Japanese language proficiency test

Approaching towards the end of three years living in Japan, taking Japanese language proficiency test (JLPT) gave a good understanding of the level of Japanese language so far I have acquired by attending the lessons and daily interactions with Japanese people. The test site was at Yoyogi. The TKP business center at Yoyogi was crowded with foreigners who aspire to test their knowledge on Japanese language.

The Kanji paper was comparatively easier (for me) as I have done a fair justice to the book 'Write Now! Kanji for beginners' published by 3A Corporation. This book has 323 Kanji arranged in 21 lessons. The writing and reading practice notes given in the book is also helpful. Learning Kanji is the toughest part of Japanese language learning for a foreigner. The Japanese language teachers are good at teaching grammar, vocabulary, listening and speaking parts of Japanese language. Learning Kanji needs a great effort from the part of the foreigner more than from the teacher.

For Japanese people who learn Kanji from childhood, it is a part of the curriculum and they learn it over a period of 9 years. Whatever the structure, the stroke or the shape, Kanji is just a script for Japanese people. For grown up people, especially after a certain age, this kind of learning will not work effectively to the foreigners. Kanji needs logical thinking and it has the right logic.

Kanji is the abstract of ideas and thinking process. Kanji reflects the wisdom of the East Asians, their association with the nature and living things on this earth. May not be an exaggeration that a book can be written based on each Kanji. 3A Corporation has done a great work to compile the most frequently used 323 Kanji that will appear for the old JLPT level 3 test. From this year onwards there will be change in the levels. I took the Level N4, which is equivalent to the level 3 of the past JLPT. From this year there will be five levels of JLPT starting from N1 to N5. More details can be found in JLPT official website

Many websites helped to study Japanese Kanji online. Those sites are updated with plenty of study materials aimed at foreigners who may wish to start from the scratch. Charles Kelly's Online Japanese Language Study Materials, which has the quiz on vocabulary, grammar and Kanji helped a lot to do revision of what was learned. Repeated attempts in the quizzes provided in the website will help students.

Recently I found a very useful site smart.fm which introduces an impressive way to master languages. Not only limited to Japanese language, smart.fm has many areas of knowledge useful to students all over the world. This website has a special tool to measure the level of study, which will tell where we stand in the course of learning process.

Basically, I have been learning the Japanese language by using Minnano Nihongo books series I and II. In our Japanese language classes, we have completed Minnano Nihongo book I which has 25 lessons and half of Minnano Nihongo book II, up to lesson 38. For level N4, an examinee is supposed to study both the books and approximately 300 Kanji. Minnano Nihongo books follow the conventional way of teaching methods. Though conventional, the examples, pictures and live situations illustrated in the books are impressive. The caricatures are lively and we can observe a sarcastic attitude in the illustrated situations.

Mr. Mike Miller is a character who represents foreigners in the books. In one of the conversation strip, Miller's boss is a lady, which is extremely rare in Japan. In western cultures it is normal and since Miller is a foreigner, he can have a lady boss! The caricatures convey the face expressions effectively to the reader when the characters encounter with unexpected or unusual life situations.

JLPT is conducted by Japan foundation and Japan Educational services and exchanges. Japanese Language Proficiency tests are conducted twice in a year. Exams are held on first Sunday of December and July every year. There was a trial JLPT this time different from the old years. It was a good experience to prepare for the practice JLPT examination. The practice test was on November 21st at selected centers. Hitotsubashi University, which is at Kunitachi, around 40 minutes from Shinjuku, was the center for the trial JLPT. The test was for the selected candidates and the criterion of selection was not disclosed to the applicants. Application form for trial JLPT was sent to a few numbers of actual JLPT test applicants and from the list of applicants for trial, a few were selected for trial exam. As an encouragement to come for the trial JLPT, an amount of 2000 Yen was given to those who completed the trial test. JLPT official website also has the sample of the JLPT test. Japanese Language Proficiency Test
The first sensei to teach Japanese language was Morishita Sensei, then Imade sensei and Suzuki sensei. Currently I am learning from Seki sensei under whom I could start a little bit of conversation in Japanese language. I have been learning from Seki sensei for more than one year. For the past four months I have been taking a private tuition from Mana Suzuki sensei in Komatsugawa on Sundays.

Taking JLPT gives a good understanding on the current level of learning Japanese language and the areas where one needs to concentrate more. Application kit can be obtained from the stores for 500 Yen. For details of JLPT application procedure test samples, the following site will be useful JLPTGUIDE

Preparatory Course for the JLPT N5 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test)

The 2008 Japanese Language Proficiency Test JLPT Level 1 and 2 Questions and Correct Answers (2008 1-2 Kyu Nihongo Noryokushiken Mondai to Seikai)

N2 JLPT Practice (Gokaku Dekiru)

2010 New Japanese Language Proficiency Test Guide Book (N4 - N5 Outline and Question Examples, Atarashii Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken Gaido Bukku N4 N5 Hen)

JLPT N3 Kanji Vocab and Grammar (Preparatory Course for the JLPT)

Revisit to Showa Kinen Koen

The word ‘Déjà vu’ might be an exaggerated expression of feelings that aroused when reached at Tachikawa again. It was a revisit to Showa kinen koen to observe the autumn leaves. Indeed, this time the looks of Showa kinen koen were different from the one we observed in the last spring.

