Today In Japan: Raising Awareness About Refugees

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I decided to start a new category for Liv N' Luv Japan. I always seem to talk about entertainment in Japan such as celebrities, anime, manga, J-POP, etc. But, yesterday I notice that I rarely and none at all talk about what's been going on in Japan or any history really at all. So, starting today I will start talking more on about what's going on in Japan and I will label this category as "Today In Japan".

First, I want to talk about "Raising Awareness About Refugees". There was an event and children was with the members of the Nadeshiko Japan which is Japan's women soccer team. So, the team members decided to join in fun and games with the children that was there that day and asked them true or false questions about the refugees, I guess to test the children knowledge on the subject. The event was organized by the UNHCR at Toyosu Lalaport in Tokyo on Friday (it is Friday here today but, it was Friday for Japan yesterday).

Afterwards, the players and the children all took a photo together:

Here is a couple of photos of refugees in Japan:

I learned that there is a such thing such as "Refugee Day". I guess that they want children to learn more about refugees for plenty of reasons such as to help refugee agencies to increase their profile and visibility, to provide an opportunity for refugees to celebrate and express their cultural identity, to attract positive media coverage of refugee issues, etc. So after reading about this, I am assuming that their is low knowledge on people not knowing about refugees. Even I don't know much on refugees myself! For those who do not know what a refugee is, it is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, natural disaster, etc.


Well, that is all for this article for "Today In Japan". On my opinion on refugees, I feel kinda sorry for them because you have to think about that they have to leave their families and the people they love. Also they are leaving their home country to go somewhere they are basically don't know about. If I was in that type of situation I will feel very worried and sad that I think I would go crazy. I wish I could help and support the people who are refugees and I am glad that I learned something new today that I didn't even know nothing about. Let me know your opinion on this article and how you feel about the people who are refugees in the comment section below. Also don't forget to follow and tweet to @LivNLuvJP !!

Vending Machines In Japan!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I want to talk about something that I have dying to try someday in Japan which is their vending machines! Why do the Japanese get all the good stuff?! Vending machines in Japan are very popular and Japan haves the most vending machines in the world! They have more than a total of 5.5 million vending machines and only around 2.56 million of them are beverage vending machines.

The reasons why I always thought that the vending machines in Japan are interesting is because they not only sell beverages but also many random things that you wouldn't ever think of to be sold in a vending machine such as hot soup, traditional shrine charms, newspapers, magazine, novels, fruit, vegetables, sweets, bread, even underwear!!!

                                                       food sold in vending machines

                                                       a large variety of different beverages


Also, many vending machines in Japan are having where if you stand in front of the vending machine, it can detect your age and gender and also your body temperature to determine what item you should buy! For example, let's say there was a male in his thirties during the morning in the winter time. The machine may recommend him a certain type of hot tea, corn soup, etc.

There are many brand new types of vending machines where it has more of a sophisticated look and way of working with it such as a touch where it's like your operating a giant smartphone. Also, after purchasing an item, most vending machines will display a slot machines where buyers can have a chance to win another drink for free. It will also display the weather and temperature making it helpful to people who are passing by the machines as well.

Over about 980 thousand Japanese coffee vending machines have an app you can download where you have there is a "virtual store manager". Some people like it better when they buy things from a store mostly because they like the "warmth" of dealing with people instead of a machine all the time. So, when you download the app and register a vending machine you frequently visit, you will receive messages and special videos such as, "good job on your work today"!

That's is all I can say about the vending machines in Japan! They are just the best of the best! And I can't wait till I go to Japan someday and actually get to use their vending machines! In my opinion, I feel that the Japanese are really creative and very intelligent people to come up with something so amazing that it doesn't seem real! I like how they take something that people use almost every day of their lives and make it more easy to use, made it really fun, making it more modern, etc. To be honest, I don't think I would've ever thought of it!

Let me guys know your opinions on the vending machines in Japan and if you have any questions as well, feel free to comment on this article below! ^_^

Read The Kanji

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I have a little bit more I found online to help you guys with the Japanese language and I am pretty sure this is something that we all probably struggle studying...Kanji!

