is also used while tea ceremonies where it is drank with some sweet pasteries made from azuki (red beans paste) to limitate its bitterness. Many international people and even Japanese people do not like this drink very much for the first time… a recurring joke in Japanese dramas being the grimaces people make when trying green tea for the first time.

Matcha is everywhere…

This matcha powder allows the use of the characteristic flavour of green tea in many products : in beverages but also in some pasteries. For instance, one of the favourite drinks in Japanese coffee shops, as Starbucks (or Veloce Café, Tully’s coffee…), is matcha latte : it is a drink close to a coffee latte, with milk and cream, but with green tea flavour. On reverse to the strong and bitter match tasted during tea ceremonies, it makes very soft and sweet drinks… as for the bubble teas with matcha flavour**. Added to these drinks, it is also possible to find Japanese pasteries with this flavour…which have all the same characteristic. All of them are green ! There are green cookies, donuts, cakes, cheese-cakes or even green kitkats ! And if you want to try to make this kind of pasteries, it is possible to make them everywhere in the world as you can buy matcha powder in many tea shops and find some recipes on internet.

A good way to try this peculiar flavour at home before going to Japan where you will have to taste it ! But remermber that even if you do not appreciate it, you should be able to survive… but it is true that if you like it, it will be easier for daily life and to meet Japanese people ;)

Marièke Poulat

*****

* To those who do not like green tea the magical sentence is « Sumimasen, O-mizu ga arimasu ka ? » « Sorry but do you have any water ? ».

** See the article on Bubble tea if you have not read it already and above all if you do not know this surprising beverage ^^

Gyudon or the dark side of Japanese cuisine

Far from the famous delicateness of sushis, Japanese cuisine counts plainer dishes... and stodgier, as for our ham and cheese sandwich or our cheese omelett. A perfect demonstration of that assertion is Gyudon, or its improved version : oyakodon. These are dishes made with rice served in a bowl for only some hundred yens and therefore are ideal to feed salarymen when they leave their work.

A unique heavy dish

Made from slices of cheap (fat) porc, gyudon and his even heaviest version oyakodon, is a heavy dish. Therefore, it is a good way to feed salarymen after work or tired tourists who have walked all day long. With more than 800 calories for one bowl (even for the S/small ration), it is a bowlof rice topped with slices of porc cooked with onions... the all topped by a boiled egg if you ask an oyakodon. You can also add ginger and soy sauce to it. This cocktail is then quite stodgy but really appreciated by Japanese and international people, particularly during the winter when it is served with a hot green tea.

Oyakodon

 

Available in many places...

If this dish is really traditionnal, places which serve it are also quite surprising. In Japan, three chains of restaurants are weel known to offer gyudon: Matsuya, Sukiya and Yoshinoya. It is possible to taste it in more traditionnal shops, but the main advantage of these chains is that they are cheap (it is less than 300 yens or 3€ for one small bowl... with which you should be already pretty full) and omnipresent everywhere: in Tokyo, it is difficult to make more than 100 meters without finding at least one of these stores. Moreover, as they do not make many dish they make gyudon pretty well at least.

However, their serving is quite different. Yoshinoya is the biggest and offer a wider choice of sets and dishes. Moreover, its restaurants are more occidental, with a waitress to who you have to command and some tables, added to the traditionnal counter where Japanese people like to eat when they eat alone very fast. Two aspects which appear to be normal but which are in fact not so logical in Japan. Indead, both other chains have a different way of serving which should be able to interest the occidental that you are ;)

… with a 100% Japanese organisation

The first thing you will notice while entering Sukiya or Matsuya is the disposition of the room. If you enter a small restaurant at the center of the city, there will be only a counter around the stove where the cook is working. You will also remarke a ticket machine at one side. It presents all the dishes that the restaurant is selling and it is really easy to use: you only need to press the button with the picture of the meal you want, to pay the amount of money indicated and to take the ticket the machine delivers. You give it to the cook once you are sitted and some seconds later, a steaming bowl will be served to you. It's ready ! Now, you only have to eat it with the chopsticks made of plastic you should find in the plastic boxes you have close to you. You are also allowed to add some spicies in it, as ginger or red pepper... Do not add soy sauce in the rice at the end: it is really not polite in Japan ! So, you see, to eat gyudon is as easy as that: you do not even have to say a single word in japanese... an easy solution for those who are affraid to speak... and to those who want to discover a different way of life. 

Ticket machine at Matsuya

Because it is obvious that this is not the kind of restaurant you should chose if you want to try good Japanese cuisine. Besides, Japanese people do not go to these restaurants in that aim. These restaurants are some improved fast-food without burgers, a food factory where people keep entering and leaving after some minutes (I actually mean some minutes). This is a good way of experimenting one of the Japanese way of life... and a good solution if you are hungry at 3 a.m.: one of the caracteristics of these chains is to be opened 24 hours on 24 !

To be tested. Definitively.

