| G-フォレスタ |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|11:58 pm] |
I really like the Kobe-based theater group G-フォレスタ/G-Foresta. It's a small group that performs mystery plays. They always put in some little gimmicks and tricks to give their audience a unique experience. In the first one I went to 「午後、死体を密かに隠す。」which was based on the Agatha Christie story "The Spider's Web", the narrator gave the audience choices and we voted by raising our hands what would happen next. The next two I went to took place at locations that were actual old spooky houses, and the action of each scene took place in a different room so the audience would get up and follow them to that room. These were both based on novels by 江戸川乱歩/Edogawa Rampo, the titles being 幽霊塔 and 暗黒星. The style is Japanese gothic horror. There was a little girl sitting in front of us at 暗黒星 who kept telling her mom she was scared and wanted to leave. I guess she was a little young for it. But it really wasn't that frightening and she calmed down after awhile, though at the end when we had to fill out a survey she told everyone that she circled the "not enjoyable" option because it was too scary. The adults all seemed to enjoy it though. It's fun to move from room to room (though sometimes the seating is too cramped for comfort) and the acting is quite dramatic.
Right before the final act they always have an intermission where they ask you to guess the killer and write your reasoning. The first two times I went I didn't guess the killer correctly and left the reasoning part blank. But the last time, I guessed the right person and wrote something down just for the heck of it, and I won a bag of candy! The person who provides the correct answer and the best reasoning gets a T-shirt, but they also give out several runner-up prizes for people who wrote something interesting or funny, and that was what I got this time. So they read what I had written out loud and I had to stand up and everyone clapped.
I think the other audience members are surprised to see foreigners at these small, out-of-the-way performances that are all in Japanese, and at the second one someone asked me if I understood it. Although I feel conspicuous in the audience I don't feel unwelcome. I get the feeling that the cast and staff are happy to see foreigners are going to the performances. I recommend these plays to anyone living in the Kansai area who understands Japanese fairly well and wants a new experience.
The way they chose their name seems a little odd. On their homepage, it says
様々な種類や大きさの樹木で構成されている森は、時には恐さを感じさせ、そして時にはとても優しい存在です。そんな森=「フォレスト」の音が更に拡がるイメージで「フォレスタ」と名付けました。
"A forest made up of trees of various types and sizes sometimes makes you feel frightened, and is sometimes a gentle presence. We named ourselves 'Foresta' using the idea of that type of forest= 'Forest', and making that sound broader".
I don't really understand how "Foresta" is a "broader" sound than "forest". It sounds like "Forester", so I thought it was named after someone's surname at first. Also, the "G" might be for "group", but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's fun. |
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| meme |
[Oct. 23rd, 2009|10:48 pm] |
(from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) homasse)
The problem with LJ: We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about one another. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.
Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you. |
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| What English Sounds Like |
[Oct. 11th, 2009|11:44 am] |
Found this video of someone reading Japanese phrases so they supposedly sound like English. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 20th, 2009|02:33 pm] |
Books I got at the library yesterday:
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Atonement by Ian McEwan (a co-worker recommended this to me--I'm not sure if I'll like it)
墓地を見下ろす家 by 小池真理子
Books I got from Bookmooch most recently:
Self-Defense by Jonathan Kellerman
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall (not sure if I'll like this, I read the beginning on the train and it seemed a little too depressing--and the print is small--)
I'm pretty sure I'll read Self-Defence, Shutter Island and Hallowe'en Party--I've been on a mystery/thriller kick lately. I used to like fantasy and science fiction best, but lately I haven't read much that I liked of those, so I'm branching out.
I just read Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman. It was a compelling crime novel about two 11-year old girls who kidnap and murder a baby, and what happens when they get out of juvenile detention seven years later. The characters were intriguing, particularly the two girls and the mother of one of the girls, and I had trouble putting it down. However I felt that there were too many other viewpoint characters, adult women involved with the case, when just one more viewpoint character would have been sufficient. There didn't need to be a lawyer, a journalist, a victim's mother, and a police detective all trying to find out what was going on at the same time--I feel like the story would have been tighter with only one of those characters to root for. |
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| Phoenix Wright 2: the Musical |
[Aug. 30th, 2009|11:39 am] |
The flyer for the Phoenix Wright 2 Musical by the Takarazuka Revue is shown above. The Takarazuka Revue is an all-female performing troupe divided into several smaller divisions called "-gumi". This one was put on by the "Soragumi" 宙組. I went to see it yesterday at the Takarazuka Bau Hall.
