My neighbor fantastic Korea

My neighbor fantastic Korea

1.      Fake history education ～fantasy which they believe in

It has 5,000 years history in Korean peninsula.

Korea is mono-ethnic group

Korea has never invaded other countries so that Korea is innocent, noble and blessed by God.

Japan invaded Korea illegally from 1910 – 1945.

Japan forcibly ended Korea dynasty.

Japan kidnapped Korean girl and forced to serve them as sex slave.

Japan kidnapped Korean men, brought them to Japan and forced them to work as slaves without paying salaries.

Japan robbed Korean land, harvest, mother tang and name.

Korea won independence after tough struggle against Japan on 15^th Aug 1945.

Japan is evil nation and has deep sin.

Japanese people have to apologize and compensate to Korea forever.

It doesn’t matter how many times they actually apologize and compensate in the past.

Korea should never forgive Japan and claim further apologies and compensation forever.

2.      History based on the facts

Korean peninsula has been under control of China since its history started.

Many Chinese or Mongolian ethic group came to Korea and made their country.

Korean dynasty (Korai) tried to invade Japan twice in 1274 and 1281 together with Khubilai Khan (Mongol).

Japan annexed Korean peninsula legally according to international law in 1910.

Korean dynasty agreed the annexation to Japan and Korea become one part of Japan.

If Japan had not annexed Korea, Korea would have been a colony of Russia.

Korea had to choose either Japan or Russia because they didn’t have enough power to be independent.

Korean loyal family was incorporated to Japanese loyal family, one Korean prince married with a Japanese princess.

Japan invested huge amount of budget to Korean modernization.

Japan built Seoul University, hundreds of schools, roads, bridge and buildings.

Japan taught Japanese language and Japanese writings at school.

Korean people were forced to change their Korean names into Japanese names.

Korean average life expectancy was 24 years in 1910 but 45 years in 1942.

Korean population was 13.1 million in 1910 but 25.5 million in 1942.

Korea was separated from Japan because Japan lost WWⅡ.

Instead, Russia ruled northern part of Korea and US ruled southern part of Korea.

Korea has never been independent country nor won independence against other countries.

Sagano～secret spots ②: Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple

Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple （愛宕念仏寺） is located north of Saga Toriimoto.
This temple has a wonderful display of 1,200 carved stone figures of Rakan（羅漢）, the disciples of Buddha.
They were made by worshippers, basically normal citizens over a period of 1981 to 1991.
Variety of unique figures will make your heart warm.
Away from main tourist area of Arashiyama, this temple is less crowded and you can enjoy pleasant air from the mountain.
Map URL: https://goo.gl/maps/pGUkXSbDA962

stand on his head

Many figures on hill slide

Friends

With mask of demon

Mom is reading a book to her child

Small pagoda

Pray with rosary

Smiling to the heaven

Mossed head and hands

Artist's name is carved at the back

Sagano～secret spots ①: Toriimoto

Saga Toriimoto （嵯峨鳥居本）is assigned as " historical building preserve district" same as Sannenzaka （産寧坂）, Gion Shirakawa （祇園白川）, and Hanami Koji （花見小路）.
Many old and lovely houses still remain along the street heading toward Torii Gate（鳥居） of Atago Shrine （愛宕神社）
Map URL: https://goo.gl/maps/VxaywAdWLVz

Near Torii gate, farmer's houses with grass thatched roof  

Torii Gate of Atago Shrine

Ayu no Yado Tsutaya

Map URL: https://goo.gl/maps/4cpnRgWkMU72

Mossed fence around the house

Stone paved slope

Strolling down the street, more town houses apper

Town-scape preservation archive hall

Admission free 10:00-16:00 Closed on Mondays

Map URL: https://goo.gl/maps/ivzujg1gdaE2

5 ways to use the words 「どうも」(doumo)

The original meaning of「どうも」is “something we cannot explain in words”.
This vague, fuzzy word is used in many situations.
I’d like to explain 5 different ways to use it.

