In this video you can see the inside of one of Imabari’s novelty attractions - the towel art museum located in Asakura. In Japanese it’s called タオル美術館ICHIRO. It’s a pretty trippy place, but I give the museum props for taking a local industry and making a fun outing out of it. Imabari City makes 60% or more of the domestically produced towels in Japan, so it’s common to hear about the towels - but you don’t often get to see animals made from towels, or watch the row of mechanical looms create them at high speed. Unfortunately, all of the cute stuff (the art part) is in exhibits where photography is prohibited, so I can’t share any of it with you. But I can recommend that you go there once for yourself just to see what it’s like.

Wow! Twofer Tuesday! This video shows us arriving in front of the Murakami Pirate Museum (which I’ve visited previously with my students). The restaurant operates a touring boat that takes you through the rapids (another thing I’ve done previously). And yes, this is totally where they hold the annual Pirate Race - so glad you asked! The Japanese name of the place is 村上水軍博物館. We tried on armor and goofed off a bunch. But we didn’t have much time, so we had to keep moving.

[Yup, these are both from the Imabari City Foreign Tourism Project daytrip. How ever did you guess? Last video from the daytrip will go up tomorrow, guys!]

Hello, hello! I know, I keep making it harder and harder for everyone to believe I’m not dead. But I’m not, please rest assured. Allow me to break the radio silence I’ve had going for…almost all of June, and post a quick video I’ve uploaded. Last weekend (yesterday, actually), I went on the first chunk of the Imabari City Foreign Tourism Project’s Monitor Tour, or as I affectionately refer to it, ICFTPMT. (No, I really don’t call it that. Ha ha.) This was the daytrip portion of the project, so I jumped onto a charter bus with my fellow monitors, our ICIEA colleagues, and a few folks from the local government’s tourism board. We then bounced around all over Imabari - in both the city proper and out on the islands. This is the first video of a few, hopefully. Enjoy!

(Going to Tokyo for the upcoming weekend, if anyone fancies a meet-up. Anyone in Tokyo, obviously. Shoot me an email or give me a call.)

Uh-oh, here comes trouble. Some people flipped out when I ate whale meat, and now I’m eating horse. If you’re against it, that’s cool - but please don’t yell at me for it! I get that it freaks some people out. But to me, it’s a culinary adventure. One that’s not possible in North America. Ha ha. Just FYI - I’m slammed this week, so posting may be slight. Apologies in advance! Ok, if you want your say, have it in the comments! Just keep it friendly, folks.

Allow me to open this short entry with a quick quote. I’m stealing from myself here, when I posted my Tainan pictures. “Tainan is way cooler than Taipei for the lazy casual cultural tourists. … Here’s an analogy for you SAT-prep nerds out there. ‘Tainan’ is to ‘Taipei’ as “Kyoto” is to ‘Tokyo.’” You see, if you’re not a person who wants to shop, you might run out of stuff to do. Granted, I got to stay at a super trendy boutique hotel, eat lots of western food that I’ve missed so much, and generally feel pampered. But it wasn’t a particularly “Taiwan-y” experience. It was the same experience you can get in any large city anywhere. I loved the museums and temples that we got to see, but at the end of the day, I really wished I’d spent more time in Tainan. Incidentally, I’ve heard the same from friends who’ve also traveled to Taiwan. Oh - one last interesting thing that happened is that I bumped into some JETs from my area at random in the middle of Taipei. I was chillin’ out at Cold Stone Creamery (for the second or third time) and they walked right in front of me. I shouted out to them and we caught up for a second, but we were all sort of shell-shocked at the abrupt coincidental meeting. Ha ha. Seriously, what are the odds that that happens unplanned?

This was so weird, it really deserved its own post. No but(t)s about it. I went to a restaurant in Taipei called 便所主题餐厅 in Chinese, or “Modern Toilet” in English. It is exactly what it claims to be. A restaurant themed entirely around toilets and other bathroom fixtures. You can visit the official English site here or the official Japanese version here. Here’s a quick video that I whipped up.

Here are the stills from the video clip again. Ha ha.

It was an interesting experience all around. All of the tables are converted plumbing fixtures, most surfaces are tiled, the dishes are all special ceramic novelties, and the real bathrooms are relatively difficult to find thanks to their inadvertent camouflage. Ha ha. Specialty teas come in urinal cups, but you can purchase a take-home pee bottle to go. while I’m sure it was, I actually found it hard to feel like the place was properly sterilized / clean. Kinda makes sense, I guess.

