Kindle Paperwhite: Powerful for Japanese Study

 Education, Foreign Languages, Japan, Japanese Language, Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Kindle Paperwhite: Powerful for Japanese Study
Jun 052014
 

I finally bit the bullet and bought a second Kindle Paperwhite, this time for my Japanese language library. And I don’t regret it one bit. It has become an incredibly powerful tool for improving my Japanese, because I read more books, faster, with the Paperwhite than I have with any other reading platform.

And I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to read Japanese books.

Note that some of these are perfectly fine for English language books, but I’m judging them on their usefulness as Japanese learning tools.

I have tried:

  • Paper Books and an Electronic Dictionary.
    • Disadvantages:
    • Not portable
    • Slow lookups disrupt reading
    • Tiny text kills my eyes.

 

  • Vertical Text Viewer (for Android).
    • Disadvantages:
    • Lookups are easier, but require an external app, which can’t search online dictionaries if I’m on a plane, so EPWING dictionaries have to be added.
    • Only Aozora Bunko formatted e-books work with it. That means I can access a library of out-of-copyright books, but nothing current. (Not legally, anyway.)

 

  • OCR Manga Viewer (for Android). Takes images, OCRs selected text, and offers a list of possible definitions.
    • Disadvantages:
    • Supported file format is scanned images, so no legal way of getting current titles, unless I scan every book I buy page by page.
    • Constant dragging and selecting finicky text selection tool gets annoying after a while.
    • Even if there are scans, if the scan quality isn’t perfect, the OCR software will have issues, so I’m back at the electronic dictionary stage again.

 

  • Amazon Kindle App (for Android). Updside: You can save a lot on shipping, and you can make text bigger. Long press on a word to look it up. (See disadvantages!)
    • Disadvantages:
    • There is only one dictionary. It’s Japanese-Japanese, and you better like it, because you can’t use any others with the simple long press function. The other option is search in another book, which is slow.
    • Most books are text files, but a small portion are scans. If you wind up with a scan of a book you want to read, you will have no way of looking up words inside the program.
    • The dictionary search function does not de-conjugate verbs, which makes the dictionary useless.

 

  • Google Play Books and Magazines App (for Android). Updside: I couldn’t really find one.
    • Disadvantages:
    • No dictionary I could find.
    • Couldn’t find any current popular Japanese books in the Play store. Couldn’t access the Japanese Play store without a VPN, and even then, Google sent me back to the US store.
    • The only books I could find were all scans of out-of-copyright books, or books I’ve never heard of by publishers I’ve never heard of.

 

Why Paperwhite?

So there you have it. Nothing really works the way I want to, well, except for the Kindle Paperwhite. Kind of. The Paperwhite is a bit of a mixed bag, but overall I think it’s the best way to read Japanese books on an electronic device.

The Paperwhite has the long press to look up a word feature that the Kindle app has, which it turns out is incredibly useful, because you can add extra dictionaries to the search. So if I can’t find a word in one dictionary, I can select another and another, as many as I have on the device. And I’m not limited to just Japanese-Japanese, I can get Japanese-English, etc. (I recommend getting one of the EDICT-based Japanese-English dictionaries. They’re cheap and good enough.)

Also, the Paperwhite will de-conjugate any verbs it comes across, making the dictionaries useful again.

The e-ink display is incredibly easy on the eyes, even for long-term viewing, and doesn’t guzzle battery, making it a good choice for long flights. Text can be enlarged, too. It looks really good.

It comes with a 単語帳, which records every word you look up, and lets you go over them as flash cards. Not as versatile as Anki, but a hell of a lot less fussing is involved. And it automatically shows you the sentence you were in when you looked up the word! If it only did SRS, it would be perfect. Oh well.

Using it, I’ve been plowing through books at an alarming rate. Alarming in that I’ve never been able to read Japanese this fast before.  I’m being serious here. I’ve tried a whole bunch of different ways of going about it, but this gives me the most enjoyment with the highest overall comprehension. And I can try books that may be a little too hard for me, because I have the dictionaries to fall back on.

Early on, manga looked bad on it. Really bad. But lately, publishers have gotten on board, and while it’s not as good as holding a real 単行本 in your hands, it’s good enough for travel. You can even zoom in on images with a comic reading mode that isn’t too bad. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s getting a lot better. (I wish Amazon would come out with a bigger Paperwhite that did manga at a bigger size for ease of reading.)

I’m saving the biggest plus for last: what I’m saving on shipping and space taken up by books. It’s incredible. Oh, sure, I’m a bibliophile. I am surrounded by books. But I am not against using an e-ink device to read material like fiction. I just don’t care much about that. (Art and music are different. I like those on paper. Same with manga. Give me paper books… unless I’m traveling. Ugh.)

Now, it does not come without drawbacks. And they may be deal-breakers for some of you.

What it won’t help you with.

For starters, setting up an account with Amazon Japan in order to get access to the books takes some work. Amazon US has Japanese books, but the selection is a mess, and all the titles are in romaji, making it a big useless pile of nonsense words to me. I don’t do romaji, and nobody should have to in order to read Japanese books. Also, Amazon US doesn’t have anything I’d even want to read if I could find it. We’re back at the publisher problem. 20th century business practices in the 21st century. Ugh.

Also, if you already have a Kindle Paperwhite and use it with another Amazon, like Amazon US or UK, then go buy another one. The only way you can use one Paperwhite for both accounts is to constantly wipe it and reset it. Yes, I think that’s dumb, too, but there you go.

And don’t try buy a Paperwhite from Amazon Japan. Even if you use a service like Tenso, they will send you a polite warning never to do that again, or else your account will be closed for good. It’s odd, but they don’t care if you buy anything else and have it shipped to the US by a third party, but if you do it with a Kindle, there’ll be hell to pay.

The device itself tends to get slow over time. Hold down the power button and reboot it if it starts acting sluggish. I usually have to do it once a week or two.

Sometime Amazon Japan will have issues with my credit cards, for no apparent reason I can find.

I can’t find a good way to get at my 単語帳 outside of the Paperwhite. That kind of sucks. I’d love to be able to export it to Anki. So much for that.

There are a lot of books not available as Kindle versions yet. A lot of books I really want to read. And some Kindle versions don’t come out until a month or two after the print version. But with patience comes big savings, and it also keeps me from over-buying. I only buy what I intend to read right now.

Finally, the DRM. It’s annoying. But it’s the trade-off I knew I had to make when going Kindle for Japanese. On the upside, as soon as a book is available in the Kindle store in Japan, I can be reading it if I so desire, at a fraction of what I would usually pay for having the real book shipped.

Summing it up.

So my advice to aspiring learners of Japanese is to get a Paperwhite. But first set up a test account with Amazon Japan and make sure you can buy books from them. Maybe try it on another device first, like an Android or iOS device.

Were I Amazon, I would publicize the heck out of this as a learning tool. The Japanese government is desperate to get new workers into the country, and to help teach people Japanese. This device would be a great tool for that, while also giving overseas fans a legit way to buy into “Cool Japan” without hassle. Everybody wins. Really. Everybody. (Well, except for DHL.)

Answer for Juan (Formatting Anki Cards for the A+ Test)

 Education, Technology  4 Responses »
Apr 022014
 

Juan had a question about how I did the Anki cards for the A+ exam. I started to write a reply, and it turned into a book. So I figured I’d post the reply as a blog post instead.

I created two types of cards for this deck.

Card Type #1: Basic Question/Answer Cards

The first type of card is a basic question/answer card, with a multiple-choice question on the front, and the answer on the back. I used that for all of the practice questions and mock test questions. That was about 60% of my deck.

Filling up the deck was pretty easy that way. I just copy/pasted the data from my PDF books (in Foxit) into a text editor, cleaned it up a little with find/replace, dumped it into a spreadsheet, then saved it as the proper data type to import into Anki. It takes some time, but it’s still a lot faster than typing every question out.

This is why I recommend the O’Reilly bookstore. All of their books come in PDF format (among others), and are DRM-free. DRM is a pain in the butt. It serves no real purpose, other than interfering with my lawful use of the material to study. I can get around the DRM with Greenshot (which takes a screen capture, then OCRs it), so it’s not like it stops anything, it just makes everything less efficient. (And it doesn’t stop real piracy!)

Sadly, Microsoft Press just left the O’Reilly store, so you can no longer get the DRM-free version of their excellent A+ prep books.

For some books, my only choice was using the Kindle Chrome app. You can’t copy/paste because “reasons,” I guess. I used Greenshot to OCR each chunk of data I wanted, and it would dump the OCR-ed text straight into the clipboard. It was generally about 97% accurate, but fixing that last 3% was really annoying.

Then I dumped the questions and answers into a spreadsheet, and added them all to Anki.

I recommend getting good mock test questions. Lots of them. Dump them in after you do the mock tests, so you don’t forget the trickier questions. If you dump them in before, you’ll lose the “I’ve never seen this before!” effect.

Also, add the study questions for things you don’t already know cold. Don’t clutter your deck with useless info you already know. (“The sun is hot,” “Water is wet,” that kind of stuff. If it’s that obvious to you, leave it out.)

