Guía de Tokyo

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Tagalog Phrase guide

Hello: こんにちは。 (kon-nee-chee-WAH)

Please (request): お願いします。 (oh-neh-gigh shee-moss)

Thank you (informal): はい。 (High)

No: いいえ。 (EE-eh)

Excuse me: すみません。 (soo-mee-mah-sen)

I can’t speak Japanese [well]: 日本語が「よ

く」話せません。 (nee-hohn-goh gah [yo-koo] hah-nah-seh-mah-sen)

I don’t understand: わかりません。 (wah-kah-ree-mah-sen)

How much is a ticket to _____?: _____ までいくら

ですか (_____ made ikura desu ka?)

How do I get to _____?: _____ はどちらですか? (_____ wa dochira desu ka?)

Please show me on the map: 地図で指して下さ

い。 (chizu de sashite kudasai)

WeaTher ForecasT

Sun, Jun 01

H: 81°F, L: 63°F

Mon, Jun 02

H: 72°F, L: 53°F

Tue, Jun 03

H: 65°F, L: 49°F

Wed, Jun 04

H: 79°F, L: 57°F

Thu, Jun 05

H: 67°F, L: 57°F

exchange raTe

Php1 Philippine Peso is ¥2.4271 Japanese Yen






¥1 Japanese Yen is Php0.412 Philippine Peso






TiPPing PolicyTaxi: None

Restaurant: Tipping is perceived as insulting

Porter: None

elecTriciTy sTandard, Plug requiremenTsEastern Japan 50 Hz (Tokyo, Kawasaki, Sapporo, Yokohoma, and Sendai); Western Japan 60 Hz (Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Hiroshima). Military facili-ties 120 V.

The electrical current in Japan is 100 V, 50/60 Hz alternating current (AC);

emergency numbersPolice: 110

Medical: 119

Fire Department: 119

emergency at sea 118

Time ZoneTokyo is in the UTC+9 time zone. That’s 1 hours ahead of Barcelona.

8:00 AM in Barcelona is 9:00 AM (the same day) in Tokyo.

8:00 AM in Tokyo is 7:00 AM (the same day) in Barcelona.

An up-to-date travel guide prepared for

TokyoT o k yo, J u n 2 3–J u l 07, 2 0 0 8

Maps

Weather

What to do

Where to go

Lodging

dining

s a c h a

Copyright 2008, Offbeat Guides

The travel guide made just for

s a c h a

contentsMaps 8

Tokyo Region View 8Tokyo City View 10Tokyo Neighborhood View 12Tokyo Street View 14

Tokyo 16Districts 16Central Tokyo 17Old Tokyo (‘’Shitamachi’’) 18Izu and Ogasawara Islands 18Suburban wards 19

Understand 19Culture 19Language 20Expenses 20

Get in 20By plane 21

See 21Itineraries 22

Do 22Learn 23Buy 24Anime and manga 24Books 24Cameras and electronics 24Fashion 25Kitchenware 25Music 25Street markets 25

Eat 26Budget 27Mid-range 28Splurge 28

Drink 29Sleep 30Contact 30Stay safe 31Get out 31

Tokyo 33Name 34History 34Geography and administrative divisions 35The twenty-three special wards 36Western Tokyo 37Islands 37National Parks 38

Cityscape 38Climate and seismology 39Economy 39Demographics 41Transportation 41Education 42Culture and sports 43Tokyo in popular media 44Sister relationships 45

Japanese phrasebook 46Pronunciation guide 46Vowels 46Consonants 47Examples 48Katakana 48

Grammar 49Forming sentences 50The verb “to be” 50Addressing others 51

Reading and writing 52Basics 54Problems 56Numbers 58Time 60Colors 63Lodging 67Money 68Eating 69On the phone 71Bars 72Shopping 73

Family 74Driving 75Authority 75Typical Japanese expressions 76Honourifics 77Country and territory names 79Offensive Language 80

Learning more 80Events 82

Monday, June 23, 2008 82Tuesday, June 24, 2008 82Wednesday, June 25, 2008 83Thursday, June 26, 2008 87Friday, June 27, 2008 87Saturday, June 28, 2008 89Sunday, June 29, 2008 90Monday, June 30, 2008 90Tuesday, July 01, 2008 91Wednesday, July 02, 2008 91Saturday, July 05, 2008 92Sunday, July 06, 2008 92Monday, July 07, 2008 93

Weather Forecast 94References 97

Offbeat Resources 97

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo, Jun 23–Jul 07, 2008

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tokyo region View

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tokyo region View

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tokyo city View

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tokyo city View

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tokyo neighborhood View

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tokyo neighborhood View

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tokyo street View

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tokyo street View

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tokyo

Tokyo (??; ) is the capital of Japan. At over 12 million people in the official metropolitan area alone, Tokyo is the core of the most populated urban area in the world, Greater Tokyo (which has a population of 35 million people). This huge, wealthy and fascinating metropolis brings high-tech visions of the future side by side with glimpses of old Japan, and has something for everyone.

Located geographically at about the center of the Japanese archipelago and in the southern part of the Kanto area, Tokyo shares borders with Chiba prefecture to the east along the Edogawa River, Yamanashi to the west along a mountain range, Kanagawa in the south along the Tamagawa River, and Saitama in the north. Being 2187 km² in area, the metropolis occupies only 0.6% of the national land, the third smallest of the 47 administrative divisions of the country. As the land unfolds from east to west, there are hills, plateaus, and mountains scattered around the city. Small as it is, Tokyo’s geographical features are rich in variety, comprising low lands of only four meters above the sea-level and mountainous areas of over 2000 meters. In addition, it must be noted that certain volcanic islands in the Pacific such as the Izu and Ogasawara Islands also are part of Tokyo.

disTricTsHuge and varied in its geography, with over 2,000 square kilometers to explore, Tokyo prefecture (??? Tokyo-to) spans not just the city, but rugged mountains to the west and subtropical islands to the south. This article concentrates on the 23 central wards (? ku) near the bay, while the western cities and the islands are covered in a separate article.

The geography of central Tokyo is defined by the JR Yamanote Line (see Get around). The center of Tokyo — the former area reserved for the Shogun and his samurai — lies within the loop, while the Edo-era downtown (?? shitamachi) is to the north and

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east. Sprawling around in all directions and blending seamlessly into Yokohama, Kawasaki and Chiba are Tokyo’s suburbs.

Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is one of the largest cities of the world with a population of 12.64-million and the biggest of the 47 prefectures throughout Japan. Its long history of prosperity started with the establishment of the shogunate by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603. At that time, Tokyo was called Edo, which by the 18th century had grown to a huge city of over a million people. It is now Japan’s center for political, economic, cultural, and various other activities as well as the origin for the dissemination of information.

