For those who don't know, in addition to Kanji Japan uses two homegrown alphabets. Hirigana for actual Japanese words, an Katakana for any non-Japanese word that needs to be written down. Now I say Katakana is evil because using it twists and deforms our beautiful English words to a mockery of their original sounds. Take the title of this post. Biibaa-San is the Katakana representation of Mr Beaver, of Narnia fame. Mr. Tumnus becomes Tamunasu-san. The four siblings are Piitaa, Suuzan, Ruushii and Edomando. You can see why we have a few pronunciation issues to work through in class.
As you can probably tell from my theme today, I finally saw that touching epic, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. It finally released here in Japan on Saturday. It was playing on three screens, and the show I attended was nowhere near half full. I guess it just didn't translate over, despite the extra three months of advertising.
I must say that while there were a few issues, overall I really enjoyed the movie. The kids were very well cast, and did a good job. The animals where a bit 'shrek' but still fairly credible. All in all I am eagerly anticipating further adventures in Narnia. Pre-production on Prince Caspian is already underway.
On my way to the movie, I stopped by Mos Burger. I had expected to get my usual, the Spicy Mos with Cheese. However, there was a new player in town. The Katsu Curry Burger. I love the combo of Katsu (breaded meat, usually pork sometimes chicken) and curry sauce. How could I resist Mos's take on the genre? Well of course I couldn't. It was delicous, the curry had some bite, and they even threw some chutny on top. I eagerly anticipate a repeat performance.
In less than one week my good buddy Matt will grace Japan with his presence. Hooray! I can't wait. It will be so nice to see someone from home. Plus it will be nice to get out of Kanazawa and back to Nagoya for a weekend. Then Tokyo next weekend. I needed a vacation!
Mos Burger!
My new love, the Katsu Kare sandwich. Notice my sexy bike.
Dusk comes to Kanazawa. Notice the three story Mr. Donut.
More experiments with night exposures.
2 comments:
AMEN to that. Apparently the Hong Kong Chinese people just throw in English words into regular conversation but they write them as, well, NORMAL and usually pronounce it spot on. All problems would be solved if Japan would adopt this ... or would just stop importing words wholesale to replace honest real Japanese words.
And Mos Burger is apparently blessed by wizard chefs. Where do they keep coming up with these great food items??
Chutney! We couldn't figure out what that yellow crap on top was. They were sold out of the katsu burgers when I went so I'll have to try again next week. Yahoo! excuse to go to MOS.
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