I struggle harshly trying to study kanji because there are so many meanings to just one kanji! I think the reasons I have a hard time studying kanji because kanji is complicated and frustrating for me to understand. There are so many meanings and ways of pronouncing them depending on the kanji they are compound with. I tried and I tried and I tried and I feel like giving up!! But, I know for a fact that I can't because I need to know this because my dream is to live in Japan.

So, to help you guys with kanji and also to help and improve my Japanese, there is this amazing website called "Read The Kanji". To visit the site please CLICK HERE.

I have experienced with this site before and I still do to help me learn kanji. It is very simple and easy to use and I find it fun to learn with this site. When you sign up you will be practicing your Hiragana and Katakana and basically what they will do is show you the character and you type in the romaji. It is very simple! The more you get correct you will start to level up. Soon, it would get more difficult and you can change between Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji anytime.

There is also a part on the site where you can a get a chart and see all the kanji on all the different difficulties. It is really amazing and I have learned a lot from it. Because I have a hard time remembering all the meanings and stuff, I try to learn 7 kanji a week which means I study 1 kanji a day. Soon, when I improve a little better learning kanji and catching on then I will try to learn more in a week. But, there are many websites out there that will help you learn kanji but, this is one of them I am recommending on my blog that I want to you guys to check out and let me know your opinion on the teachings. It is basically meant for you to learn the new kanji and it helps you remember it.

Here is a screen shot of how they teach you new kanji from the chart:

Here is also how they test you on the kanji and your understanding of reading kanji in a sentence:

I highly recommend this site if you are trying to improve your understanding to the kanji so there are not much of a frustration and complication. And also if you are trying to increase the amount of kanji you know.

This is all for this article on Read The Kanji on Liv N' Luv Japan!! ^_^

JapanesePod101

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Today, I want to continue doing more for the Japanese language and helping you guys find more reliable resources to help motivate you to continue your studies of Japanese.

JapanesePod101 usually teaches mostly vocabulary, grammar, and how to write hiragana, katakana, and kanji. They have a YouTube channel with many videos to teach you but, their website has way more features. It is free to sign up but, I don't know if all the features on the site is free if I remember clearly. I am also a user of JapanesePod101 myself. Here is a sample video of how they teach the vocabulary on YouTube:

I recommend this if you are trying to increase your vocabulary.

And here is one of their latest videos on YouTube and it last around 14 minutes and it's more of a lesson than simple vocabulary:

I wouldn't really highly recommend it but, on a scale I see it as average. But, that is just my opinion! ^_^ But, I recommend it for light learning! ^_^

I will try to find more resources for studying and learning Japanese!!! GANBATTE KUDASAI!!!

JapanSocietyNYC

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Yesterday, I wasn't able to post anything because it was a Sunday and the library was closed but, I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to post more of on my blog. I see my blog as 80% of pop culture and entertainment such as celebrities, music, anime, gaming, etc. and I never really put much work into posting more of traditional culture and the Japanese language. So, today I thought I should post about the Japanese language!

There is this YouTube channel I am subscribed to that teach you lots about the Japanese language and culture and it is entertaining and really fun to watch for me that I sit for hours just learning Japanese. The channel can be for people who is just starting to learn Japanese and for those that are on the intermediate level and is more advanced as well. I see myself as an intermediate when it comes to Japanese because I can understand Japanese very well but I would understand it way better if I had the ability to read kanji and to learn more advance grammar techniques.

There videos are really simple and really easy to understand and the videos are not long or time consuming, the videos usually last around 2-3 minutes. So, that you can get a experiment of what the language videos is about, here is a very basic and simple video of how they teach you the plain basics. This is also the first video of one of the language videos and the playlist is called, "Waku Waku Japanese".:

I say that I highly recommend this YouTube channel if you are learning Japanese and you are just starting to learn and just a beginner. (^_^)

I'm also going to try my best to find more resources and ways to help you guys learn Japanese. From videos, websites, books, etc!

Thank you guys for reading!! And for you Japanese language learners, GANBATTE KUDASAI NE!

The Goals For Liv N' Luv Japan

Hello and welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan ! I have been working on Liv N' Luv Japan for about a year now (ever since summer 2013) and I really have been enjoying it. Everyone about knows that it is my dream to live in Japan and become a journalist someday in life. I wanted to learn a little more about blogging and learn the more advance techniques to blogging so, I went to my public library in town and checked out a book called "Blogging for Dummies". During the first parts of the book its talking about how to blog and why people blog and all that stuff.

