Japan Culture

J-POP

J-pop” means “the popular music among the youths in Japan”.

J-POP word began to be known all over the world since Japanese music industry became big enough to influence Japanese pop culture and young people. Music industry in Japan is now one of the biggest industries in the world and affecting the music scene in other countries. Along with the expansion of Japanese music industry, J-pop has been getting popular in some countries in Asia, Europe and U.S., since internet makes it easier to access any information at home. In fact, some J-pop musicians like Glay often tour around Asia, especially China, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea. As well as Japanese artists tour around Asia, some Japanese bands tour in Australia. For example, the bands like Softball, Beat crusaders*¹, Zoobombs and Suns owl toured in Australia during the last couple of years.

J-pop has been built up in long history. The basics of J-pop are made up from Japanese traditional music and folk music. Japanese music scene has been developed by Japanese artists and influences from overseas artists, mainly from U.S. and U.K. It is interesting that we can find every genre of music we can think of, in the Japanese music scene if we look at the weekly music charts like Orikon.*²

The problem of J-pop music is that they are sometimes identical to the particular American songs. Maybe it cannot be helped to become similar to the music that they were inspired. However, Japan has been importing other cultures, adjusting to them, and then even adding them into a part of Japanese culture since the opening of a country to western countries in 19 century. Even now, Japanese people are doing the same things as before, importing new music from overseas and changing them into a part of J-pop. Once the new music is rooted in Japanese music scene, they are no longer imported music. They are made in Japanese, by Japanese and for Japanese. They all are changed into Japanese flavors.

When you listen to some J-pop songs, you may think “oh, I have heard these songs before…” And then, you will realize that you have never listened to them and they have quite unique sounds somehow. The uniqueness could be an arrangement of the songs, voice of singers, language differences or all of them. All J-pop songs have uniqueness and familiarity in common. It means that they are similar to existent music, but they are different in any ways. Once you listen to J-pop, you will be able to understand its uniqueness. J-pop is worth listening to.

from http://japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/j-pop.html

Japanese Words

Japanese Words: Here are some basic Japanese words and Japanese phrases that you could find very helpful on your travels to Japan. These are very easy to learn Japanese words. For a more detailed list of Japanese words see our Japanese Phrase Book.

Hello.

Konnichiwa. (kon-nee-chee-WAH)

How are you?

O-genki desu ka? (oh-GEN-kee dess-KAH?)

Fine, thank you.

Genki desu. (GEN-kee dess)

What is your name?

O-namae wa nan desu ka?　(oh-NAH-mah-eh wah NAHN dess-KAH?)

My name is ____ .

Watashi no namae wa ____ desu. (wah-TAH-shee no nah-mah-eh wa ____ dess)

Nice to meet you.

Hajimemashite. (hah-jee-meh-MOSH-teh)

Please. (request)

Onegai shimasu. (oh-neh-gigh shee-moss)

Please. (offer)

Dōzo. (DOH-zo)

Thank you.

Dōmo arigatō. (doh-moh ah-ree-GAH-toh)

You're welcome.

Dō itashi mashite. (doh EE-tah-shee mosh-teh)

Yes.

Hai. (HIGH)

No.

Iie. (EE-eh)

Excuse me.

Sumimasen. (soo-mee-mah-sen)

I'm sorry.

Gomen-nasai. (goh-men-nah-sigh)

Goodbye. (long-term)

Sayōnara. (sa-YOH-nah-rah)

Goodbye. (informal)

Sore dewa. (SOH-reh deh-wah)

I can't speak Japanese [well].

Nihongo [yoku] hanasemasen. (nee-hohn-goh [yo-koo] hah-nah-seh-mah-sen)

Do you speak English?

Eigo o hanasemasuka? (AY-goh oh hah-nah-seh-moss-KAH?)

Is there someone here who speaks English?

Dareka eigo o hanasemasuka? (dah-reh-kah AY-goh oh hah-nah-seh-moss-KAH?)

Help!

Tasukete! (tah-soo-keh-teh!)

Look out!

Abunai! (ah-boo-NIGH!)

Good morning.

Ohayō gozaimasu. (oh-hah-YOH go-zigh-moss)

Good evening.

Konbanwa. (kohm-bahn-wah)

Good night (to sleep)

Oyasuminasai. (oh-yah-soo-mee-nah-sigh)

I don't understand.

Wakarimasen. (wah-kah-ree-mah-sen)

Where is the toilet?

Toire wa doko desu ka? (toy-reh wah DOH-koh dess kah?)

