ハッピメリ クリスマス！

人形

A last minute Christmas gift idea for いい子供達 are 人形！

人形？なんですか？

T

人形 (にんぎょう) - Dolls

Get them while you Can!

ジョシュア

P.S. The sign behind it is obscured and the last 漢字 is 見られない, but can you guess what it is? Let us know in the comments or you can send us email at deathbykanji@gmail.com to tell us the answer.

おもちゃ屋

More great クリスマス gift are toys or おもちゃ ー おもちゃが欲しい！

This is a picture of a おもちゃ屋 in なんば, 大阪。

Jack フェイスマット半額 (はんがく) - Jack Face Mat Half the Price

定価 (ていか) - Regular price, list price (in small handwriting under the Tom and Jerry toy)

乗らないで (のらないで) - Don't ride on

倒れる (たおれる) - To fall over, Be destroyed, Crumble, Break

よ - Emphasis at the end of a sentence

Translation: Don't ride on or it will break.

This 漢字-->倒 was vめちゃ難しい to find. When you handwrite 漢字 you need to make sure you are as accurate as possible. Because on the sign the 漢字 looks separate from リ, but it is apart of it to make it one whole 漢字 word. They also drew it 土 underneath when the last line should be slanted.

Other than that, it is all pretty cool and ちょっと高いね。

じゃまた、

ジョシュア

日本物語

A great gift idea for the 日本語学生.

A book of 日本物語  (にほんものがたり) - Japanese Stories or fairy tales

r

Each story is in 日本語 with the ひらがな over top the 漢字 the first time it appears and challenges you to remember how to read it when it appears again. Plus each 物語 has a vocabulary reference to study and learn new words and phrases that appear chronologically in the 物語, and the English version for maximum comprehension.

One of the other reasons I like this book it because it includes one of my favorite 日本物語, the 雪女 (ゆきおんな) - Snow Woman, and other interesting Japanese fairy tales that 子供 learn growing up.

The also comes with a CD of the 物語 being read to you, which you can play while you read along or play as a nice bedtime story as you fall asleep.

This copy was from the 図書館 which I always recommend checking out books before you buy to make sure it has the type of learning material and level you are looking for, plus it also saves you money!

Yet after reading this, I would put this on my buy list. I really enjoyed the 物語, the illustrations, the amount of 言葉 and 文法 was 素晴らしい plus the CD helped work on my listening skills.

If you have used this or think it is something you want, let us know in the comments below. And I hope you receive this gift for the holidays!

乾杯！

ジョシュア

レトロげーむ

It's Christmas time around the world and what does everyone want? 

お酒!

Well, not everyone. Lots of people want ゲーム! それは買って下さい.

キャンプ - Camp (Name of store)

レトロ - Retro

げーむ - Game

Translation: Retro Game Camp (visit there website)

This was a fun store in 秋葉原  (あきばはら) that had lots of cool retro games, systems and toys. A lot of these types of stores exist in the オタク centers of 日本 including 大須電気街 (おおすでんきがい) in 名古屋, 日本橋でんでんタウン in 大阪 and the mecca of オタク, アキバ in 東京 pictured　here, and featured in the アニメ Akiba's Trip I wrote about ここで.

If games are on your Christmas list, comment below about which games you want and love to play.

げーむ好きですよ。

ジョシュア

侍音楽

Here's a CD I picked up from the 図書館 (としょかん) - Library

侍 (さむらい) - Samurai

日本 has a wide variety of traditional instruments known as 和楽器 

(わがっき) such as:

琴 (こと) - Koto; a stringed instrument played on the floor with two hands

三味線 (しゃみせん) - A three-stringed Japanese lute strung with fingers or a large pick called a 撥 (ばち)

琵琶 (びわ) - A four-stringed (sometimes 5) Japanese wooden lute

尺八 (しゃくはち) - A bamboo Japanese end-blown flute with 5 holes

太鼓 (たいこ) - Taiko is the general name from 'drum', yet there are many types of drums in Japan used for 能 (のう) - A music and dance drama that depicts ancient stories of Japan; used in festivals or for spiritual ceremonies and other purposes

There are a lot instruments of Japan and a more comprehensive list can be found here on Wikipedia, plus you can search on youtube for lots of examples on the sounds, how to play and music of these instruments that I recommend.