Soon, I got to where they have started talking about bloggers thinking or already knowing the goal(s) of their blog. After reading that, it had me thinking really hard last night, "What are my goals to blogging on Liv N' Luv Japan?!". The truth is, I really never thought about that. So, I came up with a few that I thought that was wise to have as a goal and my goals that I wish to reach:

• To be able to reach 1,000,000 views ! (Currently the views are around 6,140)
• For my blog to become very popular !
• For it to actually help me in the future to become a journalist !
• To help and entertain people about anything Japanese from today and traditional ! 

I really can't come up with many goals but they will be more wiser once I start actually get serious about it. But, I want you guys to love reading my blog to a point that you are never bored and you want to read more and more till you are content. I want you guys to let me know what YOU want to see here on my blog. I want you guys to be educated and as well entertained by my blog. I am starting to get more serious about my blog but it is hard to come up with topics to actually to talk about since I have always been posting (this makes my 56th post). Once you start blogging, it's pretty easy to come up with anything but soon it get quick to run out of ideas.

Well, this is it for this blog post for today as I know it. If I wasn't in school right now I could've been able to post articles all day~! Don't forget to comment and follow Liv N' Luv Japan on Facebook ! (^_^)

Cherry Blossoms Blossoming in Japan !

Hello and welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan ! You know what time it is?! Time for the Cherry Blossom trees to bloom in Japan ! In April, it is the most perfect time for Cherry Blossom (or known as "Sakura" Trees) to bloom. In my opinion, Cherry Blossoms are my most favorite plant in the world because it has such a beautiful shade of pink to it and the bark of the tree is really dark most times so the colors are perfect for the spring! It is also special to me because my birthday is in April (April 16th) ! (^_^)

I just love Sakura trees ! I don't think I had ever seen a Sakura tree in person before but if I ever do, I want to see while in Japan! Especially in the traditional cities and towns in Japan would just be absolutely perfect! In Japan, there is also a festival to celebrate the Cherry Blossom trees known in Japan as 全米桜祭り(Zenbei Sakura Matsuri)

It is celebrated in Washington D.C. as well commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift of the Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City. Yukio Ozaki donated the trees in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan.

                                                                    YUKIO OZAKI




Thank you everyone for reading today on about the Cherry Blossoms in Japan ! ! ^_^

Rocket Languages:Japanese

Hello everyone~! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan~! Today, I want to be able to inform you guys a little more about the Japanese language for those who are eager to learn it. I got many suggestions for those who want more on Japan the country itself, its language and its culture. So, most of you would also like to know more about the traditional but modern culture. So, I will start out with the Japanese language. I want to show you guys this Japanese language learning product, Rocket Languages!!









With Rocket Languages: Japanese, you will be able to learn how to speak and understand Japanese in no time! When I first became interested in learning Japanese, I thought I should find something that would really help me learn Japanese the right way. Rocket Languages: Japanese was my head start and my beginning in my Japanese learning. It would teach you the basics to begin with and starts you out real nice and simple such as teaching you "hello" and "how are you". And teaching you the difference between Hiragana and Katakana and how to use it. My Japanese became really good by beginning with this.

It is basically an audio lesson which makes it even more better! With some websites that haves audio, the audio is usually bad when you hear it and might not be natural most of the time and doesn't sound human. But, with Rocket Languages: Japanese audio, it is clear and haves native Japanese speaker accent. It teaches you throughout the whole entire audio in a fun and effective way. It has to separate audios. One with the whole lesson and one with the dialogue spoken twice (in normal speed and slow speed). It also shows you the dialogue so you can be able to read it and it shows you the English version, the romaji version, and the version containing all Hirgana, Katakana and Kanji.

I would recommend this to anybody but, this do cost (click here to find out more). I have never bought it before but, if you go to there website (click here) you can have a free 6 day trial (which I have used ^_^) and it really amazing!! In my opinion, it is better than Rosetta Stone because you actually can learn something without knowing nothing and getting Rosetta Stone and its barely teaching you anything! I highly recommend learning with Rocket Languages Japanese!! It even also haves a forum, quizzes, practice, etc!! ^_^