Personally for me and for this blog, the Showa Kinen Koen played a crucial role in the preceding months. Tachikawa was the place where I was compelled to put a stop to the blog writing almost more than six months from now. It was the peak of spring in Tachikawa during the last weeks of April. An unexpected impairment, followed by the doctor’s advise kept me away from sitting long hours in front of computer. As you know well, blogging needs a lot dedication and I was unable to commit that loyalty to this blog. Last spring, we walked a lot inside Showa Kinen Koen.

The photo posted above was taken by Mr. Jayaraj. The beauty of the nature and photo shows the skills of photographer too, though I have taken this photo from his Picasa album without his permission!

For sure, I must express my sincere apology for not able to reply to the queries that I received. I could read some of the comments in this blog and those appeared in expat-blog. Frankly I do admit my failure to do justice to those comments.

With the autumn season presents itself to the nature and people charming and pleasant memoirs, I feel as if the mind is filled with renewed energy. It took almost a season to come out of life’s tremor.

Now the blog is back! It might be a coincidence that I do restart blogging from where I stopped – Showa Kinen Koen. The life is all about coincidences. Some of us believe in super-natural powers. We like to believe those coincidences as miracles of God. If it gives a sort of comfort, it is fine. For a few, unwilling to accept those super natural miracles, the life is a flow of repetitive experiences.

Decision to revisit Tachikawa was sudden followed by a call from family friends who were already reached at Showa Kinen Koen. I had just finished the Japanese language class and was heading home for the lunch. Recently, I have been attending the Japanese language classes taken by Mana Suzuki-san who conducts classes at Komatsugawa. I may write more about these new Japanese lessons separately.

We got around one hour to walk around Showa Kinen Koen. It was not enough to imbibe the nature’s marvels. In the rush, we forgot to take the camera too. The photos in this blog are received from friends. The bonsai tree leaves were also turned to red, pink and yellow.

The Japanese garden was especially beautiful and was the only place we could visit and take photos during this visit. For those who plan to visit Showa Kinen Park the area guide will be useful to plan before starting from home. Showa Kinen Koen Area Guide

Showa Kinen Park needs a full day. For those who enjoy the nature, it needs many days and still a revisit will give a different experience. We were also literally surprised to see another face of Showa Kinen Koen during the autumn season. During spring, the garden was clad with flowers, Tulips to say more specifically.

(Another masterpiece from Jayaraj's camera)The nature refills the life’s energy or in other sense the nature has abundant energy that any living being can absorb. Showa Kinen Koen is one of such beautiful part of nature where we can take renewed energy and fill the mind with tranquilizing landscapes.

Photos copyright to Mr. Jayaraj and Mr. Eldho

Showa kinen koen – Tulip garden at Tachikawa

It took around two hours to reach at Showa kinen koen, popularly known as Tulip garden from higashi Ojima. The travel time is around one and a half hour to reach the garden from our place. One of our friends, who did recently visit this garden, suggested this as a place of must visit place around Tokyo. The photos shared in a social network forum looked stirring, something which drove us to the garden on the next week end.

Showa kinen garden can be reached from Shinjuku by taking JR-Chuo line that goes to Tachikawa. It takes around 38 minutes to reach Tachikawa station from Shinjuku. It is possible to walk to the Showa kinen garden from Tachikawa station. It takes around 15 minutes by walk, if you enjoy walking, but we took another option of boarding JR-Ome train that goes to the Nishi-Tachikawa.

Showa kinen koen is just 3 minutes walk from Nishi Tachikawa station. It is better to go to Nishi Tachikawa by taking JR-Ome line when going with a stroller. The entry fee is 400 Yen for adults and 80 yen for kids above 6 years old. It is a negligible amount considering the fun and enjoyment that the landscapes of Showa kinen koen impart to us. On 29th of April, Showa day, the entry is free to the garden.

There was an event of international flower show on the day of our visit to the garden. The entrance of the garden itself is well maintained and pleasing. Entering to the garden premise we can directly head towards the lake premise and have a boating for a while or it can be put aside to the end of the tour in the garden.

After taking our lunch at the lawn near to the lake, we headed towards the Tulip garden, which is the center of attraction of Showa kinen koen. The area of the park is around 163 hectares of land and is one of the attractive spots in Tokyo metropolitan area. Sight seeing is the major activity of adults while children can enjoy playing in garden and children’s forest. There are numerous spots for children to enjoy and make their day memorable one.

Walking through the garden viewing the beautiful flowering plants enjoying the harmony and tranquility of nature gives a sense of unification with mother earth. We saw some of the visitors to the park enjoy reading books under the shadow of the tree; some of them have a barbecue.

Bird watching is another recreation for some of the visitors while some enjoy cycling. Some of the visitors enjoy jogging and some enjoy boating. Children would love to play in the open ground and in the children’s forest. Our children enjoyed playing in the net.