Japanese traditional music has meditative and minimalistic qualities that I like very much, ぼくは好きです！

Although this CD was more of a 侍 Chill beats soundtrack with electronic drum beats underneath the 琴と三味線, that 時々好きです。でも、もう和楽器が聞いてに欲しがりました。

もう、すぎね。

byebyeじゃん、

ジョシュア

餃子

I got this little trinket from a coin machine in Japan. It's a plastic version of a paper lantern that many shops and restaurants put outside to advertise what time of food or products they have for sale, which if the battery wasn't dead, would light up red like many of the paper lanterns you would see.

T

餃子 (ギョウザ) - A meat or vegetable filled dumpling

Many ラーメン or 居酒屋 (いざかや) have these to promote their shop, which might also say, 酒 (さけ) to also promote they are a bar that serves alcohol.

餃子 for the most part is very easy to make and is a very popular snack food, especially while drinking!

If you go to your local grocery store, you might find this product in the frozen section:

T

餃子 isn't a traditional Japanese food. They learned it from the Chinese, so all of the 餃子 brands in a grocery store are from Chinese companies.

一番: Put some olive oil in a フライパン, heat and put the frozen 餃子 inside.

Then VERY IMPORTANT - Add a cup of water and cover the pan letting the water evaporate to create stream to make the 餃子 moist and sticky, which is why 餃子 is often called Pot Stickers.

二番: Once the water has evaporated or cooked into the 餃子, let cook while stirring and flipping to get a nice even brown on both sides.

T

三番: Once throughly cooked, it's time to eat - いただきます！

T

Note: There are ways to make hand made 餃子, but I am not that great of a cook to make my own. Yet if you are, I recommend going on YouTube and learning from a professional who can show you everything you need to prepare and cook you own 餃子! And if you do, remember to share it with us by sending pictures to deathbykanji@gmail.com 

ありがとうございます！

ジョシュア

まるよしビフテキ

Oh the places you can go to 食べもの!

While I was living in 四日市市 (よっかいちし), me and a friend of mine took a day trip to 伊勢 (いせ) to visit the famous 伊勢神宮 (いせじんぐう), the Ise Grand Shrine.

Afterwards we went to 松坂 (まつさか) another town to eat their famous 肉 at this restaurant.

r

肉 (にく) - Meat

Ｏよし (the Ｏ is for circle which is around the よし as まるよし, as まる means Circle) - Maruyoshi brand symbol for the restaurant

松坂 - Matsusaka; A city in Mie-ken Japan famous for their beef

まるよし - Maruyoshi; the restaurant name

ビフテキ - Beef Steak; the restaurant's specialty

When I was there, I watched this video that gave me the craving to eat 松坂ビフ:

In 伊勢, we had meat buns or 肉まん with 松坂ビフand they were 美味しすぎ！！

At まるよし, we had the すき焼き of meat and vegetables that we cooked at our table, and cost about $100 for two people.

It was a great trip and a lot of fun that I highly recommend to anyone in the area or looking to do something different on their vacation.

乾杯！

ジョシュア

勇吉ふぐ

11月には食べ物の月だよ。

ふぐは食べませんか？　ちょっと危ないね？　

もし、ふぐを食べたら、気をつけて下さい。

専門店にふぐを食べてはいい感じと思います。さらに専門店でめっちゃおいしい。

勇吉 (ゆうきち) - Two Kanji put together to make a unique shop name:

The Kanji 勇 means Courage, Bravery, High Spirits, Heroism

The Kanji 吉 Good Luck, Fortune, Joy, Congratulations

千日前店 (せんにちまえてん) - Sennichimae Shop; Sennichimae is an Osaka shopping district near the Dotonbori river and Namba.

ふぐ - Fugu; Blowfish

専門店 (せんもんてん) - Specialty Shop

でも、勇吉で食べないんです。千日前の歩いての時に写真を撮っただけなのに。。。

じゃ、また千日前に勇吉に行きましょう！

ジョシュア

アイドリング禁止

Doing our part to save the environment isn't a consideration, it's a reality. Most or none of us are in a position to change environmental policy, yet there are small things we can do everyday to save energy, clean up nature and release less pollutants into the world.

