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Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you!

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Translation magic 2010/1/18 09:16
Dave-san -- Thank you -- more fun and hi-tech magic -- there's hope for me yet -- you are so clever!

Ž„’B‚̓XƒN[ƒ‹ƒoƒX‚Ɉê‚Éæ‚Á‚½.
We rode the school bus together.

I would add that we rode the school bus together on ŽRŽè.

I recommend Dave-san's translation site to everyone else. Steffi, did you learn German or Japanese when you were growing up? Maybe both? Did you attend a Japanese elementary school? Do you still remember Japanese?
by Barbara (guest) rate this post as useful

Tesuto Barbara-san 2010/1/18 10:57
Ž„‚ÍŽ„’B‚ªŽRŽè‚©‚窊݂ɃXƒN[ƒ‹ƒoƒX‚Ɉê‚Éæ‚Á‚½‚±‚Æ‚ð‰Á‚¦‚é
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Yipee! This is FUN!! 2010/1/18 15:21
Here's info about me:

Ž„‚ÍŽ„’B‚ªŽRŽè‚©‚窊݂ɃXƒN[ƒ‹ƒoƒX‚Ɉê‚Éæ‚Á‚½‚±‚Æ‚ð‰Á‚¦‚é
by Lori (guest) rate this post as useful

Languages 2010/1/19 02:33
I was bilingual as a baby, speaking Japanese with my nanny and German at home with my parents. By the time I was about 7, I had gone to one Japanese, one German, and two Catholic English-speaking schools, St. Mauer's and St Joseph's College, so I grew up speaking all three languages, as well as a little French which I spoke with my friend, Guy, who lived across the street and wasn't fluent in anything but his native French. This of course was nothing unusual - I had classmates in St Joseph's who also were multilingual for the most part. When we came to America, I was 10, and my Mom made an effort to help me retain my Japanese by sending me to a Japanese language school on Saturday mornings with nisei and sansei kids, but as I became a teenager my interest I guess was in blending in and not being so "different", so I unfortunately gradually lost my Japanese, though I still speak German and have studied other languages in school. I have been told that the language you first learn to think and reason in is emblazoned in your subconscious - so it's probably true that there's Japanese in my brain somewhere. Words pop out unexpectedly, but I can't summon them, and I can't honestly say I really understand much of what I hear.

by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Steffi 2010/1/19 09:13
I admire your aptitude for languages. I always had a terrible time with languages, ask any of my English teachers. I tried to learn Japanese, and I tried to learn German, but it seems that my most used phrases were, gNihongo ofskoshi, hana she mas,h and gMein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut.h
by Wally (guest) rate this post as useful

Negisi, tesuto, nisei, sansei? 2010/1/19 12:46
Okay, Dave-san, I've tried two translation dictionaries without luck. What are the definitions of negisi and tesuto? I'm assuming that you don't mean negishi, as in Negishi Heights. I don't remember the Bluff school bus going there (that doesn't mean that it didn't). I do remember that the teenage club, Neetnac (Canteen spelled backwards), was in that direction, near the old race track. I once played Bingo there and won a Pendleton tartan wool scarf that I still have and still wear on cold winter days, a wonderful memento of once-upon-a-time-long-ago.
Steffi, what a wonderful exposure to languages you've had! I imagine that Wally and I are not the only ones envious of your linguistic opportunities. If you haven't already done so, you really should consider writing your life story, if not for publication, at least for your family. I know what you mean about things being buried in the brain -- I feel that way about my high school chemistry and calculus, practically irretrievable now, not that I have much use for them anyway.
Speaking of irretrievable things, am I missing something, Lori, or did you mean for your last entry to be an exact copy of Dave-san's Japanese sentence? In any case, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying this magical translation software as much as I am.
by Barbara (guest) rate this post as useful

Message changed 2010/1/19 13:11
I typed in something to the effect that I had lived in Negishi Heights Military housing area----then the dates. Today when I came back to look at the posts on here, what I had posted had changed!!! VERY strange. I looked at what I had posted and it was NOT the same as what Dave had posted. I am totally puzzled.
by Lori (guest) rate this post as useful

Nisei & Sansei ? 2010/1/19 15:45
I meant to ask Steffi the definition of nisei and sansei, but think I've found it: according to an internet Japanese dictionary, nisei means second generation; a foreigner of Japanese parentage, and sansei would be the third generation. If that is correct, would the first generation be a Japanese person born and raised in Japan or born in Japan but raised elsewhere?
by Barbara (guest) rate this post as useful