Marièke Poulat

Bubble Tea and Sweet pearls

In the streets of Tokyo, you will certainly run into girls carying a big closed glass in plastic surmounted by a straw. Inside of it, a colorfull and think drink and brown little bubbles at the bottom. And then, a question cross your mind. What it is ? Is it good ? And above all... Where can you get one ?!? Only one question you said ? Well, in the right order: this is a Bubble Tea or Boba Tea, a beverage made with milk and which comes from Taiwan with some Tapioca bublles inside; yes, it is good, and no, you do not need to cross all Tokyo to find it as many shops sell it.

The translucent glass lets us realize that this surprising drink can be of many impressive colors... From pink to orange, going through green, white or brown. In your mounth, it seems to be strawberry, mango, matcha (or green tea), coconut, chocolate or even coffee... while this beverage can be made from milk, tea or mixed fruits. About the little brown bubbles, at the bottom of the glass, which give to this drink all its originalitu, they are tapioca bubbles. Their texture is smooth and their taste soft but quite bitter, which can be a little weird as the beverage is really sweet.

Sweet Pearls'Bubble Tea

Bubble Tea is available in many little bars or stands, and most of them are located in the districts where young people stay, as Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya... or Takadanobaba, where I tasted it in a little shop which is between the eponymous station and Waseda University: Sweet Pearls. This little shop, whose colorfull sign reminds us that it is more adapted for girls and couples, lets us buy Bubble Tea not only to drink them in it but also to take them away. There are also some meals (mostly colorfull ramens) but I have not tried them yet, as the prices seemed a little big compare to the size of the meals (between 650 et 750¥ for one bowl).

Haunted by the idea of tasting this beverage that many people had tried to introduce to me before, I entered into this shop at the end of the afternoon, a sunday, with a friend of mine. The room was pretty empty. We both ordered a Bubble Tea (with some difficulties, as the menu is only available in katakanas (japanese)) but our two drinks did not look like each other at all: My friend's one was cold cocoa with Tapioca bubble and mine's was hot matcha with tapioca bubbles too. Indead, it is possible to choose, not only the flavour of your drink but also the heat of it and the presence of tapioca bubbles... but, without these bubbles, it is not bubble tea anymore, isn't it ? Both drinks cost 300¥ and were made with flavoured milk. I do not think that the shop had drinks made with fruits or only tea, but I cannot assure so.

Sweet Pearls'menu 

Once we paid our drinks, we settled ourselves at the very collorful back of the shop, to wait our glasses. There are two little round tables made from iron, as on a beach, and others little places against the wall. Even if it can be weird at the beginning, you will quickly find out that it is really considered as normal to go alone to restaurants in Japan. The capacity must be around 10 people but I have never seen it full while I live very close to it and see it almost everyday.

Our drinks arrived very quickly and we began our tasting. First sip, first surprise. To drink milk flavoured Bubble tea is almost like drinking sweet hot milk. My matcha drink was really sweet while the cacao's one was a little more bitter. The liquid was green, tasty. And these little bubbles were... Mmm... The straw is wide enough to suck one up: so you put your straw at the bottom of your glass and, cautiously... you take a glup, this time. Second surprise. It is soft, kind of sweet but bitter than the beverage. It is difficult to explain exactly the consistance of it. If you know Japanese habits, it looks like bubble of mochi. If you do not, then... I would say it seems to be a piece of bread after being plundged during a long period of time into a soup.

Well. The description est a little difficult to make and the beverage is better than it seems when you read this comment, I assure you. It is really sweet. Maybe to much, by the way... It can become a little nauseating at this end and do not think of the amount of calories that it contains. I must be as high as the one of Coffee Shops like Starbucks. But as the number of sodas is really reduced in Japan and as tea is the only beverage you will drink during all your stay appart from water, you can try the surprising drink ! V(^_^)V

Marièke Poulat

Christmas in Japan

Halloween's decorations have just been put away in cupboards at the end of October when the different shop windows of Tokyo are covered with red and white of Christmas. All becomes tinsels, snow, christmas tree and candels. Streets follow at the beginning of December. The more known districts in Tokyo for their Christmas' illuminations are Shibuya, Harajuku or also Roppongi, but most of the streets of Tokyo are decorated. Streetlights are often surrounded by lights. In addition to this magical atmosphere, many European Christmas market are put in place, for instance in Roppongi, with the German one.

Roppongi Hills and its illuminations

In conclusion, the perfect Christmas'picture transposed in Tokyo. Transposed. That is the important word of the sentence. As the kind of Christmas that we know in France, a familial and religious celebration, has been adapted by Japanese people. Indead, in Japan, Christmas does not have the same values as French Christmas, which can be explained by the absence of catholical religion's print. Christmas is here a guy who wears red and white clothes giving presents thanks to his sleigh and his friends, hobgoblins and reindeers. Jesus' birth is forgotten and there is not any crèche settled under christmas trees and even less Midnight Mass in Japanese Temples and Shrines on the 25^th of December.