Although driving is a necessity to getting to and from work everyday, there is 1 thing we can all do presented in this sign:

r

アイドリング - Idling (Leaving you car on while you sit in it)

禁止 (きんし) - Stop

Translation: Stop Idling

ご - An honorific prefix

近隣 (きんりんさま) - Neighborhood, Vicinity

様 (さま) - Way, Manner; Polite Suffix

へ - Preposition Particle indicating movement or direction

の - Posessive Particle 

配慮 (はいりょ) -  Consideration, Concern, Trouble

に - Preposition Particle indicating movement and direction

ご協力 (ごきょうりょく) - Cooperation, Collaboration

下さい (ください) - Please, Appreciation

Translation: Please cooperate with consideration for the neighbors.

Alternative Translation: The neighbors would appreciate your cooperation on this concern.

タイムズサービス - Times Service

株式会社 (かぶしきがいしゃ) - Public Company, Corporation

Translation: Times Service Corporation

We would all appreciate your concern on this issue.

お願いします。

ジョシュア

一番好きなハロウィンのJ-Horrorの映画

一番好きなハロウィンのJ-Horrorの映画は：

                Photo: Sadako of Ring by Joshua J. Wood

僕の一番好きなハロウィンのJ-Horrorの映画はリングです。

リング is a Japanese horror movie from 1998 based on the novel of the same name by Koji Suzuki. This story brought the character of さだこ into the pantheon of classic horror characters.

さだこ is an 怨霊 (おんりょう) - a Vengeful Spirit who used 念写 (ねんしゃ) - Projected Thermography or the ability to use psychic power to burn images onto photographs or video to 祟る (たたる) - transmit a curse on the viewer.

さだこの祟るは give's the viewer of the videotape 一週間 to follow the rules of the 祟り or 死.

I won't spoil any more of the 映画 for you, but I do おすすめ - recommend this movie to watch during ハロウェン.

ジョシュア

ジャックオランターン

一番好きなハロウィンのものは：

ジャックオランターン - Jack-O-Lantern

私たちは？一番好きなハロウィンのものは？

怨霊

明日は憎しみを学んだ。今日は we learn that too much 憎しみ will turn you into this:

怨霊 (おんりょう) - Revengeful Ghost

And you don't want to be a 怨霊 because then you will never be at peace even after a 厄払い (やくはらい) - Exorcism, you might enter a world that you don't want to 入る (はいる) - Enter.

Yet it does make for good お化け話 (おばけばなし) or 怪談 (かいだん) - Ghost Story.

👻"ブー！！！"

憎しみ

Here is a nice 薄気味の悪い (うすきみのわるい) - spooky, eerie 漢字 for the 

ハロウィン season.

憎しみ (にくしみ) - Hatred

We know 憎しみ is not good and you should not take part in it. Because if you do, 憎しみ can turn you into something that we will see tomorrow in the next post ... つづく

一撃

This is a devil character from the アニメ 邪神ちゃんドロップキック (じゃしんちゃんドロップキック) - Dropkick My Devil, a slice-of-life アニメ about Yurine, a college student, who performs a summoning ritual and brings Jashin, a half-human half-serpent devil to Earth and become roommates.

Season 1 is available on Amazon Prime.

But this character 悪魔Ａ (あくま) - Devil or Baphomet is the narrator who holds up this sign at one point with no translation so let's find out what it means.

一撃 (いちげき) - Hit, Poke, Punch

There is a lot of fighting and violence as 邪神ちゃん has to kill ゆりね to be able to return to hell, but ゆりね is a tough opponent and sadist who loves to torture 邪神ちゃん for her deceit and selfishness towards her best friend Medusa. But, 邪神ちゃん can't die and rejuvenates her body each time. It's more funny than scary, and worth a watch if you're into that sort of slap stick slice-of-life アニメ with a bit of a twist.

じゃ、以上。

ジョシュア

10月某日

This establishing shot comes from one of our favorite Anime My Hero Academia. It sets up a date and time using some 面白い漢字.

約２ケ月前  (やくにかげつまえ) - About two months ago

１０月 (じゅうげつ) - October

某日 (ぼうじつ) - A certain day

Translation: About two months ago on a certain day in October.

This is a good 月 for this phrase because you can use it all 月 long.

