I fixed the forum issues; there should be a clear registration button in the top left corner for new members.

Edit: All Video Tutorials are now online and working. Please let me know if you guys find any broken links or images.

Edit 2: All Tricking Samplers are now online and working.

Edit 3: Updated my author page with the hyperlinks promised from a long time ago.

YEA!

This is the best tricking sampler I have seen in a long, long time.

Working on a big, important blog right now – should be done in a few days.

Train hard.

Title: N.P.

Author: Banana Yoshimoto

Publisher: Grove

Year: 1990 (Japan), 1994 (US)

Banana Yoshimoto is one of the most famous Japanese writers in translation. Her works exploded in America in the nineties, and she has continued to see success in America, Japan, and elsewhere around the world. Her stories usually involve modern young women (and men) having to deal with the complexions of everyday life. In, N.P., Yoshimoto delivers another solid narrative with an equally compelling cast of characters. It is a result that is at once Breezy, controversial, and entirely thought provoking.

Within the story itself, N.P. is the name of a book of short stories from a Japanese writer who had been living and writing in America. However, every time someone has tried to translate these stories into Japanese, the translator mysteriously died. The narrator is a girl in her twenties whose boyfriend had committed suicide after trying to translate the stories. She comes into contact with the writer’s son and daughter, and then another mysterious girl enters the picture. Through a web of pain and guilt, the characters find their lives crashing together at an alarming pace.

The premise for a book that seemingly kills off the translators who all attempt to work on it is a pretty interesting idea, but that’s really just the way Yoshimoto is able to jump start the story to get to the heart of the matter: the complex and damaged characters surrounding the stories. I was really surprised at how connected all the characters were, and how much suffering seemed to follow them around. This is all beautifully contrasted with Yoshimoto’s smooth as silk story telling which comes across quite well in the translation.

And while things do flow very beautifully, there is a sense that this covers much of the same work as her other stories. A new set of characters with a new set of problems, but the execution is fairly consistent with her other work. This isn’t a bad thing mind you; think of it more as a familiar experience when reading her work. You really get a sense just from the first chapter that this will be another Banana Yoshimoto story, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

With a story revolving around suicide, pain, and inappropriate relationships, N.P. is a surprisingly brisk read. While it’s easy to digest the material from her novels, Yoshimoto’s work has a tendency to resonate and stick with readers long after they have turned the final page. This book is no exception.

Tune back in next time for another review!

Tokyo Swan

If you liked this you may also enjoy: Kitchen: Banana Yoshimoto, Sputnik Sweetheart: Murakami Haruki.

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

I’ll be done with my last winter quarter at UW this Wednesday. Until then, I’ll be studying my heart and soul out. Can’t wait for spring, sakura, and quad tricks this April.

I plan on doing a lot of work to the website over break, including fixing links and touching up all the old blogs.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Train hard.

Hi everyone!

While I am in the process of writing another entry, I thought I’d  make a recommendation in the meantime- a recommendation of artwork.

Some of you are probably wondering, “Gullie, why are you posting this when you’re a science geek that hardly possesses an ounce of artistic talent?” I’m a geek that loves taking the time to marvel, enjoy and collect the various artwork that is produced by young artists.

Regardless of whether you’re a Harry Potter fan, Makani produces mainly fanart, but which appeals to the majority. Much of her fanart is based on the Malfoy family in the Harry Potter series.

Now before the majority of you groan, because it seems the Harry Potter series isn’t held in high regard here, let me continue. I promise I’m not a sadist.

For those of you who have never read a Harry Potter book and/or are not a fan of Harry Potter, allow me to briefly explain why I was not fond of the Malfoys in the first place.

Harry Potter is the protagonist, wizard orphan of the story. Draco Malfoy is the same-aged antagonist with an evil streak. Where being of pure magic blood is as significant as is financial status in the upper class of today’s society, the Malfoys are one of the families located at the top of the magical social hierarchy. The Malfoys are of pure blood and are not fond of families that either associate with muggles (non-magical people) or people who are of ‘impure’ blood. It also doesn’t help that they’re stinking rich.

The Weasleys are a family that Harry is on very close terms with. The Malfoys thoroughly enjoy tormenting the Weasleys over their low financial situation and Mr. Weasley’s fascination with all things muggle.

Thanks to Makani’s artwork, I’ve somewhat softened up to the Malfoy family. Their evil qualities have been saturated with humour. And at times, their minimal humane qualities are accented, enabling us to sympathise with the family members.

Here’s a favourite that hasn’t ceased to crack me up:

You don’t have to be fans to find humour where appropriate, albeit the humour would be intensified through the knowledge of things, such as the relationships between the characters. You would be able to apprehend the characters in a way that a person, who has not experienced the characters’  affairs, cannot. This may be a subtle jab to persuade you to read the series.

