Japan My Love - Japanese culture, tv, news, trend, food

"Winter Sonata" is something ladies, especially middle-aged ladies, used to be crazy about before.
It's a TV drama series that was on NHK channel before.
In Japanese it's translated as "Fuyuno Sonata".
As I already wrote, Japanese people like to abbreviate words, especially name of popular thing or person.
So "Winter Sonata" is usually called "Fuyu Sona".
This drama has made 2 Korean names quite famililar in Japan.
One name is Bae YongJoon, Korean actor who is known as a guy wearing glasses.
The other is Choi Jiwoo, Korean actress who is called "the queen of tear".
(She cries a lot in the drama)
Ladies started to call Bae YongJoon "Yon sama", and it spread all over Japan.
"Sama" is a suffix in Japanese language, and it's used when you call someone you respect or worship.
Winter Sonata is a love story that is called "pure" romance.
Brief summary of its story is, a high school boy acted by Bae YongJoon fell in love with a calssmate girl acted by Choi Jiwoo.
They were happy together, but one day the girl was informed that the boy died in car accident.
Then 10 years passed and the girl was engaged but still didn't forget the boy.
One day a guy who looks exactly the same as the boy appeared.
The story became complicated after the guy appeared!
If you're interested in what was happening next, just get the DVD and watch it!

Here's How To Speak Japanese Like A Diplomat!

NHK means "Nihon Housou Kyoku".
Nihon means "Japan", Housou Kyoku means "TV station".
It's the only TV station controlled by the government.
NHK channel doesn't have any commercials.
Popular foreign dramas like "ER" "The X-File" "Ally McBeal" "Friends"...were broadcasted on NHK channels.
NHK also offers many language lesson programs.
The picture is the character of NHK called "Do-mo kun".

Japanese people, especially young people tend to abbreviate words.
They abbreviate anything if possible.
Let me give examples...

America jin(=American) => Amejin
Kimura Takuya(=name of a pop star) => Kimutaku
Power Point => Powapo
Around thirty(=30 years old) => Arasaa
(* In Japanese language, thirty is pronounced as saaty)
Netscape Navigation => Neske

Jidaigeki is a drama(often on TV) of the old times.
Actors and actresses dress up in Japanese traditional costumes called "Kimono" when they act in Jidaigeki.
Their way of talking is also from the old times in the drama.
What's inevitable in Jidaigeki is a sword fight.
In Jidaigeki, innocent people are often killed in the first half of the story, and the villain is killed by the hero in the last half.
Its story is not so complicated as modern romance dramas.
Usually Jidaigeki tends to be loved by elder people, but not always.
Sometimes young popular actors and actresses act in Jidaigeki and young people watch it.
NHK(Japanese government-controlled TV station) makes one-year-long Jidaigeki series every year, and it's an hour to be the main cast in that drama for actors and actresses.
Many pop stars(even singers) act in that Jidaigeki.

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Konkatsu is mixed words of "Kekkon" and "Katsudo".
Kekkon means "marriage", and Katsudo means "hunting".
We often use "Shukatsu" that means "job hunting", but this "Konkatsu" word appeared recently and it's getting popular and often heard on TV, in manazines and news.
There are many Konkatsu parties all over Japan, and ladies and gentlemen who hope to get married join those parties.
They are generally in their late 20s or 30s and some are 40s.
This word "Konkatsu" even became the theme of a TV drama.

Hikaru Utada is so called "a genius" composer & singer who launched her 1st song at age of 15 and succeeded.Her 1st album "First Love" were sold the most than ever and the record hasn't been broken yet.
Her albums are all "million saller".
She was born in New York, USA and now she's living in Japan.
Her parents are Japanese and her mother used to be a famous singer as well.

More about Hikaru Utada

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First Love


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Takuya Kimura has kept being placed 1st in "guy girls want to sleep with" ranking for years.
He is a member of a pop group called "SMAP".
SMAP is one of the most popular group in Japanese showbiz world.
Especially the popularity of Takuya Kimura is a building towering above its neighbors.
He is a singer as a member of SAMP, and he's also an actor in TV dramas and movies.

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