The main dishes in the toilet bowls were great. (I actually realized that the bowls are self-contained chafing pots when I watched this video! You can see a little bit of flame under the lip of one of them.) I had the Thai curry and made a bad poo joke about how my meal won the prize for resembling its eventual end state. Oh,come on, dining in a place like that you can’t help but make a few bad poo jokes. Don’t judge me.

The sides that come with the main dishes were really lousy. I didn’t bother finishing anything but the rice and curry from my main dish. The included soft serve at the end was similarly disappointing - and not only because it wasn’t solid chocolate to complete the effect. It’s also non-dairy and you can really tell. It’s super watery and doesn’t really taste of chocolate or vanilla…or anything else, actually. That’s probably due to the fact that they offer monstrous portions in their desserts. I saw a few parfait/sundae frankenstein bowls pass by us, and I’m telling you, you’d need a hungry soccer team to kill one off. No wonder they don’t use quality stuff - they’re going for quantity. It’s all part of the spectacle of the thing. Having said that, the fries were freaking amazing. Worth your time? Sure, it’s a restaurant themed for the bathroom! Take the chance when you get it. After all, when nature calls…

My favorite place in Japan from a tourist’s point of view is probably Fushimi Inari Taisha, the large shrine to Inari, diety of cereal grains and business. It’s a really quick train ride away from central Kyoto. If you read Japanese, you might be interested in the official site.

Even if you’ve never been, you’re probably already familiar with the site. It was featured in Memoirs of a Geisha. It was also the inspiration for the art installation “The Gates” by Christo and Jean-Claude. The epic arrangement of Shinto gates (鳥居 / torii) packed so tightly together creates an amazing, surreal illusion - you feel as though you’re walking through an otherworldly hallway.

I’ve been to Fushimi Inari Taisha 4 or 5 times now, and it sure doesn’t get old. It’s sort of like Miyajima in that it stands apart from other shrines and temples. If that sort of thing isn’t up your alley, you may find yourself thinking “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” You won’t get that feeling here. Visiting at different times of day, in different seasons, etc. all change the scenery drastically.

I included Fushimi Inari in my old student travelogue from my study abroad days. You can see a video clip that I put together by clicking here (it will open in an overlay) or by visiting the original. I also wrote about it a few years ago when I spent Christmas vacation in Kyoto at the J-Hoppers hostel with friends, including J-Web vlogger/blogger Claytonian.

If you do go, I recommend taking the extra time to wander up to the upper loop past the lakes. I love the view at the top - you can even see Kyoto Tower. Most people tend to go a little bit into it and turn back, imagining that things look the same all the way up. The truth is, the scenery changes. Fox statues, mini-torii and all sorts of devotionals, incense burners, and the like are scattered throughout the area. Perhaps you’ll meet and befriend a shrine cat there like I’ve done on more than one occasion.

The theme for this Japan Blog Matsuri was “your favorite place in Japan.” It’s being hosted by Shane at the Nihon Sun.

I went to Taiwan recently, and I thought I’d share a few of my pictures. I won’t pretend to know anything, because this was one of very few times that I did absolutely no research about the country I was visiting prior to…visiting. I knew woefully little about Taiwan before I stepped off of the plane. I basically knew that Tainan (台南), Taipei (台北), and Taiwan (台湾) all share kanji. I knew that Taipei was the capital and that Tainan was the more cultural city, being the oldest on the island. I knew the basic gist of the country’s political history from my Asian Studies classes back in college…but that’s pretty much it. And if I’m perfectly honest, I still don’t know very much. So I’ll leave the instructive sounding stuff to other people and just show you random shots that I liked for one reason or another. I’ll sum up stuff that I “learned” after the gallery.