10月某日にdeath by kanjiを読みました。

楽しいね皆。

ジョシュア

あなたかも。。。狙われているのは、

I saw this sign on the subway platform and was confused at the messaging being communicated.

It seems obvious that what is happening is a crime, but there's not a lot of wrong doing imagery in this poster such as: Don't 🚯 Stop 🛑 Police👮‍♀️ or Wrong ❌

The phone is drawn in a slimy, perverted, creepy way while the hand is grey and menacing giving a criminal vibe, yet the female dressed in a school uniform is drawn in an erotic way often found in 変態漫画 (ヘンタイマンガ).

So to make sense of the conflicting imagery, we have to translate the poster to find out what is going on.

あなた - You

かも - Maybe; abbreviated version of かもしれない

狙われているのは、(ねらわれているのは) - Person being targeted

駅 (えき) - Train Station

や - Particle for And, Or

電車内 (でんしゃない) - In the train car

の

痴漢 (ちかん) - Pervert, molester, dirty old man

相談 (そうだん) - Consultation, discussion, asking for advise

は - Particle pronounced 'wa' to designate the subject of the sentence, even though it uses hiragana 'ha'.

鉄道 (てつどう) - Railway, rail transport

警察隊 (けいさつたい) - Police Force

へ - Particle used with motion or direction when going to or from a place

レデイース - Ladies

相談

Translation: Maybe you...will be targeted. For consultation on molesters in station or trains, go to the railway police.

Breakdown: 狙われているのは

狙われて - The て form of the Passive conjugation of the verb 狙う with Passive conjugation 狙われる meaning to take aim at, to be after, to have an eye on. The passive form makes the verb done to someone or something. For example:

As an Active verb - 私はあなたが狙う。(わたしはあなたがねらう) I have my eye on you.

As a Passive verb - 私はあなたに狙われる。(わたしはあなたにねらわれる) You have your eye on me. 

Notice the particle に in the passive sentence claims direction towards me as the someone having an eye on, where in the active が is used to make you the subject of having an eye on.

Passive sentences are a bit tricky and if you want to learn more check out Tofugu's Post Here

いる - いる is used to designate a person or living being such as animals; compared to ある used for inanimate objects. For example: 

人がいる。 (ひとがいる) - There is a person. 

本がある。 (ほんがある) - There is a book.

 To use more formally say, 人がいります。 or 本があります。

のは - Pronounced no wa, the の is a possessive particle, and は is the main subject particle; this is emphasizing the person that this is happening to.

Translated we understand this poster is a service provided to women being targeted on trains and in train stations. This is a type of sexual harassment that occurs often in Japan to woman and have very strict laws to punish and prevent people from doing this.

My honest opinion is this poster isn't helping anyone. I think it is doing more damage and giving people the idea to do this, rather than prevent them from doing it.

Woman should know that there are places and services working to protect them from this happening to them, but this poster is too graphic for a public service announcement and, as I said before, is more 変態 than it needs to be.

A more appropriate image would be a woman standing with a railway officer pointing at man holding his phone and noticing he's been caught has an expression of fear and sweat pouring down his face.

What do you think? If you agree or disagree, leave a comment or email us at deathbykanji@gmail.com to let us know your thoughts or continue the conversation.

読まれてにありがとう！

つづく。。。、

ジョシュア

P.S. This blog is free, but it's not cheap. Please take a moment to push the SUPPORT button in the right hand sidebar to make a donation to our GoFundMe. If every reader gave $5, we would hit our goal in no time and be able to sustain death by kanji for the next 2 years!!! お願いします 🙇‍♂️

電気を消しましょう

An important message for saving the planet and for saving money on your electricity bill.

電気 (でんき) - Lights, Electricity

を - Noun to verb connecting particle

消しましょう (けしましょう) - Turn off, Erase

Translation: Let's turn off the lights!

The verb ending ~ましょう along with the です form でしょう are a Probability or Let's verb form used to advocate for a preferred action or agreement on a subject that could translate to right? or isn't it?

例：

カーフェに行きましょう。Let's go to a cafe.

そのテレビ番号は面白いでしょう。That TV show is interesting isn't it?

And many times you will hear people say でしょう？ during a conversation to show interest and agreement in what is being said.

So the next 日本会話 you have, give it a go and watch your 友達の顔 light up with excitement.

