私のしっぱい

私のしっぱいは何ですか？私は日本のホラー映画がすきです。私はたくさん日本のホラー映画をみました。こわいですがとてもたのしいですね。でも、私は日本人にはじめてあうの時、よく私にききます：日本の文化がわかりますか？私はよく　”はい、私は 日本のホラー映画がすきです"と言います。ちょっとぎこちないですが、私はホラー映画がとてもすきです！

アラビア語を話すことがすきです。

みなさんは知りませんが、じつは私はアラビア語を話すことができます。母はシリア来ました。それに、小さいのとき、母とアラビア語を話していました。楽しくかったですが、ちょっと紛らわしいですね。私は時々中東へ帰ります。いいですね、でもとても高い。この夏の休み私は日本へ行きたいです。でも、日本いま、大丈夫ですか？知りません。


詩？はい。


秋山の
黄葉を茂み
惑ひぬる
妹を求めむ
山道知らずも


あ、覚えている...中国ムスリム書道はとてもおもしろいですね。見てください：

大きい山、小さい海

私の思い出は何ですか？私は十八歳のとき、オートバイに乗りました。そのとき、私は大学の一年生でした。私の歴史の先生はよくオートバイにのりました。趣味はオートバイにのることでした。クラスがおわったとき、せんせいはわたしにのることをおしえてくれました。私はライセンスありませんでしたが、せんせいはわたしにオートバイをかしてくれました。ちょっとあぶなくて　こわかつたですがとてもたのしかつたです。

ハーバードののりばから、私はまっすぐいきました。車に気をつけませんでした。そのとき、そのオートバイがすきでした。そのとき、わたしはオートバイと大きい山にのぼりたくかったです。でも、ボストンは大きい山がありません、そしてうみへいきました。オートバイでうみまで速くかったです。ビーチについて、一時間海をみました、とてもきれいでした。それから、大学へかえりました。せんせいのオートバイをかえしてあげました。へやへかえっておさけをのみました。私はこの思い出をぜんぜんわすることができません。

OsakeNOW

My Podcast Cameo

I also co-star in the following podcast:

これは面白くいい村上のドキュメンタリーです。皆へ、見てください。

見てください

と。て。も。いいです。

休んでいます

今、私は日本のテレビを見ています。とても楽しいですね。

これはとても奇抜で面白いです。


私は同時にお酒を飲んでいます。何のさけですか？甘酒ですよ。とても甘いですね。甘酒はご飯からつくった酒です。とてもおいしいですが、高いですね。今日本の酒の歴史を勉強しています。私は杜氏を知っていたいです。


Love and peace :)

いっしょに鹿児島へ行きましょう

ともだちへ：

          今年の春休みは、お花見のきせつですから、ぜひ日本の鹿児島へいかなければなりません。私は鹿児島に住んでいたことがあります、ガイド本をもってこなくてもいいです。鹿児島はまつりとお寺がたくさんあります。そして鹿児島のたべものはおいしいですね。鹿児島人はしんせつですが鹿児島のほうげんはユニークですから、鹿児島人と話すときはちょつとむずかしですね*.鹿児島は長い歴史があります。だからたくさんの有名人が鹿児島に住んでいました。たとえば西郷隆盛（１８２８－１８７７）。西郷隆盛はゆうめいな武士でした。ぜひ、鹿児島へいきましょう！
           東京えきから岡山まで新幹線にのります。岡山駅で博多行きの新幹線にのりかえます。新八代駅で九州新幹線に乗り換えます。鹿児島駅で降りてください。東京から鹿児島まで、電車に四台乗らなければなりません。この道のりはちょっと遠いです。そこで、私は高いホテルをよやくしました。

ホテルを出るまえに、朝ごはんをたべましよう。鹿児島のさつまあげはおいしくて有名です。ぜひ食べてみてください。つるまる城へいったりおはなみをしたりします。桜きのちかくにしゃしんをとることができみあす。よるになったら、芋焼酎（いもじょうちゅう）を飲みます。でも明日は朝早く東京へかえりますから、ふつかよいしないでください。
ぜひ鹿児島へ行きましょう。
             トリスタン

