[Nana]

I need a software where I can type japanese writings, can anyone help me on this. I once downloaded this software where it lets me type katakana or hiragana on anything, but I forgot where I downloaded it =p

I think you can just do it in your preferneces on your computer, no software needed. I'm not sure how though..I'm trying to figure it out too since I recently recovered my comp. I think it's Regional and Language options. You can set your computer to readd fonts and type as well.

[peachy�]

Does anyone know the meaning to the name 'Kaneshiro'?

[Tamago86]

Does anyone know the meaning to the name 'Kaneshiro'?

Well 金 (kane) is gold or metal and 城 (shiro) is castle. It literally means an impregnable castle or fortress. In certain places like Okinawa 金城 is often pronounced kinjou instead of kaneshiro (kinjou is the chinese way of reading it in Japanese, kaneshiro is the native Japanese way of reading it).
There's also a famous Japanese actor named 金城武 (kaneshiro takeshi)

[tin27�]

I've been studying hiragana all night using a program I downloaded online, and I found it very useful. Although I can only write about 20 hiraganas off the top of my head, I'm able to recognize all 46 basic syllables after drilling for a few hours.





There are bunch of programs out there. My program happens to be on a mac, but it is one of those run of the mill flash-card programs. It makes life pretty easy. I went from knowing nothing this morning to knowing almost half of all the hiragana characters. Definitely recommend it.

What's the name of that program!? ..mind if you'll gimme the link
I'm studying katakana and hiragana(how to read & write ), that thing may help me
And oh, is there any japanese-english dictionary program u can recommend(like encarta english dictionary)
Thanx~

[putasmileon]

Well 金 (kane) is gold or metal and 城 (shiro) is castle. It literally means an impregnable castle or fortress. In certain places like Okinawa 金城 is often pronounced kinjou instead of kaneshiro (kinjou is the chinese way of reading it in Japanese, kaneshiro is the native Japanese way of reading it).
There's also a famous Japanese actor named 金城武 (kaneshiro takeshi)

金城武 is half Japanese half Taiwanese. He attended my school in Taipei.

What's the name of that program!? ..mind if you'll gimme the link
I'm studying katakana and hiragana(how to read & write ), that thing may help me
And oh, is there any japanese-english dictionary program u can recommend(like encarta english dictionary)
Thanx~

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6510
^^ That's similar for hiragana.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6511
^^ Its katakana counterpart.

Do you have a Mac? These are Mac programs.

http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/18495
^^ Dictionary program

[tin27�]

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6510
^^ That's similar for hiragana.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6511
^^ Its katakana counterpart.

Do you have a Mac? These are Mac programs.

http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/18495
^^ Dictionary program

oh~ I'm not a mac user
Is there any program similar to that which runs in WinOS?

[dopemills]

i have a question about honourifics.
been reading up a fair bit and i'm wondering, is it possible for girls to use 'boku' and 'kimi'? say for informal situations, with close friends. etc.
similarly, for the use of '~kun' for girls.

"textbook" japanese mentions that it's not right. what about "non-textbook" japanese. is there such a thing? just being curious. ^^;;

[Tamago86]

It's possible, not that common but it happens. If you listen to any of BoAs songs in Japanese she uses boku all the time actually. It's a tomboyish thing to do but as you know in Japan femininity > tomboyness. kimi isn't as common among girls and -kun even less so. Bosses may call lower ranking female employees -kun but I've never a girl call another girl blabla-kun
Anyways just sticking to the standard girl way of doing things would be safer, it's what Japanese will expect of you

[orangecake]

It's possible, not that common but it happens. If you listen to any of BoAs songs in Japanese she uses boku all the time actually. It's a tomboyish thing to do but as you know in Japan femininity > tomboyness. kimi isn't as common among girls and -kun even less so. Bosses may call lower ranking female employees -kun but I've never a girl call another girl blabla-kun
Anyways just sticking to the standard girl way of doing things would be safer, it's what Japanese will expect of you

うん。
「ぼく」って言う表現を使う女の子は時々いるよね。
ふざけて使う場合もあるし、自分が女の子であることにあまりこだわりたくない時なんかに使うかな。

BoAとか、浜崎あゆみの歌詞によく出てくる「ぼく」は、女の子が自分のことを「ぼく」って言ってるんじゃなくて、女の子が男の子の立場に立って、歌ってるんだよ。
「ぼくが君を守る」っていう歌詞があったら、例え歌ってるのが女の子でも、男の子が女の子を守る、っていう状況だね。

日本の歌には昔からそういうの多いよ。
男の歌手が「あたしはあなたを愛してます～」って歌う、演歌とか多いしね。この場合、もちろん、男性が歌っていても、「あたし」は女性。