Photos are powerful than the words written. The photos posted here will convey the beauty of Showa kinen koen. I have shared more photos in facebook, orkut and Flixya, which is a photos, videos and blog sharing and social networking site.

There was a booth inside the garden displaying and selling bonsai plants. Bonsai is one of the most attractive things for me in Japan. Before coming to Japan, I have tried to make bonsai trees by reading books, but failed to do so. At least for me, Bonsai is almost a synonym to Japan. It was a surprise to us to see bonsai sakura and orange trees. We took permission to take photographs and put them in this blog from the shop owner.

The artificial beaches made for children are also very attractive spots for kids to give a feeling of visiting the real sea shores. They can play with water without the fear of getting drowned.

While walking back to the garden gate at 6 P.M we were thinking of another day when we can make our second trip to the garden.

A revisit to Meiji Jingu shrine

The climate has been turning good in Tokyo with the approach of golden week. The sky is clear or cloudy but not raining, which is suitable for going out with kids. Last Saturday when we decided to go out with kids we had no clear plan where to go. It was then the name of Meiji jingu which is located in Shibuya, Tokyo, came to our mind. One of the reasons to remember Meiji Jingu was the recent visit of Mr. Guido Westerwelle, German foreign minister to this shrine. During lunch break one of my German friends recollected the news appeared in the local newspapers about the visit of German foreign minister to Meiji Jingu. Last year Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State had also made her visit to Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine.

It is easier to get to the Meiji Jingu shrine from Higashi Ojima station. The Toei Shinjuku train goes directly upto Shinjuku or Shinjuku sanchome and then to Meiji-Jingumae with in 49 minutes including the transfer time. The transfer at Shinjuku sanchome to Fukutoshin line is a bit lengthy process. Another way is to transfer to Yamanote line from Shinjuku. To plan the convenient train travel route, I use the Tokyo Transfer Guide, an online train route finding facility provided by Tokyo Metro. By using the transfer guide, we can determine where to transfer using the Toei Subway, Tokyo Metro and other railway lines in and around Tokyo like Tokyo metropolis, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures. This is one of the convenient services which Balasan forwarded to me during my initial days in Japan. This is a useful guide for foreigners since the website information are in English.

We reached at Meiji Jingumae station at around 3 PM. As usual and expected the Harajuku area and Meiji jingumae area were crowded. My kids could enjoy the animation characters walking on the streets. This part of Tokyo is totally different! Harajuku is the meeting point for the young generation living in a romantic imaginary and fashion world making fun and love that many times crosses all barriers of genders.

The first time I visited this shrine was with my brother. The pamphlets written in English and Japanese have a brief history of the Shrine. Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. After their death people wished to pay their respects to the Emperor and Empress and they selected an iris garden in an area of Tokyo where Emperor and Empress used to visit was selected for the location of the shrine.

The artificial forest  is with trees brought from different parts of Japan and looks as if it is a natural forest. There are brooks flowing through the artificial forest. The construction of the shrine was started in 1915 in the Nagarezukuri style using Japanese cypress and copper. The air raids during Second World War had totally destroyed the shrine. The shrine was rebuilt on 1958 after the war.

The first time I visited this shrine was with my brother. The pamphlets written in English and Japanese have a brief history of the Shrine. Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. After their death people wished to pay their respects to the Emperor and Empress and they selected an iris garden in an area of Tokyo where Emperor and Empress used to visit, to build the shrine.
On the way to the shrine we could see huge barrels stocked in racks on the sides of the road. These are barrels of sake (sake means alcohol in Japanese language) known as nihonshu donated to the Meiji Jingu shrine.

Meiji Jingu Shrine is located in a forest that covers an area of about 175 acres. Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine area is covered by an evergreen forest with around 120,000 trees of 365 different species. These trees were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established. The shrine has two major areas known as Naien and Gaien. The Naien is the inside grounds centered on the shrine buildings. There is a treasure museum that has articles of the Emperor and Empress.

The Gaien is the outer grounds with Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery and many sports facilities. There is a Meiji Memorial Hall, used for official meetings in the past which is now used for Shinto religion weddings. In almost one hour we did spend at the Gaien, we could see rituals of two weddings. Priests and maidens were in traditional Japanese dress. Tourist people were taking photos of bride and groom who were clad in traditional Japanese dresses.

We can write down and sign the prayers and put them in envelops along with offerings. Recovery from ill-health, protection from evil spirits, family protection, Children’s health, General well-being, Business prosperity etc can be requested through the prayers. It is believed that the prayers we make at the shrine will come true.

The trip was memorable and informative as it could help recollecting one of the important historical eras of Japan – Meiji Period. Emperor Meiji was open-minded to other cultures. A few lines from one of his poems says ‘By gaining the good and rejecting what is wrong, it is our desire that we’ll compare favourably with other lands abroad.’ These lines are displayed near to the Sake barrels.

The shrine closes at around 6 in the evening. Harajuku and surrounding areas were still boisterous with colorful and cheerful youngsters chirping around showing no interest to return to their nest. The shrine and the garden surrounding it stood behind us as a symbol of Emperor Meiji’s wisdom when we looked back.

