LEARN A LANGUAGE — Part 5 — JAPANESE

Not surprisingly, Japan is home to 99% of first-language Japanese speakers. But, as is the case with most languages, the Japanese language is not limited to the people of the archipelago nation. Japanese (also known as Nihongo) is the 9th most spoken language in the world with about 126 million speakers. There are another 5 million people outside of Japan who speak Japanese with some proficiency (todaytranslations.com). At least part of the populations in a number of countries and about 18 territories speak the language including in the United States, the Philippines, and Brazil. Japanese is also spoken in other parts of Asia and the Pacific: Guam, American Samoa, People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia. Japanese speakers can also be found in Canada, Mexico, and Europe – notably the United Kingdom – and many major world cities have Japanese speaking communities as well (worlddata.info).

The origins of the Japanese language are not fully understood. It is believed that Japanese began to emerge and develop into its own unique language somewhere between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC when the Yayoi people migrated from the Korean peninsula to the Japanese islands. The language was exclusively oral until contact with China in the 4th century and the development of the Kanji writing system. Chinese characters were adapted, expressing Japanese words as well as grammatical elements. This led to the further development of both the Hiragana and Katakana kana writing systems, both around the 9th century (dynamiclanguage.com).

In the United States, there are nearly a half million Japanese speakers, mainly concentrated in the states of California (141k), Hawaii (45k), New York (35k), Washington (26k), and Texas (18k). However, Hawaii has the highest percentage of Japanese speakers with about 17% of Hawaiian residents speaking it at home (statisticalatlas.com). While not as commonly spoken in Iowa as are Spanish, German, or Chinese, Japanese is also spoken here. Japanese affiliated organizations in Iowa, such as the Japan America Society of Iowa (JASI), offer language and cultural programs including drumming workshops and demonstrations (Soten Taiko) and even a Japanese language school (Kanaijuku) for both beginners and advanced learners. The Iowa State Japanese Association (Japanese Club) offers language and cultural programs as well.  And, the University of Iowa supports a four-year Japanese program offering comprehensive language classes and courses in linguistics, communications, visual culture, popular culture, literature, film, theater, and translation. There is even a Kimono club which gives those interested in Japanese traditional wardrobe an opportunity to share their interests through fashion shows and workshops. Annual events such as Anime demo ii and Tanabata (star gazing festival) are also popular cultural activities.

While there are not very many Japanese speakers in Davenport or Scott County, there are many reasons to consider learning the language. In the US alone, there are nearly 162,000 people learning the Japanese language (babble.com). This includes almost 67,000 students in higher education, along with another 56,000 in grades K-12 (asiasociety.org). According to nippon.com, there were nearly 3,800,000 students worldwide learning Japanese in 2021. Popular culture has spurred the interest in all things Japan. From Anime series to catchy J-pop tunes, there are many intriguing reasons to explore the unique Japanese language and culture.

Would you like to give the Japanese language a try? Try some of the FREE resources available to you at The Library as you begin (or continue) learning Japanese. See our online catalog or ask a Librarian for more resources.

 

FOR A QUICK INTRODUCTION TO THE LANGUAGE:

15-minute Japanese : learn in just 12 weeks by Mitsuko Maeda-Nye

Fast talk Japanese : guaranteed to get you talking.

Japanese for beginners : mastering conversational Japanese by Sachiko Toyozato

 

FOR A MORE LAID-BACK APPROACH:

Japanese step by step  by Gene Nishi

Learn Japanese with manga : a self-study language book for beginners by Marc Bernabé

Japanese short stories for beginners : 20 captivating short stories to learn Japanese & grow your vocabulary the fun way!

Japanese folktales for language learners = 昔ばなしで学ぶ日本語 |  by Eriko Sato

Intermediate Japanese short stories : 10 captivating short stories to learn Japanese & grow your vocabulary the fun way! : intermediate Japanese stories.