For a more detailed list of Japanese words see our Japanese Phrase Book.

from : japaneselifestyle.com.au

Gothic Lolita (Japan Versi)

Gothic Lolita - The style
Goken Lolita style is usually a combination of black and white, often black with white lace and typically decorated with ribbons and lace trims. Skirts are knee length and may have a crinoline or petticoat to add volume. As in mainstream Japanese fashion, over-knee socks or stockings are extremely popular. Black fishnet stockings and white or black tights are also common. Shoes or boots with high heels - though not usually stiletto heels - such as Mary Janes, complete the look. Frilly, ruffled or lace-trimmed Victorian blouses are also popular especially with "EGL" types, who may also favour long skirts and jackets rather than the overtly "childish" designs of typical gothloli's. Apart from the occasional shortness of skirts, designs are usually modest, sometimes with long lace-capped sleeves.

Some additions may include an Alice in Wonderland-style apron, tiny top hats, parasols, lace gloves, and lace headpieces. Mostly black or white, headgear might consist of a headband with ruffles, ribbons, lace or bows. Sometimes even bonnets are worn. Hair may be curled to complete the porcelain doll look. The naturally dark Japanese hair color may be lightened to blonde or kept black. Some may choose to wear wigs as well.

Makeup is used sparingly and is seen more often with EGL styles than with other gothloli styles. Black eyeliner is typical. A pale complexion is preferred, so white foundation might be used. Red or black lipstick is seen but lighter makeup is the rule.

Goken Lolita outfits may be accessorized with other props like conspicuous pocketbooks, hatboxes, handbags and other bags, sometimes in the shape of bats, coffins, and crucifixes. Teddy bears and other stuffed animals are also common, and some brands make special "goken" teddy bears out of black leather or PVC. Also, many Goken Lolita own Super Dollfies and carry them around.
"Lolita"
Although "Lolita" is a reference to Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel, and GothLoli is often worn by teens, most followers of the style do not consider it overtly sexual. Adherents present themselves as Victorian children or baby dolls and prefer to look "cute" rather than "sexy". Many Lolitas claim that the term 'lolita' doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sex at all. The usage of the word may also be considered wasei-eigo.

Japanese culture places a higher value upon extremely youthful appearance and behaviour than Western, and some adult women buy large amounts of products, such as Hello Kitty goods, that are typically marketed only to children in the West. GothLoli is perhaps a more visible extension of this phenomenon.
Goth Loli culture
In Japan it is mass-marketed and has wide visibility particularly in the streets of Tokyo and Osaka, on television, in manga (see Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa for an example of gothloli inspired manga) and computer games. Outside of Japan it is still a fringe fashion although it has slowly begun to spread to other countries. Gothic Lolita, along with Cosplay and other Japanese cultural phenomena, can sometimes be seen at concerts and anime conventions throughout Europe and the United States. The style has not yet been mass marketed outside of Japan. However, there are plenty of dedicated fans filling the gap. Gothic Lolita magazines are widely available for purchase on the internet and at Japanese bookstores, which also deal in anime and manga. Adherents in Europe and the United States often sew their own homemade Gothic Lolita outfits, sometimes offering them for sale to make up for the difficulty of acquiring them from Japan.
Gothic Lolita in the West
Many Goth girls in the west, have borrowed from the Japanese goth loli style, and have created a market for this style of clothing (particulary in online auctions). Americas Tokyopop recently comissioned, along with performer Courtney Love (who is not goth/goth loli herself, but is a former Japanese resident) an original manga in the goth loli style, called Princess Ai. This was the first (at least publicised) Japan/West goth loli collaboration.
Gothic & Lolita Bible
One magazine in particular, the irregularly published Gothic & Lolita Bible, has played an instrumental role in promoting and standardizing the style. The 100+ page magazine includes fashion tips, photos, sewing patterns, catalog descriptions, decorating ideas, and even recipes.
Gothic Lolita - Shopping
Currently the heart of the Gothic Lolita subculture, at least commercially, is the Marui Young department store in Shinjuku, after its predecessor Marui One closed at the end of August 2004. This large youth-fashion oriented department store has 4 floors entirely devoted to Gothloli and related fashions.
Crossover with Goth
"Gothloli" as a fashion is not as strongly associated with a particular style of music or outside interests as goth, and individual followers of Gothloli fashion may listen to a wide variety of music including regular Japanese pop.

In Japan, Goth is a very minor subculture with few followers, partly because the emphasis upon visual identity in Japanese youth culture makes other factors such as music and literature less important signifiers and perhaps partly because Christianity and Germanic culture are not integral parts of society. In Japan, people who have heard the term "Goth" usually assume that it refers to "Gothic Lolita", except for the Goths themselves, who strongly emphasize the differences. (Likewise, some western observers incorrectly assume that "Gothloli" is the Japanese version of "Goth".)

However, due to the popularity of Gothloli from around 2001–2004 and its continued acceptance by many young girls, Goth nightclubs and events increasingly include Gothic Lolita elements in order to attract more customers. Thus many Japanese "Goth Clubs" will also feature a guest DJ playing J-pop and Visual Kei music, tea and cakes in the chill-out room, doll decorations, and other items designed to appeal to the Gothloli sense of European nostalgia.