I did “take away” some observations, in spite of my total tourist mentality (or perhaps due to it?). 1) Tainan is way cooler than Taipei for the lazy casual cultural tourists. I’ll elaborate on this when I post my Taipei pictures. Here’s an analogy for you SAT-prep nerds out there. “Tainan” is to “Taipei” as “Kyoto” is to “Tokyo.” 2) The ridiculous stuff is often cooler than the famous stuff. I honestly thought the Anping Tree House was cooler than Anping Fort, which is the more historical and more widely known attraction in the same area. 3) The Dutch were freakin’ influential EVERYWHERE. Ha ha. Going through the museums and histories, I often found myself wondering if things had gone differently, would Dutch people rule the world? 4) Night Markets are the coolest thing to do by a long shot. Way cool. Still couldn’t bring myself to try stinky tofu, though. (臭豆腐 = literally “smell” + “bean” + “rot” according to my limited / Japanese understanding of the characters. [Obviously, 豆腐 is "tofu" normally. I separated it for effect.] Whew. Very accurate name.) Most people who’ve tried it say that they love the stuff, but dude…..I had to hold my breath to walk by the little stalls selling it. I’m all for expanding my formerly uber-picky culinary horizons, but I just don’t think I’m there yet. By the way, the English “fermented tofu” seems redundant to me, since tofu is “fermented soy bean curd.” But yeah, that should tell you how pungent it is - it’s twice rotted! Ha ha. 5) Walk everywhere you can. Only take cabs for long distances. You get to see so much more of the city. Anyhoo, like I said, I’m still unfortunately ignorant of a lot of cool stuff in Tainan, but I got to know the city over a few days. Good times. More on the Taiwan trip - specifically Taipei - later.

Here are some cool searches that I ran while playing with the new Wolfram|Alpha “computational knowledge engine” - I’m trying to learn the ropes so that I can make use of this cool new tool. If you’re not heard about it yet, I recommend watching the screencast demo on the site. If you have heard of it, or perhaps in spite of what you may have heard about it, it’s really not a search engine and it’s really not competing with Google, no matter what the news media says. Lots of crap reporters out there. They didn’t even read the first answer in the FAQ. Big differences all around. The biggest is obviously that W|A never links you to another site. You input a query and it does its best to crunch relevant factual information and display it on a results page for you. In short, it’s more like a fact calculator than it is like a search engine. (Hence the term “computational knowledge engine.”) Anyhoo - here are some Japan-related queries that I tried. And I’m just scratching the surface here.

You can even compare a classic Japanese pentatonic musical scale with the pentatonic used in the opening of the Temptations’ My Girl. (Had to do my homework for that one, if I’m honest.) Ha ha. Can you think of any cool searches to do while you’re learning how the system works? I’m having fun as I work my way up to more complex queries. (I’m currently trying to get it to rank or compare ratios of male and female population demographics for multiple countries, but it might be too much for it to handle in these early stages. Sure, it can handle hard math, but not silly math. Ha ha.) Try a search out in this widget and post in the comments if you want to share your thoughts or if you turn up anything cool.

Last note - one of the coolest features to me is the ability to see what sources were used in generating my results and to save them as a PDF. That rules. (Haven’t tried the Mathematica Live file yet, but I hear it’s pretty nifty too.)

That’s right, folks. It’s the 3rd installment of my transcripts for the Japanese version of the Loom Audio Drama. (See Part 1 and Part 2 if you’ve somehow missed it so far.) But as always, fear not if you can’t read Japanese. I’ve got the English language audio and text for the exact same section available here for your perusal, just after the Japanese. It’s a good study aid for the oldschool LucasArts adventure games inclined. I’m not as certain of my translation of the aside comments in the script as I am of my transcription, so if anyone notices anything awry - let me know!

This is the third of four entries in total. This one is set apart by the weirdness of Cygna being transfigured, Bobbin being born from the Great Loom, and the voice acting for young Bobbin. To me, personally, the biggest error that leaps out the most is the Japanese actress playing Hetchel - she seems to forget Bobbin’s name and call him Bobby a few times. Of course, it could just be her speech style, swallowing the closed ん sound at the end. But it sure sounds weird to me. Ha ha. Alright? Let’s get to it. It’s time to venture back to that mysterious little island, shrouded in mists, which ancient maps call LOOM.

Japanese Audio for Part 3 –> [See post to listen to audio]
English Audio for Part 3 –> [See post to listen to audio]

シーン２

深夜です。コオロギや梟の期待している鳴き声が聞こえる。誰かの散った葉の上に気がかりな足音が聞こえて来る。鍵、そしてロック、稀にしか使われているドアの音も。中に入って、広大なルーム（機）のリズムが響いている。