In Japan, Christmas is the equivalent of the French New Year. It is celebrated by parties between friends, rendez-vous... Indead, it is above all a Love celebration and, in Christmas Eve, the tradition is to go out with your lover to admire illumination in animated districts of Tokyo after eating together. That is why you should not be surprised to find a Christmas Box in Mac Donald, for instance, a giant Happy Meal for two with nuggets, two drinks and a huge portion of frites to share.

« Christmas Box » by Mc Do for Christmas

Christmas at Mac Do or how Christmas and Christmas Eve dinner in Japan is not a good moment for gastronomy. No fois gras, no turkey served with chestnuts, no chocolates... Courses of the Christmas Eve dinner are the same as usually in Japanese families. The only diferences are the presence of fried chicken, kind of a giant nugget, in all combinis and of a cake for the desert... Which is important to notice as, first, most of the time deserts are absent at the end of the Japanese meals, and second, this is the Christmas Cake. A cake close to our Bûche de Noël in its texture, its favours (chocolate, coffee, chestnut...) but not in its shape, as it is rond.

Japanese Exceptions for Christmas Eve Dinner

Illuminations, lovers, gastronomy... but, where are the children ? After all, this is their favorite celebration in France ! They are the one spoiled there ! And in Japan too... Even if they do not avec the Advent Calendar which does not exist. However, they write their letter to the Father Christmas or Santa Claus and receive presents. But not under the Christmas Tree and even less in their slippers: I tell our habits to Japanese children and they were mezmerized. Presents are here left on their pillow or on their desk in Christmas morning. Like that, no need to leave the heat of the bed to open them. However, it is sometimes not a good idea to be precocious: some children stop to ask for presents to their parents when they discover who is the real Father Christmas. The story does not tell if parents impose that on their children or if they are really embarassed to ask for presents...

However, do not be to worried: they are not bullied. Indead, some days later, New Year arrives with its familial traditions and its presents. If Japanese Christmas is an event celebrated between lovers or friends, Japanese New Year, which is enjoyed in family, looks like the French Christmas and life just stops in Japan during the first days of January.

Marièke POULAT

Takoyaki, the most “insignificant” significant Japanese local delicacy ( Ding Yiyin)

Takoyaki (たこ焼き) is a popular ball-shaped, pan-fried dumpling made of batter. Among all the Japanese local snacks Takoyaki is probably the most well-renowned. Despite its usual pingpang- ball size, it was one of the most popular local foods that has been introduce abroad and enjoyed its prominence in Japan as well.
The invention of Takoyaki was inspired by Akashiyaki through a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo in Osaka, 1935. First enjoyed its populace in Kantai and then introduced to Kanto and other areas. Nowadays Takoyaki can be purchased in many street food stalls and in takoyaki specialty restaurants and eateries.

The batter for making Takoyaki are mixed with diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion. There are various types of Takoyaki, mostly different on toppings.

It became common to brushed Takoyaki balls with soy sauce and mayonnaise, and topped with green laver (aonori) and katsuobushi (shavings of dried bonito). There are many variations to the takoyaki recipe. For example, ponzu i.e. soy sauce with dashi and citrus vinegar, goma-dare i.e. sesame-and-vinegar sauce or vinegar dashi. Most Takoyaki balls are grilled a bit crispy on the outside and are hot and soft inside. The fresh baby octopus slices inside the ball just add the icing on the cake.

For people who found small Takoyaki balls boring. I would suggest them to try a Takoyaki store in Ikebukoro where you could get “giant” Takoyaki balls. In an ordinary stores you may need a dozen of Takoyaki balls to be full. Here only one would do the work. Of course there are many flavors to be chosen from and I will let you to discover that yourself!!!

Tokyo---The dream city still lives up to her name - Ding Yiyin

Tokyo, the city which has always been ranked as one of the most splendid metropolitan city in the world had recently become the city under threat. The 3.11 earthquake in northeast Japan and the Fukushima nuclear crisis has once again put Tokyo under the lime light of the world and this time it is not pleasant.

Many foreigners moved out or temporarily evacuated out of Tokyo after the earthquake. Over two months have gone after the crisis, how is life in Tokyo now?

Landing in the evening at Narita Airport the hall was less crowded than usual. But we were still greeted with the impeccable service. The most convenient city transportation method --- metro still runs according to the time table and I was able to arrive home on time.

The summer has kindly greeted the city and there are flowers everywhere. It is so rare to see so many diverse colors and types of flowers in any city in China. They were always a dull monotone. But it is a great delight to walk in the clean and quiet neighborhood in countryside Tokyo and enjoy the blooming flowers coming out of people’s open yard. And lovely encounters with people walking out their cute akita dogs.

The supermarket has once again stacked with abundant products including water. The city functions as before and people with black-tie looks rushing to the metro station for work … It looks as if Pandora box has never been opened and life carries on just as before….

