Entries from September 2005 ↓

ボキボキ

Japanese sound effects, typically written in katakana, are interesting in that they mimic sounds for which English has no equivalents. Oop-ack.com has a list of these sounds.

Also be sure to read the Wikipedia Japanese sound symbolism article, covering sound mimetics as well as mental and non-auditory mimetic words.

Wikibooks has a Japanese course that is interesting and helpful.

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese is a comprehensive guide to reading and writing Japanese. Unlike most language guides, Kim explains the reasons behind the choices involved in what form of a grammatical structure you’ll use.

Eric Obershaw has an interesting and obsessive Guide to Japanese Castles, organized by type, condition, location, historical value, rating, or whether he’s personally visited the castle.

Also see Wikipedia’s article on Japanese castles.

Kim Allen’s Japanese for the Western Brian is a decent explanation of the Japanese language. The guide presents things in a practical conversational manner and is an interesting read. Recommended.

Photomann, a.k.a. Douglas Mann, lived in Okinawa for several years and posts his photos of Japan.

He has an interesting photo gallery of Japanese vending machines. Sometimes, we’re so boring here in the US.