Card Type #2: Fill In The Blank (AKA Cloze Deletion)

The second card type I made was a Cloze card type. “Cloze deletion” is a fancy way of saying “Fill in the blank.” You add tags around the data you want to be turned into a “_____” in the question field, and it gets revealed in the answer field as the original text. So if I tag the word “ABC”, in the question card is shows up as “___,” and on the answer card, it shows up as “ABC” again.

Anki uses HTML tags (actually XML) to mark Cloze fields. <c1> for starting the first Cloze field, and </c1> to end the first Cloze field. So it makes it really easy to turn any raw text into a Cloze card without using the editor. Just take your sentence, add the tags, and import it as a Cloze-type card.

If I need to remember, “Standard ABC has a transfer rate of XXX MB/sec,” I would set “ABC” as Cloze field 1, and “XXX” as Cloze field 2. That way, I would get two different question cards.

The formatting would look like this:

Standard <c1>ABC</c1> has a transfer rate of <c2>XXX</c2> MB/sec.

And just that would generate two cards.

One like this:

Front:”Standard ___ has a transfer rate of XXX MB/sec.”
Back: ABC

And another like this:

Front:”Standard ABC has a transfer rate of ___ MB/sec.”
Back: XXX

That forces me to think about the right answer, and try to remember it.

I find it’s best to do it one fact at a time. A card like this:

“Standard ___ has a transfer rate of ___ MB/sec,”

is more confusing than helpful. I could put in any combination of standards and data rates, and be right and wrong at the same time.

For remembering general concepts, and keeping things straight like Windows licensing options, interface data speeds, and graphics card standard resolutions, Cloze Deletion cards are really hard to beat. While I’ll start to remember the multiple choice answers over time, I’m forced to think about the answer for every Cloze card I get, because the answers aren’t pre-chewed for me.

One final trick: if you have a Logitech gaming keyboard with a bunch of programmable G-keys, you can program them to add the Cloze tags (as well as do other things) in the plain text editor of your choice. That saved me a lot of time, too! I had a whole set of G-keys programmed with Cloze tags for up to four facts.

Is all of this tedious? Hell yeah!

But is it effective? OMG yes.

And it’s cheaper than going to one of those schools that charge an arm and a leg to give you the same info you could get yourself.

Dead-tree vs. E-Books

The only way to get the data in quickly from paper books is with a cheap scanner and some good OCR software. There’s a ton of OCR software out there, and some of it is even free. I’ve done scanning and OCR for some of my Japanese test prep. It’s not fun, but it’s doable. It just adds a lot of unnecessary time. (But it’s still faster than typing.)

Alternativeto.net has a good list of OCR software alternatives. Some are even free/open source.

If you have a paper book by one of the O’Reilly publishers, you can register it on their website, and you may be eligible for a $5 e-book upgrade. Not all publishers go with this, but some do. It’s worth it to check it out. That could save you a ton of time.

Otherwise, I’d consider the money on paper books “lost,” and go buy digital editions I can work with more easily. Wrestling books and scanning every page I need is a waste of time I could use studying.

I prefer DRM-free books, but some of the best books are Kindle-only. So I bought whatever I felt was the best for me.

I only bought paper books if they came with a PDF version, or some other electronic version of the book. One of the Network+ books is like that. It uses some weird Adobe secure PDF thing that’s a pain in the butt to install, and even less fun to work with. My copy/paste is limited by DRM, for “reasons.” I can always use Greenshot in a pinch, but I don’t enjoy going that route.

It’s a big long of a reply, but I hope it helps. Any questions, just put them in the comments.

Reason Book and Other Stuff

 Education, Music, Technology  Comments Off on Reason Book and Other Stuff
Jan 052014
 

I’m starting to finally feel better. Well, except for the coughing that comes out of nowhere. I’ve heard that this cold takes a while to get over. Yay.

My Reason book showed up today. It’s huge! The type is kind of small, but the way it’s laid out, if it was published traditionally, this would easily go over 1000 pages. As it is, it comes in at around 356 pages or so. Lulu did a great job binding it, and color really makes a big difference– there are a lot of illustrations, and each one is sharp.

I haven’t had time to read the whole book yet (I just got it!), but I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with it.

Push or Maschine? Argh!

I’m still looking a lot at Push and Maschine as well. I’m leaning heavily towards getting one of them to speed things up. Since I’m not only using Reason, but also VSTs, I’m looking for something that will improve my workflow. I’m also looking for something that will help me come up with wild and crazy ideas.

Maschine has some nice features. It integrates really well with Komplete, and has an awesome preview method. But it looks like it’s geared more towards sampling, and I’m not really into that. I’m more into straight composition and using instruments, in which case Push looks much more attractive.

Push supports Live and Live Suite instruments natively, but Komplete and other third party VSTs don’t have that kind of deep support. I understand why. There’s also a third party solution that lets Push owners tweak the heck out of it so it’ll work better with third party VSTs and other DAWs as well.

I’m very glad that Ableton didn’t turn Push into a black box you can’t tinker with. I think it’s good that they welcome third party software. If anything, it should help sales.

I’d say the only bit I’m not looking forward to is configuring everything. Whoa. I sound like I’ve bought it already. I’m still thinking. It’s a lot of money.

Woof Woof. Books.

 Travel  Comments Off on Woof Woof. Books.
Dec 312013
 

I’m sick as a dog. When we got together at Christmas, we not only exchanged presents and shared Christmas cheer, we also swapped viruses around, it seems.

I have a nasty fever and generally feel like the bottom of someone’s shoe.

The worst part of it is that my SO and I aren’t going to be able to go out for New Year’s. I don’t want her to get sick. That would suck. She has a lot of lawyer stuff to do, and being sick would just make it a lot harder to do it.

And no, I haven’t made any progress on the monitor stand. I don’t think inhaling fumes would help any.

Books!

Being sick didn’t stop me from ordering a really cool book. Robert Anselmi runs Reason101.net, and he’s one of the long-time posters on the Propellerhead User Forums. He’s forgotten more about Reason than I know. Anyway, he has put together a huge book on how to get the most out of Reason’s standard instruments, as well as a few of its Rack Extensions. It’s called “Robert Anselmi’s Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack.”

He’s self-publishing it through Lulu. I managed to find a discount code, so I ordered the book. I can’t wait to read it when I’m feeling better.

The best part? You can get spiral binding! If you’re a musician, you know how awesome spiral bindings are. That version also comes with a free ReFill, too. It should get here soon.

Another book I got recently (for Christmas) was Daniel R. Mitchell’s book, “BasicSynth: Creating a Music Synthesizer in Software.” It’s an interesting read so far, but I realize I need to get better at programming before tackling parts of it. Someday, I’d love to make my own synthesizer. That would be so cool. And it would have the shiniest knobs and buttons ever.

In Closing

Happy New Year, everyone. Be safe. I’m just going to go in that corner over there and be sick some more.

Celebrating Pocky Day in Manhattan

 Food, Japanese Language, Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Celebrating Pocky Day in Manhattan
Nov 112013
 

Happy Pocky Day. (11-11!)

I celebrated by heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The recommended donation now is $25! Ouch! I saw a lot of exhibits at the museum that bring back memories of my childhood, like the Egyptian section and the Temple of Dendur. We used to come to the MMA when we lived in NJ, and I always looked forward to it. It’s one of my favorite museums in the world.

After looking at the Egyptian section, I looked at the American Decorative Arts section, then at the sculpture garden, then another favorite section of mine, Arms and Armor. I’ve always been fascinated at the various inventions humans have created to protect themselves from… other humans. And plate armor just looks cool. I’d hate to wear the real thing, though.

Then I broke for lunch. Lunch was in the basement cafeteria, which is the cheapest place to get lunch.

First I had to find it. It took a little wandering and map-consulting, but I found it.

It was about $25 for lunch, but it was good. I just wish I could have gotten a plain turkey sandwich, instead of something with cranberry mayonnaise on it. I like cranberries, and I like mayonnaise. I would just rather pick the dressing myself.

I swung by the medieval statues I saw on the way to the basement, and snapped a few photos with my phone, then snapped some more of the statue garden on my way to the modern art section.

I wandered around the modern art section, and finally found my favorite painting in the building. It’s a Jackson Pollock painting called “Autumn Rhythm.” I don’t know why I love it. I just do. That’s art.

By then it was about 2:30, and time to head out. I found souvenirs for everyone, headed out the door. I got a few shots of the building on my way out with the Nexus 5.

On to Times Square, and Kinokuniya

I grabbed a train to Times Square, then headed to Kinokuniya to do some more shopping, but really, by now I have all the books I need. This was more of a “make sure” trip. I really wish I had a Kinokuniya or similar book store nearby.

Then I headed back to the apartment to clean up and get changed. I was going to meet up with some friends in Greenwich Village for dinner. I got all cleaned up, and headed out.

Oh, My Battery!