Cherry blossom! When Sakura flowers perfume the morning sun

For many days I have been thinking of making a post on cherry blossom and the O-hanami festival. At Tokyo part of Japan, the Sakura flowers started blossoming during the early days of April. We were invited to join the O-hanami party that was held at the sakura garden in front of the Yasukuni shrine with the whole family. That was an enlivening event for all of us to socialize with Japanese people.

O-hanami party is conducted at the cherry blossom occasion in Japan. Look at the flowers, drink O-sake (Japanese alcohol), eat and praise the beauty of Sakura flowers are the general activities being done during the O-hanami party. There may be variations in the mode of the parties being conducted. The concept is to praise the magnificence of Sakura flowers. The view of Sakura trees with full of light pink Sakura flowers is really a feast to the eyes. So appealing are the views that even while rushing to the office, it is hard to avoid taking a moment and look at those glamorous bunches of flowers.

Why, even this post is motivated by the alluring sceneries that had caught in the eyes after the start of cherry blossom in Tokyo. The period of end of winter season and the start of spring is marked with the blossoming of sakura flowers. Sakura flower is synonymous to the Japan in one sense. For an outsider like me, Japan could be symbolized to Mount Fuji, Sakura, and Hiroshima-Nagasaki – the three most striking things that come to the mind at first while referring to Japan.

For ages unknown, the sakura has been the most affectionate and adorable for Japanese people. Let me borrow from Nitobe Inazo-san’s ‘Bushido’, to best represent the feelings of Japanese people towards Sakura flowers; “The Yamato spirit is not a tame, tender plant, but a wild – in the sense of natural – growth; it is indigenous to the soil’

The Sakura trees in Komatsugawa garden near to our apartment were leafless till the end of March. Now all of them have turned to look like light pink clouds hanging from the branches. People started come out of the home and spend their leisure at the garden. Children play with the falling flower petals. The chirping sounds of birds are back to the garden.

The most thrilling experience after the O-hanami party was to meet Mrs. Akie Abe, the former first lady of Japan (2006-2007), who is a popular and prominent figure in Japanese political and public life. We were really lucky to have a group family photo with Abe-san. I do not intend to post the group photo before getting her written permission to do so. We were wondering, compared to India, how freely a known personality like Mrs. Abe could walk on the road in Tokyo!

This post may be incomplete without the following lines (again excerpts from ‘Bushido’) by Motoori Norinaga, the famous poet of Edo period;

                                    Isles of blest Japan!

                                            Should your Yamato spirit

                                    Strangers seek to scan,

                                           Say-scenting morn’s sunlit air,

                                           Blows the cherry wild and fair!

What is Japan?

Kenichi Tanaka-san’s blog video ‘Japan – The strange country’ prompted me to write this post. Tanaka-san did translate successfully and humorously his observations about his own country to 11:21 minutes movie. While Japanese people are known for their generalizations, Tanaka-san stands different and looks in to the facts with a distinctive perception.

That might be the fifth grade when the science teacher told about cold countries. Probably there was a country name Japan. Almost 29 years, during the 1980s, I was fond of Soviet Union. Our text books were protected by the thick pages of Soviet Nadu (Soviet land), the magazine which we received free of cost to home during our childhood. My father was an Indian National Congress leader during those years who was involved in the active politics with ex-chief minister of Kerala, K. Karunakaran. Even then he did not show any hesitation to receive the magazine from Soviet Union, which boasted the achievements of communism in Soviet Union.

Soviet Union was powerful in those days and influenced Indian political brains, while hard core communist leaders and followers dreamt on the thunder sounds of spring in India that will come from China or Soviet Union. Japan was not known to me at that time. Japan came through electronic products such as Sony, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi and through the Suzuki motors. Japanese automobile companies influenced India much more than the electronic products in terms of cost.

In upper primary schools, we learned about volcanoes and Japanese earthquakes. We heard that Japanese people make light weight roof to their houses, in order to reduce casualties in case of earth quakes. We heard about the intelligence of Japanese people. We learned Japan's victory over China and Russia.

Japan returned to our study corners during high school days, when we learned about Second World War. That was first time I really admired Japan. More than any Japanese electronic products or Suzuki’s joint venture to produce Maruti to the Indian streets, Japan’s help to Indian freedom fighters during the war impressed me. That was a topic of discussion in our friends circle. That was one of the rare subjects where all friends reached to a common agreement! Japan – an Asian country dared to stand alone and fight the European colonial forces in Asia. Japan might have tried to colonize some Asian countries, but the Japanese military helped S.C Bose, popularly known in India as Netaji to form Indian National Army (INA). Indian National Army along with Japanese military fought against British East India Company and advanced through Eastern India. They could form the first Independent India Government in Andaman Nicobar Islands under the leadership of Netaji. Unlike many of the South East Asian countries, I believe, Indian people supported Japan and wished for its success. We were so depressed to learn Japan’s surrender in the war.

