A great auzzie Japanophile, Reesan from loneleeplanet is having a great go at the Japan Blog Matsuri for this month. Never having lived in Japan, my knowledge of Japanese figures is limited, but everyone knows Doraemon! You have to living under an Easten-proof rock to never have heard of this cat who is blue but always smiling.

Doraemon is one of those classics, he was originally created in 1969 and has never stopped dishing out Japanese goodness, going on to have over 1,000 stories in just the original series, leading to spin-off and recreation over and over again, even after 40 years there is still another Doraemon movie coming this year. Not just limited to Japan he’s widely infamous all over Asia, infamous I say because everyone from Asia I question has just had too much of him.

Not having Doraemon drilled into my sub conscience from a young age, when given some of the original Doraemon comics a few years ago I grew to like him. Having trouble finding past the 8th volume of Doraemon manga, I only know the original Doraemon, and I like him that way.

So who is Doraemon? Doraemon is a robot gadget cat from the future, who has come back in time to help out Nobita, a boy who has a pretty tough life so far and is actually destined to me miserable for the rest of it, but Doraemon is here to help! With his optimism and a fourth-dimensional pocket that literally can never be filled he has an endless supply of gadgets (どうぐ) to help Nobita out.

You can see his first television episode right here.

He has been recognized as an integral part of Japanese society and winning countless awards for all the joy he brings, in 2002 he was one of the 22 Asian heroes and named ‘The Cuddliest Hero in Asia’.

the olypmus e420 was at one point the worlds smallest DSLR camera, but as technology is always evolving is was quickly taken over, but I’m still impressed at just how great it is. Primarily for point-and-shoot photography I can take it anywhere and of course if I see anything good (hopefully Japanese themed) you’ll be able to see it on my recently made flickr account. If I’m covering an event (sounds so proffesional^^) then I’ll have to blog about it right here.

btw, I hope you had a great Christmas and good luck in the new year.

This is an awesome short independent film, directed by Sugimoto Kousuke with great music by Manabe Takayuki. The film begins depicting a never ending cycle of television inside television.

Each vibrantly colorful show stays casually separate as the music builds.

Until this guy get’s caught on film, so he does the obvious thing and tries to escape through a different reality, then all hell breaks loose.

Besides just a mention on twitter I never really fully extended my hand to fully and honestly thank Alan from Shibuya246 for sending me a little package of Japanese goodies for his contest he held quite a while back. Basically I gave him a couple of reasons as to why I should have a few pieces of merchandise which has extremely cute animals saying simple things in Japanese on them. Granted I was the runner-up in the contest as I was unable to to guess the time a certain picture was taken but I was still quite pleased as I received much more than I thought I would. Despite probably being bought with some pocket change in Japan in Australia it would be quite hard to find…

I would have to say my favorite one is the little notepad……. but there’s a few more…

Stickers, a pencil and nice little cloth that I think I’ll use to keep my iPod rested on…

My daruma likes all the cool new things…

Naturally I couldn’t forget the awesome Haruhi folder…

I would just like to let you know this is an open invitation for you to also send me cute animal riddled merchandise and such.

Sorry about getting the results back so late after the competition deadline, it just naturally took me this long to round up all the entries that were in the competition^^. There were a LOT of entries so it would have been extremely difficult to choose a winner if there actual choice in the matter. Luckily, I left it up to chance! So the two winners of the full version of NihongoUp are….

#1. AdySan

#2. ImaginaryJapan

Enjoy your prize! You will receive it shortly after NihongoUp (who you now should be following on twitter) can directly message you on twitter for some minor details in order to get you playing NihongoUp.

For those who have no idea in the world what NihongoUp. It’s basically a genius game in which you choose a specific area of Japanese to study, you can study hiragana, katakana, JLPT specific kanji, JLPT specific vocabulary, even particles and those pesky counters (I really should start studying those counters).  In the game itself a question is normally posed in the form of just a highlighted character or either an English or romaji reading, a variety of different answers fall from the silver sky and you must choose the right one. The more correct answers you choose, the faster they keep coming. Go download the free desktop trial if you feel like giving it a try. I was lucky enough to win a full version a while back from a good old J-blogger friend of mine, Jamaipanese.

