Japan has the largest per-capita amount of vending machines in the world, meaning that for about every 23 people, there’s one vending machine to be found down some alley, at some corner shop, at the train station, or even at a shrine.

Japan makes an ideal environment for the vending machine because crimes such as vandalism are pretty low; most people walk, bike, or use trains to get to places rather than drive; and there are many areas with large population densities. Besides food and drink that’s ready to be ingested, you can buy many things at vending machines, including fresh meat, eggs, and seafood for cooking later (saves a trip to the grocery store or market); MP3 players; potted plants; toys; books; and underwear. (Yes, underwear.) You can even buy items for which you need to be 18 or 20 (the legal adult age in Japan), such as alcohol, cigarettes and porn magazines, and there’s often no one there to check your ID! (However, that may be changing. In 2008, a new “smart card” system called Tapso requires cigarette machines to only sell to those who scan their Tapso card. The Tapso card is issued only to those who can prove they are of age.)

However, the vast majority of vending machines do sell non-alcoholic drinks and food that you can drink or eat the minute you purchase the item. The types of refreshments you’ll find at Japanese vending machines are much different and varied than that you’d find in the West. For one, you’ll find a much smaller selection of soda pop. Bottled tea in multiple flavors is by far the biggest vending machine seller, followed by juice and coffee. You’ll also find health drinks and yogurt-based drinks.

Vending machines that sell food can warm up the food if applicable. So you can grab snacks or ice cream, but you can also get hot soba noodles, french fries, fried chicken, hot dogs, grilled fish, takoyaki (octopus meat in ball-shaped dough), and taiyaki (a red bean paste dessert), to name a few. As for cold food, you can get items like sushi and rice balls, the latter of which is a staple of the Japanese diet.

Coins are the traditional method of payment, but as the Japanese become more and more dependent on their cell phones, newer vending machines have cell phone payment options. You just scan your cell phone reader (Japanese cell phones are a bit more advanced than those in the West) and the amount of the item is added to your cell phone bill!

Have you ever seen a Japanese vending machine? What did you buy? Do you use vending machines often? Would you use vending machines more often if they sold items as varied items as those in Japanese vending machines?

Having novels published in stages is nothing new. Classic English authors like Charles Dickens published most of his massive novels in serialized form in magazines and journals, giving his fans just one installment at a time and leaving them hooked and eager for more.

In Japan, many novels, particularly those aimed at young adults, are sold in a similar fashion. “Light novels,” as these novels are called (the Japanese even say the English words “light novel”: “raito noberu”), are actually closer to what we consider novellas (short novels) in the West. At an average of around 40,000 to 50,000 words each, these novels are miniature versions of what we consider novels for young adults in the West. To give you an idea, the Harry Potter books range from 76,000 to 257,000 words each.

Light novels are easy to read because they don’t require a long period of time to commit to reading, so they appeal to busy, technical-savvy modern young adults in Japan. However, you’re unlikely to find stand-alone works published as light novels—that would defeat the purpose of the light novel. The publishers really want to hook their readers on the first book and make them come back for the next, which is often published mere months after the previous installment. Light novels are usually series that can last 5, 10 or even 20 books. The average length of a series is around 12 to 13 light novels. However, add up 12 light novels and you still only get about two Harry Potter books!

Light novels are rarely considered modern Japanese classics, although some frequent light novel authors have been praised for their skills. The language used in light novels is very minimalist and to-the-point. This also helps make them more appealing for the busy Japanese teenager who wants a quick and easy way to escape the pressures of school and daily life.

Another feature of light novels is that, although they are aimed at young adults, they often feature black and white illustrations, most often in the Japanese manga (“comic book”) style. This appeals to a culture where even adults enjoy reading manga. Light novels are also printed in smaller dimensions than we’re used to in the West, so they’re easier to carry around. Typical light novels are printed in dimensions of only about 4 inches by 5 inches.