まあ、女の子が「ぼく」って使っても、そんなに深い意味はないと、私は思ってるけど、エライ人たちはそこにすぐ意味を探したがる。
少し前に、自分のお母さんを殺そうとした高校生がいて、彼女が自分のブログに「ぼく」という一人称を使ってたものだから、そこから彼女の異常性を説明しようと語る語る。

そんな単純なものじゃないと思うんだけどね～。

[Tamago86]

BoAとか、浜崎あゆみの歌詞によく出てくる「ぼく」は、女の子が自分のことを「ぼく」って言ってるんじゃなくて、女の子が男の子の立場に立って、歌ってるんだよ。
「ぼくが君を守る」っていう歌詞があったら、例え歌ってるのが女の子でも、男の子が女の子を守る、っていう状況だね。

そうなんだ。。BoAのEverlastingって歌聴いたところで、[この「さよなら」が旅立ちならば僕の笑顔を全部あげるよ, 出逢ったことも歩いた町も二人の胸で生き続けるの]って歌詞があるけどこの場合にもBoAは男性の立場から歌ってるの?　

[moochi2000]

ok this is more like a request
my japanese is definitely not that good
i have a friend that has a doraemon robot, more like a toy and it has this thick thick manual all in japanese, the only thing I've managed to do is set time and date.
Is there any way that someone could help me out by translating the beginning parts so at least it will move?
If not, can anyone suggest a method to translate them in the easiest way possible?

[davidnuknow]

ahhhh i wanna learn japanese!! thx for sharing the resources!! welll acutally i've just started to learn korean n japanese >< lol

[Tamago86]

Is there any way that someone could help me out by translating the beginning parts so at least it will move?
If not, can anyone suggest a method to translate them in the easiest way possible?

Well first you're going to need to post the part of the manual you want translated..

[putasmileon]

そうなんだ。。BoAのEverlastingって歌聴いたところで、[この「さよなら」が旅立ちならば僕の笑顔を全部あげるよ, 出逢ったことも歩いた町も二人の胸で生き続けるの]って歌詞があるけどこの場合にもBoAは男性の立場から歌ってるの?　

Haha I've always been wondering that... perhaps there's some deeper meaning to her usage of "boku" - especially in Everlasting.

[orangecake]

そうなんだ。。BoAのEverlastingって歌聴いたところで、[この「さよなら」が旅立ちならば僕の笑顔を全部あげるよ, 出逢ったことも歩いた町も二人の胸で生き続けるの]って歌詞があるけどこの場合にもBoAは男性の立場から歌ってるの?　

たぶんね。
その場合、語尾の「の」がちょっと変な感じではあるけど・・・。

でも、Everlastingの歌詞の内容はやはり、男の子の立場って考えたほうが自然な気がする。
てか、「男の子にこう言ってもらいたい」っていう女の子の願望？

Haha I've always been wondering that... perhaps there's some deeper meaning to her usage of "boku" - especially in Everlasting.

深い意味・・・と、言えば言えるかな？
つまり、女の子が「ぼく」を使うと、女の子にも男の子にも共感されやすいから、より普遍的な内容になる、ってことかなあ。

ぶっちゃけ、BoAが「ぼく」って言うと、可愛いよね。

[Tamago86]

そうかそうか。。僕の知ってる限りこんな歌い方はアメリカにはないから明らかにしてくれてありがとう 　日本の歌に限ってるかな。。まあ英語では僕、私、俺なんてがなくてただ「I/Me」みたいな男女の区別のない言い方しかないから仕方がないんだな

The limit of my language is the limit of my worldって日本語で言いたいんだけど「言葉の限りは世界の限りである」って自然に聞こえますか?

[orangecake]

そうかそうか。。僕の知ってる限りこんな歌い方はアメリカにはないから明らかにしてくれてありがとう 　日本の歌に限ってるかな。。まあ英語では僕、私、俺なんてがなくてただ「I/Me」みたいな男女の区別のない言い方しかないから仕方がないんだな

The limit of my language is the limit of my worldって日本語で言いたいんだけど「言葉の限りは世界の限りである」って自然に聞こえますか?

う～ん。ちょっと不自然。

「言葉の限界は世界の限界である」

が、いいかな。

[putasmileon]

By the way Tamago... I'm loving your avatar. HAHAHA!!

[darkmafiaguy]

Hii, if anyone could help me out that'd be great. I just got this Japanese air freshner from Mitsuwa today and everything written on it is in Japanese (surprise). The thing is, we are in the middle of a major heatwave (California atleast) and I don't know if exessive heat will ruin it or something.

If anyone could translate the warnings (I know there is atleast one), temperature limits, longevity, what NOT to do with it, etc., that'd be great.

THANKS, much appreciated.

Side A:


Side B:

[ekinshuya]

Im sorry to bother but since you guys are good with japanese can any of you translate the word "forever" in japanese symbol for me? And also the word "I love you" in Japanese symbol too? thanks ALOT!!!! i really apperciate it