We met up at Oh! Taisho! at around 7 or so, and had a nice conversation at dinner. The food was good. It was yakitori and other bar-style food. We talked forever, then went over to Starbucks and talked some more. It was a lot of fun.

But my battery was almost dead by 9. I had to borrow a portable battery charger from a friend of mine. I wasn’t happy about that. This is after recharging the battery once while I was changing. I’m not sure if it’s a driver thing, or a Kit Kat thing, or a Nexus 5 thing.

By about 10 or so, I had to head back, because I don’t want to be out too late and wake up my SO’s parents, so we said our goodbyes.

Tomorrow I go back home. It’s supposed to snow.

Back in Manhattan.

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Back in Manhattan.
Nov 102013
 

The drive to New York City was uneventful, until I missed the turn for the parking garage and had to drive around for 15 minutes to get lined up again. That’s the one thing I don’t like about Manhattan– it’s really easy to wind unable to get where you want to get to, even if it’s just right there!

I got in and got unloaded safely, and flopped down for 10 minutes. Then I headed to Kinokuniya to stare at their books. There wasn’t really anything I had to have this time. It was just nice to wander around and look at stuff. I wish there was an easier way to find potentially interesting books– at least the fiction books. Non-fiction and other stuff is pretty easy to go through, but it’s hard to tell if a novel is going to be any good without reading it.

I got back the apartment and had dinner with my SO’s mom and stepdad, who are lovely people, and then relaxed for the evening. I haven’t done that in a few days.

Kindle // Nexus 5

 Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Kindle // Nexus 5
Nov 012013
 

I finally bit the bullet and got a Kindle Paperwhite a few days ago. The first one showed up with a defective screen, and Amazon overnighted a new one out right away.

The display is really easy on the eyes. It’s the sort of thing you can just sit and read for hours. I read a lot on my tablet, but the Kindle makes it so I can read for hours and not feel any appreciable eye strain.

I’m looking forward to taking it with me to Boston and New York.

Oh, a New Nexus!

The Nexus 5 was announced earlier today, and I managed to order a 32GB model before they all disappeared. It was a fluke that I caught the announcement just as it was happening, or else I wouldn’t have gotten an order in on time.

My Galaxy Nexus has been a good phone for the last year and a half, but sadly, it can’t keep up anymore. It won’t be getting any more OS updates, and I’m tired of only hitting the 16GB storage wall. (It’s really less than that with the system overhead.) Some people virtuously declare that they don’t even need 8GB. I’m happy for them. I’m not one of them. I have a lot of music, e-books, and other “stuff” I carry on my phones all the time. I need that extra space, and I wind up using it all.

I hope the N5 arrives before I have to leave for Boston. I want to really put it through its paces on a long road trip.

On the other hand, it would suck if I had to leave it on the front porch for a week while I’m gone…. I better call somebody to have them check my porch in case it doesn’t get here in time.

Fahrenheit 451 or What Do I Do With These Things You Call “Books?”

 Education, Technology  Comments Off on Fahrenheit 451 or What Do I Do With These Things You Call “Books?”
Jul 312013
 

Lately I have been getting rid of books I don’t need. So far, I have donated about 8 boxes full to the local thrift shop. I set aside 2 boxes more for my friend’s son, who likes science fiction books.

My main targets for removal are old law books, old computer books, and out-of-copyright literary works. The law/computer books just aren’t current anymore, so other than as decorations or ballast, they don’t have much value. I’m hoping maybe decorators can use the law books, or someone might want the computer books for ballast.

The literary works I’m trying to give to people who can use them, but even that is difficult. With Project Gutenberg, I can download Mark Twain’s books whenever I feel like it, so having a paper copy doesn’t make any sense. But I know someone out there might want one. Someone like my mom, who looks at computers the same way you or I might look at a live snake.

I like books. They’re comforting. But I have too many, so the ones that don’t make the cut are going out the door.

O’Reilly has a good program going on. Register your O’Reilly books with the site, and you can get DRM-free e-book versions for $5 each. I spent a good two hours registering books, and I’ll probably start buying the e-book versions soon. I’ll probably get rid of some of the older paper copies either way. They just take up too much space.

3D and 2D Resources for Blender, Metasequoia, Inkscape, and Sketchbook

 Art, Japanese Language, Technology  Comments Off on 3D and 2D Resources for Blender, Metasequoia, Inkscape, and Sketchbook
Mar 122013
 

As I’ve been messing around with Metasequoia more and more, I realize that DeviantArt tutorials, while useful, will only get me so far. There are some really great tutorials out there, but it takes time to find the ones that apply to what I need to know, or the things I don’t know I need to know.

Things like how important it is to have a good set of references before I even start 3D modeling. It’s the sort of thing I knew, but didn’t really grab it until I had a few consecutive failures.

So I decided to double-skill-up (or maybe even triple/quadruple), by getting some books on 3D character creation in Metasequoia and Blender in Japanese.

I wound up buying all three books in the 3DCG日和 (3DCG biyori) series, as well as a book called 3D Character Animation Manual (it’s also in Japanese.)

3DCG日和

Volume 1 of 3DCG日和 covers the basics. And I mean it. It goes through everything you need to know to get up and running with Metasequoia, and explains why you need to drop the $45 on licensing it. (Plugins like Keynote don’t work without it, and you can’t save in other formats!) The tutorials are pretty easy to follow if you speak N2 level Japanese, or can handle N3 if you don’t mind looking up some stuff.

If you stick it out, you’ll make 5 or so models of varying types, from the dead-simple-easy dice-head guy to a big bad demon-type character. The exercises ramp up in levels of difficulty. It also covers UVs as well. The book covers low-polygon to mid-level polygon count figures.

There’s also some info on designing characters in Paint Tool SAI, a program I don’t have much experience with.

All of the illustrations are in color, so it’s easy to follow. One downside, it’s a 2009 book, so it covers an older version of Metasequoia, but I haven’t really run into any problems with it.

Volume 2 … I haven’t worked with yet. All color illustrations, though, and it takes you through building a model, adding clothes and bones, and animating it. It came out in 2010, so it should have some updated info on the first book. Also, make sure to check the publisher’s website for errata in volume 2.

Volume 3: To be honest I haven’t worked with it yet either, but after spending an hour reading it, it looks promising. It’s devoted to building 3D characters in Blender, which is a powerful (and at times frustrating for me) program. I’m looking forward to improving my Blender skills.

You learn by creating two characters: one low-poly, and one high-poly. It covers skinning and boning and animating as well. It came out in 2012, and covers Blender 2.6. (The current version of Blender is 2.66, so it’s pretty close.)

None of the 3DCG日和 books comes with a CD/DVD, for which I am grateful, to be honest. I’m tired of keeping track of all the coasters I get with books these days. You can download everything you need from the websites in the books. All three books are in full color, and for computer books, aren’t all that expensive: around 2500 yen a piece. That’s about $27-28 per book, plus there’s shipping, but you’d probably pay $50-$60 for similar books in English.

The 3D Character Animation Manual

The 3D Character Animation Manual is a good all-around book for learning the process. It starts from the design phase, where the author introduced me to Inkscape, which is an awesome freeware vector graphics program. (Think open-source Illustrator, but just as powerful.)

One thing he pointed out was the importance of having a good design and locking it down before you start modeling. That’s actually really good advice. ISAO gives similar advice in volume 1 of 3DCG日和. I’ve been polishing my drafting skills, because I’m out of practice. Ugh.

The 3D Character Animation Manual also covers the process of building a model, designing clothes, creating the graphic skins for it, and adding bones. It also goes into how to use Keynote, which is a plugin a lot of Metasequoia users are interested in using, but sometimes folks have some frustrating results.

Like volume 1 of 3DCG日和, it’s a 2009 book, so some info may be a bit dated, but I haven’t seen anything better than these two books on Metasequoia that’s any more current. If you’ve seen anything newer, let me know.

The 3D Character Animation Manual goes for 2800 yen new. About $30-31 these days.

The tutorials are pretty straightforward, and are in N2 level Japanese. N3 if you have a dictionary handy. It comes with color illustrations and a CD-Rom with the model data on it, an old version of Metasequoia, a plugin for handling UVs, and some extras. It’s about 100 MB of data. Most importantly, it has the X and Z guide image files for creating the face/hair/accessories for the tutorial character. You might have to dig a little to find them, but they’re all there.

Sketchbook Pro 6

So as part of learning how to make my own 3D stuff, I have been working on my 2D graphic arts, and wow, are they rusty. Fortunately, with some work, they have come back pretty quickly. Having a good sketchbook, a good eraser stick, and some good, sharp pencils helps, but so does having a good graphics and illustration program and a tablet that doesn’t suck.

I’ve been using Photoshop since version 4.0 in the mid-90s. Yes, I’ve been using it that long. And there are parts of it I still don’t entirely get. In fact, Photoshop is probably one of my least favorite programs for about 85-90% of what I do. But for that last 10-15% it’s vital.

I was getting frustrated with Photoshop and was looking for a good sketching program, and started looking.

