[En anglais] Hiragana Time - Infos générales

Citation :: Kanji Structure is Similar to Roots of English Words' (1)

Kanji is one of the most complicated areas of study for Japanese language students, but if
you know its structure, you will find it unexpectedly interesting. Basic kanji developed originally
from pictures. Take for example, "Mountain." You can imagine a mountain from this kanji's
shape. There are many other similar examples. "River" comes from the image of streaming;
"Tree" comes from the shape of a tree. It may not be so difficult to learn kanji when you look
at a learner's dictionary in which the process where a picture transforms into a kanji character
is described. ...

Citation :: Kanji Structure is Similar to Roots of English Words' (2)

... The combination of these basic kanji can create other kanji which express more complicated
meanings. Writing two "tree" kanji meaning forms "woods," while writing three means "forest."
The kanji for "flower" consists of two parts. The upper part means "grass" and the bottom
parts means "change." It represents a grass becoming a flower. ...

Citation :: Kanji Structure is Similar to Roots of English Words' (3)

... The structure of kanji is similar to those English words taken from Latin (about 60%). For
example, "unhappy." "Un" means "not," and "happy" means "satisfied." So it means
"not satisfied." "Psychology" also consists of two words, one is "psycho," which means
"mind," and the "logy" which means "study." Therefore, it becomes "study of the mind." ...

Citation :: Kanji Structure is Similar to Roots of English Words' (4)

... It will also be fun if you know how place names are made. Take for example "Tokyo." "Tou"
is also read as "Higashi," which means east. "Kyo" means Kyoto, the previous capital before
Tokyo. Since a new capital was placed in the east, they named it Tokyo. As you can see, by
looking at kanji as a puzzle and learning its structure, you will find learning kanji becomes more
enjoyable.

Citation :: Japanese People Use Pretext to Achieve Real Intentions (1)

Japanese people are usually very careful about how they speak and behave so that they
will not be criticized. However, the reality is that Japanese gain what they want by
camouflaging their true intentions well. For example, the Japanese Constitution bans Japan
from maintaining a military, but in reality, the country does possess armed forces, called the
"Self Defense Force" under the pretext of protecting and defending Japan. ...

Citation :: Japanese People Use Pretext to Achieve Real Intentions (2)

... Prostitution is probably the best example of this trait. Of course, prostitution does not
officially exist in Japan, but in reality, it does in the form of "Soap Lands," which are special
public baths where a woman will wash a man's body. Although the customer pays a fee, it is
acknowledged as a bath fee, not a prostitute's fee. While the woman washes the man's body, it
is taken that they "suddenly fall in love," therefore, their sex act is considered as love and not
a crime. ...

Citation :: Japanese People Use Pretext to Achieve Real Intentions (3)

... Even individuals uses real pretexts. For example, in the case where you do not want to
have a relationship with a person after you had an omiai (arranged meeting). Although you
may have your own real intentions for turning down future contact with the person, for
instance, they are "not my type" or "their income is not high enough," etc., you will prefer to
use a pretext suggesting the fault is on your side. For example: "I don’t deserve to be your
partner since your family and career are too good for me." ...

Citation :: Japanese People Use Pretext to Achieve Real Intentions (4)

... This "pretext" behavior appears to be cunning to foreigners, but it is safe to say that it is
a kind of Japanese wisdom with the aim of achieving a goal by acknowledging reality, and
furthermore to obtain the other person’s silent consent.

Citation :: Foreign Suspects Flee Abroad Before Being Arrested (1)

The number of foreigners living in Japan who were arrested reached 47,865 in 2005. This total
has increased by a factor of 1.74 over the previous 10 years. In related news, cases of
foreigners fleeing abroad after committing crimes have also increased, and consequently the
number was 656 in 2006. Foreign criminals have been fleeing abroad in many cases because
Japanese police have no rights to search or arrest them overseas. ...

Citation :: Foreign Suspects Flee Abroad Before Being Arrested (2)

... At present, Japan has extradition treaties with only two countries, the U.S.A. and South
Korea. Many nations prohibit by law the extradition of their people to the country where they
committed crimes. This is because they fear that their people will be disadvantaged and
treated extremely badly in other countries. Basically Japanese law also bans the extradition
of Japanese to foreign countries. The Metropolitan Police Department began to take action
through diplomatic routes to extradite criminals back to Japan, or to demand that other
countries punish the offenders. ...

Citation :: Foreign Suspects Flee Abroad Before Being Arrested (3)

... Among the foreigners who have committed crimes in Japan in 2006 and then fled the
country, Chinese made up the biggest group with 29l, followed by Brazilians with 92. Only
about 10 people have been extradited to Japan from their home countries in response to
requests made by the Japanese police. There are only 30 suspects in China and Korea after
1999 who have been punished in the country they fled to. An assessment of the culpability of
punishment greatly depends on which nation is involved. ...

Citation :: Foreign Suspects Flee Abroad Before Being Arrested (4)

... Among the foreigners who have committed crimes in Japan in 2006 and then fled the
country, Chinese made up the biggest group with 29l, followed by Brazilians with 92. Only
about 10 people have been extradited to Japan from their home countries in response to
requests made by the Japanese police. There are only 30 suspects in China and Korea after
1999 who have been punished in the country they fled to. An assessment of the culpability of
punishment greatly depends on which nation is involved. ...

Citation :: Foreign Suspects Flee Abroad Before Being Arrested (5)

... In a murder case that occurred in 2003 in Fukuoka in which four members of a family were
murdered for money by three Chinese, two of the suspects later returned to China. But they
were arrested with the co-operation of the Chinese public safety bureau, prosecuted, and one
of them was sentenced to death and another to life imprisonment. The third person, who was
arrested and prosecuted in Japan, was also sentenced to death. It seems the exceptional
co-operation from Chinese authorities was due to their consideration of the outrage of many
Japanese people over the brutal murder. ...

