Japanese language pulling students away from Europe at Illinois College

Students are seeing major changes to the language departments at Illinois College.

The school approved a Japanese floor on the third floor of Lincoln Hall due to healthy growth in the minor and a rise in student interest. After several years experiencing extremely low upperclassmen enrollment, the French major is however being eliminated.

The changes are part of a balancing act to accomodate rising interest in Japanese and still meet the needs of those who want to pursue French.

With Japan a major economic power in the world, the Japanese minor has seen a growth in student interest, said Jim Marshall, associate dean of the college.

“We’re dearly hoping for a major,” said Japanese instructor Mioko Webster. The school is seeking to add a new tenure-track professor to the Japanese program to offer more upper-level classes.

The Japanese floor follows after the Spanish and German houses on campus. The language houses are designed for students to have intensive experience learning a language and culture, and to provide programming and opportunities for the rest of the campus to learn about those cultures.

Students are supposed to speak Japanese on the floor, although there are varying levels of Japanese skills among the residents. The students asked for a Japanese house in the spring of 2009.

About 30 students are enrolled in the four offered Japanese courses, which range from beginner, intermediate, advanced and independent.

Japanese 'Book of Tea' translated into Arabic..

Abu Dhabi's KALIMA project announced publishing the translation of Japanese Okakura Kakuzo's "The Book of Tea" into Arabic for the first time.

The Japanese book is considered to be one of the most important classic works in the world, and has been translated since it was first written nearly a century ago to dozens of languages.

It is thought to be the first book dealing with the tea ritual and its philosophy in relation to Oriental culture and spirituality. In the book, Kakuzo shows how tea has affected nearly every aspect of Japanese culture, thought, and life.

The 1906 book had attempted to correct the lack of knowledge by Westerners regarding the significance of tea ceremonies in Japanese culture. He also sought to defend Japanese culture from wide misconceptions at the time.

"This book offers us a key lesson that motivates us to pay more attention to our deep-rooted identity, which is what the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) sets to achieve in general, and an aim of KALIMA in particular," said Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Kalima Project Manager.

"The translation is only a thorough understanding of ourselves through the diverse contexts of others," he added.

The work, published in elegant copies that include pictures and illustrations, is translated by Samer Abu Hawwash, who has worked on a number of KALIMA translations. KALIMA, a translation initiative by ADACH, aims to provide Arab readers with the latest publications in the international scene.

It seeks to translate at least 100 books every year from world languages into Arabic.

Famous Japanese cartoonist disappears

Popular Japanese cartoonist Yoshito Usui, whose manga and animation series 'Crayon Shin-chan' has attracted a worldwide fan base, has gone missing on a hiking trip, police said Wednesday.

Usui, 51, left his home north of Tokyo Japan last Friday for a day-trip to mountains in nearby Gunma, a prefectural police official said.

But he has since been unaccounted for with calls to his mobile phone left unanswered, the official said. 'We are searching for him in the mountains.'

Usui made his debut as a manga author in 1987 and gained popularity in the 1990s with 'Crayon Shin-chan' featuring the daily life of Shinnosuke, a mischievous five-year-old Japanese boy.

'We are seriously worried,' said a spokesman for publisher Futabasha Publishers Ltd., which has released some of his comics.

Japanese fishing village goes ahead with dolphin hunt

A Japanese coastal town has gone ahead with its controversial dolphin hunt, shrugging off protests from animal-rights activists, local officials said Thursday.

Fishermen in Taiji town caught about 100 bottlenose dolphins and 50 pilot whales on Wednesday, in their first catch since the fishery season started on September 1, Wakayama prefectural official Yasushi Shimamura said.

They plan to sell about 50 dolphins to aquariums nationwide and release the remainder back into the sea, while the whale meat will be sold for human consumption, an official at a local fishermen's cooperative said.

The Japanese town's annual dolphin hunt drew international attention earlier this year after the release of award-winning eco-documentary 'The Cove', in which a team of film-makers covertly covered the event in graphic detail.

After the film's release, the Australian coastal city of Broome ended its sister-city relationship with Taiji to protest the hunt.

Town officials said they would not slaughter any of the dolphins caught on Wednesday, but denied it was due to international pressure.

"We didn't release the rest of the dolphins because there have been protests against dolphin hunting from animal rights activists," said a fisheries cooperative official, who declined to give his name. "From the viewpoint of resource control, we've been occasionally releasing them on our own judgement in the past."

Hunting dolphins and small whales is not prohibited by the International Whaling Commission's ban on commercial whaling, but Japan's Fisheries Agency restricts the practice by handing out annual quotas to several fishing towns.

This year, Taiji was allocated a quota of about 2,300 small cetaceans including dolphins, prefectural official Shimamura said. Cetaceans are largely- hairless aquatic mammals, such as dolphins, whales and porpoises.

The southwestern Japanese town has strongly defended its tradition of hunting whales and dolphins.

"People in Taiji, as well as Wakayama prefecture ... hope that animal rights activists understand the cultural difference between them and us," Shimamura said.