The ward area in Tokyo is 621Km2 in area, where 8.53-million people live. Tokyo attracts tourists not only from abroad, but from all over the country as it provides many points of interest to visit, well-developed traffic networks, and facilities for business enterprises that are linked together. The Metropolitan Government Office which runs the city, Tokyo Station constructed in 1914 as the largest brick building in Japan, the Odaiba Marine Park commanding a wide ocean view are just a few examples of the sightseeing spots of this charming city full of history and tradition, that is continually generating new points of interest. Cultural facilities such as museums and art galleries are also abundant, making Tokyo, undoubtedly, one of the most advanced cities of the world.

cenTral TokyoChiyoda, the seat of Japanese power (both political and eco-■■

nomical) that includes the Imperial Palace, the Ministries near Kasumigaseki, the Parliament in Nagatacaho, the corpo-rate headquarters of Marunouchi, and the electronics mecca of AkihabaraChuo district, including the famed department stores of the ■■

Ginza and the fish markets of TsukijiMinato, including the business center of Akasaka and the ■■

neighbouring nightclub district of Roppongi, the port dis-

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trict (at least in name) which includes the artificial island of Odaiba, the skyscrapers of ShiodomeShinjuku, home to luxury hotels, giant camera stores, futur-■■

istic skyscrapers, hundreds of shops and restaurants, and Ka-bukicho, Tokyo’s wildest nightlife and red-light districtShibuya, the fashionable shopping district which also encom-■■

passes the teenybopper haven of Harajuku (also home to the Meiji Shrine) and the nightlife of EbisuShinagawa, a major train hub and business center■■

Toshima including Ikebukuro, another giant train hub■■

Meguro, a residential area with a few nice parks and muse-■■

ums

old Tokyo (‘’shiTamachi’’)Sumida by the river of the same name, including Ryogoku, ■■

home of the Edo-Tokyo Museum and Tokyo’s main sumo arena (Ryogoku Kokugikan).Taito and Bunkyo, the heart of Old Tokyo featuring the tem-■■

ples of Asakusa and many museums of UenoKoto, between the two rivers Sumida and Arakawa, locat-■■

ed on just the south of Sumida. It is famous for the former woodland in Kiba, and Kameido Tenjin the shrine worship-ing Michizane Sugawara known as the father of study in Kameido.Arakawa■■

The South part of Adachi■■

iZu and ogasaWara islandsThe Izu islands lie southeast of the city in the Pacific Ocean, ranging in order from those closest to the Metropolitan Government Office: Oshima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, Kouzushima, Miyakejima, Mikurajima, Hachijojima, and Aogashima. Oshima island is 108 km away and Aogashima is 354 km away from the metropolitan office. Each island is unique in that it has its own character and all sorts of marine sports such as swimming, scuba diving, surfing, and fishing can be enjoyed. There are many places that offer scenic beauty, which are crowded with tourists during the summer.

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Ogasawara Islands are about 1000 km away from Tokyo. They are made up of some 20 islands in the subtropical zone but only Chichijima and Hahajima are inhabited. Almost the whole area of the islands is included in the Ogasawara National Park, which is full of beautiful nature. You can visit the marine park as well. This is an area known for whale watching. Although the access to the islands is limited to ship, it is always highly popular among tourists.

suburban WardsEdogawa■■

Itabashi■■

Katsushika■■

Kita■■

Nakano■■

Nerima■■

Ota■■

Setagaya, an upscale residential area that houses the student ■■

drinking spot of ShimokitazawaSuginami■■

undersTandOver 400 years old, the city of Tokyo grew from the modest fishing village of Edo (??). The former seat of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Imperial family moved to the city after the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The metropolitan center of the country, Tokyo is the destination for business, education, modern culture, and government. (That’s not to say that rivals such as Osaka won’t dispute those claims.)

culTureTokyo is vast: it’s best thought of not as a single city, but a constellation of cities that have grown together. Tokyo’s districts vary wildly by character, from the electronic blare of Akihabara to the Imperial gardens and shrines of Chiyoda, from the hyperactive youth culture mecca of Shibuya to the pottery shops and temple markets of Asakusa. If you don’t like what you see, hop on the train and head to the next one, and you will find something entirely different.

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The sheer size and frenetic pace of Tokyo can intimidate the first-time visitor. Much of the city is a jungle of concrete and wires, with a mass of neon and blaring loudspeakers. At rush hour, crowds jostle in packed trains and masses of humanity sweep through enormous and bewilderingly complex stations. Don’t get too hung up on ticking tourist sights off your list: for most visitors, the biggest part of the Tokyo experience is just wandering around at random and absorbing the vibe, poking your head into shops selling weird and wonderful things, sampling restaurants where you can’t recognize a single thing on the menu (or on your plate), and finding unexpected oases of calm in the tranquil grounds of a neighbourhood Shinto shrine. It’s all perfectly safe, and the locals will go to sometimes extraordinary lengths to help you if you just ask.

languageIt’s easier than ever for English speakers to navigate their way around Tokyo without speaking any Japanese. Signs at subway and train stations include the station names in romaji (Romanized characters). It can be helpful to know some tips for ordering in restaurants, shopping in stores, and asking for directions. Learning the script is not difficult and most words written with it can be understood by English speakers so it can be useful even for people with no Japanese vocabulary. If you plan on asking for directions to Tokyo destinations, it especially helps to carry the name of the destination written in Japanese characters.

exPensesThe cost of living in Tokyo is not as astronomical as it once was. Deflation and market pressures have helped to make costs in Tokyo comparable to most other large cities. Visitors from San Francisco, New York, London, Paris and Toronto will not be at all surprised. Travelers should budget a similar amount of money for their stay in Tokyo as they would for any other great city in Europe or North America. Locals will know the bargains, but experienced cheapskates from anywhere in the world can get by with a little ingenuity.

geT inIn Japan, all roads, rails, shipping lanes and planes lead to Tokyo.

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by PlaneTokyo has two large airports: Narita for international flights, and Haneda for (mostly) domestic flights.

nariTa airPorT

Tokyo’s main international gateway is Narita Airport (????) , located in the town of Narita nearly 70 kilometers northeast of Tokyo and covered in a separate article. A brief summary of options for getting there and away:

Easiest: Limousine bus direct to major hotels, ~120 minutes ■■

(subject to traffic), &yen3000Fastest: Narita Express to Tokyo Station, Shibuya, Shinjuku, ■■

Yokohama, 55 minutes, &yen2940 ( Japan Rail Pass valid)Cheapest: Keisei Limited Express train to Nippori/Ueno, ~80 ■■

minutes, &yen1000Most expensive: Taxi to the city, more than &yen30,000■■

seeTokyo has a vast array of sights, but the first items on the agenda of most visitors are the temples of Asakusa, the gardens of the Imperial Palace (in Chiyoda) and the Meiji Shrine (in Harajuku).

Tokyo has many commercial centres for shopping, eating and simply wandering around for experiencing the modern Japanese urban phenomenon. Each of these areas have unique characteristics, such as dazzling Shinjuku, youthful Shibuya and upmarket Ginza. These areas are bustling throughout the day, but they really come into life in the evenings.

If you’re looking for a viewing platform, the Tokyo Tower is the best known but a rather overpriced, not to say uninspiring, choice. The highest spot in Tokyo is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building (in effect, Tokyo’s City Hall) in Shinjuku. Its twin towers have viewing platforms that are absolutely free, and offer a great view over Tokyo and beyond. However, the best option would probably be from the World Trade Center Building (1000 pm.

