Considering that in 2010, the population was about 128 million in a country about the size of California (377,835 sq km. /145,833 sq mi.), crowded trains, streets, and shops are a part of Japanese society. However, a recent article from Thomson Reuters claims that Japan’s population will fall 30%—to below 90 million—by 2060! Why is this? Is there a new disease that is causing the Japanese to die young?

Actually, it is quite the opposite. Japan has one of the longest life expectancies in the world, and by 2060, it is estimated that the average life expectancy will rise by more than four years (84.19 for men / 90.93 for women). With the increase of people 65 or older, the government must support those elderly through their social security program. However, the cost of social security is rising by 1 trillion yen a year, causing a major financial burden.

Another cause for the decline of population is the low birth rate. The accepted fertility rate that is needed to sustain the population is 2.08 children born per couple. In 2010, Japan’s fertility rate was 1.39 and is expected to fall to 1.35 by 2060. The number of children 14 years old or younger is estimated to decline more than half to 7.91 million.

For the past two decades, Japan has been trying to raise its birth rate without success. In Japanese society, most women are faced with a difficult decision between pursuing a career and starting a family. The government promised to increase childcare allowances in 2009 but their plan had to be revised because growing need for funds towards the social security program. As long as there remains a lack of childcare support for career women, Japan’s fertility rate is unlike to rebound.

Some argue that a possible solution to help increase the population is to allow for more foreigners to immigrate to Japan. But many Japanese are skeptical about this approach due to the fact that many foreigners have trouble assimilating into Japanese culture and mastering the language.

What is your opinion on this topic? How can Japan sustain their population? Or do you think that a 30% reduction in population is okay because Japan is too crowded to begin with? Share your thoughts below!

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Photo by john weiss

The mindscape of a zen garden

Zen gardens are often found in temple complexes. The minimalistic design is intended to calm the mind and draw it away from everyday concerns, creating a spiritual space for sitting quietly and pondering. They’re used by monks for meditation and contemplating the Dharma. Many gardens are designed so that the layout symbolizes Buddhist concepts.

The key to Zen garden design is simplicity, occasionally broken up with an individualistic flourish characteristic of Zen. The idea is to appreciate nature in the raw without artifice and to experience its beauty directly.

Photo by jpellgen

Common features of zen gardens

Zen gardens aren’t always without vegetation, but plant-life is kept to a minimum. There may be moss or small plants, but the green is overshadowed by rock and stone. Water, one of the most important features of traditional Japanese gardens, is missing entirely, but features such as raked gravel give the illusion of flowing water.

In a Zen garden, the ‘borrowed landscape’ of nearby trees or mountains is considered part of the design. In Japanese, this is called shakkei (借景). The idea is to enlarge the space of the garden, enhance its aesthetic appeal, and place it in the context of the surrounding landscape. This was a popular artistic technique during the Muromachi period (1338–1568) when Zen gardens were at their peak, influenced by art of the Chinese Song Dynasty.

Photo by kansai man

Ryōanji’s rock garden in Kyōto

Ryōanji (竜安寺) is one of Japan’s most famous temples and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994. Designed in the 15th century by unknown artists, many consider its rock garden to be a perfect expression of Japanese culture and the epitome of Zen.

The garden is about 30 by 10 meters. It contains nothing but 15 irregularly-shaped boulders and white gravel which is raked daily. The boulders are set in a seemingly random pattern throughout the garden. However, there’s a method to the seeming randomness. They are arranged so that from any point in the garden, only 14 are visible. It’s said that the 15th rock only comes into view once you attain enlightenment.

If you visit a Zen garden, plan to spend some quiet time there. They’re best appreciated when the mind is free of all thoughts. With a mind that’s empty and calm, you can create your own meaning to the abstract arrangement of the rocks and boulders. Many people say that the longer you sit in a Zen garden, the more fascinating it becomes.

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Masako “Machaco” Okazaki is an exceptionally talented reggae singer who’s recording all of our Japanese pronunciation audio, and recently released Tomorrow Will Glow—her new single to benefit the Tōhoku Disaster Relief Effort.

All proceeds go towards relief efforts around Sendai, devastated by the earthquake and tsunami which hit the region last year. Please take a listen & purchase the song if you can.

“Tomorrow Will Glow” Single to benefit the Japan relief effort.
Please Download (iTunes USA)
是非ダウンロードお願いします！ (iTunes Japan)

The way for you to lend your support is to download copies of this song. All proceeds will be donated to the victims via Japanese Red Cross Society.
Blessed love, Machaco and Ayako ‘Iyah’ Knight

Check out our earlier post for other ways to help the Japanese earthquake relief effort.