But if you observe really carefully you could still detect some minor changes: the beverage vending machines you could see everywhere in Tokyo now runs without lighting on the products. Some escalators have temporarily turned off to save the electricity as well as lighting in the metros during the day time. Japanese would include some northeast cities like Sendai into their travel destinations. You could see posters online and in the city about the spirit of a strong Japanese nation.

From what I observe I have confidence that this country will once again recover from the disaster and Tokyo will still not disappoint you with her unique charms.

Ikebana (Gillian)

When I consider the fact that what I am writing in these articles will be read by present and future exchange students in Japan alike, it occurs to me that all aspects of Japanese culture should be considered. People are different, after all, and are therefore interested in different aspects of Japanese culture. Personally, my specialties lie primarily in the field of languages and Linguistics, which is why many of my articles focus on difference between the English and Japanese languages, and aspects of the Japanese language I find interesting. However, I thought that I should step away from Linguistics for a while, and focus on topics that have not as-yet been covered by myself or any other writers. Thus I present Japanese flower-arranging, or Ikebana (生け花), as it is more commonly known.

Ikebana literally means “living flowers”, a meaning that always struck me as somewhat amusing as much of the plant matter used in Ikebana appears to be dead. A translation that gives more indication of the meaning of Ikebana as it is understood by the Japanese, would be “giving life to flowers”, as in arranging them in such a way that the display “comes to life”. Another name for Ikebana is kadou (華道), meaning “the way of flowers”.

Ikebana essentially started when Buddhism first came to Japan in the 6^th century. An offering of flowers, either to Buddha or to the spirits of the dead, is a Buddhist ritual from which Ikebana developed. In the 15^th century Ikebana started to be taught by Buddhist priests to other priests and Buddhist members as a religious, meditative practice meant to bring its practitioners closer to nature and provide relaxation for the mind, body and soul. The first Ikebana school, Ikenobou (池坊), was founded at this time. The school still exists within the Rokkadu-dou temple in Kyoto.

 

Ikebana is different to Western styles of flower-arranging in that, rather than focusing on the aesthetically-pleasing grouping of different-coloured flowers, Ikebana also considers other parts of the plant (the leaves and stems). All of the parts of these plants are arranged together to form a creative shape. If we consider the following two pictures—

—we can see that the western-style arrangement on the left, while quite beautiful and spectacular in terms of colour (in my opinion), doesn’t have much in terms of distinct line or shape like the Ikebana arrangement on the right.

Ikebana is an style of art and as such artistic license is essential, but it does have some concrete rules. Ikebana is generally quite minimalist, so only a small number of flowers, stalks and leaves can be used (as is probably evident from the pictures in this article). The structure of most Ikebana is based on a scalene triangle, so there will be three distinct points in most arrangements, representing the sun, moon and earth (according to some Ikebana schools), or heaven, earth and man (in other Ikebana schools). The container in which the Ikebana is held is also of importance, as it adds to the final visual arrangement.

Nowadays Ikebana is considered one of the most distinct arts in Japanese culture, and it is taught in schools, shown on television and admired daily by the Japanese. In my opinion it is something well worth having a look at, or even attempting to do, whilst in Japan. The unusual style of Ikebana takes some time to get used to, particularly for those more used to western-style flower arrangements, but once one learns to appreciate it one can recognise Ikebana for the art form that it is.

Thanks to wikipedia.org for the extra information.

Pictures from ikebanahq.org, txenglish-ch.com, laosflower.com.

A visit to Ghibli Museum

If you are even a little interested in Japan and in its culture, which is possible as you are consulting this website, some names as My neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), The Grave of the Fireflies (1988), or more recently, Ponyo on the Cliff (2008) and The Borrower Arrietty (August 2011 in the US, TBD 2011 in the UK), should ring a bell... Produced by Studio Ghibli* and released by the famous movie directors H. Miyazaki and I. Takahata (each of them focusing themselves on different projects), these Japanese anime feature films have fired the imagination of many Japanese people since 1985, date of the creation of this Studio, and since more recently, of the entire world... with a progressive expansion since 1996, when The Walt Disney Company has obtained the rights for international production. To complete this evolution of influence, Ghibli Museum, which presents the different movies produced by the Studio and shows each year a new short movie of it, has been opened since 2001.

Located in the suburb of the South-East of Tokyo, in Mitaka, which explains its whole name, the Ghibli Museum of the Mikata's forest, 三鷹の森ジブリ美術館 (Mitaka no mori Ghibli Bijuutsukan), it is not easy to access it. Not only it is ot possible to buy the tickets in the museum itself, but it is also impossible to park your car or to stay in during more than two hours... these measures being settled to limit waiting at the entrance of the museum: it is true that once the ticket is obtained, you can access easily, or almost, the magical world of Studio Ghibli.