1.To place an emphasis on the following phrases.
We put 「どうも」before the specific phrases to emphasize them

・どうも　ありがとうございました (Thank you very much)
・どうも　すみません (I’m so sorry)
・どうも　しつれいしました (I’m sorry to bother you)

2. Short greeting
「どうも」 is used to say ‘Hi’, ‘Hello’ in casual occasions.

・どうも　たなかです（Hi, I’m Tanaka）
・a mother:「これが、むすこの　けん　です」(This is my son, Ken)
a son:「どうも」(Hi)

3. Hearsay, guess
When we combine 「どうも」and 「～のようだ／～らしい／～そうだ」,it means “It seems that”, “They say that”


・どうも　きょうは　あめ　らしい　(It seems　as though it will rain today)
・どうも　たなかさんは　おこっている　ようだ (I guess Mr. Tanaka is angry)
・どうも　かぜが　はやっている　そうだ　(They say that a cold is spreading)

4. Unsatisfied/regretful feeling
When we combine 「どうも」and negative sentences, we express that we are unsatisfied about the matters.


・なんど　やっても　どうも　うまくいかない
(I tried again and again but I cannot make it for some reasons)
・あの　はんけつには　どうも　なっとく　できない
(The judgment seems to be right but I’m not convinced of that)

5. Express we don’t know why
This is the most difficult part. We put 「どうも」to express that we don’t know the reason, we don’t know how it happens.


・どうも　ちょうしが　おかしい (I’m not in good shape for some reasons)
・どうも　すうがくは　にがてだ (I don’t know why but I’m poor at math)
・どうも　あのひとは　うんがいい ( He is lucky for some reasons)

Different way to use polite expressions

Polite expressions are used to show respect, but did you know there are different ways of using them?

Example 1
Imagine a married couple that usually uses casual expressions with one another. One day, the wife suddenly starts using polite expressions to her husband. This is not because she wants to show respect, but to show that she is angry at him or that there is an emotional gap between them.

Example 2
Mr. A and Mr. B are classmates or co-workers, they are of the same age or are in similar positions. They know it's more natural to use casual expressions but for some reason, Mr.A uses polite expressions to Mr.B. This shows Mr. A doesn't want to be friends with Mr. B.

As we can see with these examples, polite expressions can sometimes be used when you don't want to show intimacy or closeness with a person.

How do Japanese people express “NO”?

In Japan, we don’t often say “NO” directly and it’s difficult for foreign people to understand what we really mean.
Here are 3 examples of how we express “NO” in conversations.

1. Just smile and don’t respond

If you say “Please invite me to your house” and your Japanese friend just smile and doesn't respond, or say “OK, someday” and never talks about it again, it means “NO”.

2. I’ll think about it / I’ll check my schedule

These expressions are often used in business scenes. If they only use these phrases and don’t give you any specific schedule, such as, “I’ll call you back tomorrow” or “ I suppose we can proceed if my boss says yes”, their answers are in most part “NO”.

3. Sorry I’m busy

Although many Japanese people are really busy, this phrase tends to be used to express “NO”. We like to use this phrase because we don’t need to explain the real reason and hurt someone’s feelings.

Similarity between Japanese and English

Japan and U.K. have several things in common which are:

1 Both are islands
2 Both are close to the continental mainland (Japan to China/ U.K. to Europe)
3 Both have been influenced by the culture from each continent and there are many imported words
4 There is often no one-to-one correspondence between a word's pronunciation and its spelling.

Let’s look at examples of No3
-English
hors d’oeuvre/rendez-vous(French origin) kindergarten/hamburger (German origin) incredible/dormant(Italian origin)

-Japanese
Of course Kanji is imported from China and we use many Katakana words which are from western countries

Let’s look at examples of No4
-English
debt, doubt, subtle, island, victuals: These have consonants which are not pronounced
body, come, note: These “o”s are pronounced differently

-Japanese
One Kanji has in most parts “Japanese original pronunciation” and “China origin pronunciation” and how to read it varies according to its combinations.
For example, how to read 「和」:
和・らぐ (yawa-ragu)
和・む (nago-mu)
平・和 (hei-wa)
大・和 (yamato)
日・和 (hiyori)