A lot of people recommended Autodesk’s Sketchbook Pro, version 6. It’s not a bad program. It has some useful features, like an ability to mirror across the center line. That’s handy for drawing things like eyes, eyebrows, ears, and other things that need to be symmetrical, but it only works if you draw head-on all the time.

It also has some useful tools, like a circle that you can plop down, and no matter how you draw, it comes out as a circle, or as a segment of one. It also has a set of French Curves, which were fine until I wanted to flip them over and use the reverse side… that irritated the hell out of me, because there was no way to do that without using mirroring, which I couldn’t use.

The brushes also irritated me. I’m a fan of Photoshop’s pencil. It’s a mighty layer of hard pixels. I want a black pixel there, I get it. No anti-aliasing, just pixels. I love that. But in Sketchbook, it requires setting up a custom brush, then futzing with it ad nauseam, and I still didn’t like the results. I suppose if you want that watercolor or marker look, it’s great. Heck, it even comes with a set of virtual Copic markers, so that can’t be too bad.

But it’s probably not going to see much use from me.

It’s about $35 for the CD version on Amazon, and $60 if you buy the download version from Autodesk. Yes, that’s correct. The disk is cheaper than the download. I don’t recommend dropping your money on it, unless you have to have a raster graphics drawing program. There are better programs out there.

Like Inkscape.

Inkscape is Inkredible

I discovered Inkscape when reading The 3D Character Animation Manual. The author was discussing how important it is to create a front and side view of the character you want to create that is in perfect proportion. And he was showing how he did it in Inkscape, and it looked really good.

The best part about Inkscape is that it is open-source. Free. As in beer and in speech. I had some bad experiences with the GIMP a while back, so I was a little hesitant, but Inkscape is a better Illustrator than Illustrator. It’s dead simple to use, has easy-to-understand context menus, and it’s easy to wrangle the panels. (It is always a chore in Adobe products to get those things out of my sight. I hate little context menus covering my artwork all the time.)

Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit. You do need to read some tutorials on Inkscape before you start using it. It’s not 100% intuitive. But it only took me 3-4 DeviantArt tutorials before I was up and running. Look for microUgly’s guide and White_Heron’s tutorials. Both are very useful.

I never really liked using vector graphics, probably because I didn’t like Illustrator. I like them now. Inkscape has given me all kinds of ideas for things I want to try.

Books and Hot Pizza

 Travel  Comments Off on Books and Hot Pizza
Oct 232012
 

Yesterday was kind of a blur, but I still remember what I was doing.

I slept in until 8:30, ate breakfast with my SO’s folks, and set out for Book Off at around 10 a.m. I probably spent two hours there, just looking at books. All kinds of books. I was looking for some inexpensive light novels, some books about business etiquette, maybe some manga, anything, really, that was cheap and interesting.

I found four books on business manners, and a textbook that teaches business Japanese through role playing. That last one was a bit pricey, but it looks really interesting. The other books were cheap– $9 or so. Considering I’d usually pay three times as much, it was a bargain.

I carried my backpack with me for carrying any books I bought. I learned that in Japan. Backpacks rule for carrying heavy stuff, just make sure they don’t open up on you. Mine did that in Book Off. That was slightly embarrassing.

The Manhattan Book Off has a pretty good selection, but don’t expect to find that obscure book you’ve been searching for there.

Done with Book Off, I walked over to Kinokuniya again, because I didn’t get to spend as much time there as I wanted to yesterday. I looked at some more business books, and wound up getting a good book on keigo by Kotoba no Oji-san (sorry, that’s I how I know him), a book on Embarrassing Japanese (things people say in Japanese that are just bad Japanese, according to the authors), a book of business e-mail expressions, and a book on how to write proper business letters.

I also found a novel to read for later.

While I was in the basement, I found their stationery store. I love Japanese stationery stores. There’s so much interesting stuff to look at, I could easily lose track of time there. I didn’t. But I did find a good brush roll for my calligraphy brushes. The one I have is getting a little too full of brushes, and I picked up 500 sheets of A4 copy/printer paper, so I can send of A4 stuff if I need to. (I’ve been looking for that!)

A lot of the stuff I went to the trouble to buy in Japan, I could have just bought at Kinokuniya.

That made me want to facepalm a bit.

Okay, a lot.

But at least now I know where to get all of this stuff. I wish they had an online stationery store. That would be great.

HOT!

I headed back to the apartment, because I needed to hit the road soon, but I decided to stop off at Frank’s Pizza on 23rd Street to get a bite. Frank’s has good, fast cheese pizza, New York style, which is my favorite. It’s what I grew up on.

Frank’s pizza is great, but I burned the hell out of my tongue. I should have been more patient and given it a chance to cool, but I felt like I was in a hurry, so I roasted my tongue pretty good.

Pain aside, that was good pizza. But it’s hot.

I also had a genuine New York Experience. A guy walked into the store, which is kind of small to begin with, and started barking and howling like a dog. No idea why. That’s just New York for you.

With a lot of help, I got my car loaded up and I left the apartment building at around 3:30 p.m. If I didn’t stop for anything, I might make it home by 12:30. I got an e-mail from one potential employer who was interested in me, and wanted my English resume as soon as possible, so I didn’t want to spend the night on the road.

The traffic around the Holland Tunnel was heavy, so I didn’t get to the Turnpike until 4:30. I had to skip Mitsuwa. Sorry Sis, I’ll buy it online for you.

Traffic was pretty smooth all the way to Baltimore. I saw another photo speed zone, and saw the camera catch a guy ahead of me, so I made sure I pegged it at 55. I don’t want a ticket.

It’s a long drive to NC from NYC. While I was in Virginia, I noticed that at some point, those three yellow lights on the dashboard finally went out. So whatever it was either fixed itself or fell off of the car.

I got home around 1:30 a.m., and got unpacked by about 3.

I slept like a log after that.

All in all, it was a very good trip, and very productive. I’ll have to wait and see how it pans out with the various companies.

Boston to Manhattan

 Travel  Comments Off on Boston to Manhattan
Oct 212012
 

I made it to Manhattan.

I thought about going a different way to Manhattan, because the traffic on I-95 through Connecticut was so unpleasant last time. The valet at the hotel suggested taking the Mass Pike to 84, and just riding that to 287 into the city, I think. It sounded tempting, but I wasn’t feeling adventurous today. I wanted to get to the city quickly and not get lost along the way, so I went the way I came.

There were only one or two areas where traffic jammed up, and it was only for 10-15 minutes or so. Not bad. I made it safely to Manhattan, and got unpacked. I’m staying at my SO’s mother’s apartment, and she took the extra time to help me figure out how to get to B&H Photo on 9th Avenue. She figured it out for me, and I set out.

If you’ve never been to B&H, you should go once. It’s crazy. It’s packed full of people, and there are conveyor belts carrying green boxes full of gear all over the place. It feels like something out of a movie. I wanted to pick up some film for my mom, who still uses a small Leica point-and-shoot film camera, and I wanted a spare battery for my Nex.

You really have to listen carefully at B&H, and pay attention. Things move fast. I blinked for a second and wound up at the wrong counter to pay, but they quickly sent me to the right person. I’ve bought a lot of gear from them over the years, and they never disappoint. I usually buy online because the 10% NYC tax is rough.

I grabbed the 34M crosstown bus to Herald Square Station, and grabbed a train to Bryant Park. From there, Kinokuniya was easy to find. (Well, I used Maps to find it.)

I spent about an hour in Kinokuniya, and I could probably spend several more there. Unfortunately, I needed to get back to the apartment for dinner at 7, so I cut my visit short and went back.

Tomorrow I’ll go back to Kinokuniya, visit Book Off, and we’ll see about anything else. I’m planning on going to Mitsuwa in New Jersey to pick up some stuff for my sister, but I don’t know if I’ll have time.

Jackson Pollock and The Tallest Toilet in Nagoya

 Food, Japan, Photography, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Jackson Pollock and The Tallest Toilet in Nagoya
Dec 112011
 

Today I went to Nagoya again. (Again?) Yes, again. There was a Jackson Pollock 100th birthday commemorative exhibition going on at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, so you’re darn right I was going. It was a collection of a lot of his major pieces, even pieces from Iran, which I would never be able to see in the US. So of course I was going.

Jackson Pollock is one of my favorite artists. There’s no way I wasn’t going.

I stopped at the post office on the way out of town, only to have my ATM card declined. Twice. Apparently I hit the limit when I was in Toyohashi, and it’s not US midnight yet. Doh.

I still had plenty of money, but I’m always paranoid about not having enough cash on me here. In a pinch, I can usually use a credit card, but there’s always a chance that my card will be randomly declined. Either it’s security or just incompatible networks, it’s embarrassing and annoying. I wish there was a way to tell them, “Hey, it’s me! Let it go through!” Sadly, not yet.

Also, a lot of stores here will only take cash, so that’s also something to keep in mind.

It’s Not All Paint Splatters!

I got to JR Nagoya around 1, then made my way to Sakae, where the exhibition was.

On the way, a gratuitous shot of Oasis21 with my IXY, which I keep in my pocket now pretty much all the time.