Even some Western books that make it into translation in Japanese are published in light novel format. Stephenie Meyer’s popular Twilight series is one example. Four rather bulky books in the West were turned into one light novel series in Japan consisting of 13 volumes (complete with manga-style illustrations). None of the books are considered “sequels.” They’re all part of one large series. If you’ve been paying attention to Twilight in the West, you may have noticed that it’s incredibly popular with young adults (mostly young women) while critics have panned the books for simple language, uncomplicated plots and an idealized, simplified depiction of romance. Well, that’s exactly what the light novel market in Japan looks for, so the books fit right in with the competition.

Would you rather have long books broken up into smaller chapters so they’re easier to carry around (and you wind up paying more in the end)? Do you like your novels to provide escapism or do you prefer something that engages your mind a bit more? Do you have any favorite Japanese light novels? (Some light novels have been published in English.)

Japan brought home five medals at this year’s Vancouver Winter Olympics, half of the number (10) they won at the 1998 games in Nagano. (Perhaps holding the games in their own country helped build up momentum to take so many medals!) Still, it was a good year for Japanese sports compared to the 2002 Olympics, in which they brought home 2 medals, and the 2004 Olympics, in which they took only one.

The categories in which the Japanese won medals this year are:

Ladies’ Figure Skating: Silver, Asada Mao

Men’s Figure Skating: Bronze, Takahashi Daisuke

Men’s 500 M Speed Skating: Silver, Nagashima Keiichiro and Bronze, Kato Joji

Ladies’ Team Pursuit Speed Skating: Silver, Tabata Maki, Hozumi Masako, & Kodaira Nao

It’s interesting to note that the 4^th Place Finisher in Ladies’ Figure Skating, who turned heads for her performance, is Japanese-American Mirai Nagasu, who, as a 16-year-old, is a dual citizen of both Japan and the US. (Japan doesn’t allow dual citizenship after the age of 22.) Although she represented America in the Olympics, she’s somewhat well known in Japan and has been featured on Japanese TV on numerous occasions.

Japan’s relatively successful representation at the 2010 Olympics shouldn’t be a surprise. Many people unfamiliar with Japan don’t realize that the northern part of the country has harsh winters on par with nearby Russia. In the northern part of Japan, called Hokkaido, snow accumulation average snowfall in the mountain area is about 45 feet per winter!

Ski resorts in Hokkaido that offer skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports are popular destinations for winter sports enthusiasts from around the globe. You can even rent a sled and a pack of dogs and take dog sled lessons from a professional! Despite the frigid 10˚F to 25˚F temperatures, open-air hot springs are still a popular stop at these resorts, too. Bathing in hot water in cold air is a refreshing experience that helps soothe sore muscles after a day of skiing downhill.

Did you watch the 2010 Olympics? Did you see Japan compete in any of the events? Have you ever been to Hokkaido?

After you’ve stated your name, you have the option of giving your occupation and nationality, but you don’t have to if you don’t think it’s appropriate. However, to exchange introductions politely, you must say one of two greeting phrases.

Occupation

To state your occupation, you must first know some vocabulary for common professions. However, this is by no means a complete list:

Middle school student = chuugakusei

High school student = koukousei

College student = daigakusei

Teacher = kyoushi

Professor = kyouju

Office worker = kaishain

Doctor = isha

Retail worker = tenin

Lawyer = bengoshi

Journalist = jaanarisuto

To state your occupation, after you state your name, you simply say:

OCCUPATION desu. = I’m a/an OCCUPATION.

In other words, college students would say:

Daigakusei desu. = I’m a college student.

Nationality

Assuming you’re a native English speaker in the West, here are the three primary nationalities you could be:

1. America = amerika -or- beikoku

American (person) = amerikajin

American (thing): amerika no

2. Canada = kanada

Canadian (person) = kanadajin

Canadian (thing): kanada no

3. Great Britain = igirisu -or- eikoku

British (person) = igirisujin

British (thing): igirisu no

There are two ways to state your nationality in your introduction. You can simply state, “I’m NATIONALITY” or you can combine it with your occupation to state, “I’m a/an NATIONALITY OCCUPATION.”

NATIONALITY desu. = I’m NATIONALITY

NATIONALITY no OCCUPATION desu. = I’m a NATIONALITY OCCUPATION.

In other words, an American college student could say:

Amerikajin desu. = I’m American.

Amerika no daigakusei desu. = I’m an American college student.