Makani’s other brilliant artwork can be found at Acciobrain and Deviantart.

Before we finish up, I’d like to bring to attention some of the artists we have here at dogentricks.com. Here are links to the relevant threads over at the forums, you will need to be a member to view them:

-          Drawings

-          Photoshop

-          Photography (the second post)

I apologise if I have missed any links. Please post any missing links in your comments.

Questions to consider: Do you have any works floating around online? Do you also check out fanart?

Thank you. ^_^

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

This is my analysis of な vs. ね in Japanese colloquial speech. Its a bit stuffy, but I encourage those with an interest in 日本語 to check it out. This will mostly likely be the last major paper I write as a student.

Train hard.

Though there is a significant amount of research in regards to sentence final particles and their role in Japanese, there is a noticeable lack of information surrounding the informal particle な. The purpose of this paper is to expose the role of な in Japanese, especially in comparison to sentence final particle ね. This will be done through comparing documented research on the particles ね and な with their occurrence in several native speaker dialogues. In his paper, な refers explicitly to the sentence final particle. Thus, it should not be confused with the various other functions of な, particularly the negative command form, V(Plain)+な, or the な adjective.

Todd and Erika Geers (1988) indicate な as the male equivalent to the sentence final particle ね, as expressed through several clear examples. Geers (p. 18) translates the English phrase, ‘That’s right!’ as そうだね, usable by both males and females. そうだな, on the other hand, is a form, according to Geers, usable only by males. Another straightforward example of this phenomenon is found in a translation of the English, ‘Maybe.’ Geers (p. 20) again indicates たぶんね as a gender free phrase, while たぶんな is markedly male. These phrases are significant because the only distinction that keeps them from being identical is the sentence final particle. That is to say, it is specifically な that makes the phrase markedly masculine. A particularly interesting phenomenon occurs in the translation of the English phrase, ‘That was good.’ While ね is often thought to be gender free, in the instance of 良かったね, The phrase becomes markedly female, in contrast to the male counterpart, 良かったな (Geers, page 23). Similarily, ‘Definitely!’ is be translated as 本当にそうよね, a marked female form, while 本当にそうだよな is another, according to Geers (p. 19), male form. Constantine affirms the use of な as a masculine sentence final particle with several implicit examples, such as: 俺 は てっきり あの ちいんちぇんでは この辺 のこと知ってると思ったんだがなあ (Constantine, 1994, p. 22). 俺, in this example, makes it clear this is a phrase used by males. In his 1992 work, Constantine provides a definition of な in relation to ね. な and なー are “the rough and masculine sounding version of ね and ねー” (Constantine, 1992, p. xxi). Thus, based on the research presented, な is defined as the masculine equivalent to the female particle ね.

Using this definition, the functionality and conditions for using な will now be analyzed through direct analysis of particle ね. Lee’s 2007 study explores the use of ね and よ in Japanese as tools of involvement. His abstract states, “the particles commonly share the function of signaling the speaker’s attitude in order to invite the involvement of the conversation partner” (p. 363). To be specific, Lee explains, “ね invites the partner’s involvement in an ‘incorporative’ manner, by which the speaker is committed to align with the partner with respect to the contents and feeling conveyed in the utterance” (p. 363). Therefore, な can be explained as male only instance of the sentence final particle ね; な is a tool by which male speakers encourage the partner’s participation in an incorporative way. In terms of conditions, Lee explains ね in the following manner:

“Provided that ね indicates the speaker’s attitude of inviting the involvement of the other party, the use of the particle is crucial if the following two conditions are fulfilled: (i) The main concern of the speaker is to align himself with the partner in respect to the utterance contents. (ii) The speaker assumes that the partner will also fully understand the content and feeling of the utterance. Condition (i) is essential; if this condition is met, while condition (ii) is not satisfied, the use of ne is optional” (Lee, 2007, p. 373).

Using Constantine’s 1992 definition of な as a masculine version of ね, Lee’s conditions for ね are thus also applicable to な, albeit restricted to use only by men.