シグナ：誰もおらん。誰にも聞かれず。誰にも知られずにすむ。このルームこそ、我らの力。長老はルームの力を恐れているが、私は何も怖くは無い。何て色鮮やかなパターンなのかしら。模様が踊っている。まるで虹のようだわ。一本のグレーの糸が。グレーはどんな色とでも混じり合い、分からなくなる。誰もこのグレーの糸には気付くまい。布を織るには、そう、こうするんだわ。まず、糸を杼に結び付けて、後はハーネスが織り込んでゆく。杼を打ち、おさ（筬）を打ち、踏んで、休む。杼を打ち、おさを打ち、踏んで、休む。押して、戻して、横糸を渡していく。これなら、ヘッチェルに習った通りだわ。休んで、杼を打ち、おさを打ち、踏んで、休む。中へ、下へ、通して、戻す。杼を打ち、おさを打ち、踏んで、休む。杼を打ち、おさを打ち、踏んで、休む。杼を打ち、おさを打ち…（繰り返す）

アトロポス：レイディ・シグナ！そこで何をしておる？

新生児の泣き声で部屋の中が反響する。足音が急いで向こうから渡ってくる。

ラキシス：やはり、遅かった。なぜにこの風なのか？

アトロポス：そんな何をしあって、其方は事の重大さが真実分かっているのだろうな。

シグナ：私たちを裁けるのはパターンだけ、そう仰いましたわね。

ラキシス：其方、こんな事をして、無事にすむと思っているのか？

シグナ：お好きになさいませ。でも、この赤ん坊は生きております。私は満足です。

クロトス：それでは、その子をヘッチェルの手にお渡しなさい。

シグナ：可愛がって上げてね。私を可愛がってくれたように。

ヘッチェル：私に出来る事と言ったら、それだけでございます。はい、よーし、よし。

シグナ：さあ、お裁き。

アトロポス：レイディ・シグナよ、其方は織物氏ギルドに対し重大なる反逆罪を犯した。其方は聖なるルームを冒涜したばかりか、己れの欲望を満たさんがために、我々長老に対し、真っ向から逆らった上に、幾世代にも渡って、手から手へと受け継がれてきたパターンを敢えて危険に晒した。その罪は実に許しがたい。よって、其方を「有罪」とし、これより以後織物氏ギルドから永久に追放する者とする。従って、この子に会う事はもちろんのこと。二度とこの島にその足を踏み入れる事も許されぬ。今日、只今より死を迎えるその日まで、其方はただ一人孤独の内に空をさ迷い続けなければならぬ運命となるのだ。其方の悲しみにくれた嘆きの叫びは、己れが背負った運命に挑まんとする不心得者に対して、良い見せ締めとなるであろう。

奇妙な音が急にクレッシェンドに上がり、強い翼の羽ばたきの音に溶ける。今度は白鳥の鳴き声が部屋の中に響く。目撃者たちは恐怖に驚いて、息が止まる。

ヘッチェル：まっ、白鳥に！姿を変えてまで、まだお美しい。

誇りのある鳥がもう一回鳴いてから、飛んでいく。大きな窓が壊れて、白鳥が夜に消えてしまう。

クロトス（ナレーターとして）：その夜、織物氏の村では大白鳥が海の向こうに消えて行くのを見た物はほとんどありませんでした。しかし、シグナがギルドの掟を破り、長老たちの怒りを勝ったという噂は、まもなく島中に広がってゆきました。人々は皆この赤ん坊を一目見ようと集まって来ました。その子が人からではなく、ルームから生まれたからでした。誰がそのようなことを予想したでしょうか。
その赤ん坊は当時の成人とされた17歳の年まで織物氏ギルドと関わる事は許されませんでした。そして、その後は長老たちが話し合いで決めることになりました。かつてシグナの乳母だったヘッテェルがルームから生まれたこの子を我が子として引き取りボビンと名付けて、育っていたのです。