The Application

The iPhone and iPod Touch version is almost identical to the desktop version, so don’t worry everything still there, even the way you navigate. The only difference is that when playing kana mode, unlike in the desktop version in which several and seemingly random charactors drop down towards the bottom of the screen at different speeds, growing in numbers the more you progress, you are given four different characters at the same time for each romaji character. Which makes sense because using the touch screen style game play would make it almost insane to attempt choosing the kana without accidentally pressing the wrong character.

The Positives

1. The biggest and most obvious positive of NihongoUp on your iPhone or iPod Touch is that you can study on-the-go, wait let me rephrase, play on the go, because NihongoUp is most fun!

2. Just like in the desktop version you have all those different aspects of the Japanese language to choose from.

3. Naturally, the ability to choose your answers via touch is very fun.

4. The whole application looks and feels great and smooth.

5. I found that playing music mutes the music, but not the sound effects.

6. I’m learning from it!

The Negatives (hopefully will be fixed in future updates)

1. The speed of the game play only increases after 20 correct answers, maybe there could be difficulty settings for this?

2. Even though it’s really superficial, the Japanese fonts are a tiny bit low quality compared to the English fonts.

Competition

That’s right people, for my first ever competition, with the help of NihongoUp, I’ll give away 2 desktop versions of their game. Sorry that I can’t give away an iTunes gift card so you could actually have the iPhone or iPod touch version, but working internationally on iTunes is a bit tricky. To win all you have to do is…

1. Have a twitter account.

2. Follow me, my account name is kumajira.

3. Tweet or RT the link of this post along with the tag #kumajira and #nihongoup. You could simply just RT this.

The rules are…

1. Only 1 tweet per person.

2. All submissions must be in by 4th of December (Brisbane Time).

I’ll pick two tweets randomly and I’ll contact you through a private message via twitter for your email address and full name. Nihongoup will then send you the code, and begin learning the fun way!

A few weeks ago I watched a movie, this movie was one of the Japanese greatest masterpieces of all time, Godzilla. Godzilla was directed by Ishiro Honda but everyone has to recognize that the landmark special effects for the time of the movie were done by Eiji Tsuburaya. This pinnacle of films was one of the first Monster movies and is definitely one of the best of all time. This led to many remakes and sequels which gives it a spot in not just Japanese culture, but in the entire world. Be wary young padawans, by clicking on this article you are entering the land of spoilers, which you will not be able to undo.

Godzilla opens with an attack of fishing boat, the source of it’s destruction is unknown, only a flash of light is given as an indication. A search boat it sent out to find what had occurred but also is attacked and soon after another also is doomed. As I watch in anticipation for the actual sight of Godzilla, it never comes, only a foreshadowing of what is come is revealed, and for that I am quite impressed that like many of the modern monster movies in which the opening scene reveals the beast.

Meanwhile on a near by island, the natives are unable to catch any fish. Almost all of the island’s population are confused as to the predicament they are in, but an elder knows the true cause is Godzilla and makes it known to the rest of the natives. Later on during the night a storm develops, it is unlike any storm they have seen before and completely demolishes the coast where the natives live and a few people died in the storm.

News of this reaches Tokyo and paleontologist Dr. Kyohei Yamane travels to the island with his daughter Emiko  and investigates the cause of the storm, an extremely large and radioactive footprint and a trilobite which should have been extinct are discovered. This discovery is met with the site of Godzilla and a resulting mass panic on the island.

Yamane conducts some research and concludes that Godzilla is a prehistoric reptile and is the result of radioactive testing. The committee researching Godzilla asks for the government to keep the public in the dark, the government agrees but naturally, the information is leaked and all across Japan panic spreads. Godzilla also appears at Tokyo Bay for a brief minute but this also causes an incredible impatience of how to deal with Godzilla, while the government and military attempt to intervene, but to no affect.