Anime and Manga
Due to the popularity of this cute style with many fans of Japanese animation and comics, characters dressed in the "Gothloli" style may be found in numerous anime and manga. Some of the most prominent are Paradise Kiss, Le Portrait de Petit Cossette, Rozen Maiden, Tsukuyomi - Moon Phase, Othello, Chobits, xxxHOLiC, and Pitaten. Most of these titles appeal primarily to male fans rather than the gothlolis themselves. However, large numbers of gothloli girls are visible at manga events such as comiket. They often buy doujinshi based upon their favourite bands, dolls and movie characters; and some are interested in other kinds of cosplay apart from goth loli style.

Movies
The main character in Shimotsuma Monogatari (or Kamikaze Girls as it is known in the English language release) dressed in the "Gothloli" style.

from : japaneselifestyle.com.au

Samurai

Guide to samurai include samurai meaning, samurai history, samurai culture, samurai pictures, samurai swords and samurai in populer culture. Samurai (or sometimes) is a common term for a warrior in pre-industrial Japan. A more appropriate term is bushi (lit. "war-man") which came into use during the Edo period. However, the term samurai now usually refers to warrior nobility, not, for example, ashigaru or foot soldiers. The samurai with no attachment to a clan or daimyo was called a ronin (lit. "war-man").

(Tom Cruise in "The last Samurai" has provided a modern introduction to the way of the Samuarai.)

Samurai were expected to be cultured and literate, and over time, samurai during the Tokugawa era gradually lost their military function. By the end of the Tokugawa, samuarai were essentially civillian bureaucrats for the daim yo with heir swords serving only ceremonial purpose. With the Meiji in the late 19th century, the samurai were abolished as a distinct class in fovour of a western style national army. The strict code that they followed, called bushido, still survive in present-day Japanese society, as do many other aspect of their way of life.

Etymology of Samurai

The word samurai has its origins in the pre-Heian period Japan when it was pronounced saburai, meaning servant or attendant. It was not until the early modern period, namely the Azuchi Momoyama period and early Edo period of the late 16th and early 17th centuries that the word saburai became substituted with samurai. However, by then, the meaning had already long before changed.

During the era of the rule of the samurai, the earlier term yumitori ("bowman") was also used as an honorary title of an accomplished warrior even when swordsmanship had become more important. Japanese archery (kyujutsu), is still strongly associated with the war god Hachiman.

from : japaneselifestyle.com.au

Insomnia Lagu ke-2, Tere"Sendiri"

" Sehari tanpa suaramu, dunia jadi sepi ". Itu ucapan dari Arul untukku, thanks banget ya Rul... Seharusnya aq yang menyampaikan ucapan tersebut pada sahabatku ini, karena tanpanya dunia bener2 sepi. Berada di dekatnya suasana begitu ramai dan kocak meskipun hati ini sepi. Hatinya tulus dan tanpa niat yang disembunyikan. Menganggap semua masalah adalah bunga kehidupan yang pantas untuk dipandang dan disentuh. Warna-warninya sungguh mengagumkan hingga tiada keinginan untuk lari atau meninggalkan tempat bunga-bunga itu berada. Kesungguhan mengarungi hidup dengan keceriaan menciptakan buah kebahagiaan. Tetapi sungguh dari lubuk hati yang terdalam diri ini menginginkan dirinya selalu ada di sampingku, mungkin dia pun seperti itu. "Bener gak Rul pernyataanku tadi?"

Ngangkring

Rabu adalah hari kedua Aq dan Agha kembali mengunjungi penjual "cat rice" atau "sego kucing" atau "nasi kucing". Sego kucing yang kalo aku baca di internet ramai dibicarakan, tempatnya pas utaranya stasiun Tugu. Orang-orang pada nyebutnya angkringan kopi Jos. Lumayan lah, makanannya enak, murah dan punya khas tersendiri karena kalo pesen kopi pasti ditambahin bara api di wedang kopinya sampai terdengar bunyi JOOOSSSSS!!!!!!! di wedang kopinya, makanya disebut angkringan kopi Jos. Tapi Aq sama Agha gak cari kopinya tapi cenderung ke nasinya, soalnya selain lapar duit kami mulai menipis, jadi cari makan yg enak, bergizi dan murah ya kalo menurut kami sih di angkringan ini. Meskipun beberapa orang bilang kalo tempatnya jorok. Tergantung la ya...soalnya selama aq disana ga kujumpai yang namanya lalat dan menurutku makanannya bergizi soalnya ada nasi teri yang mengandung protein tinggi, susu jahe cocok untuk melindungi diri dari masuk angin dan kekurangan vitamin soalnya di dalam kandungan susu banyak mengandung vitamin. Suasananya ramai pembeli meskipun kami kesana sebelum magrib, soalnya kalo habis magrib mesti tambah ramai lagi. Nasi juga ga kami makan disana soalnya udah hampir malem, jadi kami bawa pulang aja. Waktu hari Selasa emang kami makan disana sekalian nyoba rasanya gimana kalo makan disana, ternyata asik juga hahahha sambil makan duduk lihat pemandangan kanan kiri, ada anak2 kuliahan, ada orang2 yang baru pulang kerja (sama dengan kami), ada polisi bukan lagi jaga/patroli lo tapi lagi makan
nasi kucing juga. Suasana yang menyenangkan, ternyata ada juga yang lagi ngobrolin soal organisasi. Dan banyak lagi....