シーン３

暁近く。野所の家の寝室です。

ヘッチェル：ボビン。ボビン！さぁ、もう起きるのよ。

ボビン：お母さん？

ヘッチェル：えぇ、そう。お母さんよ。さ、早く起きて。

ボビン：外はまだ真っ暗だよ。

ヘッチェル：そうよ、真っ暗よ。でも、いいから、早く起きて、服を着て。

ボビン：どうしてなの？まだ眠いよ。

ヘッチェル：お前にどうしても見せておきたい物があるのよ。さ、急いでちょうだい。日が登らないうちにね。

シーン４

海の見晴らしがいい、風にさらされた崖の上です。

ボビン：あぁ、寒いね、ここ。

ヘッチェル：だから、キルトを持っておいでって言ったでしょう。ほら、お母さんのショールを掛けようね。

ボビン：何も見えないよ。

ヘッチェル：辛抱するの。もうすぐだから。お前が生まれてから毎年やって来ているんだもの。

ボビン：何が来るの？

ヘッチェル：えぇ、それはね。見て！あそこよ、木と木の間！…あぁ、違ったわ。ただの梟ね。

ボビン：ここからだと、村がちっちゃく見えるね。あれは何って言う星？

ヘッチェル：あの明るいの？あの星は明けの明星と言って、お日様の位置によっては昼までも見えることがあるのよ。ボビン、あそこを見て！波の上を低く飛んでいるだろう。どう、見えないかい？

ボビン：ただの鴎じゃないか？

ヘッチェル：もう一同よく見てご覧。

一匹の鳥の鳴き声が波の上に響く。

ボビン：おぉ。

ヘッチェル：あれは白鳥って言うのよ、ボビン。雪のように真っ白だろう？お誕生日おめでとう、かわいそうなボビン。

ボビン：こっちに飛んで来る！ほら、頭の上を飛んで来る！とても綺麗な鳥だね。

ヘッチェル：本当にねぇ。相変わらず美しいわ。

ボビン：どうしてあんなに悲しそうに鳴くの？

ヘッチェル：一人ぼっちだからよ。誇り高くて、一人ぼっち。

ボビン：あの鳥、もう飛んでちゃうよ。どこに飛んで行くのかな。

ヘッチェル：多分パターンのずっと向こう側だと思うわ。

ボビン：僕たちも行けるとこ？

ヘッチェル：そっちに行っちゃ危ないわよ。お前には行けない所よ。パターンの枠の中で生まれた者はね、織り込まれた模様と同じでどこへも行けないのよ。だから白鳥の後を追いたくても、付いて行くことは出来ない。

ボビン：お日様の光が眩しいよ。

ヘッチェル：また欠伸をしているのね。さぁ、帰って、もう一眠りましょう。

SCENE 2

Night. The chirp of crickets and hoot owls are tense and expectant. Anxious footsteps cross a yard of dead leaves/ A key tinkles. We hear the dull click of a dead bolt, and the creak of a little-used door. The perspective slides indoors, drawing closer to the echoing rhythm of the Loom.

Cygna: Deserted. No one will hear me. No one will know. The Loom, power. The Elders are afraid to use it. I am not afraid. Oh, the colors in the Pattern! Dancing. the shadow of rainbows. One gray thread. Gray goes with every color; invisible. No one will notice one gray thread. To work. There’s the trick. Tie it to the end of the shuttle, let the harness do the work. Throw, beat, treadle, rest. Throw, beat, treadle, rest. Back, forth, cross the web, you taught me well, poor Hetchel. Rest, throw, beat, treadle, rest, in, and under, through, back. Throw, beat, treadle, rest. Throw, beat, treadle, rest. (Repeated…)

Atropos: Lady Cygna!

The first cry of a newborn infant echoes in the room. Footsteps hurry across the floor.

Lachesis: Too late. Poor child.

Atropos: You understand the gravity of what you have done?

Cygna: Only the Pattern may judge, Elder Atropos.

Lachesis: We cannot allow this outrage to go unpunished!

Cygna: Do what you must. This baby is alive; I am content.

Clothos: Surrender the child to Dame Hetchel.

Cygna: Care for him the way you did for me, old friend.

Hetchel: It’s the only way I know. There, there.

Cygna: I am ready.

Atropos: Lady Cygna, you are guilty of treason against the Guild. You have breached the sanctity of the Loom and compromised the fulfillment of the Pattern to indulge your own selfish desires in direct defiance of the Elders. You are henceforth and forever outcast from the Guild of Weavers. You shall neither behold this child, nor set foot upon this island again. From now until the end of your days, you shall wander the skies in perpetual solitude. Your mournful cry shall be a lesson to all who would defy their destiny.

The eerie sound rises to a terrible crescendo, then condenses into the flutter of powerful wings. The cry of a swan echoes in the chamber. Witnesses gasp in surprise and horror.

Hetchel: A swan! Still beautiful.

The proud bird utters a final cry and takes flight. A great window crashes to pieces, and beating wings fade into the night.