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The city is dotted with museums, large and small, which center on every possible interest from pens to antique clocks to traditional and modern arts. Many of the largest museums are clustered around Ueno. At ¥500 to ¥1,000 or more, entrance fees can add up quickly, but the GRUTT Pass allows access to 56 of them for a flat ¥2000 fee. The pass can be purchased from any participating museum and is valid for two months.

iTinerariesClassic Tokyo, Modern Tokyo — a one-day tour of the old and ■■

the newOne day in Tokyo — a hectic whirlwind tour of the many faces ■■

of the city

doEat a sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish Market.■■

Take a boat ride on the Sumida River from Asakusa.■■

Lose yourself in the dazzling neon jungle outside major train ■■

stations in the evenings. Shibuya and east Shinjuku at night can make Times Square or Piccadilly Circus look rural in comparison - it has to be seen to be believed.Enjoy a soak in a local “sento” or public bath. Or one of the ■■

onsen theme parks such as LaQua at the Tokyo Dome (Bun-kyo) or Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba.Go to an amusement park such as Tokyo Disney Resort, which ■■

consists of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea which are the world’s most visited and second most visited theme parks respectively, or the more Japanese Sanrio Puroland (in Tama), home to more Hello Kittys than you can imagine.Check out the hip and young crowd at Harajuku’s Takeshita-■■

Dori (Takeshita Street) or the more grown up Omotesando.In the spring, take a boatride in Kichijoji’s lovely Inokashira ■■

Park, and afterwards visit the Ghibli Studios Museum (well-known for their amazing movies, like Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke), but you will need to buy tickets for these in advance at a Lawson convenience store.Take the Yurikamome elevated train across the bay bridge ■■

from Shimbashi station to the bayside Odaiba district, and

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go on the giant ferris wheel - the largest in the world until recently.Watch a baseball game, namely the Yomiuri Giants at the To-■■

kyo Dome, or the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium. Nearby Chiba hosts the Chiba Lotte Marines.Take a stroll through the Imperial Palace’s East Gardens (open ■■

to the public daily at 9am, except Fridays and Mondays).Have a picnic in a park during the cherry blossom (Sakura). ■■

Unfortunately Sakura only lasts for about a week.

learnThe curious can study traditional culture such as tea ceremony, calligraphy, or martial arts such as Karate, Judo, Aikido and Kendo. There are also many language schools to help you work on your Japanese. Several universities in Tokyo cater to international students at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Keio University (■■ ?????? Keio Gijuku Daigaku), . Japan’s top private university (unless you ask a Waseda student). Es-tablished in the samurai days of yore and has a stuffier rep than Waseda, with alumni including former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. Main campus in Mita.Tokyo Institute of Technology (■■ ?????? Tokyo Kogyo Daigaku), . Tokyo’s top technical university. Main campus in Ookayama.University of Tokyo (■■ ???? Tokyo Daigaku), . Japan’s uncon-tested number one university, especially strong in law, medi-cine and literature. Passing the entrance exams is fiendishly difficult if you’re Japanese, but getting in as one of its 2000+ exchange students is easier. Five campuses scattered around town, but the original one is in Hongo.Waseda University (■■ ????? Waseda Daigaku), . Japan’s top private university (unless you ask a Keio student), famous as a den of artists and partiers. Main campus in Waseda.

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buyIf it is for sale anywhere in the world, you can probably buy it in Tokyo. Items to look for include electronics, funky fashions, antique furniture and kimono, and specialty items like Hello Kitty goods, anime and comics, and their associated paraphernalia.

Cash payment is the norm. Although credit cards are more and more widely accepted, they are far less widespread than in most other developed countries. Most Japanese ATMs do not accept foreign cards, but post office, 7-11 and Citibank ones do and usually have English menus as well. The crime rate is very low, so don’t be afraid of carrying around wads of cash as the Japanese do. See Japan#Buy for general caveats regarding electronics and media compatibility.

There are numerous convenience stores throughout Tokyo, which are open around the clock, and sell not only food and magazines, but also daily necessities such as underwear and toiletries. Supermarkets are usually open until 10 PM, while drugstores and department stores usually close at 9 PM.

anime and mangaAkihabara, Tokyo’s Electric Town, is now also the unquestioned center of its otaku community, and the stores along Chuo-dori are packed to the rafters with anime (animation) and manga (comics).

booksJinbocho is to used books what Akihabara is to electronics. It’s clustered around the Jinbocho subway stop.

cameras and elecTronicsEver since Sony and Nikon became synonymous with high-tech quality, Tokyo has been a favored place for buying electronics and cameras. Though the lines have blurred since the PC revolution, each has its traditional territory and stores: Akihabara has the electronics stores, including a large number of duty-free shops specializing in export models, and Shinjuku has the camera stores. Unfortunately, local model electronics are not cheap, but the export models are similar to what you’ll

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pay back home. It’s also surprisingly difficult to find certain things e.g. games machines.

FashionShibuya and neighboring Harajuku are the best-known shopping areas for funky, youthful clothes and accessories. Note that, almost without exception, clothes are sized for the petite Japanese frame.

Department stores and exclusive boutiques stock every fashion label imaginable, but for global labels prices in Tokyo are typically higher than anywhere else in the world. The famous Ginza and Ikebukuro’s giant Seibu and Tobu department stores (the largest in the world) are good hunting grounds. Recently, Roppongi Hills has emerged as a popular area for high-end shopping, with many major global brands. Other department stores in Tokyo are Mitsukoshi, Sogo, and Takashimaya. Mitsukoshi is Japan’s biggest department store chain. It’s anchor store is in Nihonbashi.

kiTchenWareThe district for this is Kappabashi Street near Asakusa, also known as “Kitchen Town.” The street is lined with stores selling all kinds of kitchen wares — this is where the restaurants of Tokyo get their supplies. It’s also a great place to find cheap Japanese ceramics and the famous plastic food.

musicOchanomizu is to the guitar what Jinbocho is to used books. There, you’ll find what must be the world’s densest collection of guitar shops. Plenty of other musical instruments (though not traditional Japanese ones) are also available.

sTreeT markeTsBustling open-air bazaars in the Asian style are rare in Tokyo, except for Ueno’s Ameyoko, a legacy of the postwar occupation. Yanaka Ginza in the Shitamachi Taito district, a very nice example of a neighborhood shopping street, makes for an interesting afternoon browse.

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There are often small flea and antique markets in operation on the weekend at major (and minor) shrines in and around Tokyo.

eaTThe sheer quantity and variety of food in Tokyo will amaze you. Department stores have food halls, typically in the basement, with food which surpasses top delicatessans in other world cities. Not only is cold food on offer, but also food to go. Tokyo has a huge amount of restaurants, so see the main Japan guide for the types of food you will encounter and some popular chains. Menus are often posted outside, so you can check the prices. Some shops have the famous plastic food in their front windows. Don’t hesitate to drag the waiting staff out to the front to point at what you want. Always carry cash. Many restaurants will not accept credit cards.