            

http://www.etriptips.com/wiki/images/thumb/c/c3/Statue_SaigoTakamori.JPG/180px-Statue_SaigoTakamori.JPG

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3138405-Travel_Picture-Kagoshima_ken.jpg

http://www.hakusika.com/upload/_MG_4403.jpg

---

* 鹿児島人は　“四つ仮名”をつかいます。四つ仮名はなんですか？とてもおもしろいですね。http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsugana

On Communication

For this pod-casting project, I expect to learn how to make a movie, how to say some things in Japanese that I have wanted to know how to say for a while, and finally how creative we can be with our limited Japanese vocabulary.

Communication is a difficult concept. When I approach the topic, the writings of Martin Buber (マルティーン・ブーバー) (Hebrew: מרטין בובר). His Book "I and Thou" (In Japanese, it is translated as 「我－それ」), discusses the difficulty of connecting with those around us. This difficulty has only be exacerbated in the modern world, where print media and technological developments have lessened the need for true human interaction. 

Communication thus is best expressed as the ability for two people not simply to sympathize, but rather to emphasize, about the trials and tribulations of life. Often times communication takes verbal forms but it does not always. This tanka by Machi Tawara [寒いね] と話しかければ「寒いね」と答える人のいるあたたかさ sums up the simplicity of communication very well: ‎"Isn't it cold?" I ask. The person who responds "It is cold" provides the warmth." As seen in the poem, communication can be achieved during times of hardship with a simple prayer or thoughtful words or during times of relaxation, such as hanging out with friends over games of chess and drinking strong alcohol under the ethos of a Tang Dynasty poem. (蘇軾's two Song-dynasty essays about his travels to Red Cliff 赤壁賦 come to mind) Communication is also often achieved during times of departing : saying good-bye has been and remains some of the most sincere words that many men speak in the course of their lives. 

Many people might ask in regards to our podcast project: "Why horror?" It's a good question. But the truth is: horror films - when done right - are films that are primarily about communication - or rather, the inability to communicate. In horror films, characters confront the trials and turmoil of human existence and come face to face with their own mortality. Japanese films in my opinion have displayed the "art" of horror against the consequences of modernity better than most. One of the greatest horror films ever made - 着信アリ- "One Missed Call" plays with the idea of "communication" as it relates to human existence as well as it relates to "Self-Communication" - the (in)ability to communicate with oneself - a theme that will be addressed again at the conclusion of this essay.

In making our podcast, we fully realize that it is important to be respectful and to keep our audience in mind. It is only out of our profound love of Japanese movies that we desire to imitate some of the greatest Japanese directors. For the sections of our film that may be difficult for English speakers - for instance, the 辞世 quotations - we will provide subtitles. 

I will end with last point about communication as it relates to my love of Japanese. I very much enjoy Japanese food, sake, Japanese history, and all the rest. I am required to study Japanese to fulfill my graduate school requirements. Yet I studied Japanese - and want to continue to study Japanese because of my profound love for Japanese culture. I remember when I was a boy and read Soseki's 

吾輩は猫である for the first time. I remember when I first read 島崎 藤村's novel Haru. For me, these were life-changing experiences. One of the reasons why I have always enjoyed the readings of Mishima Yukio so much is because I learned from him that we should not forget or neglect our history but rather embrace it. 

Being true to ourselves is the first step in true communication. 
I am ashamed I originally forgot to include this poem for the heart: 
A Poem by Wang Wei


下马饮君酒
问君何所之
君言不得意
归卧南山垂
但去莫复问
白云无尽时


Dismounting from my horse, I offer my friend a cup of wine,
I ask where he is headed to.
He says he has not achieved his aims,
and is returning to the southern hills.
Now go, and never ask of me again,
White clouds will drift on forever.
(My translation)

今のわたし

今とてもむずかしいですね。ねむいですね。日本語のちさいテストをべんきようしています。今日わたしはイギリスの産業革命の講義を教えなければなりません (A lecture on the British Industrial Revolution)。二時間教えなければなりません。今しぱいしています。

http://myedmondsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/worried_cat.jpg

