Valentine's Day in Japan

I used to get a lot of "giri-choco" and special presents from my kids/students when I was teaching in Japan.

Almost always homemade, the cakes and chocolate were always delicious!

-Jason

I was on TV! (Subtitled)

A fun vid from a fellow J-vlogger from America named Samantha.

Well done on the singing Sammi!

With subtitles for those that don't speak Japanese.

-Jason

Blog TV twice this weekend

Blog TV tonight at 8pm PST and tomorrow (Sunday the 14th) at noon PST.

-Jason

Emoticon Tag Game - Japanese Emoticons

Hiroko is too cute in this video!

-J

Rodger Swanへの紹介

日本人の友達、

見いてください。

ジェイソン

Asashoryu retires and leaves SUMO - Feb. 4, 2010

The big news from the world of Sumo.

I'm stunned and disappointed, but not entirely shocked, since this seems like the culmination of many transgressions over the yokozuna's career.

But the sport will miss him this year, and I will miss him as well.

-Jasonryu

Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine and Matchmaking (Izumo City, Matsue City Shimane)

A short, 3-minute video in English, with nice views of my former home-town - Taisha in Shimane.

I'll be heading back to Shimane in March to attend graduation ceremonies and visit friends and students. I'm very excited to be going back.

-Jason

Britt, Mom, & Lynda at the entrance to the San Diego Zoo

Britt, Mom, & Lynda at the entrance
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

I joined my sister, niece and Mom for a trip to the San Diego Zoo in early January.

It's been about 3 years since I'd been to the Zoo - I went with my Mom and Dad during a trip home from Japan in 2007.

San Diego has a wonderful zoo, with great exhibits and lots of animals. And we had a wonderful day - it wasn't too crowded and the weather was fantastic.

Click on either picture here to see a few more from the day.

I also shot lots of video and will edit all the footage together soon for a video on my YouTube channel.

-Jason

My niece, Brittany and my sister, Lynda

My niece, Brittany and my sister, Lynda
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

I haven't posted many pics from my time back in San Diego since I got back to the States in August 2009.

So I'll try to put up some pics from some of the fun I've been having while at home in San Diego.

Just after I got back, my sister, Lynda, along with her daughter, Brittany (my niece), and I went to LegoLand, which is about 10 minutes from where we live.

Brittany had been working a summer job at the park, so we were able to get in for free and enjoy a casual day of walking around in what is really a park for families with small children. But we still had fun.

I made a video about it on my main YouTube page here:




Enjoy the pics and I'll try to post more soon.

Peace,
Jason Vader

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

My friend Chris, from high school, had a hand in making this video. Great stuff!

-Jason

Yellow Lightcycle - Tron Legacy

Yellow Lightcycle - Tron Legacy
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

I am a HUGE fan of the original TRON movie from 1982. I saw it a bunch of times in the theater when I was about 12 or 13 years old.

I had a great, special-edition DVD of the original movie, and it got stolen off the front seat of my car one day back in 2004. (Note to self - re-buy that DVD)

And it looks like they're gonna do the original movie proud with this sequel: Tron - Legacy that comes out in December.

I might be living in Japan in December, so I hope they get the movie that same month. Can't wait to see it!

-Jason

I like Superman

I like Superman
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

More pics from 2004. These feature me in a classroom doing my jikoshokai (self-introduction) in front of a combined class of 3rd graders at one of my five Japanese elementary schools during my first year as an ALT in Shimane.

I encourage you to click the pic above and go to the page these pictures are on and read the captions below each picture for more information.

Cheers,
Jason

チュッキョ・フィギュア 浅田真央 インタビュー 2週目

There is an INCREDIBLE amount of coverage of Mao Asada on YouTube. Just click on the above video to watch on YT and then look to the right at all the "related" videos and you'll see an endless amount of vids about the Japanese figure skater.

I can't imagine any American skater in recent years getting as much media time year-round as Mao gets in Japan.

I was in Japan for the last winter Olympics, where the Japanese had disappointment after disappointment, except for the one Gold Medal they got in womens' figure skating for Arakawa's brilliant routine.

I'm sure the pressure will really be on Asada as the country hopes for another Gold Medal in February in Vancouver.

The only reason I see these videos on YouTube is that I'm currently posting SUMO videos every day to my all Sumo channel. When one of my videos gets a lot of ratings or comments, it often ends up in the Top Most Rated or Top Most discussed videos in all of Japan for the sports category. And inevitably, the video at #1 will be a Mao Asada video.

She sure has her fans!

-Jason

Pictures of me teaching in Elementary school

Shaking Hands
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

I encourage you to click on the above picture and go to my Flickr site to view all the pictures AND read the captions! :)

I'm often asked to show lessons from my classes, and usually if I'm taking the pictures, I'm not in them, but this was my first year as an ALT (February 2005) and one of the HRTs took these pics of me with a combined class of about sixty 3rd graders.

I sorted thru and found a bunch that don't show faces clearly, so you can get some idea of how I would conduct a lesson. This was a simple lesson of learning words from flashcards - a common lesson at Japanese elementary schools.
We also did a dance/song and played a board game in this extended class that lasted about 80 minutes (with a break in the middle).

I found this CD rom of pics in my boxes of stuff from Japan and haven't seen these pics in about 5 years. Do I look younger? :)

-Jason

funny story from school - messing up in Japanese

Do you have a funny story about messing up while trying to speak a foreign language? Or a story of a foreigner speaking to you in English and just getting it all wrong? Leave a comment. :)

-Jason

Great website about Taisha in Japanese and English

My former Japanese language tutor, Imaoka sensei, and an ALT from Taisha who I've known for 4 years - Angharad James - worked on the English language version of a guide to famous local sites in Taisha, like Izumo Taisha shrine.

It's a really great page of photos and information - so check it out Here!

Here are the opening lines:

Japanese speakers may refer to this guide when giving a tour of the Izumo Taisha area to English speakers. The following questions are ones foreign visitors might ask at the sites.

このガイドは日本人の方が出雲大社周辺を英語圏の方に案内される時に参考にして頂けるように作りました。外国観光者から以下のような質問があると思われます。

This site makes me very nostalgic for my town.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Stache - yes or no?

In the first 6 hours after I posted this video today, I've gotten one-hundred comments. hahaha

Click on the "watch on YouTube" link and read some of the comments - fun stuff!

-Jason

Welcome to the January 2010 Grand Sumo Tournament - Hatsu Bashou

I'm starting my coverage of the January Grand Sumo Tournament today - and continuing thru to January 24th.

Come on over to my all-sumo channel for daily updates.

-Jason

It's cold in Japan, even inside my apartment!

About one year ago I filmed the above video in my apartment in rural Japan. It was COLD!

And today I'm sitting in my parents' house in San Diego and it's sunny and about 70.F (21.C) and lovely outside. :)

-Jason

How to speak fluent Japanese by Speaking English with Remi and Ken

In Japanese and English.
日本語と英語
Fun stuff from Shimane's own - Ken Tanaka!

-J