Tokyo has literally tens of thousands of restaurants representing more or less every cuisine in the world, but it also offers a few unique local specialties. Nigirizushi (fish pressed onto rice), known around the world around simply as “sushi,” in fact originates from Tokyo. Another is monjayaki (??????), a gooey, cabbage-filled version of okonomiyaki that uses a very thin batter to achieve a sticky, caramelized consistency. It is originally from the Tsukishima area of Chuo and today there are many restaurants near Asakusa offering monjayaki.

Hot Pepper Available in various editions, by region, around ■■

Tokyo, this free magazine offers a guide to local restaurants in Japanese but provides pictures and maps to the restau-rants. Some restaurants even offer coupons. Most restau-rants within this magazine are on the mid-range to high end scale.

Although Tokyo is famous for its sky-high cost of living, it offers a wide range of dining opportunities to satisfy every taste bud of its vast population. While there are many reasonable eateries available, the city is also abundant in prestigious restaurants of a variety of cuisines, both domestic and international, where sophisticated food prepared by renowned chefs are served. All kinds of food for all budgets-- this is what describes Tokyo’s

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food culture and its excitement best. Some of the best cusines include: Sushi, Kaiseki Ryori, and Teishoku.

budgeTGo to the convenience store (konbini), there is one every second corner. Really, the options may surprise you. You can get rice balls (onigiri), bread-rolls, salads, prepared foods (like nikuman and oden), and drinks (both hot and cold) for ¥100-150, bento lunch boxes for around ¥500 and sandwiches for ¥250-350. At some convenience stores, microwaves are available to heat up your food for no additional cost. Supermarkets (suupaa) are usually cheaper and offer a wider choice, but more difficult to find. (Try Asakusa and the sidestreets of Ueno’s Ameyoko market for local--not big chain--supermarkets.)

Also, look for bento shops like Hokka-Hokka-Tei which sell take-out lunch boxes. They range in quality and cost, but most offer good, basic food at a reasonable price. This is what students and office workers often eat.

Noodle shops, curry shops, and bakeries are often the best option for people eating on the cheap. They are everywhere. The noodle bars on every corner are great for filling up and very cheap at ¥200-1000. You buy your meal ticket from a vending machine at the door with pictures of the dishes and hand it to the serving staff. The one question you will typically have to answer for the counterman is whether you want soba (smaller diameter) or udon (larger diameter) noodles. Some offer standing room only (but with a counter to place your bowl), while others have limited counter seating. During peak times, you need to be quick as others will be waiting.

Fast food is available just about everywhere, including many American chains like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and KFC. But if you are visiting Japan from overseas, and wish to sample Japanese fast food, why not try MOS Burger, Freshness Burger, Lotteria, or First Kitchen. If you’re looking for something more Japanese (not to mention more cost-effective and probably tastier), try one of the local fast food giants, Matsuya or Yoshinoya. For under ¥500, you can get a giant bowl of meat, rice, and vegetables, sometimes with egg thrown in for good measure. Drinking

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water or hot ocha ( Japanese green tea) is usually available at no extra cost.

Raw fish enthusiasts are urged to try kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi), where the prices are very reasonable. Prices are depending on the color of the plate, so be sure to check before they start to pile up.

Many of the larger train and subway stations have fast, cheap eateries. Around most stations, there will be ample choices of places to eat, including chain coffeeshops (which often serve sandwiches, baked goods, and pasta dishes), yakitori places, and even Italian restaurants.

The ubiquitous “izakaya”, a cross between a pub and a casual restaurant, invariaby serve a good range of Japanese dishes and can be good places to fill up on the cheap in the evening. Many chains have picture menus.

mid-rangeBy tradition the basement of almost any department store, including Mitsukoshi, Matsuzakaya, or Isetan, is devoted to the depachika (????), a huge array of small shops selling all kinds of prepared take-out food. You can assemble a delicious if slightly pricey picnic here — or, if you’re feeling really cheap, just go around eating free samples! The very largest department stores are Tobu and Seibu in Ikebukuro, but Shibuya, Ginza and in fact any major Tokyo district will have their fair share. Shinjuku Station is home to several famous department stores, such as the Keio and Odakyu department stores. Many stores begin discounting their selections at about 7pm each night. Look for signs and stickers indicating specific yen value or percentage discounts. You will often see half-price stickers which read ?? (hanne).

sPlurgeThere are countless very expensive restaurants in Tokyo, but one splurge is worthwhile for fans of sushi. The best sushi in town, if not the world, can be found in Tsukiji, fresh from the famous fish market. Figure on ¥3000 for a set meal, which is a bargain compared to how much sushi of similar caliber would cost elsewhere. A sushi breakfast in Tsukiji, after exploring the

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fish market, is a great option for the jet-lagged traveler’s first morning in Tokyo.

For upmarket Japanese eats, Ginza is guaranteed to burn a hole in your wallet, with Akasaka and Roppongi Hills close behind. You can limit the damage considerably by eating fixed lunch sets instead of dinner, as this is when restaurants cater to people paying their own meals instead of using the company expense account.

drinkThe party never stops in Tokyo (but generally takes place in Karaoke bars amongst locals during the week), and you will find good little bars and restaurants everywhere. You will also find that you are never far from a beer vending machine in Tokyo.

If you’re new in town then hit Roppongi for establishments which specialize in serving foreigners, although things can get a little rowdy in some gaijin bars. The area is pretty dead during the week but livens up a little on Friday and Saturday night. Furthermore, this area might not be to everyone’s liking as it is generally overflowing with foreigners, hostesses and most annoyingly ‘patrons’ who will continually hassle you to visit their gentlemens clubs. Be warned, a drink will typically cost you 5000 Yen in a gentlemen’s club, hence the reason for the vast number of pimps hassling foreigners. At least the pimps are easy to spot.

Hub pubs are available in Roppongi and Shibuya which resemble English pubs and are reasonably priced. Gaspanic clubs are also in those 2 areas which provide decent music, if nothing more. Throughout Tokyo, Happy Hours which typically last for a couple of hours between 5pm and 7pm at weekends and to 9.30pm during the week, will take the typical cost of a pint in a Western bar down from 900 Yen to 500 Yen, or lower if willing to stand. The First Bar does cheap cocktails in Roppongi on a Sunday night.

If you are looking for a more Japanese and/or pleasant international experience, visit Shibuya for cool nightclubs and dancing. The bar area is between the station and the area

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where the love hotels are located. Just head over the footbridge straight ahead when you go out of the station and then take a right and follow the neon from street to street. Shinjuku is home to Kabukicho, Japan’s largest red-light district, and the massive gay bar district of Ni-chome. As a gaijin, you will also experience a great deal of hassle in this area, similar to Roppongi. A little further from the city center are Shimokitawaza, Koenji and Nakano, which are full of good bars, restaurants and “live houses” offering underground/indie music, and popular with students and 20/30-somethings.

The cheapest nights out would be at Japanese-style watering holes called izakaya (???), which offer food and drink in a convivial, pub-like atmosphere. Cheaper chain izakaya like Tsubohachi (???) and Shirokiya (???) usually have picture menus, so ordering is simple even if you don’t know Japanese. Night out Western-style can get expensive, with clubs and live houses enforcing weekend cover charges in the ¥2000-5000 bracket (usually including a drink coupon or two) and a single drink at a bar as much as ¥1000.