Clothos (as Narrator): Few in the Weavers’ village saw the great swan disappear across the sea that night, but it did not take long for them to hear of Lady Cygna’s defiance in the Sanctuary and the Elders’ terrible vengeance. All were curious to behold the new infant, a child born not of woman, but out of the Loom itself, and whose creation was unforeseen.

It was decreed that the child be raised outside the ways of the Guild until his coming of age 17 years hence, when his future would be decided by a Hiigh Council. The old serving woman, Hetchel, agreed to raise the Loomchild as her own. She named the little boy Bobbin.

SCENE 3

Night. The bedroom of a farm cottage.

Hetchel: Bobbin. Bobbin, wake up child.

Bobbin: Hetchel?

Hetchel: That’s right dear. Out of bed.

Bobbin: Still dark.

Hetchel: I know, little one. Get up quickly and get dressed.

Bobbin: Why? Sleepy.

Hetchel: There’s something outside that I want you to see. Quickly now, before the sun rises.

SCENE 4

A windswept cliff overlooking the sea.

Bobbin: Cold up here.

Hetchel: I told you to bring your quilt, didn’t I? Here, my shawl is warm.

Bobbin: I don’t see anything.

Hetchel: Patience! She will come. She’s come every year ever since you were born.

Bobbin: What does she look like?

Hetchel: She looks like…wait. There, bit between the trees. …no, no, only an owl.

Bobbin: The village looks small from up here. Which star is that?

Hetchel: The bright one? That is the Morning Star. You can even see it in the daytime if the sun is right. Look! Down there, flying low across the water. Do you see?

Bobbin: It’s just a seagull.

Hetchel: Look again.

The cry of a lone bird echoes above the surf.

Bobbin: Oooh.

Hetchel: A swan, Bobbin. A white swan. Happy birthday, poor boy.

Bobbin: Here she comes! Look, she’s flying over. She’s beautiful.

Hetchel: Yes, still beautiful.

Bobbin: Why does she sound so sad?

Hetchel: Because she is alone. Proud, and alone.

Bobbin: She’s flying away. Where is she going Hetchel?

Hetchel: Out beyond the Pattern, I expect.

Bobbin: Can we go visit?

Hetchel: Stand away from the edge! No, little Bobbin. Those who are born of the Pattern are hemmed into its web forever. Where that swan goes, we cannot follow.

Bobbin: The sun is in my eyes.

Hetchel: You’re yawning. Come, back to home and bed for you.

“Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free.” Yeah, this tongue twister is all about how peaches and (Japanese) plums are related. I embarrassed myself in the video when I totally blanked on how to say 李 in English…but I left it in, cause I was too lazy to edit it out I keep it real. Or something. These two twisters are pretty much exactly the same thing, just in a different order. Both are repetitive, or circuitous at least, making them brethren with a certain family of English twisters. (Including the Peter Piper and Woodchuck twisters, 2 of my favorites.)

If you’re a cheater, you’ll see that you can just count your way through these things, but you’ll also see what a ridiculous looking math problem it becomes. Ha ha. I had a few stumbles in my runs through them. I noticed that occasionally you can hear a micro-m send before I say の - I think it comes from the lips slightly closing as my mouth begins the new character. Like a phantom m. (Or I just don’t want to admit that I fail sometimes, too.) It’s pretty hard. So, can you do it? Hmmm? Video responses with you attempting these tongue twisters are highly encouraged! Upload them to YouTube if you’re game. And now, a double-entry of the standard twister summary.

Difficulty: Easy
Kanji: 李も桃も桃のうち 桃も李も桃のうち。
Hiragana: すもももももももものうち、もももすももももものうち。
Romaji: Sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi, momo mo sumomo mo momo no uchi.
Meaning: Japanese plums are a type of peach, and peaches are also a type of peach.
Audio: [See post to listen to audio]

Difficulty: Easy
Kanji: 李も桃、桃も桃、桃にも色々ある。
Hiragana: すももももも、ももももも、ももにもいろいろある。
Romaji: Sumomo mo momo, momo mo momo, momo ni mo iroiro aru.
Meaning: Japanese plums are peaches, and peaches are peaches; there are lots of kinds of peaches.
Audio: [See post to listen to audio]

By the way, if you’re interested in the other stuff I ramble on about in this video, here are some links. First, subscribe to my RSS feed if you please! You can use the standard feed, or have updates emailed to you. Then hit the 2 posts about the Loom Audio Drama (Part 1 and Part 2) that are up already so you’ll be ready for part 3 early next week.