今のわたし

すごいですね

にほんはねこの喫茶店があります。いま、わたしはげんきですね。この喫茶店はとてもたいせつです。わたしは日本へけんきゅうにいきたいです。これはわたしの博士論文のテーマ。

第1章: "ねこの喫茶店：理論と歴史


http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8C%AB%E3%82%AB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7

Image From Wikipedia: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB:Nekokaigi,_a_cat_cafe_in_Kyoto_-_March_16,_2010.jpg

わたしの好きな物

わたしはにほんの詩（し：poetry)がすきですね。にほんのしはていせつですが、しの意義（いぎ：meaning）はいつもむずかしいです。

これはOno no Komachi (小野 小町）のしです：

夢ぢには
あしもやすめず
かよへども
うつつにひとめ
見しごとはあらず 

Though I go to you
ceaselessly along dream paths,
the sum of those trysts
is less than a single glimpse
granted in the waking world. 

これは 芭蕉 (Basho)のしです：

 

旅に病んで
夢は枯れ野を
かけめぐる 

Falling sick on a journey, 

my dreams circle

above withered fields. 

どうしてわたしはにほんのしがすきですか？たくさんのしはみじかいですが、きれいですね。  (jisei)のことばはとてもおもしろいです。辞世詩はなんですか？Basically, it's a poem one writes before they die. It's supposed to be emotionally neutral, but the word usage has to be very specific and compelling. 韓国も辞世詩があります。According to the tradition, you're not supposed to mention death directly, which makes the poems particularly interesting. In the poem above, Basho doesn't mention death: he says rather that he is sick and describes his environment with "withered fields". This trait of Jisei makes the poems very compelling because they play with conceptions of conventional time and space. The author is clearly not literally walking through fields, he's clearly sick in bed somewhere. Yet the poem, while foreshadowing his death, makes note of the freedom of his dreams, which wander far and wide from his actual physical location. 

ありがとうございます！
トリスタン

案ずるより産むが易し

みんなさんおはよう!
きょうはちよっとかなしいですね！エジプトの抗議は(こうぎ:protests)激しい(はげしい: intense)ですね。はははシリアからきました。去年の夏りょうしんとわたしはエジプトへいきました。わたしのいとことエジプトのひとけっこんしました。それはよかったですが、いまいとことおしゅじんはカイロに住んでいます。

My Dad and I at the Ibn Tulun Mosque

 今朝いとこに電話をかけました。なんにもはなしませんでした、でもわたしに写真をおきました。Though I worry about the situation somewhat, I hope all is well with them. 


知らぬが仏

わたしの冬休み

冬やすみはたくさん日本の映画をみました。たんのしかったですよ。わたしは園子温(Shion Sono)の自殺サークルがいちばんすきです。園子温は日本の映画監督、脚本家、詩人です。詩と映画はとてもおもしろいです。これは感動的な映画ですがちょっとこわいですね。そして、三島由紀夫 (Yukio Mishima)の真夏の死(Death in Summer and Other Short Stories) を読みました。

(1931の三島由紀夫)

ふゆやすみはよかったですね。

ありがとう！

わたしのにほんともだちへ

メリークリスマス！







Tristan :)

Deconstructing Femininity in Contemporary Japan: A Commercial

Anyone have any feelings about this commercial? I know one can only read so much into any one commercial. While I found this commercial humorous, it was a little "awkward" to watch.

See what you think、見てください！




Here are some questions:
1. Women are attractive because they have high voices?
2. Do all beautiful women have high voices? (that's a different question than the first)
3. "Attractiveness" and "Desirability" are NOT the same thing: it is possible for a woman to be attractive but not desirable?
4. The idea of a woman having a low voice is not only undesirable, but actually scary.
5. More than any essentializing views of femininity, what does the commercial say about Masculinity?

We study Japanese together...

But shall we contemplate the universe together?