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Photo by guccibear2005

Before I moved to Japan, I never had any idea how delicious seaweed could be. Like octopus, eels, moldy beans, sea urchin innards and salmon eggs, I just never thought to try eating it.

There are many types of edible seaweed in Japan and they’re referred to as kaiso (海藻). Seaweed is a traditional part of the Japanese diet and its cultivation goes back for centuries. Now, Japan’s delicious seaweeds are quickly spreading around the world as folks everywhere realize that Japanese food is awesome.

Nori (海苔)

Photo by FotoosVanRobin

The above-mentioned nori is Japan’s most produced marine product. It’s an edible version of the algae Porphyra that’s also known as ‘purple laver’ in Ireland. Nori comes in blackish-purple sheets and is used as wrapping paper for sushi (寿司) and onigiri (おにぎり) rice balls. It’s also used as a garnish for the rāmen (ラーメン) soup. This crispy algae is exceptionally high in protein and also an excellent source of vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, sodium, zinc, iodine and iron. You can chomp sheets of it like crisps and get all of those vitamins and nutrients. There is also Korean nori and Chinese nori, which are both a little tangier and spicier.

Konbu (昆布)

Photo by FotoosVanRobin

Konbu is greenish-black and is tougher with a slightly sweet taste. It’s used as soup stock and as a filling for onigiri. I have to say that konbu onigiri rocks my world on a regular basis. Among its health benefits, it has penty of vitamin C and eating konbu helps you is said to keep you from losing your hair.

Hijiki (ひじき)

Hijiki is my personal favourite. It comes in black strands that are slightly crispy or chewy and it is often used in salads. There’s actually a hijiki salad that has this seaweed mixed with peanuts, sliced carrots and sliced gobo (牛蒡, great burdock). Hijiki is a little bit dry and bitter. It packs all the same vitamins and nutrients as konbu, but has very high amounts of fiber and calcium as well. It’s a staple of Japanese home cooking.

Wakame (わかめ)

Photo by FotoosVanRobin

Wakame is used a lot in the miso soup (味噌汁) and also as a garnish for sushi. It’s green, chewy and a little bit slimy. I’m not a huge fan of wakame salad, but it works great for me in miso soup. Wakame is actually a type of kelp. It has all the vitamins and nutrients you expect from a seaweed variety, and there’s some scientific evidence that it can help you burn fat and lower blood pressure. It’s also used in Chinese medicine for a number of different treatments.

Other types of seaweed include mozuku (水雲), aonori (青海苔), and umibudo (海葡萄, literally ‘sea grapes’). All kaiso is low in fat and calories and high in nutrients and vitamins, especially vitamin B12. It’s one of the only non-animal sources of B12. But forget about all of that—it’s tasty. What would your onigiri be without its crispy nori wrapping?

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Photo by michael.banovsky

If you thought that fingerprinting and iris scanners were the future of personal identification, you can think again! Researchers, led by Associate Professor Shigeomi Koshimizu at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology have released a report outlining their system of driver identification.

The technology looks at the position of the person’s posterior relative to the seat, the way pressure is applied, and its overall shape. Using a seat with 360 sensors, the team claim that they can recognise a bottom with 98% accuracy.

Unlike other forms of identification, which have limited success when there are injuries on the person trying to be identified, there is poor lighting, or they are in any way unclean: this technology is designed to work no matter what state the person is in, and can work through all types of material and clothing. Additionally, those who have tried the technology note that it is less intrusive than having to place a finger or eye on a scanner, and more convenient than having to use passwords, key fobs and identity cards.

Photo by Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology

If successful, Koshimizu anticipates that there will be even wider uses for his technology – in any application where a user who is seated needs to be identified. Just think – no need for train or plane tickets, computers that login as soon as you are in front of them, and restaurants who know your favourite food order!

What do you think about being identified from behind? Useful technology or a step too far?

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5. Announcing Japanese LinguaLift

Users have enjoyed the fully updated Japanese E-textbook, mastered countless words and characters in the Vocab Lab & Kanji Academy, and lapped up our brand new game—Japanese Frenzy—in the Arcade.

We already provide you with several awesome ways to save money over at LinguaLift. If you’re a student, you can get 25% off your subscription price, and if you pre-pay for six or twelve months in advance, you’ll get one or three months for free.

We strongly believe that $29 a month is a reasonable price to pay for access to our great suite of tools. It’s cheaper than the cost of a private tutor, language schools, advanced textbook series and even other software alternatives. It’s the best value for money solution you’ll find to learning Japanese.