Oasis 21 Nagoya, Japan

The museum was close by. They had an amazing number of Pollock’s paintings. As I said before, some came from places the US doesn’t have good relations with (like Iran), so I got to see things up close and personal that I probably would never be able to see in the US.

I also got to see a lot of Pollock’s early period work, and his really late work, both of which were surprisingly different from what I’m most familiar with, but were both impressive in different ways.

They even had a mock-up of his studio that you could walk around in, and a photo of his paint-splattered floor you could walk on. It was pretty cool.
Jackson Pollock Exhbit, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art -1

They also had paint cans and brushes and other tools he used to create his paintings with.
Jackson Pollock Exhbit, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art -3

After a couple of hours of geeking out, I headed to the gift shop and bought some post cards and a clear file. The clear file is awesome. It’s clear, but has a band from one of his paintings on it. Way cool.

Walkin’ In The Sky

I headed back to JR Nagoya, and decided that it was time to check out the Midland Square building, which is pretty darn cool. I had been meaning to go there for a while, but with all of the rain, it was impossible. Why? Because the observation deck is all outside! It’s 47 stories up, and the observation deck is 5 stories high, and all outdoors. According to their website, it’s the tallest outdoor observation deck in Japan.

It’s cool.

Well, it’s also cold, because it’s mid-December.

But I was willing to tough it out. I got some really nice shots, and even shot a little video of the walk around the periphery.

So here are some of the nicer shots of the Nagoya Skyline from my little Canon IXY:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

JR Nagoya:
JR Nagoya

The spiky sculpture in front of JR Nagoya, from 47 stories up. Scarier than it looks!
JR Nagoya

You can see people boarding a Shinkansen!
JR Nagoya

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Castle in the lower left corner:
Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Tower

Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

Looking down from the top:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

I really like this angle and this shot in general:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

The light in general was strong as the sun was setting, so there was a lot of dramatic lighting:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

I felt the call of nature, and headed to the restroom there. That is one fancy and technologically advanced restroom. It’s almost as cool as the one at Oasis in Akihabara. Almost. But pretty close. There’s a hand dryer built into the sink, so as soon as you’re done washing, you can dry your hands without getting other peoples’ restroom cooties on your hands. And unlike a lot of air dryers in the US, it only stops when your hands are dry.

Of course I took a picture. It was cool!
The Coolest Sink in Nagoya.

I went back out and took some more photos. I only had my IXY with me, and just as I was getting into it, the battery started to die.

Boo.

I got a few more shots of Nagoya Castle, with more dramatic light as the sun was getting on with setting at a much quicker pace than I expected:
Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline and Nagoya Castle from the Midland Square Building.

I managed to squeeze out a couple more photos, and then it quit completely.

This shot is one of my favorites:
Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Nagoya Skyline from the Midland Square Building.

Last look at the Nagoya Skyline.

And after the Christmas tree photo here, the camera called it quits for a while:
Christmas on the 47th floor, Nagoya, Japan.

Well, I did manage to get this shot of JR Nagoya:
JR Nagoya

Not bad for a “cheap” little point-and-shoot camera, huh? It’s really not about the gear, it’s where you point it!

Supplies!

Satisfied with my trip to Midland Square, I decided to go look for some office supplies to take back home. I found Shimojima (シモジマ) using Google Maps, and hopped on the Sakura-dori subway line to Marunouchi. I got off there, and started walking. It’s a few blocks away.

Shimojima is 4-5 stories full of office supplies. They had stuff I didn’t even know I needed. So I stocked up!

I bought stuff like A3-sized clear folders, which are 20-page binders with 20 clear plastic pages. I can stick my good calligraphy pieces in there and keep them protected. I learned this from S-buchou.

I also stocked up on Frixion refills. Yeah, they erase in high heat, but for just jotting stuff down, they’re pretty neat pens. And the US version doesn’t take refills.

I also got some erasers, and a couple of cardboard tubes for putting paper, posters, and calendars in for safe transport. (Going back to Tokyo is going to be difficult!)

Then I headed to Sakae and Maruzen, and picked up some calendars. They make great gifts for the folks back home. They’re one-page calendars with traditional Japanese-style prints on them, printed on good quality paper. (And they’re only 1000 yen a piece. Not bad!) It’s a suitably Japanese-enough present, but not tacky. And after a year, they can toss them or whatever.

It’s almost as good as food.

I stopped off at a drug store in the Sakae Underground shopping mall to get some pain relief patches for my increasingly sore muscles. All of this moving around and carrying stuff is making me sore.

Then I headed to Hisayaodori to get some more books.

Then a trip to JR Nagoya, to go to the Tokyo Hands there, to get some Nanoblock puzzles for my neighbor’s kids.

After that, I needed dinner. Badly.

I’ve been at Mokumoku a lot, because it’s a good restaurant, but I needed to try something else. So I went Breizh Cafe Creperie. Crepes are BIG in Japan, but they’re not necessarily cheap. I got a salad, a bacon and tomato crepe, a chocolate crepe (as big as my head), and a ginger ale for 4,000 yen.

Yikes.

But they were some really fine crepes.

I finished up around 9:30 or so, then grabbed a train to Okazaki. I got home around 10:30 or so.

It was a very successful day!

I’m Only Happy When It Rains

 Japan, Japanese Language, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Nov 192011
 

It was pouring rain, but I decided to go to Nagoya anyway. Since my plans to go to Kyoto this weekend were ruined, I refused to sit in my apartment all day. I was itching to go out and do something.

My pants got soaked twice by the time I rode my bike to the station. I stopped off on the way to the station at the school, and hung out in Aoi Hall for a few minutes while I tried to dry off. Then when I headed back out again, I got soaked almost immediately.

I have a pair of North Face hiking pants that are supposed to dry quickly, and they do, but they also get wet quickly in a downpour, umbrella or no umbrella. Oh well.

Nothing Is More Refreshing Than the Rain

Meanwhile, at the station, JR Tokai was having its “Sawayaka Walking Tour,” or “Refreshing Walking Tour” of Okazaki event going on today. They are holding the event all over the Tokai region on various days.

I suppose it’s refreshing today, in the same way a cold shower while being fully clothed is refreshing.

I grabbed a train to Nagoya, and headed to the Mermaid Cafe for a quick bite because I skipped breakfast. Then I went to the information booth at the station to find the fastest way to get to the Tokugawa Art Museum. I started asking in Japanese, but she forced me into English.

I didn’t think my Japanese was that bad. Maybe her desire to use English was just stronger than my desire to use Japanese.

She showed me the city bus lines and the tourist bus lines. I decided on the city line, because it was cheaper, and because I thought it would be faster.

Back out in the soaking rain, the bus shows up at 2:35 instead of 2:20, and doesn’t get to the stop I want until 3:10.

Maybe the tourist buses would have been faster.

Also, every time the bus stopped, the engine cut off. Every time it got ready to move, the engine started up, and the driver announced that he’s going to move the bus.

That’s one major difference between Japan and the US.

The Tokugawa Art Museum

I got off at my stop and started trying to find the museum, and it was still pouring rain. I got soaked for the fourth time by now, I think. I found it eventually.

Here it is!

Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya 2

The museum had some really neat exhibits. There were swords from the 12th century on display, and a special exhibition of a lot of material from the Tale of Genji— manuscripts, etc., and they had a lot of tea ceremony stuff and incense burners on display, too. Actually, they had quite a lot of those on display.

If you like cultural stuff, then I’d recommend it.

The gardens are supposed to be really nice, but since it was late Fall and pouring rain, I can’t say one way or another.

You be the judge:

Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya 3

More Book Shopping!

At 4:30, I headed out and grabbed a cab to go to Ozone station. The driver was a nice guy. We had a nice talk about politics, in Japanese, of course.

Once again, I must reiterate the importance of speaking the language, wherever you go. You don’t have to be great at it, but people will generally appreciate it if you try to speak their language. I find I get a whole lot more out of living here by speaking Japanese. I can’t imagine living here longer than a few weeks without speaking it.

Also, talking to everyone in Japanese is great practice. And fun, too! I learn a whole lot more about Japan by talking to people than by reading books or watching TV. Maybe it’s my reporter background kicking in.

From Ozone, I took a JR line train to Chi-something, then grabbed the subway to Sakae to look at a couple of calligraphy supply shops. The first one was pretty good. It’s in one of the municipal buildings, and has a really good selection.

The second shop one was more of an art supply shop, and didn’t have what I was looking for, but it still had some nice stuff if you’re into brush painting more so than calligraphy.

After that, I headed to Osu again. I found a couple of used games, and did a little shopping at a book store where the music was so loud, I thought my ears were going to bleed. I stopped by Mandarake, because they have used games as well as interesting old toys, too. (Like old Godzillas and stuff like that. All ungodly expensive, but it sure takes me back!)

Then I went back to JR Nagoya, to check out Sanseido on the 11th floor. They have a nice collection of books for Japanese language learners, but it took me a few minutes to find it.

After that, I picked up some more doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, then stopped at Mokumoku for dinner.