First, to obain the ticket, it is necessary to buy them in advance in a terminal that you can find in the chain of combinis Lawson. In these terminals, it is possible to buy many different entry tickets to access many events (as concerts...), amusement parks (as Disneyland...) or even plane seats... but you also have to consult them to purchase the tickets to enter Ghibli Museum as no ticket is sold inside. If the kanjis (these chinese characters used in Japanese) are a mystery to you, you can ask some help to the cashier who should assist you with pleasure... if he gets your requests. About the prices, now, it is 1000¥ for those who are more than 19, 700¥ between 13 and 18, 400¥ between 7 and 12 and only 100¥ between 4 and 6. It is also important to notice that you have to reserve in advance (sometimes more than one week before, notably if you want to go there on the weekend...) and that you wan only chose time slots of two hours between 10 and 12 a.m., 12 and 2 p.m., 2 and 4 p.m. and 4 and 6 p.m.... Indead, you only have two hours to visit the museum: this is enough, but do not stay too long in the souvenir shop.

To get to the Museum, the task is also quite complicated as it is located outside of Tokyo... the easiest way to get there is to take the Chuo line from Shibuya and to get off either in Kichijōji station or Mikata. From the latest, there are some community buses to the museum which left each 10 minutes (one-way is 200¥, and the round trip 300¥). If you decide to walk, which is interesting as the city is quite beautiful and the museum surrounded by a park, both stops are around 1 kilometer from the museum.

A funny building, a waiving Totoro... There you are. Finally. A man will just check your tickets and you will be able to enter the museum where the cashier will give you a special ticket which allows you to access the movie theatre of the museum. There, you will enjoy the sight of a short movie specifically made for the museum... the lattest, presented from the end of Novembre 2010, being パン種とタマゴ姫, Bread paste and the Egg Princess. In addition to this chef-d'oeuvre that you should be able to understand without any difficulty as it is entirely silent, you will also be able to admire all the artworks that are presented to you. It is beautiful. But you will have to enjoy them only with your eyes as once the door of the museum is passed, you cannot take pictures. However, you will be able to get over this frustration on the roof where you can take some pictures... or in the souvenir shop where you can buy (in exchange to a little amount of money though...) some postcards, souvenirs, CDs and DVDs, or even many classical books for children.

So yes, it is quite difficult to obtain the right to access this sanctuary of Japanese animation (which is not only for children by the way... do not show the Princess Mononoke or The Grave of the Fireflies to a child... he would be choqued !), it is really worth it as this place is magical and imagination omnipresent.

Marièke POULAT

*****

* You have to pronounce it ''Jibli'' instead of ''Guibli'' as we are used to as this name is from Italia.

Differences between English and Japanese Grammars (Part 2) (Gillian)

In my previous article, Differences between English and Japanese Grammars (Part 1), I talked about some of the more rudimentary differences between the Grammars of English and Japanese. In this article I want to dig slightly deeper, and consider some aspects of Japanese grammar that are expressed in a completely different way to how they are expressed in English. I hope that in reading this anybody who is either hoping to earn money by teaching English, or who is struggling with some of the never-before-seen grammar of Japanese, will be somewhat clearer on these differences.

The differences I will be pointing out in this article are all verb-based. They are transitive vs. intransitive verbs, the passive form and the causative form. The reason why I have chosen to look specifically at these is because I felt that these are the most commonplace parts of Japanese grammar that seem to work completely differently to the English method. I found that when I was learning Japanese I would want to know how to say something causative, but it took a long time before I was introduced to Japanese causative forms. When I finally did learn how to use the Japanese causative form what struck me as particularly interesting was how the causative form was so different to the English form. To explain the English causative form to a native Japanese speaker when you yourself might not know what the causative form is in Japanese, would be notably difficult.


Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs
If any of you are tugging nervously at your collars, wondering whether or not you should admit that you do not actually understand what I mean by transitive and intransitive verbs, do not worry. You are not stupid. To be quite honest, these are terms that you really do not need to know unless you are studying either a foreign language or Linguistics. So, for those of you not in the know, transitive verbs are essentially verbs that require objects. In the sentence “I stopped the car”, for example, “the car” is the necessary object. Intransitive verbs do not need objects, so in the sentence “The car stopped”, having an object would make the sentence ungrammatical.

In English, transitive and intransitive verbs are more often than not the same word. You have sentence pairings such as “I opened the door” and “The door opened”, or “Tammy dropped my mother’s vase” and “My mother’s vase dropped”. There are a few exceptions, the most well-known of which perhaps being “set” vs “sit”, as in “Will you set the box on the table?” vs. “Will you sit down?”

In Japanese, however, these verbs are often different words. For example, “I stopped the car” in Japanese is “watashi wa kuruma wo tometa” (「私は車を止めた」) while “The car stopped” is “kuruma ga tomatta” (「車が止まった」). “I dropped the vase” in Japanese is “watashi wa kabin wo otoshita” (「私は花瓶を落とした」) while “The vase dropped” is “kabin ga ochita” (「花瓶が落ちた」). Native Japanese speakers would naturally assume that English verbs would have some sort of phonetic differentiation between the transitive and intransitive as well, and hope to use that differentiation to tell the verbs apart.