Greeting Phrase

After you have stated your name, occupation, and nationality (the latter two are optional), you should say one of two phrases:

1. Hajimemashite = Nice to meet you. (Literally “we meet for the first time.”)

2. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu = Please take care of me. (Literally “I ask that you be kind to me, please.”)

You use the first phrase with people whom you don’t expect to see much or people who won’t be living, working, or attending classes with you. For example, your host mother introduces her nephew. You can say, “Nice to meet you” to the nephew.

You use the second phrase with anyone with whom you will have a working relationship or who will be literally taking care of you. These include a host family, your work colleagues and boss, and your classmates and teachers. It is proper Japanese to humbly request that the person treats you kindly throughout your working relationship. These people will say the same to you.

Summary

Jane Doe, a Canadian office worker, introduces herself to the host family with whom she will be staying during her stay:

Konnichiwa. Jane Doe desu. Kanada no kaishain desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Tom Taylor, a British traveler, introduces himself to a friend of a colleague in Japan:

Ohayou gozaimasu. Watashi no namae wa Tom Taylor desu. Iigirisujin desu.

Hajimemashite.

Don’t recognize the greeting expressions used before the introductions? Review Essential Vocabulary here.

If you’re studying Japanese, chances are one day you’ll meet Japanese people. Whether you want to practice Japanese with an exchange student, people in a nearby Asian community or in Japan itself, you must know how to properly and politely introduce yourself.

The basic point of a proper Japanese introduction is to state your name. You can also state your occupation and nationality if you like. After this, you should say one of two phrases depending on the situation.

Names

There are two ways to state your name in Japanese that are roughly equivalent to how you would introduce yourself in English:

1. (Watashi wa) NAME desu. = I’m NAME.

*The “watashi wa” part is optional. You can just say “NAME desu” and it means the same thing due to the context of an introduction.

2. Watashi no namae wa NAME desu. = My name is NAME.

Yes, the Japanese word for name is “namae,” “nah-mah-eh.” It’s not even derived from English! But the similar way the words are spelled makes it easier for English-speakers to remember.

When a Japanese person introduces him or herself, be aware that the proper way for a Japanese person (and many Eastern people) to state his or her name is with the family name first and then the given name.

In other words, a person whom Western people would call “Fumiko Matsumoto” (“Fumiko” being her given name and “Matsumoto” being her family name) would introduce herself as “Matsumoto Fumiko.” You would then proceed to call her “Matsumoto-san” and refrain from calling her by her given name unless she gives you permission to do so.

(Unlike in the West, it is rare for colleagues and acquaintances in Japan to call each other by given names. Only close friends and family have the honor of doing so. In fact, some couples start dating and still call each other by their family names for weeks, months, or even years. A great turning point in their relationship is when they give each other permission to use their given names!)

There is one caveat to this system of “family name first.” Japanese people are aware that Westerners state their given names first and, realizing that you’re foreign, they may introduce themselves in the Western way. You will learn over time to figure out the common differences between most given names and family names.

Japanese people will also expect you as a Westerner to introduce yourself the Western way, even in Japanese, so don’t worry about giving your family name before your given name. It will sound weird even to the Japanese.

The best ways for the American Jane Doe to state her name in Japanese, then, is:

(Watashi wa) Jane Doe desu.

-or-

Watashi no namae wa Jane Doe desu.

Whereas the Japanese Jouji Yamamoto will say:

(Watashi wa) Yamamoto Jouji desu.

-or-

Watashi no namae wa Yamamoto Jouji desu.

Unless, aware that you’re foreign, he chooses to introduce himself the Western way, with the given name first!

Memorize the way to state your name in Japanese. However, you’re not quite ready to introduce yourself just yet. Come back on Wednesday for Introductions Part 2.

When most Westerners think of Japan, they think of one large curved island, roughly the size of California. However, Japan is actually made up of 6,852 islands, most of which are very small and uninhabited. (97% of the Japanese population lives on the largest four islands—that “one large curved island” is actually made up of four islands connected by bridges.) The stretch of Japan includes places with harsh winters similar to nearby Russia (Hokkaido) to tropical islands far south from the main island of Honshu. Okinawa, located almost 1000 miles southwest of Tokyo, is perhaps the most famous of the tropical Japanese islands.