The male character in the foreground is Phoenix Wright, beloved defense laywer appearing in a series of games by Capcom. I was surprised that the musical uses the English names for the characters, rather than their Japanese names, which are completely different.
The woman in the sleeveless belted dress plays the character Luce Areia, an aspiring lawyer whose schoolteacher mother is falsely accused of murder. Luce Areia, her mother and her boyfriend are new characters created for the musical, and they did not appear in the games.
Also, the musical takes place in Los Angeles, California, Phoenix's "hometown". A beach and surfboards were often shown as background in the story segments in between the trials.
The story did not include the amusing and oddball cases in the game Phoenix Wright 2. Instead, it focused on Luce and her mother. There were only two trials in the musical. The first was Phoenix defending Luce's mother from an accusation of murder by poison. Cleverly using photos displayed on a screen in the middle of a courtroom, Phoenix manages to argue a "not guilty" verdict, thus ending the first half of the show.
In the second half, rather than going to a completely new story, it's a continuation of the same murder case. Maya is kidnapped, and the kidnappers want Phoenix to obtain a "not guilty" verdict for Luce's boyfriend, who was accused of the poisoning in the previous trial. Phoenix now must defend the man he accused before. Though Franziska von Karma was the prosecuting attorney in the first trial, Miles Edgeworth steps in to prosecute in the second.
What I Liked:
-Franziska von Karma was perfect. Her costume and gestures were just like in the game. I think she was my favorite character in the musical. The whip translated well to the stage.
-Miles Edgeworth: the actress playing him was superb as well. Since I'm also fond of this character in the game, hearing "him" sing in a deep, melancholy voice was thrilling. Both he and Phoenix had parts where they walked through the middle of the audience, singing and making dramatic gestures. So cool!
-They took a lot of sound effects from the game. For example, the sound of the gavel, the sound of a verdict being delivered by the judge, and the music that plays when a witness is testifying.
-The trial scenes were fun. It was hard to catch everything, since they talked pretty fast. But there was a lot of humor and quick, unexpected twists, and the thrill of unmasking someone's secrets which is part of the fun of the game.
-At the end, when all of the performers came out to thank the audience for coming, Phoenix led the audience in pointing and shouting 異議あり! (Objection!), the catch phrase of the game. Everyone tried it, to much laughter. The whole cast waved at the audience as the curtain went down. So I couldn't help feeling good at the end.
What Bugged Me:
-Phoenix, why no black spiky hair? The silly dyed blond hair made me sad. Also, they really could have given him a red necktie to match the game instead of pink.
-Maya - they went overboard with the silly airhead interpretation of Maya, and she was downright annoying. Having read the beginning of the first volume of the Phoenix Wright manga I bought at the gift shop, it looks like she's kind of an airhead in the manga too. In the game she's not nearly so annoying, and has more of a major role. In the musical, her role was limited to comic relief-turned-helpless-victim. Her costume also looked exaggerated and clown-like, with a huge magatama and round baubles, while in the game I think of her costume as more "spiritual".
-Pearl did not appear. That would have been interesting to see. Neither did Morgan Fey, a character I'm not especially fond of, but it seems like she could have belted out some moving cheesy songs, if she were included. The whole "spirit channeling" aspect didn't really come into it.
-The "story" segments in between the trials were only OK. There was no real "investigation" like there is in the games. I did like the scenes when all the characters came out singing and dancing. It was pretty amusing. However, the scenes with just Phoenix and Luce were merely cheesy.
See pictures of the characters here:
http://www.capcom.co.jp/gyakutensaiban/takarazuka2_charactor.html |
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| Random Obscure Japanese Word of the Day |
[Aug. 22nd, 2009|12:27 am] |
The cat pose of tucking the paws under the body and becoming a self-contained blob or "loaf" shape is called 香箱, こうばこ"koubako" in Japanese, originally a box for storing incense but now used much more frequently to refer to the cat pose.
I became curious after seeing this post in the linguaphiles community. I had never heard a word for this in English (despite the double-digit number of cats living at my family's house...). My husband didn't know what it would be in Japanese either, but I asked a coworker who has a cat at lunch today and she told me the answer instantly.
Pictures
Looking at the google image hits, it seems there is also a crab called this.
Here is a picture of the type of incense box that the name comes from. |
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| question for twitter users |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|07:34 pm] |
Is there anything I can do with twitter on my mobile phone in Japan?
Twitter can't send text updates to my phone, but should I be able to view tweets at the website using the Internet function of my phone? I have an older Japanese vodafone mobile phone, and an unlimited internet plan on it.