Somewhere in the mind, there was a desire to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki at least once in life. During our high school days, Japan was almost a model country. A country with dedicated work force, a country with educated, healthy, disciplined and polite people live, stood as a role model to our generation. Teachers taught us to learn from Japan’s experience, Japan’s return to the world’s economy like a phoenix bird. History teacher Mrs. Rathi compared the phoenix bird and Japan’s waking up from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The desire to visit the land of Phoenix birds were heaping up. Internet and access to the information was not so popular on those days. I searched the encyclopedia pages to read about Japan. I could see pictures of beautiful women with colorful umbrellas and hand-fan. Japan remained a mystery in the mind. People are different, their faces are different, eyes are small and after all Japanese people believed the manufacturing technology ‘Small is beautiful’. Japan makes everything small.

Japanese workaholic nature is famous all over the world. One of my colleagues recollected his professor’s visiting experience to one of the Japanese company, where he could see an operator with a black badge on his uniform. While inquired about this, he was informed that the operator and his union were in strike against the management. I am not sure of the truth behind this story, but such kind of stories surfaced in our discussions during tea breaks when I was working in India. This was an extraordinary incident as the strikes in India have never been gentle.

Japanese management style has become popular in India. The collective responsibility and treatment of all people in all grades with equal respect has been some what different from the one, Indian companies and institutions inherited from the colonial British system. When working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, one of the Pakistani friends, who worked in Japan, used to tell his observations on Japan. The discrimination in the society is not so open and severe in Japan based on the nature of job of a person compared to India or Pakistan.

Japanese product quality and quality implementation systems are famous around the world. There is a significant section of the Indian society believing in ‘brand Japan’ image. Japan is a brand for quality products.

My first encounter with a Japanese national dated back to 1996 April 11 when I was on a short business tour to Geneva and visited United Nations office. During business meetings there were chances to meet people from Japan. While talking with them, I have not tried to hide the veneration towards Japan.

There is no intention to assess the present living experiences with that of the old imaginations right now. I may do it on another occasion. It is always better to keep imaginations to our heart. Practical experiences may differ from person to person and can not be weighed and criticized with imaginations. I have tried to recall maximum possible images of Japan before I came to Japan. Now it will be interesting to watch what is Japan in Tanaka-san’s video.

Japan - The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) from Kenichi on Vimeo.

Hello, my name is Nimura

Before starting, I like to take an advance bail that this blog post is a personal one.

Yesterday my colleagues were deeply thinking how to write my name in Japanese. Anything foreign including the names, objects etc are written in Katakana script. Thus it is easy to identify by seeing the Katakana script that the thing or person is an outsider to Japan. My first name: Jayaprakash itself is little longer for Japanese people and after coming to Japan, the name is cut short to Jaya. As Japanese people add san to every name, they call me Jaya-san. In fact, Jaya alone is female name in India. When the colleagues told their desire to call Jaya-san, I did not show any hesitation. After all, what is in a name…..a rose is a rose…..

Things and people are divided broadly as Japanese and non-Japanese. This classification makes the things easier for Japanese people to understand things better and differentiate. The end purpose is not yet known to me. Hiragana and Kanji are used for Japanese things. Japanese names are written in Kanji.

Yesterday, one of the new systems required all the names to be entered in Kanji. It was necessary to put my name in Kanji. After much discussion, translation of my names in to English and then to Japanese they came with some suggestions. In India, names have meaning. Hindu names are based on Sanskrit language and each name has one meaning. For example, my first name Jayaprakash is a combination of two Sanskrit words Jaya and Prakash. Jaya means success and Prakash means light. The total meaning is some thing like ‘Light of success’

Converting the ‘Light of success in to Japanese Kanji, my name will be 成功光 (success light). There is no Japanese name like this and the colleagues told it is not a good name in Japanese language. Family names are used in Japan and they asked me the meaning of my family name in English. My family name in my mother tongue is Kottampilly. Some of the old Malayalam-Tamil meaning of Kottam in English is ‘New’. Pilli stands for Village. Modern Malayalam language and many of the new generation Keralites do not know these meanings. This Kottampilli has many variations in the southern states of India. Some of the people living in the border areas of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra and Karnataka have family names like Kottapilli, Kottampilli, Kottampally, Kottapalli etc. While I was in Riyadh, one of my friend from Andhra Pradesh and another friend from Karnataka has same family name as Kottampilli. Interestingly according to them also, the regional versions of Kottam is New and Pally is village.

Recollecting the old Riyadh friends, I translated my family name as ‘New village’ The new village in Japanese language is ‘Atarashi Mura’. 新しい村. Japanese people do not use Hiragana while writing names. They just take 新 from新しい and村 to make the name新村. This is pronounced as ‘NIMURA’ in Japanese.

Now, I got a Japanese name – Nimura-san. 新村

Interesting experience! Japanese names have their origin in the nature. The mountain, river, village, bridge, chopsticks, bell ring, trees etc are the major inspirations for Japanese names. If translated to English, some of the Japanese names can be read as Blue tree (Aoki), Middle Field (Nakada), Middle river (Nakagawa), Upper field (Ueda), Tree village (Kimura), Paddy village (Tamura), Middle village (Nakamura) etc.

Similar naming system has been followed in India too since ancient time. Our family names also bear some meaning in the old language, which many new generation people can not recognize. Sanskrit names are meaningful, but recently in the name of fashion, baby names are twisted and it is hard to find any meaning in any of the existing language. A great percentage of population still follows the traditional way of putting names in India too.