For a splurge on a beverage or two, Western Shinjuku’s Park Hyatt Tokyo houses the New York Bar on level 52. Providing stunning views day and night across Tokyo it was also the setting for the movie Lost in Translation. Cocktails here start around ¥1400 - single malt whiskies are upwards of ¥2000.

sleePThere are thousands of hotels in the Tokyo area, ranging from cheap to very expensive. They are distributed throughout the city, with some of the high end and the low end almost everywhere. Many Western-style hotels, especially those affiliated with American hotel chains, have English-speaking staff.

conTacTGood connections are available at Internet cafes everywhere. Expect to pay ¥400-¥500 per hour. “Gera Gera” is a popular chain. Paid WiFi service is also taking off in Tokyo with reasonable coverage - at a price. WiFi services are probably not convenient for those just visiting.

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If you bring your own computer with a WLAN card, it is possible to find a free connection in a fast food outlet like McDonald’s or Mos Burger. You also have a good chance to find a free connection in one of the numerous coffee shops. Just look for a wireless connection sign in the front window or computers within the shop.

sTay saFeTokyo is probably one of the safest big cities you will ever visit, and Japan in general is one of the safest places to visit in the world. Street crime is extremely rare, even late at night, and continues to decrease. However, “little crime” does not mean “no crime”, and common sense should still be applied as anywhere in the world.

Small police stations, or Koban, can be found every few blocks. If you get lost or need assistance, by all means go to them; it’s their job to help you! They may, however, have difficulties with English, so some knowledge of the Japanese language helps.

Take the usual precautions against pickpockets in crowded areas and trains. The red-light and nightlife districts can be a bit seedy, but are rarely dangerous. Note some small, back-street drinking establishments in red-light districts have been known to charge extortionate prices.

Still in a jam? Call Tokyo English Life Line , tel. 03-5774-0992, daily 9 a.m.-11 p.m.

If you make it as far out as Izu Islands, note that visitors to Miyakejima Island are currently required to carry a gas mask, due to volcanic gases. Those in poor health are advised against travelling to the island.

geT ouTFrom Tokyo, the entire surrounding Kanto region is your oyster. Particularly popular destinations nearby include:

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Hakone — for hot springs and views of Mount Fuji■■

Kamakura — home to dozens of small temples and one Big ■■

BuddhaNikko — grandiose shrine and burial site of Shogun Tokugawa ■■

IeyasuTokyo Disney Resort — with Tokyo Disneyland ( just like the ■■

ones everywhere else) and Tokyo DisneySea (an only-Japan theme park which includes some unique rides and some im-ported rides from Disney parks outside of Japan)Yokohama — Japan’s second-largest city■■

The Tokyo area also has some less-famous destinations that are easy day trips from central Tokyo:

Ashikaga — historical hometown of a famous shogun clan■■

Hachioji — a refreshing climb up Mt. Takao through a forest ■■

to a shrine and beer gardenKawasaki — home to the Nihon Minka-En park with 24 an-■■

cient farmhouses (more interesting than it sounds), not to mention the shrine of the Lord Big Iron Penis

Tourism_in_TokyoAsia/Japan/Prefectures/Tokyo/asia/northeastasia/japan/tokyo

TokyoTokioTokioTokioTokyoTokyo??TokioTóquioTokyo?????

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tokyo

, formally , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu, Tokyo is unique among the prefectures, providing certain municipal services characteristic of a city, as defined by Japanese law.

Because it is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family, Tokyo is the de facto capital of Japan. The name Tokyo literally means eastern capital.

The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, although each administratively a city in its own right, constitute the area informally considered as the “city of Tokyo” and are collectively one of the largest cities in the world with a total population of over 8 million people. The total population of the prefecture exceeds 12 million.

The Greater Tokyo Area, centered on Tokyo but also including Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with a population of over 35 million people. It has been the world’s most populous urban area since between 1965 and 1970, and despite Japan’s overall declining population, is still growing.

Tokyo has the largest metropolitan gross domestic product in the world for a city.

Tokyo is a major global city and megacity. The name “Tokyo” refers variously to Tokyo Metropolis (the prefecture) as a whole, or only to the main urban mass under its jurisdiction (thus excluding west Tama and Izu and Ogasawara Islands), or even the whole of Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Yamanashi prefectures, depending on context.

This article uses the name to refer to Tokyo Metropolis unless otherwise stated.

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nameTokyo was originally known as Edo, meaning estuary. Its name was changed to Tokyo (Tokyo: to (east) + kyo (capital)) when it became the de facto imperial capital in 1868. This pronunciation is now obsolete.

hisToryTokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo. In 1457, Ota Dokan built Edo Castle. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo his base and when he became shogun in 1603, the town became the center of his nationwide military government. During the subsequent Edo period, Edo grew into one of the largest cities in the world with a population topping one million by the 18th century. It became the de facto capital of Japan even while the emperor lived in Kyoto, the imperial capital.

After about 263 years, the shogunate was overthrown under the banner of restoring imperial rule. In 1869, the 17-year-old Emperor Meiji moved to Edo. Tokyo was already the nation’s political and cultural center, and the emperor’s residence made it a de facto imperial capital as well with the former Edo Castle becoming the Imperial Palace. The city of Tokyo was established, and continued to be the capital until it was abolished as a municipality in 1943 and merged with the “Metropolitan Prefecture” of Tokyo.

Central Tokyo, like Osaka, has been designed since about the turn of the century (1900) to be centered around major train stations in a high-density fashion, so suburban railways were built relatively cheaply at street level and with their own right-of-way. This differs from cities in the United States, such as Los Angeles, that are low-density and automobile-centric. Though expressways have been built, the basic design has not changed.

Tokyo went on to suffer two major catastrophes in the 20th century, but it recovered from both. One was the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, and the other was World War II. The firebombings in 1945, with 75,000 to 200,000 killed and half of the city destroyed, were almost as devastating as the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. After the war,

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Tokyo was completely rebuilt, and showcased to the world during the 1964 Summer Olympics. The 1970s brought new high-rise developments such as Sunshine 60, a new and controversial airport at Narita (well outside Tokyo), and a population increase to about 11 million (in the metropolitan area).

Tokyo’s subway and commuter rail network became one of the busiest in the world as more and more people moved to the area. In the 1980s, real estate prices skyrocketed during an economic bubble. The bubble burst in the early 1990s and many companies, banks, and individuals were caught with real estate shrinking in value. A major recession followed, making the 1990s Japan’s “lost decade” from which it is slowly recovering.

Tokyo still sees new urban developments on large lots of less profitable land. Recent projects include Ebisu Garden Place, Tennozu Isle, Shiodome, Roppongi Hills, Shinagawa (now also a Shinkansen station), and the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. Buildings of significance are demolished for more up-to-date shopping facilities such as Omotesando Hills. Land reclamation projects in Tokyo have also been going on for centuries. The most prominent is the Odaiba area, now a major shopping and entertainment center.