The use of な will now be analyzed through several native speaker conversations, as transcribed by Ohta’s 2009 Japanese 443 class. In my analysis of the conversation ‘Keitai1.mov,’ (CALPER, 2009) な is used in the following way: 41: T: a mata meeru ga kichatta hayai na henshin. T, in an unmarked, spontaneous utterance, reflects on the speed of which his message was replied. It should be noted that な here is also used as defined by Lee (2007), as T is seemingly inviting group involvement. This is clear, as T’s mention of the reply is a direct extension of his earlier statement: 22: T: ara meeru ga kichatta. T’s use of Ara, in addition to his leaning towards the group and raising of his cell phone, appears to be a means of getting the group’s attention. T seemingly wants to create humor, which he succeeds in doing, by making a satirical joke commenting on the use of cell phones, while the group discusses cell phones. Subsequently, な, as used in 41, can be interpreted as T’s way of attempting to prolong the joke and encouraging group involvement and laughter, as he smiles and jokes about the speed of the reply. Another interesting example comes in line 57: T: ma daichi tegami toka kakane mon na, 60: S: zettai kakane ne, and 61:T: kakane yo //na. T’s use of な elicits S’s aligned response in line 60 and thus supports Lee’s (2007) theory of involvement. Furthermore, this is a prime example of Geer’s (1994) classification of な as a sentence final particle that makes the phrase distinctly masculine. Though S, in line 60, also applies the ね ending to her verb 書く, she distinctly produces the ね sentence-ending particle to finish her phrase. T, on the other hand, uses な in both instances. The phrases are nearly identical except for the use of な vs ね. This supports the evidence noted earlier; な is essentially adding a masculine tone to the ね particle; their functionality is indistinguishable.

In Javier’s analysis of ‘GiftA.mov,’ (CALPER, 2009) there are two examples of な being used in alignment with conditions listed above. The first example comes in line 45: K: [giri choko tte no wa na:[: (uttered by male speaker), and again in line 112: K: [nodoame de howaito dei tte sugoi na (same speaker). However, also in Javier’s analysis is an example of a female using な, as shown in line 108 and 109: Y: a zutto mattetan dakedo nodoame demo ii no ni na::[ to omottetan dakedo ((while smiling and making a cute, joking gesture with her hands)). This is the only point in this dialogue, or any of the dialogues for that matter, that な is used by a female speaker as a sentence final particle. It is important to note Y uses ね throughout the rest of the dialogue, for example in lines 22 : Y: [giri choko to ka sa ne, 44: Y: un:: giri choko [ne:!, and 46 [kaisugi da yo ne:.

Is Y’s use of な an exception? Before analyzing this instance of な、it is necessary to review Cook’s 1996 report on the spontaneous and disciplined modes of self. Cook explains the existence of two self-speech modes. Spontaneous speech is unmarked, natural, and typically expressed through the plain form Japanese (Cook, 1996). The disciplined form is marked, controlled, and usually expressed with the です／ます form (Cook, 1996). Though this instance of な does not perfectly coincide with Cook’s explanation of disciplined speech corresponding to the です／ます form, the articulation and context of lines 108 and 109, in addition to the physical gestures, suggest な in this instance is a marked, non-spontaneous speech act.

Y’s utterance: 108: a zutto mattetan dakedo nodoame demo ii no ni na::[ to omottetan dakedo, translates to ‘Though I waited forever, I would have been happy with just cough drops!’ which is said in response to her male counterpart’s utterance: 106: K: wasurechatta ((grins)), translated as, “Oops, I forgot to give you something.” Apparently, K has forgotten to return Y’s chocolate, or he simply did not prioritize it as something important or necessary, as is amplified by his grin. Y’s comment, ‘I would have been happy with just cough drops!’ in addition to a smile and cute hand gesture, creates a markedly humorous atmosphere that seems to indicate her lack of any actual anger or disappointment. The statement thus comes across as a joke, as most women would certainly be disappointed in receiving such a gift on White Day. K’s spontaneous laughter in line 110 further supports Y’s statement as being a blatant joke. な, thus, can also be interpreted as part of the joke, making it an explicitly marked form. That is to say, had Y truly been angry at K for not giving anything to her on valentines day, it is likely she would have not made a joke about cough drops, or utilized the particle な. It is then な itself that makes it more obvious her statement is, in fact, a joke. This is Y’s only use of な in the dialogue, and stands out against her unmarked, frequent use of ね, providing further evidence of な as a marked form in line 109.

From the information available, there was only one instance of a woman using the な sentence final particle. In this case, な came in the form of a joke and appears to be a marked statement. Thus, though there may be instances of woman using な as a sentence final particle that exist outside the data of this paper, based on the dialogues available, な coincides with the previous research presented. That is, な is a sentence final particle usable by men in natural, unmarked statements to encourage partner involvement. The CALPER dialogues used in Ohta’s 2009 Japan 443 class support this information.