While all of Japan is essentially a series of islands, most of the inhabited parts are reachable by train and car once you land in Tokyo. However, to get to Okinawa, you’ll have to take a plane or boat, even from the main islands. Okinawa Island is too far from the mainland for bridges.

Okinawa Island is the most populous area of Okinawa, but Okinawa Prefecture actually consists of hundreds of smaller islands called the Ryukyu Islands that curve southwest of the main island of Japan for roughly 620 miles. The tropical climate of the Ryukyu Islands makes Okinawa Island a popular vacation spot even for native Japanese, as temperatures are warm year-round and swimming, surfing, scuba diving, fishing and other water sports are frequent activities at Okinawa’s many beaches. You can expect temperatures to drop no more than 68˚ F. In the summer, temperatures are more frequently in the 80s and 90s.

Besides the many pleasant beach activities, Okinawa is home to many historical sites that showcase classic Japanese architecture, such as Shuri Castle and Nakagutsu Castle. Parks, caves, and capes are popular destinations for tourists looking to relax and explore. The Churaumi Aquarium, the second largest aquarium in the world, features enormous whale sharks and mantas.

There are four U.S. military bases in Okinawa, making this the most likely stop for any U.S. serviceman or woman who’s stationed in Japan. This is a rather contentious point with the Japanese government, as these bases were established after World War II as part of the US’ decision to “keep an eye on” the Japanese due to their role in the war. Obviously, times have changed, but the U.S. presence remains. Although the U.S. has agreed every few decades to give up more of its territory, U.S. law and land still makes up 18% of the main Okinawa Island.

Did you know that Japan had tropical islands? If you won an all-expenses paid vacation to either Tokyo or Okinawa (but not both), which would you choose and why? Do you think the U.S. should still have so much military presence in Japan?

Earlier this month, you might have been walking down a Japanese residential street only to come across Japanese people tossing beans outside of their front doors.

Maybe you even visited a nearby temple or shrine and saw someone wearing a mask made to look like the classical Japanese art depiction of a demon (complete with two horns) dancing around and falling victim to a crowd’s flying beans.

The bean-throwing and demon-mask antics are part of Setsubun, a traditional Japanese holiday that takes place on the eve of the new season. The most widely celebrated of these holidays takes place on February 3^rd. How is early February, in the midst of winter, a new season? The seasons traditionally celebrated by Setsubun are based on the ancient Japanese lunar calendar and there are 24 seasons in the year! According to this ancient calendar, early February is the start of spring and is called Risshun.

So about the time we’re asking groundhogs to predict how much winter is left (throwing beans doesn’t seem so silly in comparison, does it?), the Japanese are already celebrating the start of spring, be it in a traditional sense. (Meteorologically, Japanese spring starts between March and May, depending on the region.) The traditional Setsubun celebration was meant to cleanse all bad luck from a person’s house that accumulated in the former year (in traditional Japan, like traditional China, the New Year begins in spring and is based on the lunar calendar) and drive away any malevolent spirits that have been possessing the home. The homeowners then ask that good luck and good spirits come into the home.

The Japanese word for beans, mame, is a homonym for “the eyes of evil,” so it is believed that beans were chosen as the tools with which to drive away the evil because the homeowners would then be grabbing evil by the eyes and tossing it away from the house. The beans are usually roasted soybeans. During this ceremony, called Mamemaki (bean throwing), homeowners shout, “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” which means “Out with demons! In with luck!” as they either throw beans out the door or at a family member wearing a demon mask.

Today most Japanese don’t believe in the spiritual aspect of the tradition, any more than people in North America believe that groundhogs can predict the weather. But the tradition is a part of their culture and it can be fun to participate in the festivities. During Haru Matsuri (the Spring Festival in early February), Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples hold a celebration and on Setsubun participants can grab some beans and throw them at people wearing demon masks.

Have you ever participated in Setsubun? (It’s a popular activity in Japanese classes in North America, too.) Would you want to be dressed up as the demon and attempt to avoid the beans or would you rather do the throwing?