The names taken from natural things show the civilization’s affiliation with the nature. It is a kind of union achieved in the society by calling human beings the names of natural things. The preservation and maintenance of nature comes from within. People carry the mountains, villages, trees, animals and rivers wherever they go, while they sleep, wake-up, eat and go to school and always with them! This is the ultimate example harmony of human societies and nature!

Are the wheels coming off Japan’s traditionally organized social structure?

Recently one of the Japanese friends, who had visited major Indian cities for business purpose, commented on the economical developments happening in India. It was good to hear that a country like India with an explosive population makes remarkable achievements in industrial growth. He was eager to tell me the energy and confidence he could observe in young entrepreneurs and business executives during his interaction with them.

That must be true. The young educated generation in India is ambitious to reach new heights and prove their abilities. Drawing encouragement from the proven success of Japan and other developed countries, the young generation is motivated to add new dimension to the traditionally stained image of their country. I told my friend that the recent economical developments are concentrated in the industry only. There might be a low penetration of growth to the basic necessities too, but the growth is highly not organized or distributed in India. The poverty rate is much higher and alarming in India. The human rights violations, child labor, aggression towards women, malnutrition, infant deaths, and poverty to mention a few things that UN has put India on the top of their list underrate the recent economical growth.

As an Indian, it is a proud to hear that our country is growing. It is a relief and gives hope to those downtrodden millions of human beings, termed as ‘cattle’ by her wealthy class. Even the right to education bill proposed by the central government in India is questioned by some vested interest groups in the name of funds and basic infrastructure. They don’t understand that the idea of right to education is important to feed into the social structure, so that the administration, bureaucrats, social organization will strive to meet the requirement. That attempt is enough in a society to bring success. Years of suppression, caste and class based discrimination, disparities etc, have reinforced optimism in political brains too in India. India needs more enthusiastic young brains to overcome those optimistic blocks in the political front and move forward.

On the other hand, Japan’s economical growth and social structure has appeared as a model for me. During discussions, I used to point out my observations that Japan does not need any communist parties to bring socialism in to the society. The governments had done their job well to bring justice to all the citizens in Japan. I don’t claim that I have not seen anybody sleeping on the street. Yes, I have seen homeless people twice or thrice while walking with friends in the night through the busy Tokyo streets. For me and friends the scene was a strange experience in Tokyo. It is quite common in India or any other developing country.

Economy matters. If the country and people are rich and have enough money to satisfy the basic necessities, the money can be spent for luxury. Then the social life becomes a celebration. In developing countries, corruption in bureaucracy and political system has their roots in the poor salary structure. In Japan, as far as my experience goes, a good percentage of the population can afford to live with many luxury things in life.

Socialism is interwoven in the society. One of the reasons for this socialistic mentality among Japanese people as told by friends is the feeling of ‘unique race’. Japan, though possess similarities with the neighboring East Asian countries, has many unique things to make it separate from others. The almost homogenous society had made the things easier for the administration and law to implement, organize and interwove socialistic threads into the society. That was the efforts of past generations in Japan and the result is today’s Japan as a model state that other nations can learn.

I have always heard stories of loyalty, truthfulness and righteousness from foreigners living in Japan when they tell their real life experiences of losing money and valuables. One friend forgot his bag including passport, money and other valuables in a taxi, in which he came from Narita airport on his first day to Japan. He did approach the nearby police station to report. Following the instruction from the police, he went to the station the next day and to his surprise the police handed over his bag with all the valuables inside intact. Another friend from Singapore forgot to take change for 10,000 Yen from the vending machine. When he realized this loss on the next day, he made a hopeless attempt to check at the vending machine to get the change that was approx. 9200 Yen. After searching at the vicinity of the vending machine, he approached the nearby shop and explained his loss. To his surprise, they asked him what is the exact amount and time he lost the money. When he told both time and exact amount, they handed over him the money!

Yes, these have been what I used to hear from foreign friends, but recently, started hearing suddenly about taking care while riding crowded trains and do shopping etc. Some of the people started losing their money. The money won’t disappear by itself. It happens when the wheels coming off. The society could be symbolized to a vehicle. When the economy shudders, it is hard to keep the wheels in place.

Japanese, Indian and English Number systems

Japanese numbering system and method to denote and name higher count figures are different from English number system. Initially it was a bit difficult to get an idea of amount of figures while discussing with Japanese colleagues. International business figures are almost always in millions or billions. Japanese people have the same problem to understand when the figures are in millions and billions.

The Japanese system for numbers up to thousand uses similar system with that of the western system of numbering. For numbers up to thousand, in India also we use a similar system. Similar system means, we have different names to denote 100 and 1000. Generally we do not use any separate name for 10,000. It is just ‘das hazar’ in Hindi as ten thousand in English.

Before we start comparing the differences in dealing with higher numbers, it will be worth to recall the smaller count numbers in Japanese, English and Hindi.

