Learn Japanese with Evernote

I just came across an interesting post over at Tofugu on how to use Evernote to study Japanese.

Evernote is a free web service and software application that allows users to collect notes and information and share it across multiple platforms. I guess it’s kind of like a big yellow post-it note for information gathering.

Evernote is a tool that helps you capture and remember everything. Because it syncs with your phone, computer, and so on, no matter how or where you gather the information, it will appear on all of your devices.

Recently I started using Anki to make up some Japanese phrase cards to periodically review. Since it uses a system of systematic reviews, I believe it’s a step up from using just Evernote. But Evernote should be an interesting tool to add to your Japanese learning methods.

A Stroll Through Ryoanji

The Ryoanji rock garden made our list of the top five gardens in Japan. With it’s moss-covered boulders mixed with carefully raked pebbles it’s one of Japans best examples of immaculately maintained rock gardens.

Let’s take a took at what makes Ryoanji so unique.

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Skiing in Japan – Heavenly Hakuba

With the winter Olympics upon us, one gets the urge to try out some winter sports.

Although skiing is not the first thing I think of when I think of Japan, there are plenty of outstanding ski slopes in northern Japan.

Hakuba is a long valley floor connecting no fewer than ten ski resorts in the Japanese Alps. Some of them have provided recreational skiing for more than 70 years, some have hosted major Winter Olympics events as recently as 1998, many still host World Cup ski races and the region boasts more annual snowfall (32ft to 48ft) than most of western Canada.

Be sure to check out Mail Online for this article on Hakuba, one of Japan’s best kept ski secrets.

Photo Credits: Hakuba monkey by – : : smallfish : :

Learn Anime/Manga Japanese

The Japan Foundation, a government-affiliated body set up to promote cultural exchange, has recently opened an English-language website that helps users better understand Japanese expressions used in manga and anime.

I didn’t realize how many different expressions were used depending on if the speaker is a boy or girl, old or young, or even if they are from Osaka or Tokyo. No wonder your head spins when trying to translate anime.

Introduction to Japanese Food – Soba

There are so many Japanese foods out there with strange and bizarre names that it makes one a little intimidated to try them out. For that reason we’ve decided to dispel some of the mystery by occasionally highlighting one of Japan’s more famous, but sometimes unknown, cuisines.

Today we look at one of my favorites – Soba.

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Japan’s Vitamin Cafes

The latest in Tokyo chic is heading in for a personal vitamin injection. I guess pills are too tough to swallow these days?

These intravenous vitamin “drips” are part of the latest quick-fix, health fad catching on in Japan: the IV cafe.

Each drip pack contains saline solution and specific vitamins and minerals to target a particular health ailment or beauty concern.

Uhh…placenta pack??

Japan’s Latest Supermodel Robot

Leave it to Japan to create a supermodel robot.

Scientists from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology reportedly designed the 5-foot (ish), dark-haired creation to look like an average Japanese woman between the ages of 19 and 29. Unlike the average Japanese woman, however, HRP-4C has 30 motors in her body that allow her to walk and move its arms (somewhat loudly and awkwardly, if the video below is any indication) and 8 facial motors for blinking, smiling, and expressing emotions akin to anger and surprise.

Maybe she could date Robocop? Dead or alive…you’re coming out to dinner with me.

Oki Sato’s Moss House

This post by Design*Sponge caught certainly caught our eye.

ever since i visited japan several years ago i’ve had a fascination with japanese design and its relative simplicity. there is still so much i have to learn, but today is a step in the right direction. this “moss house” sneak peek comes from oki sato who is behind nendo, a tokyo-based firm specializing in architecture, interiors, product, graphic, furniture and event design.

Some really outstanding work.

Hard Day at Work?

I stumbled across this post by Lonelee Planet detailing some of the strange sleeping locations of Japanese salarymen.

It’s some pretty hilarious stuff. Well worth checking out.

Remebering the Kanji – An Introduction to the Heisig Method

Recently, the I Heart Japan staff has started its long journey towards learning to read Japanese. We’ve already pretty much mastered the hiragana and katakana of Japanese writing, but we’ve been holding back starting on the dreaded kanji.

Kanji is the Chinese character written form of Japanese and it is said to contain over 100,000 characters. Sounds like an easy task, eh?

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