世の中は 
何にたとへん 
山彦の 
こたふる聲の 
空しきがごと


Yo no naka wa
nani ni tatoen
yamabiko no
kotauru koe no
munashiki ga goto


The life in this world -
what is it like?
An Empty Mountain's
fleeting echo
into the empty sky it goes. 
(My translation)

スラムダンク: Some Thoughts and A Song to Get Through Finals

I am generally not a fan of any athletic or physical activity with the exceptions of tennis, badminton, squash, elegant dances, and walking very quickly between places. I generally consider most large professional sporting events to be part and parcel of the "bread and circus" manufactured culture of power elites designed to keep citizens enmeshed in a status quo of conservatism and pop-culture. Also, I must admit I do not understand much about Japanese anime. That all being said, I have discovered this Japanese theme song from a cartoon from the early 90's called Slam Dunk スラムダンク. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLAM_DUNK It's really fantastic in the way that, it gets heart pumping in a hopeful, optimistic way. The random interjections of English are also a delight. (Yume no high tension!) The feminine voice positioned against the hyper-masculine images of basketball-wielding players is a interesting, if curious, juxtaposition.

On this Sunday night of paper writing and homework, I encourage my comrades to indulge in this humorous, touching, catchy message of hope:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF7CV1HB9Xk

二十ねんごのわたし

私は日本のせいかつに慣れましたから、二十ねんご日本にいます。さくら大学のれきしのせんせいです。しずかなまちにかおくがあります。わたしはきれいなおんなのひととけっこんしました。まいにちにほんごのぶんがくをよみます。いぬがにひきいます。いぬと大学へあるいて行きます。わたしの仕事はまいにちとてもいそかしいですが、いつもかぞくのじかんがあります。だいがくのプールでときどきおよぎます。

日本へ中国れきしのべんきようにきました、でもわたしは日本人が好きですから、まだ日本にいますです。日本のぶんかと日本のりようりどちらもすきです。

はるにわたしはいけばなをします、そのごつまにはなをあげます。私はいつもいいしゅじんです！

実存的危機

夜間,世界の都市とてもきれいですね。昼間,世界の都市きれいじゃありません。どうして？わかりません。夜はとても美しく見えますね。

私はねこがにひきいます。ボストンにいます。ねこはとても黒いです。夜間から、ねこをみません。それから、わたしのねこは目に見えないです。 

皆さん：

夜を知っている

僕は夜を知っているのだ。
僕は雨の中出かけ、雨の中戻って来た。
僕は町の光が届かない所まで歩いた。

僕はわびしい町の道を見下ろした。
僕は訳を話すのも面倒なので、目を伏せて
当番の夜警をやり過ごした。

一本筋向こうの住処から
突然叫び声が聞こえたので
僕は立ち止まり、足音をたてないようにした。

呼び戻すとか、別れを告げるわけではない。
さらに途方もなく高い所から静かに
空に光る時計が一つ

時間を間違えているとも言わなかった。
僕は夜を知っているのだ。

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

O luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

 私は夜が好きです。どうして？　たぶんじんせいのいぎと人生のもんだいはかくれます。

Katakana Analysis Final Copy

I am constantly struck by the beauty and utility of the Japanese writing systems. For today's class we compiled several interesting cases of Katakana and brought them here. The first is アイヌ, the name of the ethnic group located in Hokkaido. Their name and language is written in Katakana. Yet, groups such as Korean-Japanese peoples are written in Hiragana or Kanji (ちょうせんじ 朝鮮人). Is this an historical accident or a reflection on conceptions of self and other within Japanese society? The Ryukyuan people's name is also written in Kanji and Hiragana (琉球民族). It might be possible that the Ainu were ethnically classified later than the other groups and hence had their name written in Katakana. Another important note is that the Ainu have greatly mixed with Japanese peoples and the number of native Ainu speakers is today very low (less than 1,000) - therefore "Ainu" has a somewhat abstract, academic connotation similar to "Iroquois" in English.