 

IF YOU ARE A VISUAL LEARNER:

       

Japanese English visual bilingual dictionary

Japanese picture dictionary : learn 1,500 Japanese words and phrases by Timothy G. Stout

Basic Japanese kanji. Volume 1 : high-frequency kanji at your command! by Timothy G. Stout

Mastering Japanese kanji. Volume 1 : the innovative visual method for learning Japanese characters by Glen Nolan Grant

Japanese hiragana & katakana for beginners : first steps to mastering the Japanese writing system by Timothy G. Stout

Guide to reading and writing Japanese by Florence Sakade

Let’s learn Hiragana by Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura

Hiragana from zero! by George Trombley

 

MORE COMPREHENSIVE LANGUAGE COURSES:

 

Complete Japanese grammar by Eriko Sato

Japanese by H.J. Ballhatchet

Langenscheidt Japanese at your fingertips by Tien Tammada

Unlocking Japanese with Paul Noble by Paul Noble

And, as a Davenport Public Library cardholder, you have FREE access to the language learning program, Mango Languages.

 

FOR THOSE WHO PLAN TO TRAVEL:

  

Japanese phrase book & dictionary (Berlitz).

Japanese phrasebook & dictionary (Lonely Planet).

Japanese : (Rough Guide Phrasebook).

 

NEXT MONTH…  LEARN A LANGUAGE — Part 6 — ITALIAN

 

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New Travel books for 2024!

This fall brings an abundance of new and updated travel guides for nearly anywhere you would like to venture.  If you are planning your first trip abroad, thinking about a road trip to a few national parks or you are a seasoned traveler ready for a new adventure, there is something for everyone.  Even if you are not planning a trip in the near future, consider one of these guidebooks for armchair traveling!

DK National Parks of the USA – A comprehensive account of our 63 parks, DK National Parks of the USA covers the best sites and itineraries for each park.  With some of the most gorgeous photography in any travel guide, this guide outlines the best choices whether you are visiting a park for one hour or one week.  This guide also has detailed and easy to read maps for a hassle-free experience.  Also, included are the best places to eat, sleep and dine in close proximity to each park.

Rick Steves Best of Europe – One of the best travel guides for new or seasoned travelers to Europe, this nearly 1,000 page book covers the top European destinations for any experience or budget.  Steves includes detailed information on taking trains, trams and buses with ease and ideas for walking tours to capture the top sights.  Destinations include England, France, Spain and Italy.

Rick Steves FranceSimilar to the previous title and other Rick Steves travel guides, his series highlight the life changing aspects of travel, including meeting locals and visiting top sites along with itineraries that includes stops less well known.  This guide to France is the 21st edition with near yearly updates on hotels and other accommodations for all budgets.   Also included are walking tours and ample coverage of museums, local restaurants and cultural and historic information.  Not only is Paris included, Steves devotes ample pages to Normandy, Burgundy, Provence, the French Riviera and the Brittany region.

DK Top 10 New England – DK Top 10 guides are perfect for a short break and DK Top 10 New England is no exception.  Covering the top local cuisine, outdoor activities, quaint towns and historic gems, the authors of this guide have streamlined the best of the best in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  Sample itineraries are included for a weekend or a few days accompanied by a laminated pull out map.

Fodor’s Essential Japan – Written by Fodor’s local experts who have an intimate knowledge of Japan, Fodor’s Essential Japan, is an updated volume that has been redesigned in an easier to read format, newly updated photos and multiple itineraries for each destination.  Included are Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Mt. Fuji and more.  Along with the historical and cultural background of Japan, this guide has practical transportation information and language tips with essential phrases.

Lonely Planet Offbeat North America – For travelers looking for more remote or off the beaten track travels, try Lonely Planet Offbeat North America.  With over 100 lesser known destinations in The United States, Canada and Mexico, this guide also includes 25 extra hidden gems along with expertly curated advice on how to beat the crowds and the best times to travel to these locales.  Unique to this title are alternatives to popular sites that are equally as memorable but not so touristy.

 

 

In addition to the titles listed above check out these other brand new travel guides!

Rick Steves Spain

Rick Steves Scandinavia

DK Top 10 Brussels (includes Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp)

DK Top 10 Seattle

DK Top 10 Las Vegas 

Rick Steves Barcelona

Rick Steves Paris

Fodor’s Tokyo

 

TRAVEL WITH A GOOD BOOK

What is travel fiction? It’s a book in which a place is as important to the narrative as a main character. The characters themselves may be traveling, but it can also be a book in which the reader is taken on a journey to the real (or fantastical) place described vividly on each page. It’s a book that shapes the way we see a certain place or whose events and characters could be in no other setting. Or, when written by an author about their own homeland, and so informed by the writer’s culture, that it’s impossible to read it without uncovering the author’s life.