Entering www.twitter.com on my phone takes me to the login screen, but when I try putting in my name and password, I get the message "403 Forbidden: The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it".
I also tried registering my phone number in the devices tab on Twitter, but couldn't send the verification code to their number because my phone can't send messages to non-Softbank numbers, only e-mail addresses.
Any info would be very welcome, thanks! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 19th, 2009|09:40 am] |
From now on I'll post my reviews of Japanese books to my new community, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) japanesebookrec. You are all welcome to join if you're interested. It's a community for recommending books to read in Japanese.
I just posted my review of "So Can You" だからあなたも生き抜いて by Mitsuya Ohira, and will soon be posting one for "Murder in Kinosaki" 城崎にて、殺人 by Nishimura Kyotaro. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 19th, 2009|11:25 pm] |
I worked overtime for the second day in a row, and took the subway home at about 9 p.m. Perhaps because of the late hour, there were few non-commuters on the subway train, so I was surrounded by office workers of both sexes wearing identical black suits and white face masks. "Things are getting weird," I thought.
I've been strongly cautioned both at work (by my boss) and at home (by my husband) to wear a mask while commuting to and from work due to the swine flu threat, but I forgot today, and truth be told, only made a half-assed attempt at it yesterday. At least we don't have to wear masks WHILE we work at my office - I don't think I could do it. |
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| ずうずうしい |
[May. 11th, 2009|08:39 am] |
In Leaving America; the New Expatriate Generation, John R. Wennersten describes what he calls the "Jane and Akira syndrome".
( Read more ) |
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| Two pet peeves |
[Apr. 24th, 2009|09:36 pm] |
1. flimsy plastic cups that cannot support the weight of a spoon
2. the inevitable hair or bit of fluff that attaches itself to a piece of adhesive tape somewhere between the tape dispenser and the destination of the tape. Always happens to me when wrapping a present or taping something to a piece of paper at work. Look at the stupid hair trapped under the tape! Should I redo it? But it will only happen again! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 24th, 2009|07:57 pm] |
I started a new community, how_fluent_am_i. It's a community for posting videos or sound files of yourself speaking a second language, and getting feedback on your speaking from other members. Right now I can only offer feedback on English or Japanese speaking, since I'm the only member so far and those are the only languages I can speak well enough to offer any helpful advice on, but as the community grows I hope we can offer feedback about many different languages.
Since it's troublesome to actually make a video or recording of yourself speaking and most people are shy when it comes to speaking in a foreign language, I'm afraid no one will actually try it, but I think it's a fun idea that might not have been tried before so...let's see what happens. |
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| making stuff meme |
[Jan. 21st, 2009|11:58 pm] |
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. I promise that it won't be a pile of boogers on a piece of paper.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to repost. We can all make stuff!!
_____________________
Wow, sounds fun doesn't it? Let's get creative! |
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| Recently Read/Currently Reading |
[Jan. 17th, 2009|11:32 pm] |
Recently read:
In English:
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Funny, nothing you could have told me about that book before I read it (family saga; Latin America; magical realism; political upheaval) would have made it sound exactly like my cup of tea, but I'm glad I gave it a chance because the well-drawn characters and unusual style are unforgettable.
The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx. I heard him talking on the radio about this book, his memoir of drug abuse during a year of touring with Motley Crue, some time ago and put it on my Amazon wishlist, and it was the first of my Christmas gift books that I read. I just devoured it. Towards the end of the book he goes to Japan and causes a ruckus.
This Much I Know is True by Wally Lamb. A novel about a pair of identical twin boys, one of whom is schizophrenic, told from the point of view of the non-schizophrenic twin. There were many heart-rending aspects to the story but overall it was a worthwhile journey.
Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn. Finally, an enjoyable light fantasy series with great characters! I feel like I've been looking for this type of series for good comfortable escapism. This author gets a lot of things right.
In Japanese:
The first manga of a series called "Alien Street". This is a strange story, I don't know what to make of it and I'm not sure that I like it, but my friend is lending me the series so I feel like I should try to continue.
The first manga of a series called "Soul Eater". The same friend lent me these and I decided I like this one, although it's pretty strange as well. The characters are adorably drawn and they each have amusing personality quirks and tendencies. Overall the tone is light, but Death (the Grim Reaper) is the father of one of the characters and most of the many sets of characters are vying (in pairs or threesomes) to build/become powerful weapons to serve Death by eating/having one of their party eat 99 human souls and 1 witch soul. How weird is that? ...but I'm starting to get hooked. The art style is like Nightmare Before Christmas but cuter.
