In Japan, truck drivers usually take extreme pride in their work, which is usually their house. Here is a web page that shows a recent truck show...
Truck Show
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Barentainn Dei (Ba-Le-n-ta-I-nn---De-I) : Valentine's Day
While on Valentine's day in America guys give girls chocolate, on the other side of the world in Japan, women give men chocolate. However, while women give the men they know chocolate, only the one they truly like, or love, gets the expensive, or sometimes homemade chocolate. The rest get the standard package ordeal.
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"Watashi no kioku ga tadashikereba..."
For our first full Japanese sentence, we present to you a classic found at the beginning of a popular Japanese show in the US. Refer to the words in the forums or on the Nani Kore page to translate it.
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-kereba (- ke-re-ba). This is suffix used with an adjective to mean "If it is (adjective)". The basic way of using it is to drop the "i" from the end of an adjective and to add "kereba". For example, "atsui" is the adjective meaning Hot. By dropping the 'i', making it "atsu", and then adding "kereba", it becomes "Atsukereba", which now means "If it is hot..". This was a little bit difficult today, but it leads us up to our first Japanese sentence of the day.
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Shouji ( Sho-u-ji). These are the paper and wood sliding doors you will find at most traditional Japanese houses. These are normally used between rooms or as blinds. The paper is typically changed during the end of year cleaning. The big wooden doors that slide over outward facing shouji doors and windows are called Amado. These help protect against the yearly typhoon storms.
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No (no). This is a particle for possession.. For example, "My manga" would be "Watashi no manga". Another example "Akira's manga" would be "Akira no manga". It is really that simple.
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Kioku ( Ki-o-ku) meaning "Memory". The hardest part about taking the Japanese animation voice acting class (Seiyuu Kulasu) was all the memorization. While all the other voice actors could simply read their lines from the script, I was hindered by my extreme lack of Kanji (Chinese characters) knowledge. To sound even half way fluent, I had no choice but to memorize the lines.
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Tadashii ( adj. Ta-da-shi- ) meaining "Correct". I don't really have any Japanese experience related to this word, (at least I can't think of any right now) but I am leading up to the first "Japanese sentence of the Day". Tadashii is the basic form of this adjective. Tasashiku being the verb form.
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Boonasu ( Bo-o-na-su) meaning "Bi-annual bonus money for salaryman". Monthly salary is usually calculated by dividing your "yearly salary" by 16. This makes your monthly salary relatively low. As an incentive, twice a year, they give a bonus equal to two times the amount you make each month. In a perfect world, all your monthly salary plus your two bonuses are equal to your yearly salary. However, your bonus can fluctuate depending on your skill'. In some companies 'skill' means how well you do, and in others it means how late did you stay since some companies still think those who stay later are actually doing more work. And lastly, many times your skill and salary is based upon how old you are. So, twice a year you get three months worth of salary in one month. This usually leads to great parties and shopping. Many people plan their lives around their bonuses.
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Okashi (O-Ka-Shi) meaning "Sweet Food". This includes food like cookies or cakes, or anything sweet. There also "Azuki", or sweet beans, most commonly found in the middle of two pancakes, and called Dorayaki. I don't know how many times I saw a cake or snack thinking it was chocolate only to find out it was this sweet bean paste.
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