Travel fiction has the ability to transport you to places you’ve never been and may never go. Through the power of storytelling, you can wander ancient streets in bustling cities, traverse untouched rugged landscapes, and immerse yourself in cultures rich with history and tradition. From the comfort of your armchair, you can discover that the world is vast and boundless, and that the greatest journeys are often those undertaken within the pages of a beloved book. If you don’t have grand travel plans this summer, let a book be your passport to adventure. I’ve selected three fictional books for you to consider for your reading travels.

The first book, My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, is set in a very poor and isolated part of Naples, Italy in the mid-20th century. While the plot follows a lifelong friendship and unravels divergent fates due to economic and cultural circumstances, there are many vivid depictions of place and culture that will draw you in, including: immersion in shopping districts, dazzling views of the Mediterranean Sea and the Amalfi Coast, and revealing the heart of cities like Florence and Milan.

 

In Hula : a novel by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes, you’ll meet three generations of native Hawaiian women whose lives are closely tied to the art and culture of Hula, including a famous hula teacher, her daughter, Laka, a Miss Aloha Hula contest winner, and Laka’s daughter. This novel explores the tight-knit Hula community within Hilo, Hawaii. It also delves into the history of Hawaii (a now forgotten kingdom that still lives in the heart of her people) and the complicated relationships between family and between the Hawaiian people and Hawaii itself.

To stretch your imagination a bit further, I’ve included Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yū about a homeless ghost, Kazu, who haunts one of Tokyo’s busiest train stations and its nearby park. Kazu’s life in the city began in the park when he arrived as a laborer in the preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. His life also sadly ended there in the homeless village in the park, a place erected after the 2011 tsunami devastation. We see daily life in Tokyo through Kazu’s eyes as we learn details of his own story that have been shaped at every turn by modern Japanese history.

It is said that a library card is the best passport you could ever have. Hopefully one of these fictional stories will inspire you to “travel” somewhere interesting this summer. But, I didn’t forget about those of you who prefer non-fiction… Check out this book: Around the world in 50 years : my adventure to every country on earth by Albert Podell. In his book, Podell describes unusual and exotic places – not just the well-known tourist destinations around the world.  Perhaps it will inspire your next travel fiction book selection – or to an actual travel adventure of your own.

 

Grandmothers, Our Grandmothers: Remembering the “Comfort Women” of World War II by Han Seong-won

When looking for a nonfiction book to read, I typically look for a topic of which I know very little. My latest nonfiction read was the graphic nonfiction, Grandmothers, Our Grandmothers: Remembering the “Comfort Women” of World War II by Han Seong-won. This book tells the story of the “comfort women” of the Japanese Imperial Army. I’ll admit here that I didn’t know anything about “comfort women” and based on the cover, I thought that these women were positive comforters. How incredibly and devastatingly wrong I was.

Between 1932 to 1945, the Japanese Imperial Army set up “comfort stations” wherever there was a war zone. The people that worked these “comfort stations” were women and girls they either kidnapped or lured under false promises of actual work. These women and girls were forced into sexual slavery in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. This is government-sponsored sexual slavery and human trafficking that Japan did not even acknowledge occurred until 1991.

This book tells the story of the grandmothers who have chosen to speak about their lives as “comfort women”. It shares their stories, speaks their testimonies, and pays respect to the many others who will never come forward to talk about what happened to them. Also present in this book are members of younger generations who advocate alongside the grandmothers, protesting every Wednesday for years demanding justice. These women are victims of war whose human rights were violated. Han Seong-won shines light on their stories and helps advocate for honesty about what happened to them only eighty years ago.

Online Reading Challenge – August Wrap-Up

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in Japan that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

“After all the years I’ve spent with him not seeing me, I don’t see him anymore either. We exist like two blind fish, sliding past each other cordially in our parallel universes.”
― Emily Itami, Fault Lines

I read our main title: Fault Lines by Emily Itami. This was a very quick read and honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what I thought of it as I was reading. At the end, I found myself wanting to know more about the lives of the characters and their own justifications for their actions.

Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has everything she could ever want: a hardworking husband, a beautiful apartment in Tokyo, and two adorable children. She should be happy, right? Wrong. Sometimes Mizuki finds herself standing on her high-rise balcony wanting to throw herself off and end it all. Her husband spends what little time he has with them glued to his phone, plus he is constantly being pulled away to work. All she does is clean up after her kids and hang up endless laundry.