Various plans have been proposed for transferring national government functions from Tokyo to secondary capitals in other regions of Japan, in order to slow down rapid development in Tokyo and revitalize economically lagging areas of the country. These plans have been controversial within Japan and have yet to be realized.

geograPhy and adminisTraTive divisionsThe mainland portion of Tokyo lies northwest of Tokyo Bay and measures about 90 km east to west and 25 km north to south. Chiba Prefecture borders it to the east, Yamanashi to the west, Kanagawa to the south, and Saitama to the north. Mainland Tokyo is further subdivided into the special wards (occupying the eastern half ) and the Tama area (????) stretching westwards.

Also within the administrative boundaries of Tokyo Metropolis are two island chains in the Pacific Ocean directly south: the

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Izu Islands, and the Ogasawara Islands, which stretch more than 1,000 km away from mainland Japan. Because of these islands and mountainous regions to the west, Tokyo’s overall population density figures far underrepresent the real figures for urban and suburban regions of Tokyo.

Under Japanese law, Tokyo is designated as a to (?), translated as metropolis. Its administrative structure is similar to that of Japan’s other prefectures. Within Tokyo lie dozens of smaller entities, most of them conventionally referred to as cities. It includes twenty-three special wards (??? -ku) which until 1943 comprised the city of Tokyo but are now separate, self-governing municipalities, each with a mayor and a council, and having the status of a city. In addition to these 23 municipalities, Tokyo also encompasses 26 more cities (? -shi), five towns (? -cho or machi), and eight villages (? -son or -mura), each of which has a local government. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is headed by a publicly elected governor and metropolitan assembly. Its headquarters are in the ward of Shinjuku. They govern all of Tokyo, including lakes, rivers, dams, farms, remote islands, and national parks in addition to its famous neon jungle, skyscrapers and crowded subways.

The TWenTy-Three sPecial WardsThe special wards (tokubetsu-ku) of Tokyo comprise the area formerly incorporated as Tokyo City. On July 1, 1943, Tokyo City was merged with Tokyo Prefecture (???, Tokyo-fu) forming the current “metropolitan prefecture”. As a result of this merger, unlike other city wards in Japan, these wards are not part of any larger incorporated city.

Each ward is a municipality with its own elected mayor and assembly like the other cities of Japan. The wards differ from other cities in that certain governmental functions are handled by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The special wards of Tokyo are as follows:

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The term “central Tokyo” today may refer to all of the 23 special wards, to all but the outermost special wards, or only to the three centrally located wards of Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato.

WesTern TokyoTo the west of the special wards, Tokyo Metropolis consists of cities, towns and villages that enjoy the same legal status as those elsewhere in Japan.

While serving a role as “bed towns” for those working in central Tokyo, some of these also have a local commercial and industrial base. Collectively, these are often known as the Tama Area or Western Tokyo.

ciTies

Twenty-six cities lie within the western part of Tokyo:

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has designated Hachioji, Tachikawa, Machida, Ome and Tama New Town as regional centres of the Tama area, as part of their plans to disperse urban functions away from central Tokyo.

disTricTs, ToWns and villages

The far west is occupied by the district (gun) of Nishitama. Much of this area is mountainous and unsuitable for urbanization. The highest mountain in Tokyo, Mount Kumotori, is 2,017 m high; other mountains in Tokyo include Takasu (1737 m), Odake (1266 m), and Mitake (929 m). Lake Okutama, on the Tama River near Yamanashi Prefecture, is Tokyo’s largest lake.

Hinode■■

Mizuho■■

Okutama■■

Hinohara■■

islandsTokyo has numerous outlying islands, which extend as far as 1850 km from central Tokyo. Because of the islands’ distance from the administrative headquarters of the metropolitan government in Shinjuku, local offices administer them.

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The Izu Islands are a group of volcanic islands and form part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The islands in order from closest to Tokyo are Izu Oshima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, Kozushima, Miyakejima, Mikurajima, Hachijojima, and Aogashima. Izu Oshima and Hachijojima are towns. The remaining islands are six villages, with Niijima and Shikinejima forming one village.

The Ogasawara Islands include, from north to south, Chichi-jima, Nishinoshima, Haha-jima, Kita Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima, and Minami Iwo Jima. Ogasawara also administers two tiny outlying islands: Minami Torishima, the easternmost point in Japan and at 1,850 km the most distant island from central Tokyo, and Okino Torishima, the southernmost point in Japan. The last island is contested by the People’s Republic of China as being only uninhabited rocks. The Iwo chain and the outlying islands have no permanent population, but host Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel. Local populations are only found on Chichi-jima and Haha-jima. The islands form the village of Ogasawara.

naTional ParksFour national parks lie within Tokyo:

Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, in Nishitama and spilling ■■

over into Yamanashi and Saitama PrefecturesMeiji no Mori Takao Quasi-National Park, around Mount ■■

Takao to the south of HachiojiFuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which includes all of the Izu ■■

IslandsOgasawara National Park. As of 2006, efforts were being ■■

made to make Ogasawara National Park a UNESCO natural World Heritage Site.

ciTyscaPeArchitecture in Tokyo has largely been shaped by Tokyo’s history. Twice in recent history has the metropolis been left in ruins: first in the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake and later after extensive firebombing in World War II. Because of this, Tokyo’s current urban landscape is one of modern and contemporary architecture, and older buildings are scarce.Hidenobu Jinnai. Tokyo: A Spatial Anthropology. University of California

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Press (1995), . ISBN 0520071352.

Tokyo also contains numerous parks and gardens.

climaTe and seismologyTokyo lies in the humid subtropical climate zone (Koppen climate classification Cfa), with hot humid summers and generally mild winters with cool spells. Annual rainfall averages 1,380 mm (55 inches), with a wetter summer and a drier winter. Snowfall is sporadic, but does occur almost annually. Tokyo is an example of an urban heat island; the city’s population is a significant contributor to its climate. Tokyo has been cited as a “convincing example of the relationship between urban growth and climate”. Tokyo also often sees typhoons each year, though few are strong. The last one to hit was Fitow in 2007.

Tokyo was hit by powerful earthquakes in 1703, 1782, 1812, 1855 and 1923. The 1923 earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 8.3, killed 142,000 people.

economyTokyo is one of the three world finance “command centres”, along with New York and London. Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Tokyo urban area (35.2 million people) had a total GDP of US$1,191 billion in 2005 (at purchasing power parity), ranking again as the largest urban agglomeration GDP in the world. See also List of cities by GDP.

Tokyo is a major international finance center, houses the headquarters of several of the world’s largest investment banks and insurance companies, and serves as a hub for Japan’s transportation, publishing, and broadcasting industries. During the centralized growth of Japan’s economy following World War II, many large firms moved their headquarters from cities such as Osaka (the historical commercial capital) to Tokyo, in an attempt to take advantage of better access to the government. This trend has begun to slow due to ongoing population growth in Tokyo and the high cost of living there.

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Tokyo was rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most expensive (highest cost-of-living) city in the world for 14 years in a row ending in 2006. This analysis is for living a Western corporate executive lifestyle, with items like a detached house and several automobiles.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is Japan’s largest stock exchange, and second largest in the world by market capitalization and fourth largest by share turnover. In 1990 at the end of the Japanese asset price bubble, it accounted for more than 60% of the world stock market value.