Citation :: Foreign Suspects Flee Abroad Before Being Arrested (6)

... It has been mentioned for years that Japan is one of the safest countries in the world.
The number of reported crimes in Japan is very small when compared to those in western
countries, but these days, increasing numbers of vicious crimes are being committed.
Whenever a crime occurs, not a small number of Japanese people suspect foreigners,
especially those laborers who come to Japan to earn an income. Although the arrest statistics
for suspects of criminal law crimes in Japan is dropping, the percentage of arrests for murders
is still over 90%. It could be assumed that ironically, the high percentage of arrests may actually
be encouraging suspects who are fearful of being arrested to flee abroad.

Citation :: Japan's Year Begins in April (1)

The academic year of schools in Japan, including that of elementary, junior and senior high
schools, and universities, begins in April. The national fiscal year also begins in April and ends
in March the following year. So does the fiscal year of many Japanese companies. Therefore,
new employees start working in April. For Japanese people, April is the month the new year
starts. April is the season in which the Japanese symbolic flower, the cherry blossom, blooms,
and people can make a new start to their year among the beautiful flowerfilled atmosphere. ...

Citation :: Japan's Year Begins in April (2)

... The academic year of schools in Japan, including that of elementary, junior and senior high
schools, and universities, begins in April. The national fiscal year also begins in April and ends
in March the following year. So does the fiscal year of many Japanese companies. Therefore,
new employees start working in April. For Japanese people, April is the month the new year
starts. April is the season in which the Japanese symbolic flower, the cherry blossom, blooms,
and people can make a new start to their year among the beautiful flowerfilled atmosphere. ...

Citation :: Japan's Year Begins in April (3)

... Many schools have three terms. The first term runs from early April to the middle of July,
the second term runs from early September to mid-December, and the third term runs from
early January to the middle of March. Students will have a summer vacation for about 40 days
between the first and second terms. They will also have about two weeks off for winter holidays
between the second and third terms. There is also an approximately two-week spring holiday
between the third and new terms. ...

Citation :: Japan's Year Begins in April (4)

... Except for students, Japanese people do not have a custom of taking long vacations. In
Japan, however, there are weeklong holidays three times a year. These holidays are the
socalled "Golden Week," which runs from the end of April to the beginning of May, the "Bon"
holiday, which run for a week before and after August 15, and the New Year’s holiday, which
extends from the end of December into early January. ...

Citation :: Japan's Year Begins in April (6)

... In Japan, there is a regulation in the Labor Standards Act that an employee can take
paid holidays for more than 10 days. And it is common for those who have worked for several
years to take paid holidays of more than 20 days. In Japan, the working environment is not
always suitable for employees to take holidays, as many Japanese think they may bother
their co-workers, or they may be ill spoken of by their superiors, and other reasons. However,
the awareness of employees is rapidly changing due to the progress of globalization.

Citation :: Which comes first - first name or family name? (1)

Translators are often embarrassed when dealing with names. First of all, a big problem
involves whether the first name or the family name comes first. Take for example the
Japanese name of "Yamada Hanako" — the family name comes first followed by the first
name. On the contrary, in western countries, for names such as "John Smith," the first
name is followed by the family name. Well then, when we put a Japanese name into English,
should it be "Yamada Hanako" or "Hanako Yamada"? ...

Citation :: Which comes first - first name or family name? (2)

... When a Japanese name is written in English (using Roman characters), it is common for
the media to use the first name followed by the family name so that westerners will be more
able to understand it. However, these days, more Japanese people are writing their names
Japanese style when writing in English, using the family name first followed by the first name. ...

Citation :: Which comes first - first name or family name? (3)

... Hiragana Times has a rule in which the family name is written first (Japanese style) for
names of foreigners whose family names are written first in their home countries, and then
capitalized (e.g. YAMADA Hanako). Westerner’s names are written in their original form, but
the family name is also capitalized (e.g. John SMITH). When writing westerner’s names in
Japanese letters (katakana), the original name order is maintained. ...

Citation :: Which comes first - first name or family name? (4)

... In Japan, it is common to read Chinese names in Japanese style, as "Mou Taku Tou," for
the first Chinese Chairman, but in Western countries, they are read and written similar to
Chinese pronunciation, as "Mao Tse-Tung." If a foreigner says "Mao Tse-Tung" in
conversation with a Japanese, the Japanese person is unlikely to know who is being spoken
about. On the contrary, if a Japanese mentions "Mou Taku Tou," a foreigner will probably
not recognize the name.

Citation :: Japan: Where Parents and Children Depend on Each Other (1)

In western countries, couples usually attend parties together, but in Japan, men mostly go by
themselves. Men also occupy most of the important positions in society. Japan is often called
a "Men's paradise," but the position between men and women is completely reversed at home.
At home, wives are the "boss" and whatever they decide becomes "law." It is common for
husbands to hand over their entire monthly salaries to their wives who in return will give their
husbands "pocket money." ...

Citation :: Japan: Where Parents and Children Depend on Each Other (2)

... This practice comes from the traditional view held in Japan that men work outside and
women bring up the family. Since wives stay home for far longer periods, they become more
intimate with their children. Wives and children who share their time build a stronger sense
of solidarity than wives do with their husbands. In particular, wives tend to form very close
friendly relationships with their daughters. As a result, children do become spoilt and
subsequently it is often said that Japan is a "children’s paradise." ...