The interesting thing, however, is that the phonetic difference between transitive and intransitive verbs is actually not necessary, because it is perfectly clear from the context and the surrounding words (i.e. whether there is an object (covert or not) in the sentence) if the verb is transitive or intransitive. In English we are easily able to tell the type of verb using the context and nothing else, and it would perhaps be beneficial to make sure the Japanese are aware of this.


Passive Form

In English the passive form is separable from the active form in two main ways. First, the special passive “be” is added to the perfect form: “catch” vs. “is caught”, “ate” vs. “was eaten”, “will buy” vs. “will be bought”, etc. Second, the object and the subject switch position in the passive sentence, so the object comes first in the sentence. “The policeman caught the burglar” vs. “The burglar was caught by the policeman”, “The cat ate the fish” vs. “The fish was eaten by the cat”, “The boy bought the toy train” vs. “The toy train was bought by the boy”, etc.

In Japanese, however, there is no passive “be”. Instead there is a special “passive” form, which is more or less the same for every Japanese verb. “Eat” is “taberu” (「食べる」) while “was eaten” is “taberareru” (｢食べられる｣). “Speak” is “hanasu” (｢話す｣) while “was spoken” is “hanasareru” (｢話される｣). This is fairly different from the passive “be” that we use in English, and I would argue that the Japanese passive is easier, as it is one routine change in form, while in English the phonetic realisation of the perfect “be” changes as well as the verb form, and different English verbs have different phonetic realisations of the perfect form.

While the form of the verb is completely different in both languages, and for Japanese people to learn how to say and speak and recognise the change in the English verbs will probably take some time, the passive form can at least be recognised fairly easily by the fact that the subject and object swap around the same way in both languages. So in Japanese the sentence “the cat ate the fish” would be “neko ha sakana wo tabeta” (「猫は魚を食べた」), while the sentence “The fish was eaten by the cat” would be “neko ga sakana ni taberareta”「魚が猫に食べられた」. If a native Japanese speaker understands that similarity, then hopefully the English passive form will not be as much of a struggle.


Causative Form
The causative form is when, in English, we “make someone do something” or we “let someone do something”. So instead of saying “He went home”, with the causative it would me more like “I made him go home”. Instead of “I ate cake” we would say “He let me eat cake”. These are the past forms. The present forms would be “I am making” and “I am letting”, and the future forms are “I will make” and “I will let”. These all attach to the dictionary form of the verb, with the person being caused to do something nestling in between the “let/make” and the verb.

In English we use both “let” and “make”, and these words have different connotations. “Make” implies that you are forcing the action upon an unwilling participant, while “let” implies that you are allowing a willing participate to perform the action. Interestingly enough, we can probably tell whether “let” or “make” is implied by the context of the sentence. It is as highly unlikely that we would “let” a stubborn child do their homework, as it is that we would “make” that same stubborn child spend the day in Disneyland. In Japanese both “let” and “make” are represented by the same causative form. “To make/let eat” is “tabesaseru” (｢食べさせる｣), and “to make/let go” is “ikaseru” (｢行かせる｣).

This makes things difficult for both native English speakers learning Japanese and native Japanese speakers learning English. The native English speakers have to learn how to pay more attention to the context of the sentence to determine whether the “let” or “make” meaning is implied in a Japanese sentence, while the native Japanese speakers need to remember the difference between the two words. Perhaps it would help to have explained to them the difference in meaning between “make” and “let”.


In conclusion, the differences between English and Japanese grammars are certainly there, and it helps to understand these differences if one wants to either learn the other language or teach your native language to somebody else. Often native English speakers trying to teach Japanese people how to speak English struggle with these sorts of differences, because without the knowledge of either the linguistics of the English in question, or knowledge of how the Japanese equivalent works, it is hard to explain. Hopefully this and my previous article have helped in some small way to make that job easier. Good luck with your teaching.

Differences between English and Japanese Grammars (Gillian)

In my article, The Truth behind English Conversation Classes, I mentioned that one possible way to teach Japanese people English involves comparing the grammars of the two languages. To people who do not know any Japanese, this probably is not particularly helpful advice. To you, I offer this, and my next article, Differences between English and Japanese Grammars (Part 2), as sources of reference. To people who either already know some Japanese or are interested in the linguistics of world languages, consider these articles as something of academic interest as well. I am going to talk here about some of the more noticeable differences I have discovered between English and Japanese grammar.