The time saved with expertly created vocab decks, crystal-clear grammar explanations and faster progress with kanji acquisition means that not only do you progress quicker through your Japanese studies, but you’re also more likely to remember what you’ve learned.

We’re celebrating the coming of 2012, and for one-week only, you have a unique opportunity to get all the great tools and resources at Japanese LinguaLift, including all future updates, at a price that is impossible to say no to for any serious learner of Japanese.

For just $200, you will get access to the E-textbook, the Kanji Academy, the Vocab Lab, to all current and upcoming educational games in the Arcade, as well as all other tools we may possibly add to the website in the future.

Compared to the regular monthly price, this is a saving of over $150. We’ll never offer another discount this good, and we’ll be going back to regular prices on the 7th January 2012.

Because we’ll always look after our existing users better than anyone, if you are already a subscriber to LinguaLift, please email us at hello@edulift.eu, and we’ll extend you current subscription with the same discount we give new users, and even throw in another free month for a total saving of over $170.

We’re really excited for you to check out all that LinguaLift has to offer. All plans come with a 7 day no-obligation free trial, so please click here and see everything for yourself!

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In the Japanese language, this is taken to another level by incorporating keigo (敬語). For a brief summary of Japanese formal speech, please refer to Untranslatable Japanese.

Photo by Max Mayorov

For most Japanese learners, we are almost always taught formal form (desu/-masu, です/-ます) before we are taught casual form (da/-ru; だ/-る). Everyone’s first Japanese sentence structure is “X is Y desu,” and their first Japanese sentence becomes “Watashi wa [name] desu, 私は[name]です.”

At first our homework is comprised of solely “Watashi wa ○○ desu, 私は○○です” We struggle with particles and are never too sure whether it is wa, ga, de, or ni. When we think we finally figure out which particle goes where, there are always about 4 exceptions. This is the way of life for the beginning Japanese learner.

As our Japanese studies continue and we enter the intermediate level, we come to discover that we do not have to start every sentence with “watashi wa…” and in reality, sometimes native Japanese speakers drop the use of particles in everyday speech.

Why then are we forced to learn an aspect of a language that could be omitted or said in an easier way? Would it not be better to learn the more practical words and grammar that natives actually use? To answer this question bluntly—no.

The attraction of learning solely casual language can be very strong. Why focus on the small details of grammar (particles) if you could avoid the stress and troubles of learning it by omitting them like natives do? It is easy to stray from the ‘traditional’ path of learning Japanese and study the material that some may view as more applicable aspects of the language (vocabulary and kanji).

Photo by Max Mayorov

Some intermediate level individuals may feel that they are demonstrating a higher degree of mastery over the language because they speak more like the natives than their fellow foreign learners, and are not using words/sentence patterns that are commonly associated with beginning Japanese. However, their constant use of casual language may actually have an opposite effect.

The Japanese society is built around manners and customs. It is important to use the correct words and phrases during the correct situations. Although initially impressed with their vast vocabulary, natives may view the Japanese leaner as rude and culturally insensitive because the learner has failed to acknowledge and study Japanese etiquette.

I do not condemn learning and properly using casual language because it is fun and exciting to speak like the natives. However, it is important to find a proper balance between learning formal and casual language by asking yourself why you are learning Japanese.

Are you learning to only to converse with young people and make a few friends? Are you learning because you have a great desire to involve yourself in the community and become a member of Japanese society? Or is it both?

In any case, take time to familiarize yourself with formal/proper speech while learning casual speech; you will most likely impress Japanese speakers more by fluidly transitioning from casual to formal when needed than being able to use Japanese slang.

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We’ve hardly kept it a secret, but it may have escaped some people’s attention that NihongoUp has been going through some changes. NihongoUp was only ever meant to be the name for the educational game that so many loved, but which did not get the sufficient attention for over a year, dwarfed by the lessons, blog, forum, drops, and everything else we produced.

What begun as a small update and re-branding has since come to be something bigger than we could ever have dreamed of. With your help, we have learned an incredible amount about serving learners and teaching Japanese, and are now using that knowledge to build what we believe is the best Japanese language learning solution on the market.

LinguaLift is home to a revolutionary Japanese E-Textbook, brand new learning tools focusing separately on kanji learning and vocabulary acquisition, and also introduces the Arcade, where you’ll find exclusive learning games to ensure that there’s never an excuse not to be immersed in the language.

We have been truly touched by the passion from the Japanese learning community, and the willingness from you, the users, to teach us, help us, advise us, and tell others about what we are working on. It’s this that has kept us motivated to continue to explore all of the innovative ideas which result in the products we produce.

