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long 2010/1/5 20:04
Why is this thread so long? I don't have the time to read all of it.
by .... (guest) rate this post as useful

China Nights 2010/1/6 06:05
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

China Nights 2010/1/6 07:29
Dave-san, you are abslutely the best !

Hearing this brought back many memories from the 1950s. I previous wrote about the orphanage for old folks that my dad's lodge discovered and essentially adopted. One Christmas, the lodge made plans to deliver small gifts to the men and women and appointed lodge member "Tiny" Alford (you guessed it, he weighed 300 pounds) to be the Santa.
Tiny and the guys showed up with the packages and, wearing a size 52 Santa suit, Tiny belted out "China Nights" in near perfect Japanese.
Most of the old folks picked up on the Christmas theme but the sight of a very large red faced American singing a Japanese song probably was a mind blowing experience.
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

Eric stories 2010/1/6 09:08
I love these Eric stories..I hope someone is putting a record of them together for a book..if you don't Eric, I will. What a great visual.
As for the thread being too long to read Yea it probably is. However it didn't stop Japan Ginger... where did she go !!
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

Yokosuka 2010/1/6 09:42
I'll bet our recent Navy poster has some pretty good stories to tell (if they're not classified.)
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

Shina No Yoru 2010/1/6 10:27
Thank you, Dave-san -- I can echo Eric's
"You are absolutely the best" with your many interesting links to things Japanese. I especially liked the second rendition of "Shina No Yoru" because it provided the written words, making it much easier to understand. Languages are so much easier to learn through song because of the rhyming and especially the repetition. I also enjoyed reading the comments below the YouTube videos.

Regarding the length of this forum discussion, surely many more of you than Japan Ginger and I have read all of it -- all of you who have, raise your hand! And I believe Dave-san not too long ago answered the question about why the "thread" is so long; in other words, why we are all here. Here's to the many fine memories we share of a place and time that barely exists anymore!

by Barbara (guest) rate this post as useful

Why is this thread so long? 2010/1/6 10:56
There is a group of us gaijin who once had the good fortune to live in one of the greatest cities in the world, Yokohama, among some of the friendliest and most welcoming people we have ever met, the Japanese citizens of Yokohama. Most of us have traveled and lived many places but still remember Yokohama as the best of all no matter when we lived there. I suspect this thread will continue to grow as long as any of us are left to remember and share our good memories of Yokohama and Japan.
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Long thread 2010/1/6 15:56
Dave-san said it best. We all had unique and amazing experiences there. I grew up in a place that I remember as very child-friendly, reassuring, and "safe"- now that's a good memory for a child to have about a place at war. Where else would you be able to say that? I regret I didn't revisit Yokohama and Tokyo before things changed so drastically - but maybe it'll still happen.

As for the thread being long - I guess it means we all have lots to say, and a long attention span!
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Word of the Day 2010/1/7 04:27
You've all said it very well we all have great memories..

Many great KIOKU= memories.
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

Word of the Day 2010/1/7 06:03
kioku = memories is a good translation. Thank you Peter-san.
My suggestions for our vocabulary lessons.
1. Most important - Japanese words must be correctly spelled in lower case romanji. Upper-case is not used in romanji spelling and makes no sense when translating.
2. Very important - Vocabulary words should be avalable in a reliable Japanese-English dictionary. Any dictionary will do but I like this one. http://www.trussel.com/f_nih.htm
3. Japanese words that are misspelled in romanji cannot be easily translated into English. I could not find yopparatta but I was able to come up with yopparau for drunk after some research. I don't know about the rest of you but the "bar-Japanese" that I learned probably wasn't anywhere close to being properly pronounced. Along the same lines, I had always thought the Japanese word for drunk was "stinko" but I can't find stinko in the dictionary either.
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Advise 2010/1/7 06:45
Dave-san advise well taken. Howerer I never intended for the word of the day to be a "lesson" as such. And anyone can jump in if they want.
I have pulled out my old dictionary it is the Vaccari's Concise seventh edition. [the little one with the red cover..and well worn..maybe I should spring for a new one .
Maybe we should start a section on Japanese "bar" language.. I am still trying to find out what "pati-pati" ment.. maybe something like "healthy", go find it big boy..
Does anyone want to hear about how cold and freezing it is here in New Hampshire??
Didn't think so..
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Word of the Day 2010/1/7 12:51
Dave-san, I just typed "gaijin" into the dictionary link that you provided (http://www.trussel.com/f_nih.htm)
and it worked well. Not only did it give the definition as "foreigner" but also it offered other Japanese words that start with "gaijin" and mean "foreign correspondent," "foreign correspondent's viewpoint," etc. -- all very interesting. Also provided are the affiliated Japanese characters -- so aesthetically beautiful, but I shall have to be content with just admiring them because learning to actually read them will have to happen in another lifetime.