One night while out with friends, Mizuki meets Kiyoshi and her whole life changes. Kiyoshi is a successful restaurateur. As the two get to know each other, Mizuki’s world starts to expand. She feels alive again and starts to rediscover all of the things that she has lost through the years. He is a breath of freedom, bringing her a new friendship she greatly needed. The two dive into exploring Tokyo, becoming closer. Their relationship changes overtime, illuminating for Mizuki that she is actually living two lives. In the end, Mizuki has to choose one: her family or Kiyoshi.

All in all, this debut novel was relatable and discussed choices, adulthood, and the dichotomy between freedom and tradition in ways that actually made sense. A mother’s desire cannot be ignored. Watching Mizuki battle with herself while she tried to figure out what she wanted was riveting. Her discussion of the morals and mores of Japan and how they butt up against those of people from outside Japan was enlightening. The warring cultural expectations complicated Mizuki’s life as she tried to find a balance between her past and present, her life as a sexual being and her life as a dutiful mother. This was a refreshing read and I have high hopes for the author’s next book!

In September, we’re headed to New York City!

Online Reading Challenge – August

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels to Japan. Our main title for August is Fault Lines by Emily Itami. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher.

Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has a hardworking husband, two adorable children, and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. It’s everything a woman could want, yet sometimes she wonders whether she would rather throw herself off the high-rise balcony than spend another evening not talking to her husband and hanging up laundry.

Then, one rainy night, she meets Kiyoshi, a successful restaurateur. In him, she rediscovers freedom, friendship, and the neon, electric pulse of the city she has always loved. But the further she falls into their relationship, the clearer it becomes that she is living two lives—and in the end, we can choose only one.

Funny, provocative, and startlingly honest, Fault Lines is for anyone who has ever looked in the mirror and asked, who am I and how did I get here? A bittersweet love story and a piercing portrait of female identity, it introduces Emily Itami as a debut novelist with astounding resonance and wit.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Tokyo Rose – Zero Hour by Andre Frattino and Kate Kasenow

As a librarian, I like to tell people that I know a little about a lot with some deep wells of specific knowledge. If I don’t know the answer, I can find the resources to answer your question. As I was shelving graphic novels, I found Tokyo Rose – Zero Hour: A Japanese American Woman’s Persecution and Ultimate Redemption after World War II with story by Andrew Frattino and illustrated by Kate Kasenow. This book immediately caught my eye as propaganda artists of any kind during wars have been an interst of mine for years, but I had never heard of Tokyo Rose. It was time for a dive. This graphic story was the perfect place to start.

The term ‘Tokyo Rose’ was a nickname given to female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda during World War II. Allied servicemen in the South Pacific coined this name. This book is not a broad look at World War II, but instead is a focused deep dive into the life of one woman who was branded the legendary infamous Tokyo Rose, even though there were actually many Tokyo Roses.

Iva Toguri was a Japanese American woman born in the States who was sent to visit relatives in Tokyo shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the attack, Iva was trapped in Japan, unable to get back to the United States. Visited by officials, Iva was pressured to renounce her American citizenship and fully become a Japanese citizen. She refused this deal whole-heartedly, saying she was an American citizen and would never denounce her country. This caused issues with her family in Tokyo, forcing Iva to move out and forge a new life for herself.

A friend got her a job at Radio Tokyo, where she was eventually forced to become the host of ‘Zero Hour’, a propaganda broadcast that was created to destroy morale of American troops. She became the infamous Tokyo Rose, ‘The Siren of the Pacific’. Her role made her a target of angry Americans. She was arrested, released, and then eventually made her way back to the United States where after public outcry she was arrested again and prosecuted for treason. Her trial was a joke, the prosecrutors were incredibly dishonest, and the judge skewed not in her favor. She spent time in prison, but was eventually pardoned by President Ford in 1977. Iva’s experience is something not discussed much in the history books, but is something that should be taught.