Bintang Kejora

"Kupandang langit penuh bintang bertaburan. Berkelap kelip seumpama intan berlian. Tampak sebuah lebih terang cahayanya, itulah bintangku bintang kejora yang indah slalu". Lagu ini menginspirasikan diriku seperti sebuah bintang yang lebih terang cahayanya. Ya meskipun tidak dilihat oleh seluruh dunia, paling gak di lihat di dalam keluargaku. Tetapi cahaya itu bisa saja menerangi dunia, karena tidak ada yang tidak mungkin di dunia ini, meski kecil mungil tetapi sinarnya sangat dibutuhkan saat berada di dalam kegelapan. Meskipun orang memandang dari bentuknya yang mungil, jangan salah bila tiba-tiba bisa meledak-ledak. Bukannya sedang bermain perang-perangan dan meledakkan bom molotov, tapi ini sebuah gaya tingkah laku manusia yang gak bisa diremehkan. Narcis banget kelihatannya, kedengarannya, rasanya, tapi itu sebuah pengakuan yang tidak dibuat-buat dan asli trade merk dari dalam jiwa ini. Bintang itu suatu saat akan muncul dan menerangi jagad raya ini.

Long Night

Lagu ini termasuk lagu yang gak baru lagi alias udah lama, tapi bagiku artinya sangat kurasakan baru-baru ini. Reff-nya kira2 kayak gini "And it's gonna be a long night, and it's gonna be cold without you arms ......." masih panjang sih kelanjutannya. Lagu yang dibawain sama kelompoknya The Corrs ini jadi begitu berarti. Diri ini gak pernah nyangka ada seorang teman baik yang ngerequest lagu ini buatku lewat sebuah stasiun radio di Jogja. Tapi lucunya dia ngirimin aq pas aku sedang asik-asiknya melayang2 dialam mimpi sana, jam 2 pagi dia kirim buatku. Bilangnya sih minta buah mangganya lagi, huehuehuehue..... dia ketagihan!!! Ga nyambung banget lagunya Long Night dipadu sama buah mangga hahaha.....:)) Beberapa hari yang lalu Aku sama dia makan mangga ranum, hijau kecut-kecut manis ehmmmm uenaakkk. Aku cuma bisa berterima kasih banyak buat temen baikku yang satu ini, dia selalu bisa menemaniku saat aku dalam berbagai kondisi. Tapi kalo udah sama dia semua hal bisa jadi gokil dan ampuunnnnn gila plus konyol gak ketulungan. Hidup ini begitu indah, "Ya Allah thanks ya.....", "Thanks ya Rul atas lagunya....:D".

Jalani Aja

Setiap ada pertemuan pasti ada perpisahan, itu yang selama ini aku alami. Dengan beberapa kondisi, beberapa kondisi aku temui tanpa kusadari dan beberapa lainnya pergi. Bila diri ini tidak ikhlas berat terasa. Beberapa kawan seperjuangan meninggalkanku untuk melanjutkan perjuangan lainnya, pertempuran dengan orang-orang asing diluar sana. Sungguh berat jika dirasa, tinggaaal bagaimana diri ini mengatur supaya tidak terbawa oleh keadaan ditinggalkan. Melakukan hal-hal yang menarik dan menyenangkan sangat membantu, apalagi kegiatan2 baru yang bisa ngasilin uang dan ngasilin saudara, wah sungguh-sungguh menyenangkan. Mencoba menjalin komunitas-komunitas baru yang selalu punya semangat dan selalu mencoba perfikir positif dan tentu saja ceria. Meskipun suasana sepi dengan kesendirian tetap tumbuh suasana-suasana keceriaan yang baru. Ahhh.... hidup ini sungguh indah untuk dinikmati. Aku bersyukur dalam kondisi saat ini orang-orang sanguinis bersedia menemani dalam berbagai waktu, berbagai keadaan dan berbagai bentuk. Kalo kata temen baikku " Oke, anytime, anywhere, anysize aq bakal nemenin kamu...". Oh... indahnya sebuah persahabatan.