じゃ、また。

ジョシュア

文

This is a typical sign you see on lamp posts throughout Japan.

スクール ゾーン - School Zone

文 (ぶん) - Sentence, Literature, Art

大阪市 (おおさかし) - Osaka City

Translation: School Zone

This type of sign is REPRESENTATIVE. As 文 is more of a cultural symbol for Learning rather than how its literal meaning of sentence as in 文を書きます。(ぶんをかきます - Write a sentence.)

And 文化 (ぶんか) is the word for culture. 

Other words include;

文学 (ぶんがく) - Literature

文章 (ぶんしょう) - Writing, Composition, Article, Essay

作文 (さくぶん) - Writing (an essay, prose), Composition

論文 (ろんぶん) - Thesis, Essay, Paper, Article

文 has other readings such as: ふみ、あや、モン that translate into words referring to arts, letters, style and others related to writing.

For more on this check your dictionary and language books to learn more.

じゃ、今日は以上です。

ジョシュア

すぐに高い所へひなん

I saw this in a book I was reading to my nephew about earthquakes and volcanoes.

地震 (じしん) - Earthquake

津波 (つなみ) - Tsunami; A large wave 

すぐに - Immediately, At once, Right now

高い (たかい) - High, Tall

所　(ところ) - Place

へ - Grammar Particle used to denote direction

ひなん - Evacuation, Finding shelter, Taking refuge, Seeking safe haven

伊東市 (いとうし) - Itoushi; A City in Japan

Translation: Earthquake, Tsunami Immediately seek safe haven in a high place. Itou City.

The 漢字 for ひなん is 避難, my guess is this 漢字 is difficult for children to read concerning the importance of the information being addressed. And just as we have fire drills and, unfortunately, active shooter drills coastal cities in Japan have Earthquake and Tsunami drills.

When I was living in 四日市市, I would go to Nagoya on 日曜日 and take Japanese lessons at the 名古屋国際センター (なごやこくさい) Nagoya International Center. One 日曜日, we took a field trip to the disaster prevention office and participated in a couple of drills.

One was a platform that looked like a Japanese home kitchen with a hydraulic floor to simulate a 地震 with instructions on standing in doorways and getting under the table as cover from falling objects of ceiling. Then turning off the gas in case any tanks, hose or other equipment was damaged and causing a leak. The simulation was similar to riding a mechanical bull.

The second one was a maze with no lights and filled with smoke to simulate a burning building that you would had to escape from. In the dark, you had to feel the walls to find your way out and stay low to the ground away from the smoke. This was a simulation and I've been to a number of haunted houses, but this experience was terrifying. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack going through this maze. And as hard as it may be to believe, my cell phone didn't have a flashlight on it. Thankfully all phones have flashlights on them and in a situation like that, i would be able to turn it on to help find my way out.

And that experience was good because the 3/11 地震 that caused massive destruction and loss of life from a large 津波 also set off a wave of after shocks that shook my apartment pretty bad one night. I jumped up and stood in the doorway until it was over and turned off my gas after it was over. Luckily there wasn't any damage, because although it was strong, it was short.

I've been in a number of 地震 and they are not that fun, so I hope you will never have to experience them.

But if you do, remember this advice and to すぐに高い所へひなん.

それは以上です。

ジョシュア

自転車出入口

Japan is has a large bicycle culture and you might be tempted to park it on the street. Well, if you do, you might come out to your bike being impounded by the authorities. 

Why? Because they hate illegal bicycle parking. And once they get your bike, your better off going to the 自転車屋 to buy a new one, because the fee to get it out of impound is high, the impound lot is way out in the middle of nowhere, and once you get it back, if you can find it, you can't take it back on the train, you have to ride it all the way home.

And if you go the impound and they don't have it, then it was probably stolen.

So take it from me, just park your bike in a designated lot or space, or park it in an alley where the authorities won't find it. Plus, put a lock on it and never spend too much on it unless you plan on going for long expeditions through the countryside.

Which means this sign will be very helpful for you.

自転車 (じてんしゃ) - Bicycle

出入口 (でいりぐち) - Exit and Entrance

先 (さき) - Ahead

Translation: Bicycle Exit and Entrance 50 meters ahead.

Pretty simple.