Currently reading:
In English:
The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn. The second one of the Twelve Houses series, of which the first was Mystic and Rider. This book is even more fun than the first, since the main character, Kirra, is more lively and sociable than the warrior woman type, Senneth, who was the heroine of the first one.
In Japanese:
The second volume of "Soul Eater".
Yuusuke Yamada's A Course novel, a really short and easy-to-read one (all his books are easy to read, though). His books get extremely poor reviews, but they're thrilling and keep you turning pages. I've had this one in my bookcase for a couple of years, and I decided it's time to finally read it. It's about some kids trying out a violent virtual reality game at their local game arcade. I don't expect any higher level of social commentary from this, just a few thrills and scares.
Please comment if you've read any of these!
EDIT One more I was forgetting - I read March by Geraldine Brooks. I liked the concept because Brooks wrote from the perspective of the father character in Little Women, who was an army chaplain during the American Civil War. I have a love/hate relationship with the novel Little Women - I hated it growing up, but then I learned to like it after watching the anime based on it, then re-reading it recently with more of an appreciation of its strengths and tolerance for its weaknesses. The novel March had a slow start for me, but the characterization and period setting made it engrossing. I thought it had a different tone altogether from Little Women, darker and more modern, and the father's character came off as unconventional and radical while in Little Women he was glossed over with very little characterization. Brooks explained in the afterward that she modeled the character on Louisa May Alcott's father, who really was that radical, and she used his voice, as preserved in his letters, to inform how her protagonist talked and wrote. |
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| New Years Update |
[Jan. 10th, 2009|08:19 pm] |
(Note for readers outside Japan: most of the untranslated Japanese terms in this entry can be found in this Wikipedia article: Japanese New Year.)
We didn't do anything having to do with mochi because neither of us like them, and we didn't visit relatives or give out otoshidama, but otherwise I think we observed all of the major Japanese traditions surrounding New Years.
( read more ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 23rd, 2008|03:47 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  energetic | ] |
It's my birthday. I've always liked having a birthday on 12/23, and never more so than now--I always get the day off work, since it's the Emperor's birthday, which is a public holiday in Japan.
I'm having a birthday party later. I made gingerbread cookies for my guests, and I'm going to make fudge with walnuts next.
I still need to finish and mail my New Years cards. Maybe tomorrow.
Lately I've been playing My Chinese Coach for DS every day. I also have a Chinese language learning DS game for Japanese speakers (中国語三昧Chuugokugo Sanmai). At first I thought the latter was better because at first glance the presentation is nicer. It has beautiful photographs of places in China, the music is pretty and the minigames are well thought out. The pronunciation practice feature is also good in both games. What I really need to do in Chinese though is increase my vocabulary, and My Chinese Coach is better for drilling individual vocabulary words. It's true there is no way to select which set of words to review, which is too bad. But I like it because I can learn a large number of vocabulary words, including many I've learned but forgotten over the years and others I've never learned, practice writing them in characters and pinyin, and practice recognizing tones. Chuugokugo Sanmai was fun at first, but I got bored of it quickly and I didn't see it increasing my Chinese vocabulary that much. Instead I spent a lot of time in that game practicing business and travel phrases--whole sentences--that I don't remember anymore and I'll probably never use.
I'm excited about the future of language learning software on DS. I'm looking forward to trying more games in this genre! |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 14th, 2008|10:42 am] |
A book meme, courtesy of lordameth.
These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users.As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.
( see the list here ) |
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| translation tests |
[Nov. 27th, 2008|11:13 pm] |
Here's a list of translation and interpretation tests to take in Japan (Japanese only).
http://classified.japantimes.com/tsuhon/kentei.html
The Intellectual Property Translation Exam (知的財産翻訳検定試験) covers the kind of work I'm currently doing. While I don't need to take the test, and I don't know anyone at my office who has taken it, it might be beneficial for my career somehow. First I'm going to see how I do on the practice questions provided on the website:
http://www.nipta.org/
I've been thinking lately about what the next step in my career should be, and I have a lot of friends who are wondering the same thing. What am I working towards, anyway? I think translation is interesting, but like many other translators, I've always hoped to be translating something more fun like novels, video games, movies etc. Should I give up on that since I live in Osaka where most of the translation jobs are patent related, and concentrate on making my patent translations as good as can be? I'm leaning that way, at least for now until my circumstances change (i.e., until we move to a new place).
If any of you reading this have any information or experiences to share about translation and interpretation tests, please comment. I'd like to know which tests for translators are the most highly regarded. |
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