I got home around 10:30 pm, by which time the rain had stopped, so my bike ride home wasn’t so bad. I got a full day in in spite of the rain.

I win!

Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone!

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone!
Nov 132011
 

Started off the day by going to Book-Off in Okazaki on 248 to check on a few things. For starters, don’t even bother trying to find Japanese textbooks at Book-Off, because they don’t seem to carry them. I did find some other cheap books there, though.

I headed back to the apartment to drop off my used books, then headed to JR Okazaki to head off to Nagoya again. It was a late start, so I didn’t get to Nagoya until 3:30, and I finally got to Maruzen in Sakae around 4:30 or so. I spent a lot of time looking at book covers. Maruzen has a lot of book covers there, and in a lot of sizes, but unfortunately, they don’t have any big enough to deal with the ultra-thick books I’ve been buying lately.

I went back to the 3rd floor to look at the Japanese language education books again. They have a really good selection. I picked up some good practice books, because for some reason, I suck at particles. I really want to fix the stuff I keep getting wrong.

I Discovered Oatmeal!

Then I went to the grocery store next door, it’s in the Meiji-ya Sakae building. (Look for 明治屋栄.)

The store had a lot of neat “foreign” foods, and a nice selection. It even had Odlum’s Steel Cut Oats, which are sold in the U.S. as McCann’s. Of course, now I feel like a fool for shipping so much oatmeal over in the first place, but I had no idea they would have oatmeal, let alone proper steel cut oatmeal, in Japan. It’s really smashing stuff for breakfast.

Book-Off was having a 105 yen sale, so I grabbed a few books (yeah, I just bought some in Okazaki, now I’m buying more in Sakae).

After that, I headed over to Osu to see if I could find the Kenkyuusha dictionary for my electronic dictionary at the big electronics store there. No luck. I went to one of the used video game stores there, and found Valkyria Chronicles 3 for the PSP for 1200 yen.

This Time, Try Asking Someone

I decided to go back to JR Nagoya and check Bic Camera again to see if I could get my hands on that Kenkyuusha dictionary. This time I decided to ask around a bit. After some asking around and explaining, the salesperson found a copy of the dictionary I wanted. It’s the Kenkyuusha 5th edition 和英 dictionary for the Casio electronic dictionaries. Score!

I used all of the points I had saved up for now to reduce the cost of the dictionary by about 2500 yen. See, this is where point cards are really handy. A 12,000 yen dictionary only cost me about 9,500 yen. Still expensive, but much cheaper than the paper version, which runs around 20,000 yen, and it fits in my pocket. (Sort of.)

Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone

I looked around to see if I could find a privacy guard for my Nexus One. I couldn’t find one that would fit, but I did see a lot of crap I can glue on my cell phone.

They had all kinds of fake crystals and candy and cupcakes and such… I think I’ll pass for now. I don’t want to cut my hands to shreds on platic candy. (Or see plastic candy all the time and get hungry.)

All of this running around made me hungry, so I headed to Mokumoku again to store up on more vegetables and that great beef stew. I really needed those veggies, even if they cost 2500 yen. (Hey, it’s all you can eat.) Dinner was once again delicious, even if my wallet took a hit. I’ll make up for it during the week by eating cheaply.

I know, I could buy local vegetables and make them more cheaply, but I don’t have the time for it right now.

I made it back to JR Okazaki at 10 pm, and got home at about 10:15 or so. I stopped at Family Mart to get some sandwiches, because I eat Spartan during the week. (If Spartans ate pre-made convenience store ham sandwiches, anyway.)

Installing the Dictionary

I spent about an hour installing the dictionary. I had to run it in Vista emulation mode to get it to run in Win 7-64, then I had to load a piece of software from the Casio website just to get the laptop to recognize the electronic dictionary. Pain in the butt, but it works.

If you have trouble installing dictionaries or getting your Casio recognized by Windows 7, I would head to the Casio Japanese website and look for the bonus software for the Ex-Word series. Installing it will install the correct USB drivers for detecting the Ex-Word series of electronic dictionaries. Now you can run the install software on the dictionary disc.

The good news is that you only have to do it once.

The Student’s New Clothes

Now I need to find some big & tall sports clothes. My North Face shirts are rapidly disintegrating, and it’s getting colder these days. Apparently, the velcro on my pants is chewing up the special knit fabric on the North Face shirts, so the net effect is that my shirts are rapidly getting torn up.

Argh.

The main problem is that Japanese men’s clothing sizes don’t go much beyond the US M size. That’s right, their XL is just a bit baggier than our M.

Shopping in Nagoya. In the Rain. Again.

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Shopping in Nagoya. In the Rain. Again.
Nov 052011
 

It’s never a good idea to go to Nagoya without a plan. At least it’s not a good idea for me. But I went anyway, because the idea of sitting around all day on a weekend just gnawed at me. And yes, once again, this weekend it’s raining. Argh!

Every week I’ve been in Okazaki, it seems like the weather pattern has been the same. It’s sunny and beautiful all week when I’m in class, it turns cloudy on Friday, and then it rains all day Saturday and Sunday. Expletive expletive weather. This has been going on for about 5 weeks now, and everybody is sick of it.

By everybody I mean me. Although I’m sure I’m not the only person who hates this pattern.

I slept in a bit this morning, and lazed around a little bit while trying to form a plan. What to do in the rain… what to do…

At around 2 p.m., I decided to just go out and do something in Nagoya, so I grabbed the 2:30 train out of Okazaki, and got to Nagoya around 3 p.m. Part of the plan was to get some of the money I spent on my new electronic dictionary back from Bic Camera, because the day I bought it, I found it for 10,000 yen cheaper, and it turns out that Bic slashed the price by 10,000 yen as well. So I decided to follow V-san’s advice and get that 10,000 yen back!

Flick My Bic

I headed over, and sure enough, after a bit of waiting and some shuffling of papers, I got my 10,000 yen back. They had to “sell” me a new one, and I “returned” my old one, and I lost a few points in the process, but I don’t really care. Cash is cash, and with the yen as hideously expensive as it is these days, I’ll take cash any day over points. 10,000 yen is about $120 these days!

Thanks, V-san! You saved me a ton of money!

And Bic, that was awesome.

In Japan, Skippy is in the Imported Food Store, Next to the Caviar

I did some strolling, and found a 5-story drugstore nearby… it looked impressive on the outside, but it was really cramped on the inside. I kind of got wrapped up in a quest to find Pepto Bismol, just in case… yeah, that was a total failure. Not gonna find that outside of Tokyo, I think. Maybe not at all.

Then I wandered around some more, and went to the back of the station, back around, and found a neat International grocery store, called Seijoishii. It’s kind of wedged in back behind the station, behind the Marriott. If you’re craving some goodies from home (i.e. not Japan), they may have what you want. I picked up some Ricola lemon-mint cough drops, because my throat has been killing me on-and-off since I had that cold a month ago.

This is Now a Blog About Me Buying Books… Or Trying to, Anyway.

Then I headed off to see if I could find Sanseido. It shows up in Google Maps, but after walking around the target building and not seeing anything, I gave up and went to Junkudou instead. I found some nice manly-looking cloth book covers there. I’ve been looking for some of those. When you buy books here, they always offer you the paper book covers, but I don’t like them. I wanted the cloth ones for a long time. Sort of like cloth vs. paper grocery bags.

After that, it was off to Sakae, to look around at the Book-Off there, because it’s big. Book-Off sells not just books, but all kinds of second-hand stuff, like jewelry, clothes, sporting goods, electronics… but mostly used books.

I found a bunch of used books on sale for cheap, so I nabbed them.

Then I headed up a stop to Hisayaodori to pick up a few more books. There’s this sci-fi novel series I want to read, and all of the books are about as big a phone books, density-wise. The nice thing about buying them at the store there is that I get freebies for buying them there, but they weigh a freakin’ ton.

Bagging It

I crossed the street to the Tokyu Hands in Hisayaodori to get a cloth shopping bag. I’ve been meaning to do this for a couple of weeks, anyway. The 25 pounds of books that are making my hands go numb have absolutely nothing to do with it.

Okay, it has everything to do with it.

I went up about 5 flights to the floor marked “bags.” No luck. Wrong bags. Up 2 more flights, to “kitchenwares.” All I see are bags that are very much not for me. Then I saw a Trader Joe’s bag.”Well, at least it’s a brand I know…” Then I look over and saw a Whole Foods Market bag, and just laughed, because I shop there in the US. The Whole Foods in Chapel Hill is one of the oldest stores in the chain. It’s been there forever, and before that, it was an independent store called Wellspring, and it was pretty popular even then.

The laugh was on me, though. 1200 yen for a $4 bag. Yeah, I felt like an idiot, but the Trader Joe’s bag was 1600 yen. And all of the other bags had stuff written on it in French, and were too small. No thanks. Give me that American size bag that I can stuff a car or a whole cow into!

It’s Even Carolina Blue!