Japanese film captivates audiences

“Ponyo,” the latest film from Academy-Award-winning Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki is a charming, family-friendly film. Packaged as an old-style animated movie, “Ponyo” uses the dying technique of traditional hand-drawn animation to tell its story. This process makes the film feel older than it is and adds a level of realism and humanity to the movie. The eccentric characters, Japanese themed musical score and larger-than-life story contribute to the magic of “Ponyo.”

The film’s plot centers around three characters: Ponyo, a talking goldfish who wants to become a human girl, Sosuke, an adventurous little boy who loves the ocean, and Lisa, his hard-working mother who longs for her seafaring husband. One day before school, Sosuke ventures down the cliffs surrounding his house and finds a goldfish stuck in a glass bottle — a peculiar sight. He heads into the water to rescue the fish and gets more than he bargained for. The fish he finds, which he names Ponyo, becomes his great friend right away.

The Japanese creation is one of the few recent hand-drawn films in theaters. Also, the animation isn’t super-detailed. Instead of blurring out objects in the background of the frame, the characters and scenery in “Ponyo” become less detailed and minimalist. Technically speaking, this film is not groundbreaking. The biggest surprise is that it was made in 2-D format. It is a laborious process, and the movie was in development for more than three years. However, the movie’s story fits the visual style, so it’s hard to miss the lack of CGI.

24 Hour Television yearly Japanese telethon charity drive

If you are out and about in Japan on August 29th and 30th (Saturday and Sunday) you might see people wearing yellow shirts holding up small boxes and asking for money. These people are volunteers for the annual 24 Hour Television – Love Saves the Earth charity drive sponsored by the Japanese Nippon Television Network Corporation and its affiliates.

This year marks the 32nd annual telethon traditionally held around the end of August. During the event Nippon Television and affiliated networks countrywide air a series of special programs aimed to promote the charity drive. One of the main events this year involves a famous Japanese TV personality, Ayako Imoto, running three full marathons (126.585 km or about 78.65 miles).

Other promotional events include a 42 km (26 miles) relay swim across the Tsugaru Strait (the waters connecting Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan), an attempt at a record-breaking eight-hour long ping pong rally, and other TV programs with special host NEWS - a Japanese pop group.

There are also fundraising drives for 24 Hour Television at numerous stores around the country. AEON, one of Japan’s large shopping mall chains, is a main participate. For those in the Tokyo area, there will be a special event at the Nissan Global Headquarters’ Gallery in Yokohama.

Japanese comic superhero drawn to Tokyo Olympic bid

Japanese comic strip football superhero Captain Tsubasa is facing the most challenging match of his storybook career by trying to capture the 2016 Olympic Games for Tokyo.

Bid rivals are Chicago, who have been backed by President Barack Obama, Brazilian football legend Pele has thrown his weight behind Rio while Real Madrid skipper Raul supports the Spanish capital in the race to be host city.

"I'm happy if this can help," said Yoichi Takahashi, the Captain Tsubasa creator, as he drew the comic's main characters in the centre of a huge flag of the Tokyo 2016 Olympic bid committee.

With more messages from top athletes and celebrities, the flag will be displayed in Copenhagen, where the International Olympic Committee will choose the 2016 host city on October 2.

"At the moment, I am drawing a story about an Olympic team and I feel personally attached to the bid," the 49-year-old Takahashi said.

Aside from their 1968 Olympic bronze medal, Japan have struggled in world football. They debuted in the World Cup finals in 1998 and their best result was a last-16 spot in 2002 on home turf.

Captain Tsubasa was launched in a Japanese boys' weekly magazine in 1981. It featured midfielder Tsubasa Oozora (whose name means "big-sky wings" in Japanese) and goalkeeper Genzo Wakabayashi. It has spread around the world in cartoon books, animated films and video games, read and watched avidly by superstars like Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Francesco Totti and Fernando Torres.

AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso admitted that when he was a child he'd always stop a game of football with friends to be in front of his television in time to watch "Holy e Benji," the Italian title of Captain Tsubasa.

Japanese star Hidetoshi Nakata, who retired after the 2006 World Cup, used to mimic one of Tsubasa's trademark overhead kicks. When Shunsuke Nakamura joined Espanyol from Celtic last month, the 31-year-old was asked if he had watched "Campeones: Oliver y Benji," the animated series' Spanish title.

Captain Tsubasa is "Captain Majed" in Arab countries, "Super Campeoes" in Portugal and Brazil, and "Supercampeones" in Spanish-speaking Latin America. North American viewers know him as "Flash Kicker."

Captain Tsubasa boasts a combined Japanese circulation of 900,000 copies; in book form, the stories have sold more than 70 million copies in the country.

Japantown: A taste of culture in San Francisco

A stroll through San Francisco's Japantown takes you past exquisite Victorian homes that escaped the urban-renewal wrecking ball, significant historic sites and elegant temples.