The second interesting set of Katakana is でんわ vs. テレビ, スパー vs. 図書館, 電報 (telegram) - they are interesting because they reflect the experience of modernization and the Industrial Revolution in Japan. These are examples of an interesting historical-linguistic phenomenon. Why did Japan adopt some western words and why did they invent some Japanese words? One possible thesis is that 19th century Post-Meiji Restoration Japan sought actively to "indigenize" new technological and "modernizing" terms. Post World War Two Japan appears to have been more inclined to absorb words directly from the West. This is very significant because the process of making words "indigenous" to a culture directly relates to how that culture relates to foreign ideas. For instance, the word "Zen" in English is originally a Japanese word deriving from the Chinese word "Chan" to denote a type of Buddhist practice. While English has "indigenized" the word (eg. "She's really zen today"), it remains to a certain extent consciously a non-English word. The word "messiah," referring to the Jewish figure appearing at the end of Apocalyptic Age according to the Bible derives from the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ, meaning "Anointed one" or "king." Yet unlike "Zen," few English speakers would be able to identify "messiah" as originally a foreign word. Since all language is fundamental a social construct which culturally conditions us with ideas of "gender" "normality" and the "profane," it would be interesting to study whether Japanese people also had a different relationship to words which entered the language in the Post-Meiji period and were thus written in Hiragana versus words that were adopted later, with Katakana. 

I feel somewhat disheartened however to analyze katakana, because I am not very knowledgeable on Japanese history or literature, though I really wish I were. I grew up in a dual language household, speaking English and Arabic (my mother's maiden name is Mahfouz). I studied Hebrew, Latin, French, and Greek growing up from middle school to the end of high school. At college, I studied formal, Classical Arabic as well as some Biblical Hebrew as well as many years of Chinese. In the summer, I studied Manchu (満州語) and some Mongolian. Now, for the first time basically I am studying Japanese and I find it very different from all the previous languages I have studied. This is partially because so many of the languages I have studied are now extinct - they can be only studied as historical/"dead" languages. Japanese is such a special language because its writing system is designed for self-preservation: emotions experienced internally can be expressed differently in written form - which adds a new layer of meaning to language. Furthermore, katakana serves to differentiate between indigenously Japanese words and foreign loan words. Unfortunately, for languages such as English - we have so many loan words that bear no trace to their origins. This gives me a profound respect and love of Japanese - whose writing system is conscious of the reality of the spoken language to a much higher degree than most Western or Middle Eastern languages are.


As to why textbooks explain katakana in different ways, I think it is simply because the concept is so abstract and ambiguous and the kana has so many different utilities. I conceive of it like this, how could you explain to a person who never learned how to read and write any letters or numbers why we have different systems of writing to express the same thing: "one, two, three" "1,2,3" "I,II,III". All three of those systems are used in the English language. Why? Historical accident and cultural "irrationality" - English speakers and westerners in general tend to believe that Roman numerals "I,II,III" are more civilized and professional than the Arabic numerals. Hence, on monuments we use Roman Numerals "Built in XDCIII" even though it would be much easier to write "Built in 18..." The answers as to "why" is kind of like "why do we still tie our shoes with laces even though we now have velcro, zippers, and various other improved technologies?" The bottom line is that human beings have emotional relationships with the languages they speak and the languages they write. Conservatives who seek to avoid change or reform of any writing system act as such because they are in touch with the human emotional need and desire for meaning in life. Language gives people meaning and is one of the greatest sources of meaning in our life - languages are conscious of this : the Christian conception of the deity proclaims him to be "the logos" - the word (Greek: logos λόγος). The Chinese word for culture is "wenhua" 文化, "wen" meaning "writing" and "hua" meaning transformation or change - "culture" is fundamentally defined as being "transformed through the human activity of writing." The Arabic word for "literature" adab (أدب) is the same word for "politeness." When you say in Arabic, "that person has adab", you're saying that person is polite, refined but also literally, that person is "literature." Once you get into the psychology, the emotion, the "religion" that is human language, understanding what "Katakana" is - with all of its ambiguities and shades of meaning - becomes possible. The Japanese today use katakana to express cases of onomatopoeia, emphasis, loanwords, among others things because of a combination of historical accidents and trends, culturally elite tastes, culturally conservative forces, and to differentiate"self" and "other" on the linguistic level. Why does it exist? The same reason Roman Numerals are imprinted on the Supreme Court building - this is, after all a very human language. 