以上です。

ジョシュア

Follow: japanese_language_mlc on Instagram

Instagram is a great way to learn Japanese. This account is from Meguro Learning Center in Meguro-ku area of 東京.

They do really well at explaining Particles with simple sentences and graphics as well as post about using Verb Conjugations and building your vocabulary.

This explains the difference of using に and と when meeting with someone.

Examples: 

When you are going to your friend's house you say:

友達の家に行きます。

友達 (ともだち) - Friend

家 (いえ) - House, Home

行きます (いきます) - To go

If the two of you have decided to meet at a nearby coffee shop you say:

コーヒ屋で友達と会います。

屋 (や) - Store, Shop

会います (あいます) - To meet

Meguro Learning Center also has a YouTube channel and a website where you can sign up to take Skype or Zoom lessons to prepare for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test or just practice Japanese with a native speaker.

You can link to their website HERE---> Meguro Learning Center

I don't know how the currency exchange works when signing up with MLC, so please be mindful of that aspect when signing up for their services.

Hopefully one day soon we will all be using Cryptocurrency to pay and buy things all over the world and not have to worry about currency exchange and transaction fee. But until then, watch your wallet!

じゃ、またね。

ジョシュア

中止会見

I saw these 漢字 in the background of the anime Akiba's Trip, a very fun series about the world famous Otaku heaven of 秋葉原 (Akihabara) that only lasted for one season, but also had a Nintendo Switch spin-off game that doesn't seem to have any of the characters from the anime. I don't know what that's all about, but I don't have a Switch so I can't play it anyway.

Let's take a look at the 漢字 meaning,

r

中止 (ちゅうし) - Stoppage, interruption, discontinuance, suspension

会見 (かいけん) - Interview, meeting, viewing party

Translation: Discontinuance Meeting

Based on the situation, the translation can be different between. For this, in Akiba's Trip there was a press conference to make breaking news so the translation makes sense as Discontinuance Meeting.

I'm being vague so to not give away any spoilers in case anyone wants to get their friends together for a 会見.

Actually, you should go watch it right now. 今すぐ見に行く！早くよ！

ジョシュア

仮眠室

On most days this is the room I need to go to in the afternoon.

仮眠室 (かみんしつ) - Nap room

A common compound with the 名詞 (めいし - noun) 仮眠 is the 動詞 (どうし - verb) 取る (とる) - To Take: 仮眠を取る - Take a nap, Catch some Z's

A 仮眠室 in a school or office can also be translated as a break room. You might see this too in a hospital where doctors and nurses go to rest during long shifts.

If you ever do see this sign, you should peek in and see if I am there for a quick 仮眠を取る.

わあああ！お休みなさい (つ﹏-).o○

ジョシュア

かにちゃんとちびりべ

Since tuning into Twitch, I have seen a lot of interesting channels of people, virtual tours --> See Virtual Japan <-- games and people in hot tubs. Yes, hot tubs.

Anyway, on Twitch you can watch anyone in the world, including people from Japan. It's a great way to build listening skills and if you brave enough, speak to them through their chat.

One streamer I watch is かにちゃん. かに is 日本語 for Crab. Which is why she uses a lot of crab imagery on her stream. This below is one of her screens during stream.

かにちゃん - Kanichan (~chan is a name honorific used for endearment with friends and children)

休憩中 (きゅうけいちゅう) - Rest, break, intermission

(つ﹏-).o○ - A punctuation emoji meant to represent taking a break

Translation: Kanichan is on break (つ﹏-).o○

休憩中 is a great 漢字 to memorize and remember as many offices and stores use it to tell you they are away at the moment or might be closed for lunch.

Yes, some 会社 (かいしゃ) close during lunch and don't accept visitors or customers during certain hours of the day.

During one of かにちゃん`s streams she was waiting for Apex Legends to download and decided to watch YouTube videos in the meantime. One of the videos she played was ちびりべ a short (2 mins+) anime promoting the larger series 東京リベンジャーズ (Tokyo Revengers), except in this the characters are ちび (small, cute; toddlers or children are often called ちび).

I've posted episode 1 below. If you like it, you can go to YouTube and continue watching the rest of the series.

This series kind of reminds of かよーチュウ that I posted last week.

楽しんで！

ジョシュア