Okinawa Hai!

CONTRIBUTED BY ERIN SCHALK Kanji During a visit to see family, little did I know that an elementary knowledge of kanji would add another dimension to watching Top Gear, a British TV devoted to cars. My brother Patrick, who has been enamored with the world’s flashiest and fastest motor vehicles since his high school days, [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY DAVID GOTTLIEB Oroku School It’s surprisingly easy to spend time, sometimes even years, abroad without needing to know the local language. More often than not, just enough people have a working knowledge of English, and if they don’t, pointing and exaggerated gestures usually work just as well as speaking. But aren’t we cheating [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY ANNA TIENTER As a half-Japanese person here in Okinawa, I am blessed to have my family nearby at all times. In fact most of them are very close to Foster in the village of Kitanakagusuku. This is where the Nakamura House and the Nakagusuku castle ruins are both located. Kitanakagusuku: don’t be intimidated [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY ERIN SCHALK japanese for busy people volumes If the Japanese textbook Genki seems too intimidating, requiring too much of a financial or time commitment, the three volume series Japanese for Busy People may be a more practical choice. The Japanese for Busy People volumes are approximately thirty dollars or less, depending on where they are [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY ERIN SCHALK Genki NewandOld VolumeI Now that New Year’s festivities have passed, hopefully we have all had a few weeks to come down from the excitement of the holidays and regain a little peace! If you are like me, you’ve made an extensive list of New Year’s resolutions, organized everything into smaller goals [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE “Kimigayo,” (君が代) the Japanese National Anthem, is a song almost all of us hear daily. At military events and at the end of the day, the “Star Spangled Banner” follows “Kimigayo.” I remember the first time I heard it here on Okinawa. I’m sure I had heard it played before, but [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY ANGI BRZYCKI Sakura Zaka Exterior The Sakura Zaka 桜坂劇場 is one of my favorite places to go to in Naha. The movie theater shows mainly independent Japanese, American, and foreign films. The screening rooms are fairly small, similar to an old theater house. Most of the films are hard to find at the [...]

Read the full story

Back in 2008 we had a regular contributor, Kaho, whose first language was Japanese.  She wrote many posts with helpful information about commonly used and needed Japanese expressions, often added to the ends of her posts about shopping.  We’re turning her “Japanese Corner” tidbits into posts of their own so that you can hopefully feel [...]

Read the full story

Back in 2008 we had a regular contributor, Kaho, whose first language was Japanese.  She wrote many posts with helpful information about commonly used and needed Japanese expressions, often added to the ends of her posts about shopping.  We’re turning her “Japanese Corner” tidbits into posts of their own so that you can hopefully feel [...]

Read the full story

Back in 2008 we had a regular contributor, Kaho, whose first language was Japanese.  She wrote many posts with helpful information about commonly used and needed Japanese expressions, often added to the ends of her posts about shopping.  We’re turning her “Japanese Corner” tidbits into posts of their own so that you can hopefully feel [...]

Read the full story