Today Japantown - generally comprising an area between Fillmore and Laguna to the east-west and Geary and Bush to the north-south - is only a remnant of its pre-World War II self. This is because Japantown was emptied during the war when its citizens were forced into internment camps. After the war, some Japanese returned, creating the core of today's Japantown, or Nihonmachi. The area suffered a second blow during the '50s and '60s, when block after block of Victorians were razed to widen Geary Boulevard and create the Japan Center malls.

At Post and Buchanan, the heart of Japan Center, look up at the five-tiered Peace Pagoda. Rising 100 feet over Japantown, the pagoda was designed by Japanese architect Yoshiro Taniguchi and presented as a gift to San Francisco from sister city Osaka. Flanking the pagoda are indoor malls filled with restaurants and shops. Near the entrance to the Kintetsu Mall is an interpretive sign for the first stop of the Japantown History Walk, a self-guided tour through Japantown focusing on history and culture.

From the pagoda, cross Post to walk through Osaka Way (Buchanan Street), the outdoor pedestrian mall. Look at the circular benches and lotus-blossom fountains (now waterless) designed by sculptor Ruth Asawa. Wonderful shops line the mall. Step into the Paper Tree (1743 Buchanan St.), an origami store with a gallery of intricate origami works.

At Sutter, turn right and walk past gorgeous Victorians to the Japanese American Citizens League headquarters (1765 Sutter St.). The JACL works to ensure civil and human rights for Japanese Americans. At Sutter and Laguna, you will find two of Japantown's many religious institutions: the Buddhist Soto Zen Mission Sokoji (1691 Laguna St.), where students of Zen come to meditate, and the Christ United Presbyterian Church (1700 Sutter St.).

Turn left on Laguna and walk north one block to Bush to see the Konko Church of San Francisco (1909 Bush St.). "Konko" means "teaching of the golden light" and teaches Tenchi Kane No Kami, the parent of the universe existing in all things. Open the door and walk inside to feel the room's peaceful simplicity.

Japanese cult hit “Voltron” heads to big screen

The producers behind “Get Smart” and “The International” have acquired the rights to make a live-action feature based on the Japanese robot-lion property “Voltron.”

Based on Japanese anime properties Beast King GoLion and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV, “Voltron” features a “Transformers”-like conceit, in which a band of five robot-lions combine to form one super lion. A group of five pilots control the lions, which are charged with defending the planet Arus from villain King Zarkon, who dispatches evil creatures called Robobeats to fight the Voltron robots.

“Voltron” aired on U.S. television in 1984 and 1985. Since then, the property has remained a favorite in diverse communities, from the fanboy to the hip-hop worlds.

Jackie Chan Starring in The Karate Kid “Remake”

Variety reports that Jackie Chan will star in the Chinese-Hollywood movie Kung Fu Kid, which is a so-called remake of the 1984 American box-office smash hit The Karate Kid.

In the original, the late Pat Morita created one of the most iconic characters in movie history, the Karate master known simply as “Mr. Miyagi.” He mentored Daniel Larusso, played by Ralph Macchio, a high-school kid who suffers humiliation and physical abuse at the hands of bullies who take karate from a slave-driver coach with a serious attitude problem.

Chan will apparently be a second incarnation of the Miyagi role, and the part of the young pupil will be played by Jaden Smith, the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith who starred alongside his father in The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith is also acting as one of the movie’s producers.

It’s strange that Kung Fu Kid’s being called a remake when so many aspects of the original have been changed. According to a post on Movieline, the project is shooting in China due to financial obligations, thus forcing changes to parts of the original story that were specifically Japanese. These include the change from Mr. Miyagi, a carpenter born in Okinawa, to “Mr. Han,” a Chinese janitor, and also the change from karate to kung fu.

Karate - Japanese Culture

I was actually pretty sceptical about Karate and did’nt think it would be my thing at all. Actually the only reason that I went along to a Karate class was to go with the kids who had a few friends that had taken it up.

The most striking contrast between my pre conception and the reality was actually the lack of physical contact involved. Whether this is always the case or not I don’t know however the whole class had a great fealing of Japanese culture and history about it. With each of the class members performing a set routine of sorts it was more akin to watching a theatrical performace than a fight.

I certainely came away with a very different perception of the whole sport / art and will definitely be finding out more about Karate and it’s place in Japanese / Chinese history and culture.

Differences between the Chinese and Japanese Language

It might seem to the casual observer that the Japanese language is closely associated with Chinese, however nothing could be further from the truth.

Admittedly, Japanese looks for all the world similar to Chinese in print form and indeed has absorbed a number of Chinese words over the centuaries, in common with many other langauges which ‘borrow’ from each other over time. In the context of Japanese however, these ‘loan’ words are merely a sign of cultural contact. In actual fact it would be hard to find two languages which are more dissimilar.

Chinese was originally monosyllabic, (now largely disyllabic), tonal, isolating with a subject-verb-object order. Japanese on the other hand is polysyllabic, atonal, with quite complex word formation and a subject-object-verb order.

It was precisely this enormous gap between the two languages that caused so many problems when the Japanese tried to adapt the Chinese script to their own ends in the 8th and 9th centuries.