Tokyo had 8,460 ha (20,900 acres) of agricultural land as of 2003, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, placing it last among the nation’s prefectures. The farmland is concentrated in Western Tokyo. Perishables such as vegetables, fruits, and flowers can be conveniently shipped to the markets in the eastern part of the prefecture. Japanese leaf spinach and spinach are the most important vegetables; as of 2000, Tokyo supplied 32.5% of the Japanese leaf spinach sold at its central produce market.

With 36% of its area covered by forest, Tokyo has extensive growths of cryptomeria and Japanese cypress, especially in the mountainous western communities of Akiruno, Ome, Okutama, Hachioji, Hinode, and Hinohara. Decreases in the price of lumber, increases in the cost of production, and advancing old age among the forestry population have resulted in a decline in Tokyo’s output. In addition, pollen, especially from cryptomeria, is a major allergen for the nearby population centers.

Tokyo Bay was once a major source of fish. Presently, most of Tokyo’s fish production comes from the outer islands, such as Izu Oshima and Hachijojima. Skipjack tuna, nori, and aji are among the ocean products.

Tourism in Tokyo is also a contributor to the economy.

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demograPhicsOver eight million people live within Tokyo’s 23 wards. During the daytime, the population swells by over 2.5 million as workers and students commute from adjacent areas. This effect is even more pronounced in the three central wards of Chiyoda, Chuo, and Minato, whose collective population is less than 300,000 at night, but over two million during the day. The entire prefecture has 12,790,000 residents in October 2007 (8,657,000 in 23 wards), with an increase of over 3 million in the day. Tokyo is at its highest population ever, while that of the 23 wards peak official count was 8,893,094 in the 1965 Census, with the count dipping below 8 million in the 1995 Census. People continue to move back into the core city as land prices have fallen dramatically.

As of 2005, the five most common foreign nationalities found in Tokyo are Chinese (123,661), Korean (106,697), Filipino (31,077), American (18,848) and British (7,696).

The 1889 Census recorded 1,389,600 people in Tokyo City, Japan’s largest city at the time.

TransPorTaTionTokyo is Japan’s largest domestic and international hub for rail, ground, and air transportation. Public transportation within Tokyo is dominated by an extensive network of clean and efficient trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with buses, monorails and trams playing a secondary feeder role.

Within Ota, one of the 23 special wards, Tokyo International Airport (“Haneda”) offers mainly domestic flights. Outside Tokyo, Narita International Airport, in Chiba Prefecture, is the major gateway for international travelers.

Various islands governed by Tokyo have their own airports. Hachijojima (Hachijojima Airport), Miyakejima (Miyakejima Airport), and Izu Oshima (Oshima Airport) have service to Tokyo International and other airports.

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Rail is the primary mode of transportation in Tokyo, which has the most extensive urban railway network in the world and an equally extensive network of surface lines. JR East operates Tokyo’s largest railway network, including the Yamanote Line loop that circles the center of downtown Tokyo. Two organizations operate the subway network: the private Tokyo Metro and the governmental Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation. The metropolitan government and private carriers operate bus routes. Local, regional, and national services are available, with major terminals at the giant railroad stations, including Tokyo and Shinjuku.

Expressways link the capital to other points in the Greater Tokyo area, the Kanto region, and the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku.

Other transportation includes taxis operating in the special wards and the cities and towns. Also long-distance ferries serve the islands of Tokyo and carry passengers and cargo to domestic and foreign ports.

educaTion:Tokyo has many universities, junior colleges, and vocational schools. Many of Japan’s most prestigious universities are in Tokyo, the University of Tokyo being the most prestigious of all. National universities located in Tokyo include Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo Institute of Technology and University of Tokyo. There is only one public university (i.e., not national): the Tokyo Metropolitan University. Keio University and Waseda University, top private universities in Japan, are located in Tokyo. Tokyo also has a few universities well-known for classes conducted in English. They include International Christian, Sophia, Waseda University, and Temple University Japan. For an extensive list, see List of universities in Tokyo.

Publicly run kindergartens, elementary schools (years 1 through 6), and junior high schools (7 through 9) are operated by local wards or municipal offices. Public high schools in Tokyo are run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education and

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are called “Metropolitan High Schools”. Tokyo also has many private schools from kindergarten through high school.

culTure and sPorTsTokyo has many museums. In Ueno Park are four national museums: Tokyo National Museum, the country’s largest museum and specializing in traditional Japanese art; the National Museum of Western Art; and the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, with its collections of Japanese modern art as well as over 40,000 Japanese and foreign films. Also in Ueno Park are the National Museum of Science and the public zoo. Other museums include the Nezu Art Museum in Aoyama; the Edo-Tokyo Museum in the Sumida Ward across the Sumida River from the center of Tokyo; and the National Diet Library, National Archives, and the National Museum of Modern Art, which are located near the Imperial Palace.

Tokyo has many theaters for the performing arts as well. These include national and private theaters for traditional forms of Japanese drama (like noh and kabuki) as well as modern dramas. Symphony orchestras and other musical organizations perform Western and traditional music. Tokyo also hosts modern Japanese and Western pop and rock music at venues ranging in size from intimate clubs to internationally known arenas like the Nippon Budokan.

Many different festivals occur throughout Tokyo. Major events include the Sanno at Hie Shrine, the Sanja at Asakusa Shrine, and the biennial Kanda Festivals. The last features a parade with elaborately decorated floats and thousands of people. Annually on the last Saturday of July, an enormous fireworks display over the Sumida River attracts over a million viewers. Once cherry blossoms, or sakura, bloom in spring, many residents gather in Ueno Park, Inokashira Park, and the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden for picnics under the blossoms.

Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan is known internationally for its youth style and fashion.

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Cuisine in Tokyo is internationally acclaimed. In November of 2007, Michelin released their guide for fine dining in Tokyo, garnering 191 stars in total, or about twice as many as its nearest competitor, Paris. Eight establishments were awarded the maximum of three stars (Paris has 10), 25 received two stars, and 117 earned one star. Of the eight top-rated restaurants, three offer traditional Japanese fine dining, two are sushi houses, three serve French cuisine.

Sports in Tokyo are diverse. Tokyo is home to two professional baseball clubs, the Yakult Swallows (Meiji-Jingu Stadium) and Yomiuri Giants (Tokyo Dome). The Japan Sumo Association is also headquartered in Tokyo at the Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo arena where three official sumo tournaments are held annually (in January, May, and September). Football (soccer) clubs in Tokyo include FC Tokyo and Tokyo Verdy 1969, both of which play at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics. National Stadium, also known as Olympic Stadium, Tokyo is host to a number of international sporting events. With a number of world-class sports venues, Tokyo often hosts national and international sporting events such as tennis tournaments, swim meets, marathons, American football exhibition games, judo, karate, etc. Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, in Sendagaya, Shibuya, is a large sports complex that includes swimming pools, training rooms, and a large indoor arena.

