Building blocks of words in Japanese, on Japanese modesty, and

Studying a foreign language is fun because it helps you learn about your own language, too. I've always been interested in the idea of morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning in a word, and how they work in other languages. A word like "unladylike" has three useful chunks of information, un + lady + like, while a word like "communism" consists of two morphemes, commune (a group of people sharing their possessions) + ism (indicating a doctrine or theory). Just as many of the words used in the West came from Latin or Greek, Japanese vocabulary are usually kanji-based. Indicating a nationality or a language is easy -- just add jin (人, meaning person; it rhymes with "seen") or go (語, language) to the country name. A word like "communism" is expressed by breaking down the original meaning, in this case kyousan (共産, produce together) and shugi (主義, main belief, which corresponds to the morpheme "ism" in English). All countries have kanji that represent them, allowing you to make some very efficient words, like Perry + come + sun (Japan) for "the coming of Admiral Perry to Japan"　（ペリー来日) or sun + rice (America) + relationship for "Japan-American relations" (日米関係） Although learning how to read kanji is no picnic, it's nice that there are no exceptions with kanji-built words. Suffixes for nationality in English can be confusing -- is someone from Burma a Burminian or a Burmite or a Burmese? -- but in Japanese, you only have to remember that jin character.

Compliment any Japanese on how good their English is, or how pretty they look if female, and you may experience that famous Japanese modesty: the recipient of your praise will likely deny your kind words vehemently. This is because in Japan, modesty is considered a good trait to have, and someone who flaunts his or her talents openly rather than hiding them politely would be seen in a negative light. Sometimes Japanese modesty can be quite ridiculous: if you bake a cake for someone, you usually give it to them while saying something like "This probably doesn't taste good..." I've noticed that Japanese modesty stops short when it comes to money, however. I once caught a talk show which featured a big slope, and various famous guests would come, make some small talk with the host, then go sit somewhere on the slope to indicate how much money they a made annually. Poor swimsuit idol Yoko Kumada was stuck near the bottom of the hill, while famous actor and former baseball star Eiji Bando was happy to saunter to the top, indicating his considerable wealth.

It's still February, but signs of Spring are popping up everywhere. Suntory has brought out their new Spring-limited Sawayaka Harunama ("Refreshing Spring Draft Beer"), specially formulated to taste good while sitting under the cherry blossom trees enjoying the beauty of the sakura petals falling all around you. Along with School Sports Day in the Fall, Spring is one of the primary seasons for buying video cameras, and Panasonic is pushing their lineup of products to parents of first-graders who will be entering school -- who wouldn't want to record that event for posterity? This year's Panasonic commercial is really beautiful, filled with images of children running through dancing sakura trees while a loving mother records the scene. See it here (Flash required).

Here are today's "really cool products" that I thought were especially noteworthy. Note: the J-List links below may be for adult products and should probably be considered "not safe for work." To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Gokuh DVD vol. 171 Oct. 2005. I love Gokuh a lot because they really take good photos, with good design of each shot. Also, you get a DVD and that DekaManPos (which means Dekai Manzoku Poster, or Huge Satisfaction Poster). It's basically a life-size poster of an adult film star from Japan.
	DX Laputa Robot Statue -- Cominica. Despite the rather amusing name in Spanish (where it means "the whore"), Castle in the Sky Laputa is one of the very best works Hayao Miyazaki has ever done. This is a superb Laputaian Robot toy for serious fans.
	Yasashiku Shitene!! Nov. 2005 ~ Be Gentle With Me Nov. 2005. This is Yasashiku Shitene, or Please be Gentle With Me, one of the main hardcore magaznies in Japan. I like their blend of traditional Japanese kimonos and Japanese rooms, that's very inventive.
	RUN -- Ran Asakawa. Ran Asakawa is one of the sexiest women in the adult world in Japan. This is one of her best photobooks.
	If you were... ~ Head Doctor. What males among us can say they've never wondered what it'd be like to be the Head Doctor at hospital staffed with sexy females?
	nao. Selection Best 10. Nao., who writes her name with a lower case N in violation of the rules of English punctuation, looks mighty good in this 180 minute erotic production.
	Concentration Peach Ass. A brand new Concentration DVD release, this time focusing on sweet asses.
	COSMODE 011 ~ Costume Mode Magazine 11. The premier magazine about costumes and cosplay, featuring loads of photos for examples. Also available by revolving subscription.
	Chocola Parufe Visual Fanbook ~ maid cafe Curio. A really cool H game from one of Japan's top companies, it blends fabulous art and sexy, willing maids.
	Shisen Do 1000 Pieces Puzzle -- 75 x 50cm ~ Kyoto Temple Series. Another gorgeous puzzle showing images of Japan.
	Moped Collection -- Full Set *Set of 6*. The Japanese are nothing if not meticulous when it comes to detail, and you can see this quality in the new Moped Collection toy set, featuring every cool scooter or moped ever made!
	Kabaya Green Tea Chocolate. Green Tea and Chocolate go together really well (maybe Reese's will make a Green Tea Edition for Japan?). Here is some chocolates for you to try.
	Rocket Pencils w/Traffic Sign Eraser (Set of 3). When I was a kid, I rememember having Rocket Pencils, but I don't know if they were from Japan. Anyway, these are pencils with "stages" like a rocket, so when you need a new lead, just bring up the next rocket stage. The erasers are cool too.
	Hanamaruki Miso Soup -- Barbequed Egg Plant. My wife is on a miso soup binge, so I thought we'd bring some to you, too. It's heathy, helps you lose weight, and even lower cholesterol, according to the TV here.
	Rabbit Hina Doll. March is coming, so get your Hina Matsuri dolls now. This is a full set of super cute Rabbit Hina Dolls and everything you see here.
	Arashi Shinozuka 1/8 Scale Figure -- Gad Guard. God I love anime figures like this. They're so real, you can look at them from any, er, angle. Not that I would, of course.

More pics from Tokyo. Although Akihabara is a great place to go for electronics, they have almost no good food places, and no Starbucks at all. So I chilled in a Mr. Dounut, whic is pronounced Mr. Dounuts in Japanese for phonetic reasons.

You can never tell if something is for real in Japan. Here's a little lion whose mane is made out of a dounut, called Pon De Lion. Is this a joke on Juan Ponce de León, the colonizer of Florida, or a weird accident?

The Japanese word for bread is "pan," since the Porguguest brought it to Japan many centuries ago. In case you don't know what you're looking at, it's Melon Bread and Curry Bread. Melon bread doens't contain melon, it's just called that because it looks like a honeydew melon, sort of. It's also said to look like brains.

This is what's known as a kanban musume　or "signpost girl" because her cute face sells more melon bread. It certainly sold some to me. Man, I love living in Japan.