Steffi, your last post about the attention span on this forum made me smile, as many of your other posts have. You have a good sense of humor -- always appreciated.
by Barbara (guest) rate this post as useful

Japanese characters 2010/1/7 15:04
Barbara-san, I'm glad you found the dictionary link useful. I make no claims to being able to read Japanese but I did find it necessary to learn some of the simpler symbols when I was in Japan and still find it useful sometimes. Numbers, dates, and money are good to understand and when I was traveling in Japan I found place names important to know if I didn't want to get lost. Once you get into it, it is not as hard as it appears at first.
Here is a reference that you may find useful. http://www.linguanaut.com/japanese_alphabet.htm
I'm not really interested in learning anything that I don't immediately need but I am interested in knowing where to find information.
If I use a Japanese word like "gaijin" I assume that everyone knows the meaning or will look it up if it's important to them.
Peter-san, I doubt if anyone in Japan still speaks the "bar" language we learned unless they are in a retirement home somewhere. I have a hunch we would feel pretty old if we went bar hopping in Yokohama today.
Why are you complaining about the weather in New Hampshire? It's supposed to be cold there. Here is the South, it isn't supposed to be below freezing all day. Global warming? Right!
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Thanks you 2010/1/8 05:05
I am so excited to find this web site. I am reading every word. I lived in Yokohama from 63-65 and remember very well the PX, Commisary and expecially the movie theater where I saw A Hard Day's Night 13 times. I went to St Maur's and lived off of Ave D, I think it was Sagiama.
Thanks so much for having this site to reminisce with those few that can relate.
by Patti Walsh Berkebile (guest) rate this post as useful

Hey, Patti 2010/1/8 09:43
Welcome to Japan Guide.
I can't exctly say what this page has morphed into; probably not what its creators intended but they've let it run its course so far, for whatever reason.
It could be a first draft of history from the era from a unique perspective. Your recollections are welcome.
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

Hi Patti 2010/1/8 12:15
Welcome !! I lived off of Ave D also.. Honumku Dori on the hill at Medori Gaoka.
Thank you for reading all of the posts.. we are worth it.. yes we are ! Tell us more about your time there, your folks ect where you are now..
Your a beatles fan right?
How did I guess that!
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

Welcome Patti 2010/1/8 13:00
Nice to welcome you onto this thread. I went to St.Mauer's for a couple of years - years before you did - when they were in Karuizawa, during the war, and before they moved to Yokohama. It was a lovely school, small when I was there, and the nuns taught me my first words of English. Years letter my Mom briefly corresponded with the school - really nice staff. After we moved to Yokohama, I attended St. Joseph's, which was down the street on the Bluff from where we lived - unfortunately, I have no memory for street names or addresses.

So we gather you were a military dependant. Have you ever returned to Japan? Are you in the States now?

Barbara - we all find your posts interesting and always enlightening - and funny at times as well. I guess we're a good group!
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

China Nights 2010/1/8 17:31
Happy New Year to all!

Long time, no see. Sorry, I was away for a long time.

I have some information about that song.

1. China Night by Kyu (Kyu means 9.) Sakamoto

Kyu was a very popular singer because of his "Sukiyaki Song" in 1963. But unfortuntely he died in the air crash of Japa Air Line in the summer of 1985. His unexpected death was sorely missed by young and old. He was only 39 or 40!

2. China Night by Shirley Yamaguchi(Her Japanese stage name was Yoshiko Yamaguchi while her Chinese stage name was Li Xianglan.) sung in 1940.

Yamaguchi was an actress and a singer in the 1930s through 1940s. She married Isamu Noguchi, Japanese-Ameican well-known artist, poet, sculptor and designer in the 1950s. She divorced and then married to the Japanese diplomat, Mr. Ootaka and then she successfully ran for a seat in the Japanese Diet House that was back in the 60s. I don't know if she's still alive or not. If she' OK, she must be close to 90 years of age or over.

3.China Night by Hamako Watanabe (1910 - 1999) sung in 1945.

Hamako was born in Yokohama, thus she was named Hamako.

She was my senior at my mission school in Yokohama by over 30 years whom I've ever met. Hamako attended the Music Conservatory in Tokyo. She was one of the most popular singers in the 1940's -60's. She had spent all her life in Yokohama and died in Yamate-cho.

Other information about "China Night" is that RKO movie. "Operation Zero" by director Victor Young (?) who so loved this
song that he let Anne Blyth and Robert Mitchum sing under the title of "Golden Moon". Sory, I'm not sure about spelling of their names.
by Kozue (guest) rate this post as useful

Japanese words 2010/1/8 18:06
Dave-san,

Let me help you in the following words:

Yopparatta is a verb, past tense of Yopparau.

Yopparau is also a verb, present tense of To get drunk.


Yopparai is a noun which means a stinko or a drunk.

It must be also interesting for you to know that Kapparatta is a veb, past tense of Kapparau.

Kapparau is a verb, present tense of To steal to To pilfer. It's a vulgar expression usually used by man, but not me.

Kapparai is a noun meaning a pilferer or a shoplifter.

Peter-san;

I remember Oreste Vaccari's Concise Japanese-English dictionary. That little one with the red cover because once I was working at the book store and I even met Mr. Vaccari and his Japanese wife back in 1961.

Pachi-Pachi is an onomatopoeia, in other word, a word that expresses or imitates its sound. In this case, when you clap hands or applaud, it sounds Pachi-Pachi or when you listen to the sound in the fireplace, it sounds Pachi-Pachi to the Japanese ear.

Pichi-Pichi means something like healthy, especially when you look at a very young girl. She's filled with bursting energy and happiness.
by Kozue (guest) rate this post as useful

Hello Kozue 2010/1/9 02:35
Thank you for your interesting lessons on the Japanese words. Maybe if we all spend some time, we can re-learn the Japanese we once knew so well.

I'm sorry - I'm sure you're well known to everyone in our group - but I don't know who you are, maybe because I didn't come on until a little over a year ago - could you re-introduce yourself to us?

Where do you live? What do you do? Tell us about yourself - we love to hear about people's experiences and lives.

Best regards - Steffi
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

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