I’m hungry. On my way to the bookstore in Hisayaodori, I had spotted a nice little restaurant called The Sun Room, in the underground passageway called Cenrtal Park at the Hisayaodori subway station. They serve a lot of organic food there, and some vegetables, I think. Turns out it’s a chain, but it’s fine by me. The spaghetti with mozzarella and asparagus in pesto was good, and cheap.

One thing about restaurants here that’s different from restaurants in the US, and that’s ordering. In Japan, you order everything through dessert up front, then your server never comes back. In the US, the server keeps coming back to make sure you don’t want to order another cow, or another giant tub of ice cream, or whatever. (Now I’m getting hungry again.) It’s something small that I need to remember to adjust to every now and then.

Now it’s 7:30, and I had to rush to Takashimaya at Nagoya Station in a hurry, before it closed, to buy a decent blanket. It’s getting cold, and I can’t run the heater at night without wrecking my throat. So I caught the subway, got to the station, hustled up 9 flights of escalators, and made it to bedding by 7:50. (Hey, I was impressed.) The store clerks helped me find a blanket on sale that would fit my bed that I could wash and hang up to dry without having to wait a month. (Woot.) It’s even Carolina Blue.

And it’s warm and fluffy.

And I did it all in Japanese. Pardon me while I hurt myself patting myself on the back.

Ow.

After that, the store started closing, so the “Get Out!” music started gently playing, to gently tell us to “Get the hell out so we can clean up after you, then get a beer and go home before the trains stop running!”

But in a gentle way.

My Fellow Americans Make Me Want to Facepalm Sometimes. Okay, Frequently.

I decided to go get some Krispy Kremes on the way out. Hey, I had seen them in Sakae already, and I know there’s a Krispy Kreme at Takashimaya here in the station. Sure enough, there it is, and there’s the line. And there was an obnoxious American guy behind me, convinced that this line was just for Japanese people, and didn’t apply to him. He even got out of the line, walked to the counter, and tried to order.

Please dear God, when you go to Japan, don’t be that guy. The lines apply to you, too. You are not special because you’re an American. Get in line with everyone else and have some manners. I really wanted to give him a dope slap with my menu, not that it would make a difference. This is the same kind of guy who goes to a restaurant, orders off the menu, then gives them a bad review online when they can’t get it the way he wants it.

I hate that kind of guy.

Of course, by the time I got to the front of the line, they were out of the good doughnuts, so I got 2 chocolate crullers. I’ll take what I can get.

Then I went back to the international grocery to pick up the last few things. By now, I resemble a pack mule, carrying tons and tons of crap. But I managed to get some peanut butter (Skippy: sadly no JIF available), some more Ricolas, and some chocolate… the good stuff.

I just managed to make the 8:26 train back to Okazaki. The train ride was uneventful, but the bike ride home was… interesting. Juggling all that stuff was not an exercise I wish to repeat. The blanket was very big.

I have to keep unlearning shopping habits learned behind the wheel. If I want it, that means I have to schlep it home; there’s no trunk except my backpack.

Oh well. I have a big bag to carry it all in now!

Plates, Pens, and Tonkatsu. Must Be Aeon Mall!

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Plates, Pens, and Tonkatsu. Must Be Aeon Mall!
Oct 232011
 

It’s Sunday, and it’s time for more shopping. (Is this a shopping blog or something?)

Well, I went back to Aeon Mall to get some supplies and dinner as well.

First I went to Aeon, which, by the way, is a confusing store at first. When I enter the first level, it always take me a few minutes to figure out my bearings, because the first floor is part grocery store, part drug store, part department store, and Mr. Donut (which the kids call “MisuDo.”)

See what I mean? It’s confusing!

I grabbed the escalator, and made it to the second floor, then the third, where the kitchen stuff is. I needed a few bowls and plates, because I decided it would be slightly nicer than eating off of plastic wrappers and plastic trays.

Plates are civilized.

I bought some cheap ones, then headed over to get some ink for my Frixion pens, and some extra paper.

I like the Frixion pens, because they erase really easily. Everyone in class uses them, and swears by them. When you heat up the ink with the silicone eraser, the ink turns invisible. I guess the heat switches the dye off? Better not leave my notes on the dashboard of a car!

I’ll take my chances for now.

After that, I wandered around the mall a bit, and headed to the book store, Miraiyashoten. This time, I bought some Kyoto travel guides. I want to go when the leaves are nice and red! These magazines will hopefully show me the good sites.

I did a lot of browsing there. I could drop a large amount of money in a Japanese bookstore.

But I restrained myself this time.

I went down to the food court and started looking for a restaurant, since it was close to dinnertime. I found Saboten, which specializes in Tonkatsu, one of my favorite dishes. So I had a Tonkatsu set and a Coke, and chowed down. That was good stuff.

After dinner, I wobbled on home on my bike. I stopped off at the big main post office to get some money. Nice that’s it’s still open at 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday. In the US, this is not a big deal. Here, it’s really nice. It’s so hard to tell if I’m going to be able to get money when I go to the post office. I suppose I should write the hours down somewhere, but that sounds too much like work. I’ve got plenty of that to do for class!

It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Raining. Also, Wingtown.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Raining. Also, Wingtown.
Oct 222011
 

It’s Saturday, so that means it’s raining.

Like hell.

I wanted to go to Nagoya today, but I don’t want to drown on the way there. So instead I decided to wait out a break in the rain and bike to the other mall in Okazaki, which is south of where I live. It’s called Wingtown. It’s a couple of stories, but it’s a bit smaller than Aeon.

What it does have, though, is Imagine. And Imagine is a big book store and stationery/music/video/game store as well.

My kind of store!

Imagine is pretty handy if you’re a student at Yamasa, because it has a bunch of different stores all bunched into one.

One of my problems right now is dealing with the massive influx of printouts I get every day at Yamasa. The pages aren’t just A4 sized, they’re more like A3 or B2-sized. Imagine something you’d use as a paper place mat for a really messy kid. Now make it just a tad bigger.

Now what do you do with a pile of 50 of these that you need to keep organized so you can study?!?

For now, I’m going to try the “clear file” solution, which entails getting some A4-sized book-like things that have 20-40 clear pockets in them, and stuffing the sheets in the pockets, folded over. We’ll see how it works.

I also bought a new memory card for my PSP, so I can keep my JP and EN gaming separate. And of course I bought some books to read.

I’ve said it before, I know, but I’ll say it again, anyway. I love Japanese book stores.

When I was ready to head back, a frog-strangler of a thunderstorm popped out of nowhere. Real lightning and thunder, even! It was my first thunderstorm in Japan. With it raining so hard, it was impossible to go back home, so I hung out and waited for it to pass. It took a while, but eventually it cleared up enough so I could go home.

Now I’m going to do some reading!

Getting Japanese Books

 Japanese Language  3 Responses »
Jul 282008
 

UPDATED WITH 2013 INFO! If you have suggestions to improve this post, or have stores you recommend, please add a comment!

If you’re like me, and studying Japanese, you probably want to get your hands on some books in Japanese.

You may be tempted to just go to amazon.co.jp and buy from them. A lot of people do. But it may not be your best option. Read on, and I’ll explain.

Amazon.co.jp

This is the Japanese branch of Amazon. You can find just about anything you want here, but don’t expect to be able to get it, or to get it cheaply. Amazon Japan has a lot to offer, but you need to be smart about it.

First, you won’t be able to buy from the marketplace. You’ll have to use a shipping service to do that.

You also won’t be able to buy most non-book items. Again, you’ll need a shipping service to do that.

Even if you want books, shipping can be expensive unless you order a bunch of books all at once.

I’ll explain briefly.

When you buy from amazon.co.jp, you cannot select any shipping options other than their express service. That doesn’t sound too bad on the surface, until you start doing the math. The base charge is 2,700 yen, with a extra charge of 300 yen per book. So things get weird depending on how many books you’re ordering.

Say you just want the latest light novel. That’s 3,000 yen!!! Ouch!

But if you want 20 books, it’s 2,700 yen + 6,000 yen, hmm… 8,700 yen. Not great, but not terrible, either. That might not be a bad deal if they’re all heavy books. It depends on the weight of the books!

So what are the alternatives? Well, it turns out that there are quite a few out there:

Kinokunia

If you live in the U.S., there’s the Kinokuniya bookstore chain. They have stores in New York City and along the West Coast. They have a ton of Japanese books, and somewhat current ones at that.

They won’t always have things right after they come out, but they usually get them in soon enough. (Usually 4-8 weeks.)

Some items may have to be special-ordered from Japan as well, and that will add a few weeks to the shipping time. Ordering isn’t too difficult, and English cues are available for those who can’t comprehend full-blown 日本語 yet, or haven’t bothered to install Rikaichan.

Shipping is where Kinokuniya shines– $7 to my house in North Carolina via UPS Ground, and usually arrives in 2 days. That’s $7 for the whole shipment. I’ve ordered as many as 5 books, and it still cost $7 for the lot. No handling fees, either. You usually have to order before 9:30 a.m. ET to get them to ship same-day.

They usually have special deals on orders/shipping. Usually, if you order $100 or more, you get free shipping. Definitely worth checking out.