While Japan has a plethora of “Western-style” bakeries in which you’ll find the typical cakes, cookies, cupcakes, éclairs and other pastries you’re used to finding in North America or Europe, no trip to Japan is complete without sampling the classic sweets that are uniquely Japanese. Like in the West, chocolate is a popular filling for modern Japanese sweets, but for the classics, don’t be surprised to find fillings made from ingredients like red beans and rice.

No, Japanese pastries are not filled with actual chunky beans and rice. Anko is a word you’ll often see when ordering Japanese pastries. It refers to a red bean (azuki) paste that’s mildly sweet and has been the main ingredient of Japanese pastries long before things like chocolate made their way to Japan.

Anko is a popular fillings in classic Japanese pastries such as taiyaki (a fish-shaped cake—and no, it doesn’t taste anything like fish), manju (a steamed bun based on an ancient Chinese dish—read more here), dorayaki (a pancake-like pastry with filling), and shiritama (dumplings).

Rice isn’t usually a filling but a sweet in and of itself. By fermenting the rice, Japanese pastry-makers can get the rice into a sweet, gelatinous consistency like that in mochi (rice cake), daifuku (sweet rice cake), and shiruko (a soup made of sweet rice cake).

One popular classic Japanese pastry is anpan. Anpan is literally a sweet bread filled with a sweet filling that dates back to the late 1800s. Typical classic fillings include anko, pickled cherry blossoms, chestnut jam, white bean jam, and green pea jam and modern fillings include chocolate cream, custard, fruit-flavored cream and cream cheese. While it sounds like enough to send anyone running to the dentist, the Japanese version of “sweet” is quite different than you may be used to in the West. Even Western-style cakes in Japan are mildly sweet. Japanese-made pastries are delicious without being cringe-worthy sweet. You won’t find yourself scraping off frosting to avoid getting cavities.

If you’re ever in Tokyo, consider taking the train about an hour outside of the city to Saitama’s Kashiya Yokocho (“Confectioners’ Alley”). This classic-style alley of mom-and-pop-style homemade pastry and candy stores is made to elicit the feelings of 1950s Japan. The popular ingredient for pastries there are sweet potatoes. You can find sweet potato anpan, ice cream, chips, coffee and even beer.

The mild sweetness of Japanese sweets can truly only be tasted to be understood, so track down the nearest Japanese style bakery and give it a try. One popular chain of Japanese supermarkets in the US is Mitsuwa, which has one location in New Jersey (only a 20-minute shuttle ride from Manhattan), one outside of Chicago, and six in California.

What’s your favorite Japanese pastry? What’s the best Japanese pastry filling?

If you’ve been paying attention to car news—and I certainly hope you have if you own a Toyota—Toyota is calling for massive recalls after discovering a glitch with the gas pedal in some models of its cars that causes the accelerator to become stuck, overriding brakes and causing accidents, injuries, and deaths across the globe. While this is no doubt a serious problem for which the Japanese automaker must take action and face the consequences of a huge sales drop, some lawmakers in Japan are worried that this problem in the private sector will become a “global issue.”

Japanese Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya has been quoted as saying, “I’m worried. It’s not just the problem of one company but a domestic issue.”¹ He’s not alone. The US is the largest buyer of motor vehicles and so it has the largest number of recalls associated with this problem. Toyota CEO Toyoda Akio has been subpoenaed by the US Congress to testify before a congressional committee about the company’s safety procedures.

But what does this, the matter of a private company, have to do with Japan’s relationship with the US as a nation? Well, Japanese lawmakers are already having a difficult time negotiating with the US over the relocation of an American marine base in Okinawa after the new Japanese Prime Minister, Hatoyama Yukio, halted negotiations as part of his party’s promise to “reexamine” existing ties with the US. The Japanese government has also been asked by the American government to be more lenient with “green” tax laws for vehicles that benefit Japanese cars in Japan far more than American cars.

Lawmakers fear that on top of these problems, if the Toyota heads appear unfriendly or unwilling to work with the American Congress at these hearings, this could spark a tense tax-related “trade war” with America similar to one the countries experienced in the 1980s and 90s. However, not everyone is that concerned, pointing out that this is the matter of a private company and they believe that Toyota will do its best to comply with the US Congress’ wishes.