This book was a good introduction to the Tokyo Rose phenomenon, but remember this is only the story of one woman who was targetted as Tokyo Rose in the media. All in all, I enjoyed this graphic novel, but it was a tad uneven for me. The plot and story is necessary to learn however because after all, those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott; art by Harmony Becker

“That remains part of the problem—that we don’t know the unpleasant aspects of American history…and therefore we don’t learn the lesson those chapters have to teach us. So we repeat them over and over again.”
― George Takei, They Called Us Enemy

They Called Us Enemy  by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, with art by Harmony Becker, is a gorgeously drawn and written story telling the story of George Takei’s childhood from within the walls of American concentration camps during World War II. As a result of his experiences and after-dinner discussions with his father, Takei’s foundational and life-long commitment to equal rights was born.

In 1942, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was shipped to one of ten relocation centers across the United States. On orders from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, over 127,000 people of Japanese descent were sent hundreds or thousands of miles from home to those relocation centers where they were held under armed guard for years. Four-year-old George Takei and his family were forced from their home in California to live in a total of two different relocation centers.

They Called Us Enemy is Takei’s first-hand account of his years trapped behind barbed wire, growing up under legalized racism. He wrestled with periods of joy and terror. His mother had to make many hard choices, one of which could tear their family apart. His father kept up his faith in democracy, taking leadership rules as a block manager at the camps. Takei uses his experiences in the internment camps to discuss what being an American means and who gets to decide whether you are one or not.

This book is also available in the following format:

“Shame is a cruel thing. It should rest on the perpetrators but they don’t carry it the way the victims do.”
― George Takei, They Called Us Enemy

The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner

Susan Meissner’s newest book, The Last Year of the War, is the story of a German-American girl whose life forever changes when her family is sent to an internment camp in Texas during World War II. I urge you to give this book a try because Davenport, Iowa is the family’s hometown! Most reviews only mention that the family is from Iowa, so I was pleasantly surprised when Davenport and other Quad City landmarks were frequently discussed through character background and development.

The Last Year of the War flashes back and forth between past and present. Elise Sontag’s family has been in the United States for nearly two decades. This fact proves not to mean much when government forces show up at their front door. Elise’s father is arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. Elise’s mother struggles to provide for the family amidst government and local judgment and pressure. Her entire family is eventually sent to an internment camp in Texas where they are reunited with Elise’s father. In Texas, the family lives behind barbed wire and amidst armed guards and other fellow internees. Despite being with her family, Elise feels lost as almost every physical thing her family had loved and was familiar to them is gone. Elise struggles to find a sense of belonging and quickly feels herself becoming unmoored.

The one bright spot in Texas? Mariko Inoue. Mariko is a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles living with her parents and her two older siblings. Mariko and Elise become fast friends, much to the chagrin of other people given that Mariko is Japanese-American and Elise’s family is German. In order to survive the harshness of the camp, the two make plans for what they’ll do when they get out of the camp and turn 18.  Knowing, hoping, and praying that they will have a bright future outside of the camp, they work hard to stay together and build a positive future.

Flashing between past and present, readers see what happened to Elise and Mariko. Were they able to keep their big plans? What happened to both of their families? How did the war and its far-reaching aftershocks affect the different people that they came in contact with? The character development throughout this book really drew me in, as well as the references to places that I was familiar with throughout Davenport. Give this book a read and let me know what you think!


This book is also available in the following formats:

Now Arriving from: Japan

Hello Challenge Readers!

How was your reading this month? Did you find a great book (or movie) set in Japan that you really enjoyed? It’s such an interesting culture set against a beautiful and dramatic landscape that the possibilities for good reading are boundless.

I read The Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton which I blogged about earlier. I highly recommend this book – it’s not only a great story, it has a lot of information about the Japanese culture, much of which is unfamiliar to those of us raised in a Western European tradition.

I also watched the movie version of Memoirs of a Geisha. I loved the book (written by Arthur Golden) but had never seen the movie. I never expect a movie to be as good as the book (and they almost never are), but I had high hopes for it to be visually stunning (as I had imagined when I read the book) I was pretty disappointed – the movie concentrated on the personal interactions (which were petty and brutal) and very little on the history and background of the geisha which was a vital (and fascinating) part of the book. If you hadn’t read the book, there were large parts of the movie that you would have no idea what was going on, or why. Also, it wasn’t as beautiful as I think it could have been – the kimonos, the tea houses, the gardens – all of those were barely touched on. In addition, many of the scenes were filmed in the dark and/or rain making it very difficult to follow the action. And the ending was changed. So. Read the book (which is excellent) and skip the movie (in my opinion!)

Now it’s your turn – tell us what you read this month! Everyone loves a good recommendation!