One caveat: if the books you want are not all at the same store, you’ll have to complete orders for each store, and that means 2 x $7 for shipping, for $14. It’s still cheaper than the 2,700 yen + 300 yen from amazon.co.jp, though, and it will arrive pretty quickly.

Another caveat: Kinokunia tends to mark up prices over the price in yen. I’ve seen 390-yen tankubons marked up to around $5-6, or more if the yen gets stronger.  So unless you desperately need a book right away, you may want to shop around, and read on.

The reason for the markup is that you’re paying for the freight for the book from Japan in the first place, and you’re also paying for the exchange rate. A strong yen means prices go up.

The Japan Shop

If you’re looking for textbooks, and are feeling really cheap about shipping, I’d also recommend the Japan Shop. The Japan Shop has a good selection of Japanese textbooks and other study guides. They don’t have everything, but they do have a good selection. Service is quick, and shipping is USPS Priority Mail. It runs about $4.80 to my front door, and packages arrive in 2-3 days.

The Japan Shop also marks up books over retail. It can’t be helped. Shipping costs from Japan have to recaptured somewhere, and that somewhere is in the markup. Take my 800 yen answer key for Genki vols I and II. It ran me a little over $15. Ouch. But it was the only place in the U.S. I could find it at the time.

YesAsia? NoAsia? I don’t know

I have not tried YesAsia, so I can’t say how good they are. If I ever do, I’ll let you know. They do appear to have a pretty good selection of movies, games, and books. I have no idea about shipping or markups.

BK1 is now Honto.jp

Note: BK1.jp is now Honto.jp. I’ve changed the review based on dealing with the new entity.

Finally, if the book you want isn’t available from any of these other vendors, then I would recommend checking out Honto.jp. Honto’s website is not for the Japanese language newbie. It’s all in Japanese. There is NO English help available.

If you’re at all hesitant, get Rikaichan, install it, and use it on this site. If you can parse out Rikaichan’s output, then you should be able to muddle your way through an order. If you have no clue, you probably don’t have any business buying any of these books, anyway.

What’s so great about Honto? First, it’s based in Japan, so they will get new books right away. Books are not marked up over retail. (Not appreciably. Maybe 20 yen here and there?) Also, electronic versions are available, although I’m not sure if they’re available outside of Japan.

Point club. Yes, those are magical words to anyone who has ever been to Japan. Point clubs are all about rewarding people who buy stuff. Honto has one. Join it. You get points for purchases that can be applied to stuff later on. You can also click on the あしあと daily to get a free point. 1 point = 1 yen. It adds up.

Finally, the best part about Honto– shipping costs. Make no mistake: shipping anything from Japan to the U.S. can be expensive if you’re impatient. But if you’re willing to delay that gratification, you will profit. Honto offers you a choice of 6 ways to ship: FedEx, EMS, SAL, 航空便 (airmail), and　船便( surface mail), and a mystery 6th choice of a courier-expedited service, which is inside Japan only.

So how much will shipping cost? Well… that’s one weak spot. Honto does NOT have a shipping calculator, and does NOT estimate it for you. It does charge you the actual cost of shipping, without handling fees. So if you want to estimate your shipping costs, go to the Japan Post website and check out their international shipment time/fee calculator (in English, too).

Since the switch to Honto in 2012, I have been getting airmail shipments in 2-3 weeks. That’s not exactly making me happy, considering how much airmail can cost. I’ve gotten shipments from J-List via SAL faster (in about 2 weeks.) It turns out that they’re printing address labels to the U.S. backwards, so the U.S.P.S. is having a hard time processing them. I hope they get their act together, because I’d like to use them, but this doesn’t particularly inspire confidence.

J-List/JBox

Another option for magazines, some manga, and light novels is J-List/JBox. They’re a company based in Gunma Prefecture that offers a wide variety of products. (If you don’t want to see the racier stuff, go to JBox.) They don’t stock a whole lot, but if you ask, they can probably get it for you. The downside is that there’s going to be a markup, because that’s how they make a living. It’s run by an American, so if you need someone who speaks English, J-List/JBox is a good place to try.

I use J-List for a monthly magazine subscription. (Ultra Jump) They’re excellent about sending it off on time, and I get it about 3 weeks later via SAL. The magazine is $10, shipping is $14. Can I do better? I don’t know. I tried ordering from Honto, and it cost 2,800 yen to get a magazine sent here via airmail. I’ll see how it is via SAL next month.

J-List recently lowered their shipping rates, so it’s something to check out.

They also added a point club, too.

Recommendations

All of these companies are legit, and will get your stuff to you. The tricky bit is figuring out the best deal. Is there one place to go for the best deal?

NO.

If you want just one new book that just came out, and you want it NOW, then Honto is probably your best bet.

If you want a bunch of books that have been out for a few months, then Kinokuniya is probably your best bet. (But check to see if it’s going to be cheaper to get them from Japan first!)

If you want a stack of new/rare books that Kinokuniya doesn’t have then Amazon.co.jp is probably your best bet. (Order a lot to make up for the shipping fees!)

If you want a monthly subscription, then J-List/JBox is probably your best bet. Or if you want other stuff that’s not a book. (Honto and Amazon also sell CDs!)

If you need a textbook fast, check out the Japan Shop.

I’m not even going to touch on the use of forwarding companies. That’s another post.

Touring Around Okazaki

 Japan, Travel  Comments Off on Touring Around Okazaki
Oct 252007
 

Fun day today. I got back on the ol’ Buttbuster 9000 and did some touring around Okazaki. I’m going to miss that bike… okay, no, not really.

I managed to send about 20 lbs. worth of stuff home for only about $60. Fortunately, it’s all stuff I won’t need for the next 8-10 weeks, because that’s how long surface mail takes.

Sending stuff from Japan is so much easier than the US. The customs form is built into the giant address label you fill out.

I stopped by a book store. I’ve been trying to find the Doraemon Kanji Dictionary, but with no luck in Okazaki. I guess I’ll have to try again in Kyoto or Tokyo.

To explain briefly, Doraemon is a cartoon robot space cat from the future with no ears, and kind of reminds me of Stimpy from “Ren n’ Stimpy,” except Doraemon is actually sort of smart. He gets involved in wacky scenarios trying to save a useless boy from his own stupidity and sloth.

I want the dictionary for various reasons, but there is an actual educational purpose in it… well, okay, the real reason is that it seems that everyone at Yamasa has this dictionary, and everyone says that it’s useful. My curiosity has been piqued.

If I can find it cheap somewhere, I’ll grab a copy.

I managed to get a room in Hiroshima for the 30th and the 31st. I want to visit the Peace Museum and then visit the islands outside of Hiroshima. I haven’t been able to get a room in Nara yet, but I’m not too worried.

I keep forgetting to take pictures of the restaurant that serves suppon, or snapping turtle. I think it’s around 5,000 yen for one snapping turtle meal. I guess it’s one of those “It’s a delicacy” things? I think I heard somewhere that certain bits are an aphrodisiac (why else would anyone eat a turtle?)

Those Aren’t Churches

After class, I did some more bike touring, and I saw this row of these huge churches… that aren’t churches at all. They’re wedding halls. Apparently they love church-like buildings for weddings here. It was too dark to get a picture off, and I was kind of distracted. Trying to stay on that bike is hard enough with two hands.

I also went and bought some underwear. They even have foreigner sizes now. I guess the Japanese are starting to get a little chunky like the rest of us, huh? The people at the store were very nice, they even offered me a point card, but I don’t think I’ll need it.

I almost forgot the best part of underwear shopping: Sissy underwear for men. Yes, that’s the brand name. Sissy. Yeah, wear those to school in the States, I dare you. Yikes.

Then I went to the local Book-off.  (A used book store chain.) It took me a while, but I think I finally figured out how to find books in bookstores… sort of? It’s hard, because my kanji is still too weak to find some of the trickier names. I probably don’t need to be buying books yet anyway. I’d just load up and then have to lug them all over the country.

All I Do Is Sleep and Eat…

Nearby was Kappa Sushi, which has 105 yen/plate sushi. There are these rows and rows of conveyor belts, with a bar on one side, and booths on the other, and there are 4-5 rows like that. Then there’s a little call box at the table, and you press the button and order stuff if you need beer or tea or something not on the conveyor belt. I got out of there for 840 yen. Not bad. I had a juice box of “Hello Kitty Apple Juice.” Not by choice. I just didn’t feel like tea or beer.

I went back to the dorm and napped for a bit, then went to Zig Zag later in the evening for my last trip there. I’m going to miss this place. I know I had some difficulties at first, but it has really started to grow on me. Maybe I can come back again sometime and work on my Japanese some more. I think I’d like that.

Tomorrow is going to be nuts. I have to check out, return the bike, pack, and get to Kyoto. Oh, and I still have classes, too.

I should have Internet in Kyoto, so if I get some downtime, I’ll try to upload more pictures.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

This blog is protected by Dave\'s Spam Karma 2: 3159 Spams eaten and counting...