Numbers                English                  Japanese                  Hindi

1                             One                          Ichi                            Ek

2                             Two                          Ni                             Do

3                             Three                        San                           Teen

4                             Four                         Yon/Shi                     Char

5                             Five                          Go                             Paanch

6                             Six                            Roku                         Che

7                             Seven                       Nana                         Saath

8                             Eight                         Hachi                        Aath

9                             Nine                         Kyu/Ku                     Nau

10                           Ten                           Ju                              Das

20                           Twenty                     Ni ju                          Bees

30                           Thirty                        San ju                        Tees

40                           Forty                        Yon ju                        Chalees

100                        One Hundred             Hyaku                        Ek sau

1000                      Thousand                   Sen                            Hazar

10,000                   Ten thousand              Man                          Das Hazar

100,000                 Hundred thousand      Ju man                       Lakh

1,000,000              One million                 Hyaku man                Das Lakh

10,000,000            Ten million                  Sen man                    Crore

100,000,000          One hundred million    Oku                           Das crore

1,000,000,000       One Billion                  Ju Oku                      Arab

Here, I wrote up to one billion only. One trillion, which is one thousand billions, is called Cho 兆 in Japanese and ten kharab in Indian system. Ancient Indian astrologers used big numbers to calculate the distance of stars and hence Indian numbering systems have names to denote really big numbers like one duodecillion, which is 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000. In Indian numbering system this is called Adant Singhar. It is not a surprise to use such big numbers for calculation while dealing with the universe.

In Japanese numbering system, ‘man 万’ is used to denote ten thousand. From ten thousand onwards Japanese people use ‘man’. Then Ichi man is 10,000, ni man is 20,000, san man is 30,000 and so on. The western system use ten thousand for 10,000, twenty thousand for 20,000 while the Indian (Hindi) system use a system similar to English like Bees hazar for 20,000 and Tees hazar for 30,000 etc. Up to one hundred thousand Indian and English systems are different. In India we use One lakh for one hundred thousand, which is ju man in Japanese.

Lakh and Crore are commonly used in India for business, while in Japan man and Oku 億 are used, in English Million and Billion are used. For me, the translation of figures from Indian to English and then to Japanese system of numbering takes much time to get an image when we discuss Ni hyaku man yen or Oku yen. Schools in India also teache Indian way of counting and denoting the numbers and the brain is forged to imagine the figures in terms of Lakhs and Crores.

With the globalization of the businesses in India, use of million and billion are quite common and it takes less time to translate the figures in mind to our lakhs and crores. It takes time to accommodate with new system used to deal with numbers. Years of building up of images and mental calculation based on one system can not be replaced totally with another system. Computer will make the things easy to convert the It is easy now to remember das lakh is one million and sau crore is one billion. The two process conversion of numbers from Indian to English and then to Japanese is many times a test for brain.

The other side of the story is the complaint from Japanese colleagues that the million and billions are too difficult for them!

Indian Embassy, Radhabinod Pal and a cultural shock

Mr. Grant was on a short trip to Japan, when I met him near Kudanshita station. I was on my way to Indian Embassy to get the application form for renewal of passport. A tourist from Britain, Grant was curious to hear my opinion about Japan and more on Japanese attitude towards foreigners. Interestingly, this is one of the snooping topics many of the foreign travelers in Japan trying to get answered from foreigners living in Japan. Grant did not hesitate to tell his intention to know Japanese attitude towards foreigners.

The subject of talk was particularly important considering the place of our meeting. There were much in the western and East Asian press connected with Yasukuni shrine in the past, but it is quite natural for Indian people to support Japan’s stand during World War II. As the post-war trial judge Mr. Radhabinod Pal mentioned, victors decide what is wrong and what is right. It is a controversial issue. Opinion polls conducted by various newspapers and other media across India reveals that Japan is the most admired nation in India even today. It is common that school history teachers in India used to tell inspiring facts and incidents of Japan's growth as a powerful nation in Asia. Japan has been a source of inspiration for many young Indian politicians and industrialists. After all, Japan helped Indian freedom fighter S.C Bose to make INA and fight against the British East India company rule in India. Radhabinod Pal has done the justice to millions Indians too through the dissent notes and observations.

While walking towards Indian Embassy, I remembered Justice Radhabinod Pal and his reasons. Each cause could be justified with the theory of relativity. The justice is relative, the crime is relative, the punishment is relative and the whole social structure and laws are relative. Moral values are relative. When the Observer and the observed are two different identities, there exists a line of difference. That difference will bring conflict and conflict will generate injustice. The justice or injustice depends on the perception of the observer. Moreover, the judgment is influenced by the observer’s attitude.

There are three entities in the process of observation - The observer, the medium for observation and the observed. The inference is affected by the relative positioning of the three entities. The difference creates such a division between the observer and the observed. The difference between the observer and the observed is the source of conflicts and injustice. If there is no difference, the observer and the observed becomes one. This is the reason Mr. Pal is revered in Japan and there is a monument dedicated to him that stands on the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine.