Citations:
Japanese Wikipedia was used for the "Ainu" and "television" examples.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A4%E3%83%8C
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93


Ainu Museum Japan:
http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/
Information for terms such as "Library" was found on the website of the National Diet Library:
http://www.ndl.go.jp/
国立国会図書館

山田さんへ

こにちは！私はコロンビア大学の大学院せいの一年生です。私は毎日あさしちじにおきます。コーヒーをのみます。それから、朝ごはんを食べます。 


私学校にいきます。私はよく図書館でべんきようします。ときどきひるごはんを食べます。私はよく友達にご飯を作ります。私はお金がありません。私は古代中国語と中央アジアの歴史と中国の清の時代の歴史をべんきようします。


私はにほんごのクラス大好きです。日本語の先生はとても優しいです。


私は日本六月五日につきます。


よろしくお願いします！
Tristan

Katakana Analysis Draft

I am constantly struck by the beauty and utility of the Japanese writing systems. For today's class we compiled several interesting cases of Katakana and brought them here. The first is アイヌ, the name of the ethnic group located in Hokkaido. Their name and language is written in Katakana. Yet, groups such as Korean-Japanese peoples are written in Hiragana or Kanji (ちょうせんじ 朝鮮人). Is this an historical accident or a reflection on conceptions of self and other within Japanese society? The Ryukyuan people's name is also written in Kanji and Hiragana (琉球民族). It might be possible that the Ainu were ethnically classified later than the other groups and hence had their name written in Katakana. Another important note is that the Ainu have greatly mixed with Japanese peoples and the number of native Ainu speakers is today very low (less than 1,000) - therefore "Ainu" has a somewhat abstract, academic connotation similar to "Iroquois" in English.


The second interesting set of Katakana is でんわ vs. テレビ, スパー vs. 図書館, 電報 (telegram) - they are interesting because they reflect the experience of modernization and the Industrial Revolution in Japan. These are examples of an interesting historical-linguistic phenomenon. Why did Japan adopt some western words and why did they invent some Japanese words. Our group thesis is that 19th century Post-Meiji Restoration Japan sought actively to "indigenize" new technological and "modernizing" terms. Post World War Two Japan appears to have been more inclined to absorb words directly from the West. This is very significant because the process of making words "indigenous" to a culture directly relates to how that culture relates to foreign ideas. For instance, the word "Zen" in English is originally a Japanese word deriving from the Chinese word "Chan" to denote a type of Buddhist practice. While English has "indigenized" the word (eg. She's really zen today"), it remains to a certain extent consciously a non-English word. The word "messiah," referring to the Jewish figure appearing at the end of Apocalyptic Age according to the Bible derives from the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ, meaning "Anointed one" or "king." Yet unlike "Zen," few English speakers would be able to identify "messiah" as originally a foreign word. Since all language is fundamental a social construct which culturally conditions us with ideas of "gender" "normality" and the "profane," it would be interesting to study whether Japanese people also had a different relationship to words which entered the language in the Post-Meiji period and were thus written in Hiragana versus words that were adopted later, with Katakana. 