Despite major efforts Godzilla storms through Tokyo leveling almost every building to the ground, the fire from missile and the hundreds of men all firing on him only seem to irritate. He is invincible, no longer is it just a man in costume walking around tiny buildings, but it is Godzilla in all his fury.

The only thing that can stop Godzilla would be the Oxygen Bomb, invented by Dr. Serizawa which is more powerful than any nuclear bomb. Dr. Serizawa, the scorned fiance of Emiko who loves another man, doesn’t wish to use such a device because he knows that it will only be applied to for military purposes, but reluctantly decides to use it. Dr. Serizawa along with Ogata, the man whom in which Emiko truly loves dives into the ocean to try their only chance at ridding the world of Godzilla. They are successful but at a cost, Dr. Serizawa, being the only man in the world who knows of how to construct the oxygen bomb, decides to kill himself so the information he knows could never be extracted from him. The whole world breaths a sigh of relief, but Emiko and Ogata stare off into the sunset, still nervous as to what the future holds, Godzilla might just be the first of many problems due to nuclear testing.

Godzilla is riddled with political statements on nuclear testing and nuclear warfare, Godzilla, an invincible beast is the result of nuclear testing which completely destroys a city. Dr. Serizawa is extremely reluctant to use a weapon which would probably just add to the worlds mounting fear of the constant need for an unbalance of power. This is also evident as the 1956 remake of edited scenes removed a large number of scenes that had an obvious political view. Watching this epic tale unfold while sitting in my living room I could not help think of the dangers of which Godzilla warned us.

So if you you’re like me, than you’ll notice that this site is a bit “lame”. If you think it’s cool than thanks, but I can’t rest until this website is to my liking. I think it’s a good attribute to always be trying to notice you’re weaknesses and improve yourself. So I’m going to try and follow that rule make a few updates in the future.

The Name

To be honest, I’m not really happy with the name “Turning Otaku” I kind of made it in a decision without thinking, and I’d like to change it something more personal about myself. I was thinking of something involving the word “umeboshi“.

Eating umeboshi was one of my first and weirdest Japanese cuisine experiences I had. If you don’t know what umeboshi is, it’s like a pickled Japanese plum or apricot which is then dried, you can’t tell in the picture but it has a large seed on the inside. From personal experience it is one of the most weirdest things I ever tasted, it is is incredibly salty and sour with it’s own unique taste. That’s why I want the title of this blog to include the word umeboshi. So please leave a comment if you want to contribute.

The Site

I’ve been mentioning the last couple of weeks that if I get 100 subscribers of my rss feed I will buy a nice theme to pretty up this boring website. Something that’s really easy to use and will make you’re viewing experience much better. The theme I will buy is Thesis.

Which you might notice is also the same themes of one of my blogging friends yonasu, Rukinet also of Tokyo Times. I’m quite sure they could also vouch for how how easy it is to use Thesis.

Edit* After it being recommended to me in the comments I went looking around WooThemes and came across this masterpiece…

It’s called Busy Bee and it looks really nice!

So if you are full of awesomeness than this is how you can help me out…

#1. Subscribe to my RSS Feed.

#2. Leave a comment with what you think my blog name should be, it doesn’t have to be just limited to umeboshi.

#3. By Retweeting or basically sharing this post.

I will also have to have a little giveaway WHEN I get to 100 subscribers (confidence!) so by subscribing you’re moving yourself a little closer to get your hands on something as awesome as you.

Smart.fm recently had a major update, completely reshaping itself and coming with a few extra little goodies to make your experience of learning Japanese even better, and even a few little goodies that just make it even funner and look nicer!

For those who have no idea in the world what smart.fm is (even though you should), they made this video that explains exactly what they’re all about. This video even goes further to explain how the mind works in retaining knowledge, and how to optimize your study habits and how to learn. But the main point of this post is to let you know about the update, a couple days ago smart.fm went down for a total of 24 hours and this is what I first noticed when smart.fm came back up.

Home

At first sight you will see it has been completely rearranged but everything is still there plus more….