Grant was also curious to know the cultural shock I might have faced in Japan. Cultural shock is a much debated subject in Japan among foreigners. Periods of cultural shock are a necessary phase of any expatriate’s life. The perception and excitement the expatriate bear with while entering to a foreign country have great influence on magnitude of cultural shock. As every expatriate may pass through some form of cultural shock during the expatriate life I also have undergone a mild cultural shock. It was not severe to totally obliterate the good feelings.

If the host culture is extremely different from ours, we may psychologically disorient for a period of time. For some people it takes more time. Very few people, unable to cop with the differences, decide to put an end to the expatriate life. The saddest part of the cultural shock is that during many of the life situations, the expatriate may feel as if they are children, a kind of helplessness, as if we are thrown out from our mother's lap. Some feels loss of face. Frankly, I did share the feelings to Grant the difficulties of carrying a different head in public places! It is a strange feeling while riding a subway train or walking on the roads. A different object among things of uniformity! It is easy to get noticed in the crowd. Foreigners from countries other than some of the East Asian countries have different looks. Grant has been carrying his head through many cities and villages, but he agreed the psychology of a visitor is different from the psychology of an expatriate.

If the host country is hostile, expatriates will feel more uneasiness. In this case foreigners living in Japan are lucky that Japanese people are not hostile. Japanese people are warm and there is a considerable percentage of philanthropists in Japanese society.

After around thirty minutes of sharing on history, justice and culture shock, we bid adieu. Walking back to the Exit-2 of the Kudanshita station after completing the work at Indian Embassy, images of S.C Bose and his marching soldiers flashed in the memory.

Tail-Post: Taking the exit-2 at Kudanshita Toei Shinjuku line/Tozai line is one of the shortest routes to reach Indian Embassy at Tokyo. Embassy is called Taishikan in Japanese language and the kanji is 大使館.

International Military Tribunal for the Far East: Dissentient judgment

Lectures on universal declaration of human rights,

Two years of life in Japan

It is more than two years in Japan!. Still the moments of departure from Cochin airport remain fresh in memory. It was not so long before that I left India to Japan. The period spent in Japan is around 5% of my life till now, but the diversities and excitements of experiences have been vast and have substantial effect in life.

I did meet a young man from China at Morishita last week, who was in Tokyo for a short business trip. While sharing general things like the socio-political and cultural differences between China and India, he got curious in my stay in Japan and attitude towards life in Japan. My answer was short: Life in Japan is calm and peaceful.

When I say the life in Japan is calm and peaceful, it just reflects the general attitude of a majority of foreigners living in Japan. This ‘calm and peaceful life in Japan’ image should be embroiled with the private or professional life. The experience of working in Japan, that also for a Japanese company is totally different from that of working for a company from any other countries. The calm and peaceful atmosphere prevails in the general life affairs in Japan.

Almost all basic necessities of are easily available and easily accessible in Japan. One of such thing that will strike in the mind of a foreigner in Japan is the ‘convenient stores’. They are really convenient and make the life simpler and easier. We don’t need to wait behind long queues to pay the utilities bill when it can be paid in less than one minute in a nearby convenient store. The food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks and many kinds of eatables and juices are available all the time, all the days in a week.

Convenient stores are called Konbini’ in Japanese language. It is written in Katakana as コンビニ [Ko-n-bi-ni] and this is one of the Katakana words I liked to use frequently while talking with friends. As sensei compares jokingly, Konbini is the friend and Konbini is the spouse of many of the workaholic and lazy people. Convenient stores are now a synonym with a life partner for many of the bachelors in Japan.

Another striking point during the last two years is the obedience to the law and order in Japan. This can be translated into the discipline in public places. The life in Japan is like a life in a company called Japan Incorporated. Whatever be the roots to this existing discipline and obedience to the law, it is a great plus point for the Japanese society, which they might have cultivated with consistent efforts over many years. Such kind of public discipline can not be implemented with the aid of external forces within a short period. It is the inborn nature of Japanese people to obey the rules and regulations. This is one of the concerns when Japanese companies bring foreign people from different cultures to Japan that the new comer to Japan may feel uneasiness to easily absorb into Japanese culture. It takes long time to get adjusted with the new social structure and in many cases the foreigners does not get involve in the mainstream. They resemble the floating element that may fly away after some time. There are cases where foreigners who can manage communication in Japanese language get involve in Japanese social and cultural events along with local Japanese people. If the language barrier is removed many of the routine concerns of foreigners will be solved.

The life in a company called Japan, ruled by some rules and regulations, is convenient when the new comer to Japan starts learning what is good and what is bad in Japan. One of the great information sources maintained by Japan Police is really helpful to foreigners to understand the rules in Japan. Rules Regarding life in Japan is a must read document which is written in English.

There are many websites dealing with the life in Japan especially made for foreigners in English language. Japan is one of the leading countries in terms of broadband internet users, second after South Korea, but tops in terms of fiber to the home broadband internet connectivity. The websites and online information sources dealing with the life in Japan for foreigners are helpful to those who wish to come to Japan. One of such useful sites, that is worth to add to the favorites in your browser is Your Complete Guide To Life In Japan!

Looking back to the two years life in Japan, by knowing only survival Japanese language to communicate, I feel what is more required to live in a different culture is the ‘empathy’, which will drive us to fusion.