Barbara, you're correct. 2010/1/20 04:59
These nisei and sansei were American-born kids who were forgetting their Japanese, and unfamiliar with the written language of their ancestry. The first or parent generation were Japanese-born, who had at some point immigrated to the US and had had families here. Some of these kids had been in the internment camps that were set up in the US during the war - lots of ill feeling there. This was the first time I had heard about this.
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Nisei 2010/1/20 08:12
One of my very best friends, Bob, whom I worked with in Okinawa, when we were both civil service at Kadena Air Base, was nisei. He was in the U.S. Army in World War II and fought all through Italy. We also served together in San Antonio and Germany. The funny part was that, when he and I would go to restaurants and bars in Japan, the Japanese waiters and waitresses would always direct there questions to Bob, and he didnft speak a word of Japanese, even I understood it better than he.
by Wally (guest) rate this post as useful

Languages 2010/1/20 09:18
I learned to speak acceptable Japanese and pickied up some "rural Japanese" which made our maid Masako roll her eyes at me. On any complicated travel however, I would ask her to write out my destination and my return address. I usually could get the street car conductor to tell me when my stop arrived and if I were totally lost, I would catch a 60 yen Renault cab.
My mom and I took crash courses in French when it looked as if we were headed for Laos on dad's big paper mill deal. The International School also had French lessons with the Swiss headmaster, Mr. Bauman.
In high school, I took two years of Spanish, more useful here than French. I also took a summer course at the Tech University in Monterrey, Mexico while in high school and this got me to conversational/newspaper reading Spanish.
Wife and I visited Ixtapa, Mexico, a beach resort one winter in the 80's and I happened to be seated in a beach cabana next to a Japanese guy and his family. I asked how he was enjoying himnself in Japanese and I'm sure an American in Mexico was the last person he expected to hear a comment from in his native language. He was in Mexico with one of the Japanese car companies.
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

Catch Up 2010/1/20 12:41
I've gotten way behind on things I've been meaning to post. First of all, I have really enjoyed meeting everyone on this thread and sharing memories and the information I've learned since I joined you which was after some of you had been on this thread for quite some time. When I first signed on I didn't have a lot of the knowledge I've since acquired. The Yohi site has wonderful information and maps and that got me started. I found the place where I once lived and what is there now. I learned what is in Yokohama today through Google Earth and Bing maps and I found other sources of information. Lately I've learned how to translate written information to some extent. This opens up exciting new possibilities. But I digress. What I'm trying to say is that knowing everyone on this thread has been great.
Steffi-san's mention of Nisei and Sansei reminded me of Peter-san's comment about guys who didn't like being stationed in Japan and missed out on so much. Although I was born in Pennsylvania I was pretty much raised in California prior to traveling to Japan the first time and very familiar with the term Nisei because there were so many people of Japanese descent in California. There are many people there who are of 100% Japanese ancestry who can't speak a word of Japanese and don't have an oriental accent just as there many people in New Jersey who are of 100% Italian ancestry but can't speak a word of Italian and sound like they come from 'Jersey rather than Italy. I had a very good friend in the Marine Corps who was Nisei or maybe Sansei and didn't speak a word of Japanese and talked like anyone else from California. He hated being stationed in Japan and wouldn't go off base. Apparently he went out right after he got there and got such a bad reaction from the local Japanese he met, because he looked Japanese but didn't know a word of the language, that he refused to ever go out the gate again. Sad!
Barbara-san, tesuto is test. You passed with an "A" if you got to Negishi without the h. For some reason the translation program dropped the h when translating from Japanese to English. I was thinking Yohi was located at Negishi Beach but I think it was called Nasugbu Beach. So, you get "A" and I get "F."
Lori-san, I'm glad you are having fun with the translation software. You put the experience into perspective even if your first attempt to use it backfired. A useful tool that is fun to boot. Yippee! Everything I post I first compose in a word file which I then paste. It gives me a record and it allows me to spell check everything. Peter-san spells much better than I do.
Wally-san, I, like you, have no aptitude for languages. I can get by in several of them to some extent but I can't learn to speak or write them properly. I have no patience for formal language learning. I learn minimal survival language skills.
Steffi-san, I agree with Barbara-san that you should write your biography. You are the ultimate survivor. I'm curious how your family managed to spend WWII in Japan.
Eric-san, you had the life I wish I could have had as a kid, years and years in Yokohama.
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Dave-san, et al 2010/1/21 13:47
Dave-san - it is always a pleasure to read your thoughts and benefit from your amazing research skills. You have a wonderful zest and curiosity about things, as do many on this thread. I can't begin to guess as to how these skills have benefited you in life - it must have been interesting.