References
CALPER’s Learning through Listening Japanese Materials Bank (2009). Available from CALPER’s Learning through Listening website: http://calper.la.psu.edu/learningthroughlistening/index.php
Cook, H. M. (1996) Japanese Language Socialization: Indexing the Modes of Self. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Constantine, P. (1994) Japanese Slang Uncensored. Tokyo: Yenbooks.
Constantine, P. (1992) Japanese Street Slang. New York: Tengu Books.
Geers, E., Geers T. (1988) Making out in Japanese. Tokyo: Yenbooks.
Lee, D.Y. (2006) Involvement and the Japanese particles ne and yo. Journal of Pragmatics, 39, 363-388.
Yonekawa, A. (1992) Beyond Polite Japanese. Tokyo: Kondansha International.

Speechless.

Title: The Box Man

Author: Abe Kobo

Publisher: Vintage

Year: 1973 (Japan), 2001 (US)

This week in J-Shelf we’re going to be taking a look at one of Japan’s most famous authors : Abe Kobo. Before Murakami Haruki exploded in popularity in the late eighties, Abe was seen as one of the most imaginative and intelligent authors to have his works translated into English. Many of his works have also seen movie adaptations, with the most famous probably being The Woman in the Dunes. Today, we are going to look at The Box Man, a novel written in the latter half of Abe’s career. Like many of his novels, Abe was really writing (wait for the obvious pun) out of the box.

The Box Man is a story all about identity and perception. It’s philosophical, comical, and sexual while playing with the nature of who people really are. The main story involves a man who one day decides to become a box man. He puts a large box over his head, cuts out holes for eyes, and decides to walk the streets of Tokyo. Obviously, box men are not yet fully accepted by society yet, and so he runs into various problems with gun-toting angry citizens and stripping nurses.

The narration is set up as the scribbled journals of the box man, as he comes to grips with the reality around him and his very self. The nameless narrator is a likable guy who speaks casually about his new box man existence, but despite the simple tone of his language the book deals with so many complex ideas and metaphors that it really is quite an amazing and also challenging read. This is the fourth Abe book I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and in many ways it was the most difficult to grasp what was going on because of the narrative structure and the content of the story.

Of course, that is in no means meant as a criticism against the book, as I find that with most of Abe’s work I am initially a bit confused after reading but through time I come to appreciate the nature of his genius more and more. My first encounter with his work nearly 4 years ago with the equally compelling detective story The Ruined Map, would prepare me for this phenomenon with his writing. Of course, once the book starts throwing out “fake” versions of the characters it does require the reader to really think deeply about the novel, and I think those looking for fiction with interesting things to say about reality and identity will love this book.

While not my favorite work from Abe (that honor goes to Secret Rendezvous), The Box Man was easily one of his most bizarre, and with a body of work like Abe’s that’s really saying something. Interspersed throughout the fragmented narration are pictures with captions that also seem to further blur the exact reality that is taking place in the book. It all culminates into an impressive look at who we really are as people, and perhaps, who we really want to be.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to put my box back on and wander the streets. See you next time!

Tokyo Swan

If you liked this you may also enjoy: The Ruined Map: Abe Kobo, A Wild Sheep Chase: Murakami Haruki

Hello everyone!

I was actually planning to post another entry that I had prepared for today, a recommendation of sorts. I am glad, however, that I waited to post until after I got back from my daily commitments. On the tram home, I had another ‘tiny’ encounter. Hopefully it will make you smile, too.

Late this afternoon, which was several hours ago, I was standing next to a pram. Coming from the pram I could hear the usual chattering of a toddler amusing themselves while Daddy watched on and occasionally joined in. What I didn’t notice was that situated in front of the next set of doors, several rows down, was another pram.

I became aware of this, however, when the toddler apparently heard the other bub’s incoherent musings and decided to call out. The other bub wasted no time in responding and before I knew it, there was a conversation going back and forth, with babbles, squeals and a few enthusiastic bounces mixed into the incomprehensible chatter.

Keep in mind this conversation took place over several rows of seats on the tram. A few moments into the conversation and everyone on my side of the tram were smiling fondly, some softly chuckling, at the toddler in the pram beside me.

Ah, such is the power of a child’s aura, more fatal than a lethal weapon, no? Possibly so that the most rotten person would be left disarmed and a mushy mess? Brilliant, really.

This language they spoke may have been incomprehensible for us, but it seemed to work well for both bubs. It was too damn cute!

While on the topic of ‘uncommon’ languages- a word of advice: when one is able to speak a language that is uncommon to the area they reside in, one usually assumes that no one else can speak the language. Albeit there is a slight chance. This bit of information is especially relevant to when you assume the same of the person you’re speaking of. Because to this blunder, I can definitely relate.

Can anyone say ‘mortifying embarrassment’?

Questions to consider: Have you had any similar run-ins with children before? Have you yourself accidentally spoken about someone(s) or something, not knowing others understood exactly what you said?

I did not get a chance to sleep on this entry so I apologise for any pitfalls.

Comments and criticism are more than welcome. Thank you!