As to why textbooks explain katakana in different ways, I think it is simply because the concept is so abstract and ambiguous and the kana has so many different utilities. I conceive of it like this, how could you explain to a person who never learned how to read and write any letters or numbers why we have different systems of writing to express the same thing: "one, two, three" "1,2,3" "I,II,III". All three of those systems are used in the English language. Why? Historical accident and culturally "irrationality" - English speakers and westerners in general tend to believe that Roman numerals "I,II,III" are more civilized and professional than the Arabic numerals. Hence, on monuments we use Roman Numerals "Built in XDCIII" even though it would be much easier to write "Built in 18..." The answers as to "why" is kind of like "why do we still tie our shoes with laces even though we now have velcro, zippers, and various other improved technologies?" The bottom line is that human beings have emotional relationships with the languages they speak and the languages they write. Conservatives who seek to avoid change or reform of any writing system act as such because they are in touch with the human emotional need and desire for meaning in life. Language gives people meaning and is one of the greatest sources of meaning in our life - languages are conscious of this : the Christian conception of the deity proclaims him to be "the logos" - the word (Greek: logos λόγος). The Chinese word for culture is "wenhua" 文化, "wen" meaning "writing" and "hua" meaning transformation or change - "culture" is fundamentally defined as being "transformed through the human activity of writing." The Arabic word for "literature" adab (أدب) is the same word for "politeness." When you say in Arabic, "that person has adab", you're saying that person is polite, refined but also literally, that person is "literature." Once you get into the psychology, the emotion, the "religion" that is human language, understanding what "Katakana" is - with all of its ambiguities and shades of meaning - becomes possible. The Japanese today use katakana to express cases of onomatopoeia, emphasis, loanwords, among others things because of a combination of historical accidents and trends, culturally elite tastes, culturally conservative forces, and to differentiate"self" and "other" on the linguistic level. Why does it exist? The same reason Roman Numerals are imprinted on the Supreme Court building - this is, after all a very human language. 


Citations:
Japanese Wikipedia was used for the "Ainu" and "television" examples.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A4%E3%83%8C
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93


Information for terms such as "Library" was found on the website of the National Diet Library:
http://www.ndl.go.jp/
国立国会図書館

Here's the link to the original video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3754463487168189400#

An old song that I share with love :)

Over a decade ago, when I was in high school, my friend Daniel and I would sit in a coffeeshop in my hometown in Massachusetts and chat. We had some good times. I remembered that he was a very brilliant and creative soul and a admirer of Japan and wrote many songs. The following song, "Godzilla and King Kong" talks about two fictional characters destroyed (or attempting to destroy) New York and Tokyo. Here are the lyrics in Japanese- I hope they're correct.

The destruction of Tokyo has no "symbolic" meaning...it simply is what Godzilla does haha...
Here is the link to the recording of the song:
http://www.myspace.com/music/13349797/songs/24336164

Well Godzilla Said to King Kong,
I think that you and I will,
get along

そう、ゴジラがキングコングに言った
君と僕は仲良くなれると思うんだけど

But Kong replied, with a sarcastic remark:
I don't think that w'ell be friends
because I'm afraid of the dark

でもキングコングは嫌みったらしくこう答えた。
僕たちが友達になれるとは思えないんだけど
だって僕は暗いところが怖いんだ。

And last time I checked they said

Tokyo was gone
But New York City still stands
I'm sorry about your home but you'r more than welcome
to stay in the city with me

それで最後に確かめた時には
東京は消えちゃってた。
でもニューヨークはまだ残ってる。
君のふるさとには申し訳ないけど、いつでも大歓迎さ
君がニューヨークに残ってくれるなら

and Kong said why don't you and I can go and climb
a great big tower?
there's something I must tell you about having too much power...
a necessary truth that extends from Manhattan to the East
The Lesson you must learn is beauty killed the beast...

そしてキングコングが言ったんだ
一緒に摩天楼に上ろうよ！
力が大きすぎるとだめなんだってことを
それはマンハッタンから東京まで行き渡っている真実。
君が学ばなければならないのは、美しさが獣を殺すってことだ

And last time I checked they said

Tokyo was gone
But New York City still stands
I'm sorry about your home but you'r more than welcome
to stay in the city with me

それで最後に確かめた時には
東京は消えちゃってた。
でもニューヨークはまだ残ってる。
君のふるさとには申し訳ないけど、いつでも大歓迎さ
君がニューヨークに残ってくれるなら

The lesson you must learn t'was beauty killed the beast
The lesson you must learn t'was beauty killed the beast
The lesson you must learn t'was beauty killed the beast
The lesson you must learn....

君が学ばなければならないのは、美しさが獣を殺すってことだ
君が学ばなければならないのは、美しさが獣を殺すってことだ
君が学ばなければならないのは、美しさが獣を殺すってことだ
君が学ばなければならないのは・・・・