Wally-san - I thank you for the complement regarding my supposed language skills - but I think it's a matter simply of being exposed early enough in life. When you're a child, you just pick it up - I don't remember making any special effort - there was no ESL instruction anywhere, and if you didn't learn the needed language, you just were left out - which makes you wonder if those classes we have in the US are really necessary, at least for the younger elementary crowd!

Barbara-san - as for writing a book - I've thought of doing that but have always been too busy. I've never thought that my experiences were that interesting, though they're unique in some ways. Perhaps I'll just start and see what comes out. I can always try out some things with you folks, and maybe have been doing that already. I should have done it while my Mom was still alive - she had a super sharp memory and good knowledge - but she never found it easy to talk about the past very much, which made me sensitive to not asking her things. Actually, she was the one who should have written a book, but writing wasn't her thing.

I have recently come across a book that looks amazing. The book is called "The Jews and the Japanese: the Successful Outsiders" by Ben-Ami Shillony. It's a history book that compares the two ancient cultures, their many similarities and some differences. People and places are mentioned in the book who I knew personally in Japan - a very weird experience. Will report as I progress in it. The author is a Polish-born Israeli professor and writer, who became interested in Japan while researching the atomic bombings, and subsequently wrote many books on Japan. Talk about language skills - this book is written in beautiful English, not translated - I wondered where he learned such wonderful English.

Eric-san - you are the one who really should be writing not just about yourself, but also about Japan, your father, a whole slew of things.

And Peter - of course, he can write about anything and make it interesting - as long as his Janet is willing to edit - though even without editing it's obvious what he's trying to say in his unique way.
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Rots of New Yokohama Pictures and Places 2010/1/22 05:49
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wards_of_Yokohama

Some pictures below, more pictures in each ward.

http://wikimapia.org/country/Japan/Kanagawa/Yokohama/

Many maps of various places in Yokohama. (Not in order or edited)
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Warming up in Futenma 2010/1/27 01:25
A majority of voters in the mayoral election in Nago, Okinawa have made it clear they want the US Marine Air Station closed and not relocated to some other province.
I note the Asahi Newspaper has editorialized in favor of a new site, based on Japan's national security.
A good number of Okinawa Marines and support staff have been removed to Guam already. And the US footprint on the Japanese islands is perhaps 50 percent smaller than it was when I lived there.
2010 could be a pivotal year for the US-Japan defense relationship.
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

Bad news for Wally 2010/1/28 06:11
Wendys closed all of their bugrer joints in Japan..
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

Wendy's closed? 2010/1/31 00:43
Dang! Ifm sure going to miss those seaweed burgers with a side of chicken-fried octopus.
by Wally (guest) rate this post as useful

Japanese food 2010/1/31 03:19
Is anyone out there as addicted to Japanese food as we are? Our favorites: sushi, sashimi (though we're more careful with this now after hearing what we may be ingesting!), sukiyaki, tempura, anything made with nori, Japanese rice crackers, picked seaweed salad, picked sea food.

Do you guys have access to Japanese restaurants or is that an east/west coast thing?

Luckily we can get excellent take-out sushi and soup and more from a place across the streeet. I used to make sushi years ago - easy - just need to vinegar the rice, and get one of those bamboo rolling devices, some nori, picked japanese vegetables, etc.

Of course, this is not to detract from Wally's Wendy burgers with nori and octupus salad.

Why am I getting hungry?
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

"Pickled" 2010/1/31 03:22
I'm picking up bad spelling habits from you-know-who - the word I kept misspelling is "pickled" - not picked - sorry.
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Osembe. 2010/1/31 03:40
I have to have a weekly fix of seaweed crackers, smuggled in to Missouri by my son who lives in Seattle. Some of these are made in the US, it turns out.
Like I tried to tell a japanese friend, there's no shortage of Kikkoman since it's made in a plant in Wisconsin.
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

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