Often when people start learning another language, they might learn the literal words of their new language, but will not necessarily know how to put those words together. As a result, it is common for non-native speakers of a language to speak that language while using the grammar of their native language or some other language with which they are more familiar. For example, when a native French speaker attempts to say the sentence “I do not eat apples”, they may say something along the lines of “I eat not the apples”, because that sentences structure follows the word-for-word grammar of the equivalent French sentence, “Je (ne) mange pas des pommes”. Japanese speakers speaking English are just as wont to do this, and as a result their English does not sound natural. While their unnatural-sounding sentences are more often than not perfectly understandable to the ears of a native English speaker, if the Japanese person wishes to learn to speak English more like a native speaker, there are a few grammar differences that it wouldn’t hurt to have pointed out to them. These include:

• Different sentence order – This is probably one of the very first things any Japanese person is taught about English. English sentences follow a basic Subject-Verb-Object structure, so in the sentence “I ate an apple”, “I” is the subject, “ate” is the verb, and “an apple” is the object. In Japanese, however, the sentences follow a Subject-Object-Verb structure, so the sentence “I ate an apple” in Japanese, 私はりんごを食べた, literally translates to “I an apple ate”. Most Japanese people are well aware of this difference in sentence structure, but to those that are not, this is probably one of the first things they need to know.
  
• Covert vs. overt subjects – This is probably one of the main grammar differences with which both Japanese people learning English, and native English speakers learning Japanese, have trouble. Fortunately it is not a particularly debilitating problem, but not having any knowledge of this difference or forgetting about this difference results in some noticeably strange-sounding English or Japanese.
  In English, every sentence has an overt subject. This means that any sentence that does not have a spoken subject sounds strange. In the sentence “I went to the park”, “I” is the subject. Every sentence in Japanese also has a subject, but very often that subject is covert, meaning that it is not spoken/written/heard/read in the actual sentence, but it is understood through discourse and context that the subject is there. The Japanese for the sentence “I went to the park”, 公園に行った, more literally translates to “the park to went”.
  Sometimes in English the subject is also understood through discourse and context. When this happens, we will often use the word “it” to act as a subject. In Japanese this is of course not necessary. Consider the sentence “It was the first time”. A Japanese person wishing to say this in English might simply say “first time”, as that is a more literal translation of the Japanese sentence 最初だった. A native English speaker will generally understand what the Japanese person means, but the sentence does sound somewhat strange.
  
• Use of determiners – Determiners are words that come before nouns in English, whose function is to specify the noun in question. Consider the difference between saying “apple” or “person” or “pencil case”, and saying “the apple”, “a person”, “her pencil case”. Japanese has some determiners as well, or at least some words that function as determiners, so in Japanese you can literally say “her pencil case” (彼女の筆箱), or “this car” (この車), but Japanese has no “the” or “a”. So for instance, if you wanted to say "the apple" or "an apple" in Japanese, these would both translate most accurately to りんごだ or the more polite りんごです, which also just means "apple". This is a fairly significant difference between the two languages, because many of the nouns we use in English require at least a “the” or “a” before them. So it is fair to say that it is important for Japanese people to practice using “the” and “a” in a number of different contexts, if they are attempting to learn to speak English like a native speaker.
  
• Head initial vs. head final – In linguistics, the most important part of any phrase is known as the head. So in the phrase “the beautiful flower that blooms every spring”, “the beautiful flower”, as the noun, is the head. English is a head-initial language, which means that the head of a phrase comes before something like a relative clause, which is used to describe the head. Another example of this exists in the verb phrase “running like you have stolen something”, where “running” is the head of the verb phrase, and “like you have stolen something” is the prepositional phrase being used to describe the verb.
• Japanese, however, is a head-final language. Because of this, sometimes Japanese is referred to as a “suspenseful” language, because you have to wait for the whole phrase to be uttered before you know what exactly is being talked about. For example, the noun phrase “the beautiful flower that blooms every spring” in Japanese, 毎年春になると咲く美しい花, more literally translates to “every year at spring blooming beautiful flower”. “Beautiful flower”, as the head of the phrase, appears at the end. This is a difference that takes some getting used to, but as one of the fundamental syntax rules in both languages, I would say that it is a pretty important difference and one well-worth mentioning.

These are a few of the basic differences between the grammars of English and Japanese. In my next article I will look into some of the more advanced grammatical differences between the two languages. I hope that this article has been of some use to those of you who are currently teaching or are hoping to teach Japanese students English whilst in Japan. To those that are not planning on doing any such thing, I hope you have at least found this article interesting from an academic perspective.

The Truth behind English Conversation Classes (Gillian)

In my article, Part-time Work in Japan, I mentioned English conversation lessons as being one of the main ways in which foreigners in Japan try to earn money. This is hardly surprising. After all, it seems so easy. Be a native English speaker, advertise yourself as such on a special English lesson website, wait for students to come in drove begging you to speak to them in your amazing natively English way, spend an our talking to them at a cafe, and get paid roughly 2000 yen for your efforts. Some of the students might even pay for you coffee and travel costs.

To this I would say, yes, sometimes it can be just that easy. But do not be fooled. Often it is harder than it looks, for a number of reasons. While not wishing to discourage people from seeking out this line of work, I think it is well worth pointing out the possible difficulties one might incur in trying to teach English part-time.

1. Finding people to teach.
   
   This is probably the worst, and definitely the most frustrating, problem of them all. You thought that teaching English sounded like the best, easiest way to earn money in Japan? Well, so did every other native English speaker in the country. It is an incredibly competitive market, and some people will set up profiles on every English lesson website they can find and not get a response for months, or at all.
   