LinguaLift is already awesome, but we know we can do better. We are bursting with ideas and we can’t wait to share them with you. Keep in the loop by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, and adding us to your Google+ circles :)

We’d love it if you could try out LinguaLift for yourself, and let us know what you think. There is a 7-day free trial available to all new users, and as ever, big savings for students and those who wish to pre-pay for six or twelve months in advance.

P.S. As a special treat for readers of the blog and mailing list subscribers, here’s 10% off your first month! Use this coupon code: 10-fm-7252 on the sign-up payment page.

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The original

Remixes

The smooth jazz cover

800% slower than original

Nyan Cat [speed up 2000%]

1 second Nyan Cat [speed up 21700%]

TACNAYN

Nyan Keyboard Cat

10 hours of Nyan Cat

Nyan Cat – 24 Hour Edition

Nyan Cat 3D

NyanCat: Trollololol Edition

What if the Nyan Cat was fat?!!!

Sad Nyan Cat

Nyan Cat falls in love!!

Nyan Cat [navi hey remix]

Nyan Cat THE ANIME

IRL NYAN TROLL

Old time-y Nyan Cat

Tac Nayn metal version

Nyan Cat overture (18th century mix)

Nyan Cats attack

Nyan Cat on crack

NYAN Cat RAVE

Slipknot + Nyan cat

Nyan Cat around the world

Indian dance version

Rasta Nyan Cat

Instrumental covers

Piano

Grand piano

Violin

Guitar

Bass guitar

Drums

Banjo

Nyan Cat Orchestrat

Nyan Cat everywhere

Nyan Cat for Nintendo DS

Guitar Hero Nyan Cat

Nyan Windows 2

Nyan Cat progress bar for Windows 7

Nyan Cat progress bar on YouTube

Nyan Cat: The Minecraft Edition

Nyan Mario

Nyan horse

Pikachu Nyan Cat

Non-cats

Nyan Cat man

Nyan of Dury – Cat Ops

Toaster Puppy

Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!

Kids react to Nyan Cat

&c.

Nyan Cat nails

Nyan cat cake

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Photo by kayoubi_

There are karaoke boxes all throughout Japan, mostly located near train stations and in big cities. Majority of the time they filled with young and elderly people a like. It is a good way to relax after school or work and blow off some of the day’s stresses. But why hasn’t karaoke’s popularity boomed in the Western world as it has in Japan? What is it about karaoke in Japan that makes it so special?

The most noticeable difference between Japanese karaoke and Western karaoke is the structure. In Western karaoke, participants stand up on a stage in front of other bar patrons and sing their (drunk) hearts out. In Japan however, karaoke patrons are assigned a booth (depending on group size), completely separated from strangers and alone with their friends. Hence the difference in names; karaoke bars in the west, and karaoke boxes in Japan.

Not surprisingly, this plays a huge factor in karaoke’s popularity. Knowing that the only people who will hear them sing are their friends, may allow the Japanese to participate without hesitation. In addition, the dark and intimate setting provides the singers the feeling of being able to hide, while many Westerners succumb to ‘stage fright’ knowing that complete strangers will judge them. This leads to probably the biggest difference between Japanese karaoke and Western Karaoke—ideology.

The ways in which the Japanese and the Westerners view the idea of karaoke are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Where Westerns tend to view karaoke as a talent contest for the vocally gifted, the Japanese focus on participating and giving a sincere effort. This can be viewed through the many talent shows that exist, such as American Idol or The X Factor, both of which look for a new star and spend the first couple of weeks ridiculing those of lesser talent. Where as in Japan, although their actual singing talents are questionable, some Japanese music artists’ albums are able to sell in the millions.

Japanese people do not care if you are a skilled singer or not. They only want you to participate in the fun and enjoy yourself. Karaoke is a good bonding experience. Not only are you in a small setting, where you are able converse with everyone in the room, you are able to show your true self without the fear of being judged based on your singing abilities.

Shimatachi summarized the difference between the ideology of Japanese karaoke and Western karaoke in Japan Pop!: “[...] karaoke must be seen as a positive social development. In short, the Walkman isolates and the boom box domineers—but karaoke unites.” ¹.

Obviously, Shimatachi wrote this article in a time where people used Walkmans and boom boxes, but the message remains unchanged. Walkmans, or more recently mp3 players, keep individuals isolated from each other and encourage introverts; boom boxes, or more recently American Idol, encourage the separation of the talented and the less talented.

The success of Japanese karaoke boxes is contributed to the combination of structure and ideology. The unifying power of karaoke to bond and connect with others around them overpowers any fears and embarrassments an individual might have, a leads to an awfully fun Friday night!

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