#1. Your newly named “Goals”

#2. Goals you may like

#3. A very good looking picture or photo of yourself^^

#4. A few stats about what you’re learning and what you’ve done

#5. A personal favorite, a facebook style “What’s happening?” area for you to let your followers know how well you are studying.

Learning

Let’s move onto what they’ve changed in how you learn. Go and click on any Goal and you go to that page, go click on “start” and you will get a drop-down menu with a buffet of learning applications to entice you. They still have the classic iKnow for those who don’t want to give it up, but in the update they added their applications, Embedded and Fullscreen which I assume is of their own concoction. These applications teach you at exactly the same level as iKnow, but you don’t have to open up another window to study now, you can do it right there on the same page, which is a big plus. There’s also BrainSpeed and Dictation (not pictured) so you still get the same learning experience. The Embedded and Fullscreen application than continue as normal, but with different colors *yay!*

iPhone Application

To coincide with the update, smart.fm released their first official iPhone/iPod Touch application! It has absolutely everything you will find on smart.fm so you can study while on-the-go. It’s the perfect way to catch up on your study while out doing other things, so how much does this cost? it cost’s zip, that’s right nothing! So go and get it here, I might do a more detailed review in a later post.

Conclusion

The update was incredibly recent so obviously some things still aren’t running, and there’s still a lot of bugs to fix, but I am astonished at the change that took place over that 24 hour period (you can see every detail here). There’s now more ways to socialize with other smart.fm users, ways to learn, and even a way of studying that you can take wherever you go. Don’t forget that stuff that’s still there, the algorithm that keeps perfect record of what and when to study, the ability to keep track yourself of your learning experience and the utilities to make your own goals for yourself and others. smart.fm truly is the world’s sharpest learning tool.

Edit: This article is entered into a great competition held by NihongoUp concerning their Japanese Learning Resources page which you should check out.

Yes, I really was serious about making a (kind of) series of places to Japanese, and eduFire is definitely on the list! I absolutely love because eduFire has a great goal of teaching everyone all over the world and it’s well on it’s way to accomplishing that while revolutionizing the way we learn.

What is eduFire?

eduFire is an online community consisting of great teachers and like minded students who are there to learn a wide range of topics including languages, and learning Japanese is pretty popular. You can attend both paid and free online classes and learn while sitting at your computer via web cam and microphone. You can sign up for a Superpass to get unlimited amount of classes per month for only $30. I tried the Superpass for a month but it was really difficult to find a class to suit my timezone (this is the only issue I found at all). You can tell it’s definitely American based, but if you’re like me, you’ll still be willing to wake up at 5 in the morning before work or school and attend a great class, and there’s so many to choose from!

The Class

This is the area in which eduFire really shines, they use adobe meeting which gives the teacher and you, the perfect way to interact. In the “classroom” you’ll find live streaming webcam and microphone, power point style presentations, interactive whiteboard and a chatbox for the students to ask questions or make comments. If you have a webcam and/or microphone you’ll be able to chat right back if the chance comes up, and in the small classes you’ll definitely be put into the spotlight. It’s like an actual classroom consisting of a teacher, presentation and opportunity to ask questions, what more could you ask for?

Reasons why eduFire is great for learning anything.

1. It’s a community, so everyone helps each other out, as it’s world wide you can find a native speaker of what you’re learning, this will result in ultimate coolness.

2. It has a ranking system so you know what classes and/or teachers are the best.

3. You learn in real time, so if you have any questions or queries you can ask them right there and then.

4. You can attend one on one sessions to really maximize your study.

5. Sometimes the teacher will record the class or even make documents for you to go over after the class is finished!

6. There’s forums and groups to really help with you with that “community” thing.

7. It’s professional, these guys are getting paid so you know you’re getting  high quality assurance of what you are learning.

Need more information?

So go and try it out, tell them I sent you, maybe they’ll send me an eduFire t-shirt^^

Edit: This article is entered into a great competition held by NihongoUp concerning their Japanese Learning Resources page which you should check out.