Should the problems of one private company in a foreign country be responsible for “tension” between the two nations? Would any American expect, for example, Japan to start a trade war with the US over the mistakes of Microsoft in their country? Or, does it make a huge difference because Microsoft’s products are less likely to cause injury, even when they fail, than that of Toyota’s?

¹ Associated Press. “Japan worried that Toyota’s problems cut hurt U.S. ties.” Japan Today. 14 Feb. 2010. Politics. 15 Feb. 2010. <http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/japan-worried-that-toyotas-problems-could-hurt-us-ties>.

This past December’s theatrical release of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog reminded anyone over the age of 10 that Walt Disney was once a name eponymous with hand-drawn, 2D animation of fantastical stories that awaken children’s imaginations. In the midst of 3D CG movies rife with pop culture references, cheesy plotlines, and stars-of-the-day, The Princess and the Frog promised a return to the company’s roots, the types of movies that Disney is known for worldwide.

Or not. Maybe Disney was onto something when they moved from Beauty and the Beast to Valiant (a 2005 CG movie about British homing pigeons fighting an evil German hawk during World War II if you, like most of the world, never saw it). The Princess and the Frog has earned a respectable $100 million domestically after over two months in release, but it took only a couple of weeks for 20^th Century Fox’s “stellar” CG children’s film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, released shortly thereafter, to earn double that.

The children of America may have been raised to believe that kids’ movies should be CG, crude and generally forgettable, but in Japan, CG has yet to appear in more than a handful of animated films and when it does, it rarely plays more of a role than it does in live action special effects flicks here: to paint the background of a world and make action sequences stand out.

Japan gets and loves Disney films (as the two Disney theme parks in Tokyo can attest), but they also have their own answer to Disney: Studio Ghibli and, when one of the studio heads himself chooses to direct, Miyazaki Hayao. Miyazaki and his co-heads, director Takahata Isao and producer Suzuki Toshio, have animation careers that date back to the 1960s. Miyazaki in particularly made his mark at Toei Animation, another essential staple in the folds of Japanese animation that still produces work today. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the founders of Ghibli worked on two animated films together, one of which, Kaze no Tani no Nausicäa (US title: Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind), remains a veritable classic of Japanese animation today.

After Nausicäa, Miyazaki, Takahata, and Suzuki formed Studio Ghibli and released their first film under the studio’s official title, 1986’s Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa (US: Castle in the Sky). Fifteen award-winning films have followed this award-winning start to the Studio Ghibli tradition: break box office records in Japan and entertain and delight adults as much as children.

A little longer and perhaps slightly less action-oriented than their American animated film counterparts, the Studio Ghibli offerings usually follow the story of a young girl or boy (girls tend to appear more often than boys) who face spiritual, fantastical and compelling adventures as they learn to understand the importance of their friends, their family, and even the planet. There are definitely exceptions to the magic and fantastical—1988’s Hotaru no Haka (US: Grave of the Fireflies) comes to mind, as it deals with a young boy and his even younger sister who must deal with tragedy and survival after they lose the rest of their family to bombings in World War II—and exceptions to the young boy and girl protagonists—how about 1992’s Kurenai no Buta (US: Porco Rosso), which followed a Humphrey Bogart-esque Italian humanoid pig’s career as a World War I fighter pilot?—but the films always deliver on epic, thought-provoking themes that encourage children to dream and think about the world around them.

The folks at Disney know that Studio Ghibli films are something special, as current head of the animation department at Disney John Lasseter made it his mission to bring as many of the Studio Ghibli films to an English-speaking audience as possible—and uncut, at that. It was thanks to Disney’s international release of 2001’s Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (US: Spirited Away) that the film got enough exposure to win an Academy Award for best animated film, a first for Japanese animation.

While Disney has been going the way of CG, never has it been easier to get your hands on Studio Ghibli films in America. If you’ve grown up from jokes about passing gas and fish with cell phones in your animated films, try a Studio Ghibli film and take a peek at the kind of quality animation that’s been around in Japan for decades—the kind that won’t buck to current trends and yet, makes a huge impact on the nation regardless.

What are some of your favorite Studio Ghibli films? Do you find Studio Ghibli films more or less entertaining than Disney films?