Pepsi Azuki

I was at the supermarket today and came across a cooler full of Pepsi Azuki, the new fall flavor sensation from Pepsi Japan unleashed on Japan last week. After my bout with Pepsi Shiso, I had to give this one a go, too.

Azuki are small red beans that are usually sweetened and used in traditional Japanese sweets and other traditional dishes. People have a love hate relationship with azuki, because the sweetness is not a sugary sweet, but more vegetable-like (kinda reminds me of beets, I guess). Also, azuki pastries are usually a pasty substance, which is not generally preferred by the western pallet. I happen to like azuki, in many forms, so I was excited to try out this new Pepsi flavor.

So my thoughts on this Pepsi challenge are... it's a winner. The azuki flavor is quite subtle and matches well in a carbonated beverage. It's a much better taste sensation than shiso in a soft drink. The only caveat is that all your after-burps will be azuki flavored, which is not very nice. If you generally like the taste of azuki, give this one a try.

I bet you take a large glass of Pepsi Azuki and top it off with a scoop of ice cream, you'd have a tasty azuki float, similar to one of my favorite desserts here is called cream anmitsu. Must try!

Cheers!

On this fateful day one year ago, I walked into the offices of beNippon for the first time... my first job after arriving here in Kanazawa. A lot has changed since then, and it's hard to believe a whole year has past, but it has. I love being a member of our incredible team, and look forward to a great future as we continue to grow.

Back in the Nihongo game.

After half a year of lazying around, last month I finally decided to get my butt in gear and start up Japanese classes again. Instead of signing up for inexpensive group lessons I opted to enroll in private one-on-one lessons, so I could study what I wanted and focus on my specific needs. I don't really have the goal of passing the JLPT (but eventually I'll need to), so my goals are more geared towards my personal desire to boost my reading and writing (by hand) ability.

In order to get back into writing kanji again, my teachers have opted against using the Kanji in Context series. For their convenience, they've pointed me towards Intermediate Kanji Book - Kanji 1000 Plus, Vol.01. I wanted them to test me each week, and they already have pre-made tests, so they don't have to do a lot of extra prep-work. Just learning vocabulary is kind of difficult without some kind of application, so I'm not sure how much retention I'll have. All my vocabulary is going into my Anki deck, and so far I'm able to retain most of the information.

The main text we're using is the New Approach Japanese Pre-Advanced Course, which provides plenty of learning material. Also, because I previously studied half of it, I just wanted to finish the whole thing. My teachers are very familiar with this text, so I've taken their recommendation on using this textbook, and wanted to share it with you all.

If you've taken a look at my previous overview, the text is broken out into several sections. In my lessons, we start with the grammar points, one-by-one, reading through the example sentences, then we work on making practice sentences. When I study at home, I usually write out the whole sentence in addition to filling in the blanks, which my teachers will usually correct during class. Finally, in class I'll use the grammar by making my own sentences, again writing them out completely. This part really gets me to focus on my writing, and I get to see all my "particle" mistakes. I'm finding it hard to write kanji in front of my teacher, but I do expect to get better as time goes on.

Once we finish all the grammar points, we'll hit the main text. When the text is finished, I'll be doing some writing based on the questions at the end of the reading. Since, I'm only in the first few weeks of my lessons I haven't gotten that far, so I'm not sure how it will progress. With only an hour a week the lessons are going by slow, but I do feel like I'm learning a lot more than when I was in taking group lessons.
With such a big grammar focus I'm finding that it would be nice to have a grammar supplement. My teachers use どんな時どう使う 日本語表現文型辞典 so I intend to purchase this book soon. I think that this book has some easier to understand example sentences than New Approach, so it should be a worthwhile purchase.

If you have the means and know what you want to work on, I highly recommend one-on-one lessons over the usual group class. Are any of you learning Japanese? What are your methods for studying?

Life after the cellphone strap...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

In the US, cellphone straps never took off like they did here in Japan. Most Japanese had at least one lanyard dangling off their keitai. Some (like my wifey), had massive amounts of straps, practically quadrupling the weight of the cellphone itself. Well, it would seem the keitai strap boom has died down somewhat, with most people nowadays opting for just one favorite. The latest fad seems to be mascots for bags. When I walk around town, I see a lot of people with their favorite mascot dangling off their bag. Heck, even the everyday salaryman has joined in the fun.

If you're a Miyazaki Hayao fan, we have a great way for you to spread the love: Ghibli mascots!! They're a perfect accompaniment to kawaii-ify your everyday shoulder bag or backpack.

Just in stock for October are:

Bou-Nezumi from Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し)


Ponyo from Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (崖の上のポニョ)

We also have:

Fox-squirrel from Laputa (天空の城ラピュタ)

And one of my favories, Ootori-sama from Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し)


Our Ghibli plush collection has been growing as of late. Miyazaki fans are sure to find something of interest, from the everlasting classic Totoro to lastest, Ponyo.

Simple Living: the Zaisu.

Back in high school, my good friend had a lot of connections with Japan. Not only did he introduce me to anime and manga, but he also introduced me to the zaisu (floor chair). When I went over to his place, he had a couple zaisu that we'd sit on while watching anime or playing some F-Zero. Since his game/media room was in the upstairs attic space, there was not a whole lot of room so these zaisu were just perfect for relaxing. I also liked being able to stretch out without having to lay on the floor, you'd need a big couch or recliner otherwise.

Since I first started living in Japan, zaisu have been a permanent fixture in my life. In particular, I love the big plush ones, that recline. On my days off last summer, I usually sat upstairs in the heat taking a catnap, or surfing the interwebs on them. Downstairs in the living room I have a double zaisu, which is like a two person floor sofa and is also great for relaxing on under the kotatsu.

You can purchase zaisu like chairs in the US at places like Target, but they're build like crap, uncomfortable, and only last a few months (I bought a couple in Seattle). Japanese zaisu come in all shapes and sizes, but the ones I look for are large, super plush, and have heavy-duty foam cores, like the ones we carry at beNippon. They are ultra-comfortable, sturdy, and thanks to the heavy duty foam don't turn into pancakes after a few months.

If you're interested in recliner-style comfort for small spaces like an attic, basement or dorm room, you can't beat the zaisu. They accompany our kotatsu perfectly too, check out beNippon's plush zaisu selection today. They're in-stock and ready to ship.