   To attempt to overcome this obstacle, I recommend offering negotiable fees (Japanese people like bargains as much as anybody), submitting legal documents to any website that offers it (over a secure connection, of course) in order to prove to potential students that you are a trustworthy person, posting a friendly-looking profile picture of yourself and, if possible, writing about the kinds of lessons you can offer in both languages, English first. If you just write in English prospective students might not be able to understand it, and if you just write in Japanese they might doubt your English ability, and/or be somewhat insulted at you possibly insinuating that they do not know how to read English. Other than these small measures, finding prospective students is very much pot luck, I’m afraid. Good luck.
   
2.  The student not being able to converse in English.
   
   Say a prospective student gets in contact with you, sending you an email in clumsy but relatively understandable English. You figure that his/her English is pretty good, but a little flawed in places. You arrange to meet up with them, and when the both of you sit down you ask them a question, and they stare at you as though you have just asked them to explain the principle theories behind nuclear chemistry in under five seconds. Congratulations – your student cannot speak English.
   
   This is pretty common in Japan. Most Japanese people learn the bulk of their English in middle and high school, and in Japanese middle and high school very little speaking happens in any class, let alone English. What you therefore end up with are a nation of people who can read and write basic English pretty competently, but cannot really speak it.
   
   Fortunately, this is not necessarily a difficult obstacle to overcome. Your student after all knows English, and knows how to speak. Your job here is to combine those two skills and have them speak in English. The key here is to start off simply: Ask them to talk about themselves, about their hobbies and interests, any questions they might have, etc. Encouraging your student to speak is the most important thing here. Half of speaking a foreign language is about confidence, and if the student feels that you are a friend and you are not going to laugh at them for having clumsy English, they will be more apt to speak. There is no singular method for tackling this possible obstacle, but I would say that it is important to be aware of the obstacle’s existence.
   
3.  Your student cannot even write in English.
   
   Japanese people wanting to learn English come in a variety of flavours. The younger students (16 to early 20s) are generally going to be the aforementioned good-writer-bad-speaker type, as the English they learned in school will still be relatively intact in their heads. Students any older than this will have probably all but forgotten their high-school English. Unless a non-native speaker of any language is in contact with other speakers of that language on a relatively frequent basis, that language ability starts to fade.
   
   If your student appears to be like this, conversing with them straight away will probably not do very much for them. What you are saying will sound like gibberish to them. Before more fluent conversation is possible, it is likely that you will have to become their grammar teacher. Teaching the grammar of your native language is not as easy as it sounds, because although you yourself know the grammar, you have never had to consciously learn the rules of that grammar. You simply acquired it as a very young child. If you are a native English speaker like me, for example, consider how you have always known to change the form of the verb according to the person: “I know”, “You know”, “He/She/It knows”. Non-native speakers do not innately know about this rule – they have to be taught it.
   
   The easiest way to teach English grammar, I find, is to compare it with Japanese grammar. I will talk about common differences between the two languages in my next article, Differences between English and Japanese. If you are a learner of Japanese you probably know these differences.
   
   Another useful thing to do is ask your student if there are any grammar points in particular that they wish to learn. Your student might, for example, say that they want to learn how to say longer sentences (in which case relative clauses and conjunctions would be important), they might say they want to know how to give directions (in which case talking about prepositions, and the subtle differences between ‘on’ and ‘above’ or ‘over’, might be a good starting point), or they might say that they want to learn more conversational English (in which case, you would do well to talk about word shortening in words like ‘don’t’ and ‘gonna’).
   
   The bottom line here is that you might need to start off as a grammar teacher before you can become a conversation teacher, so be prepared for that possibility.
   
4. Not knowing what to talk about.
   
   This can be surprisingly debilitating. The thing about learning is that it happens most efficiently when you can relate what you are learning to something that interests you. For example, when I am learning a new grammar point in Japanese I try to think up examples relating to my family, or to my pets. Linking the grammar point to something I am interested in helps me to remember it.
   
   Conversation classes are no different. For this, I recommend that you take some time to learn about your student before you try to teach them anything. Find out what their hobbies are, why they wish to learn English, do they have a husband/wife/child/pet, etc. Having found out about your student, you should try to engage them in conversation about something that you know interests them. For one thing this makes the student want to speak more, which is what the class is all about. For another, if there is some new grammar point you end up teaching them while conversing about that topic of interest, they will most probably remember it better because they can associate it with something they like. You can encourage your student to remember in this way as well.

In short, English teaching might seem like the easy option for many, but it is important to bear in mind that your students want to learn, and in many cases simply talking to them in English might not be enough for them. Don’t forget, your students can quite easily say that they do not want lessons from you anymore, so you have to make sure that they are satisfied with your service if you still want to be paid. But if you manage to figure out an effective teaching method, English conversation classes are an incredibly rewarding experience, and well worth trying while on exchange if you are considering a career in teaching in the future. Good luck and happy teaching.