As you might have heard, Japanese people love cherry blossom. みなさんも知[し]っているように、日本人は桜[さくら]が大好きです。 Around this time of year, people are itching to know when would be the best time to visit a nearby park etc. to see beautiful cherry blossom. For this purpose, all sorts of organizations put ‘cherry blossom forecast’ out each year. You can have a […]
Continue readingI read news about a cat on New Zealand Herald this week. Why do I want to mention this news here, would you ask? – the answer is… the cat is named neko; neko means ‘cat’ in Japanese. Yes, this word ‘neko’ is a Japanese word! Isn’t it interesting (=^・・^=)? 今週のニュージーランド・ヘラルド紙[し]にねこのニュースがありました(=^・・^=)。どうしてそれをここに書くかというと、、、そのパパモアに住むねこの名前がNekoだからです。ニュージーランドのねこの名前が「ねこ」だなんて、おもしろいですね。 If you are interested […]
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If you missed Kenji’s performance on Wednesday, don’t be sad! Kenji and his associates will throw a proper concert in Hamilton tomorrow (= Saturday 23 March 2019). Please come along. Apparently, a biwa performer will be there too (see the picture below re: biwa). 水曜日[すいようび] に大学にいなかったみなさん！ 大丈夫[だいじょうぶ]です、ケンジさんは今週の土曜日のコンサートをハミルトンでします。びわ奏者[そうしゃ](= performer)の方も出られるそうですよ。楽[たの] しみですね！ びわ/biwa
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Mr Kenji Furutate, the professional taiko drummer, came to the University of Waikato yesterday (20 March 2019) and gave a wonderful performance during its culture hour (which is 1-2pm every Wednesday). 昨日（3月20日）、ワイカト大学のカルチャー・アワーに太鼓[たいこ]奏者[そうしゃ](= taiko drummer)の古立[ふるたて]ケンジさんが来てくださいました。 It was not so long, but we all enjoyed his energetic performance; thanks, Kenji! 短[みじか]い間[あいだ](= short time)でしたが、とてもすばらしい太鼓の演奏[えんそう](= performance)でした。ケンジさん、ありがとうございました！
Continue readingIt was eight years ago today; the Great East Japan Earthquake hit Japan. 8年前の今日、東日本大震災[ひがしにほんだいしんさい](= the Great East Japan Earthquake)が起[お]きました。 You can see remarkable recovery in the affected regions now. At the same time, more than 50,000 people still cannot go back home. People are still looking for the body of their loved one… It is […]
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Apparently, around 45,000 people visited Japan Day 2019 last weekend. It was indeed so so so crowded! 先週[せんしゅう](= last week)のJapan Day 2019 には、45,000人が訪[おとず]れた(= visited)そうです。確[たし]かに(= indeed)、本当に混[こ]んでいました(= was crowded)！ There were quite a few food stalls there. I did not eat much as there were so many people and long queues there… However, I managed to have takoyaki (tako means […]
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There was a taiko (= Japanese drum) and shamisen (= a Japanese musical instrument) concert in Japan Day 2019. That was powerful and exciting! Japan Day 2019 では、太鼓[たいこ](= Japanese drum)と三味線[しゃみせん](= a Japanese musical instrument)のコンサートもありました。とてもエキサイティングなコンサートでした！ Lucky you, people in Hamilton!; that taiko master, Kenji Furutate (see in the above picture) will come to Hamilton later this […]
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A big Japanese event called Japan Day 2019 was held in Eden Park, Auckland yesterday (its official website is here: https://www.japanday.org.nz/). There were food stalls, live music/dance stage, a book store, travel agency booths, sake/wine (the vintners are Japanese) tasting desks and so on! As you can see in the photo above, many many many […]
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It is the season of stone fruit in New Zealand. Plum, a kind of stone fruit, is called sumomo in Japanese – in this case, it seems that su means sour and momo means peach (implying that plum is a sour version of peach!). 今、ニュージーランドはすももがおいしい季節[きせつ](= season)です。「えっ、すももって何？」と思った人、いませんか。すももは、英語でPlumです。酸味[さんみ](= sourness)が強[つよ]い(= strong)桃[もも](= peach)、ということで日本ではすももと呼ばれているらしいです。漢字は、李[すもも]です。 Before coming to New Zealand, I […]
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New Zealand Herald featured Iwami Ginzan, Shimane Prefecture in their Travel section last week. I do not think I had seen Shimane in this type of context before. I guess people’s interest towards Japan has really increased now because of RWC2019, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2021 World Masters Games! 先週のニュージーランド・ヘラルド紙[し]に島根県[しまねけん](= Shimane Prefecture)の石見銀山[いわみぎんざん]についての記事[きじ](= article)がありました。これまで、旅[たび](= […]
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