Tokyo in PoPular mediaAs the largest population center in Japan and the location of the country’s largest broadcasters and studios, Tokyo is frequently the setting for many Japanese movies, television shows, animated series (anime), and comic books (manga). In the kaiju (monster movie) genre, landmarks of Tokyo are routinely destroyed by giant monsters such as Godzilla.

Some Hollywood directors have turned to Tokyo as a filming location for movies set in Tokyo. Well-known examples from the postwar era include Tokyo Joe, My Geisha, and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice; well-known contemporary examples include Kill Bill, Tokyo Drift and Lost in Translation.

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sisTer relaTionshiPsTokyo has eleven sister cities:

In addition, Tokyo has “partnership” agreements with London, Auckland, Paris, and Rome. Many wards and cities within Tokyo also maintain sister-city relationships with other foreign cities.

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Japanese phrasebook

Japanese (??? nihongo) is spoken in Japan, and essentially nowhere else other than South Korea and China, where some use it as a second language. The language is strongly influenced by, but unrelated to Chinese and possibly distantly related to Korean, although the written form uses a combiantion of Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji characters, all influenced by Chinese characters.

PronunciaTion guideJapanese is not a tonal language like Chinese or Thai, and is comparatively easy to pronounce. The vowels are pronounced virtually identical to the “Italian way” and there are very few consonants that do not exist in English. All syllables are to be pronounced equal in length. Long vowels take the length of two syllables. Combinations like ?? kya are treated like one syllable and are the only occurrence of sliding vowels, all other syllables are to be pronounced rather separately.

Also avoid placing too much emphasis on particular words or syllables. Although Japanese does have a form of stress and intonation, it is significantly flatter than English. Word stress is much more subtle and neglecting it at this point should not interfere with meaning. Trying to keep your intonation flat will make your attempts to speak Japanese more comprehensible to local listeners. When asking questions, you can raise the tone at the end, as in English.

voWelsJapanese has both short and long vowels and the distinction is often important. Long vowels are either formed by a prolonged sound mark, as in ??a, or by an ? o followed by ? u, as in ??o. In romanized Japanese, these long vowels are marked with a macron. The sounds below are first given in romanized Japanese, then Hiragana and finally Katakana.

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a, ■■ ?, ? : like ‘a’ in “father”i, ■■ ?, ? : like ‘i’ in “machine”u, ■■ ?, ? : like ‘oo’ in “hoop”, but shorte, ■■ ?, ? : like ‘e’ in “set”o, ■■ ?, ? : like ‘o’ in “rope”, but less round

Note that “u” is often weak at the end of syllables. In particular, the common endings desu and masu are usually pronounced as des and mas respectively.

consonanTsWith the solitary exception of “n” (?·?), consonants in Japanese are always followed by a vowel to form a syllable. Consonants and vowels are not freely combinable as in English, see table on the right for all possible syllables and note irregularities like ? shi or ? fu. Certain syllables can be marked with diacritics, which alters the pronunciation of the consonant part. The list below first gives the consonant part of the syllable in romanized Japanese, then the Japanese syllables that the sound occurs in first in Hiragana, then Katakana.

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k in ■■ ?????·????? : like ‘k’ in “king”g in ■■ ?????·????? : like ‘g’ in “go”s in ■■ ????·???? : like ‘s’ in “sit”z in ■■ ????·???? : like ‘z’ in “haze”t in ■■ ???·??? : like ‘t’ in “top”d in ■■ ???·??? : like ‘d’ in “dog”n in ■■ ?????·????? : like ‘n’ in “nice”h in ■■ ????·???? : like ‘h’ in “help”p in ■■ ?????·????? : like ‘p’ in “pig”b in ■■ ?????·????? : like ‘b’ in “bed”m in ■■ ?????·????? : like ‘m’ in “mother”y in ■■ ???·??? : like ‘y’ in “yard”r in ■■ ?????·????? : no equivalent in English, a sound between ‘l’, ‘r’ and ‘d’, but close to a very soft ‘r’w in ■■ ?·? : like ‘w’ in “wall”sh in ■■ ?·?: like ‘sh’ in “sheep”j in ■■ ?·?: like ‘j’ in “jar”ch in ■■ ?·?: like ‘ch’ in “touch”ts in ■■ ?·? : like ‘ts’ in “hot soup”f in ■■ ?·?: like ‘wh’ in “who”n, ■■ ?, ? : short ‘n’, slides towards ‘m’ in some casesdouble consonants through ■■ ?·? (small tsu) : ???? nippon is pronounced “nip-(pause)-pon”. The consonant is prepared, held and stopped for the duration of one syllable. Not to be confused with with a “real” double consonant as in ????? konnichiwa, which is usually shown by an apostrophe in the romanized version: kon’nichiwa.

examPleskon’nichiwa ■■ ? kon-nee-chee-wa (not kounneeCHEEua)sumimasen ■■ ? soo-mee-mah-sen (not sue my maysen)onegai shimasu ■■ ? oh-neh-gigh shee-mahss (not ouneeGAY SHYmessu)

kaTakanaKatakana are used to write foreign and loanwords and are hence a good choice for travellers to learn. The katakana set of characters encompasses exactly the same sounds as hiragana, they only look different. The table on the left only reproduces the basic character set, diacritics (???) and combinations (??)

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apply just as for hiragana. One additional sound though is ? vu and combinations like ?? ve based on it, accommodating additional foreign sounds (actually ? vu exists in hiragana as well, but is rarely if ever used). Every once in a while you may spot additional ingenious combinations or use of diacritics.

Since Japanese doesn’t accommodate consonants, and especially rapid successions of consonants, very well, the katakana transcription can often only approximate the actual pronunciation of a foreign word. While some words like café (??? kafe) can be represented quite gracefully, other words like beer (??? biru) or rent-a-car (????? rentaka) seem slightly strange. Nonetheless, many English expressions and concepts are used in everyday life, as are a number of German, French, Dutch and Portugese loanwords. Oftentimes the exact meaning of a word has changed in Japanese (de: Arbeit ?????? arubaito is used only for part-time work) or a completely new meaning was invented (?????? wanmanka? “one-man car”, trains and buses without inspector, only one driver), but you can usually at least guess at the meaning.

To identify a katakana word, it’s usually helpful to repeat it out loud a few times and to leave out superfluous vocals, especially the ‘u’ in ? su and ‘o’ in ? to. That way ??? raisu quickly becomes “rice” and ???? chiketto becomes “ticket”. Try not too hard though, as sometimes original Japanese words are written in katakana as well, similar to the use of uppercase or italic letters in English.

grammarAt its core, Japanese grammar is pretty simple. It has no gender, declensions or plurals. Nouns never conjugate, almost all verbs are regular and there are only two tenses. Verbs and adjectives also conjugate by politeness level though, and in a rather peculiar way.

Japanese is a so called agglutinative language, meaning several morphemes which have purely grammatical functions are glued to the end of a word stem to express the grammatical function. The more the intended meaning differs from the basic form of the word, the more morphemes are glued together.

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Forming senTencesJapanese grammar generally employs a subject-object-verb order, but is very modular and flexible since the grammatical meaning of a word is expressed by the morphemes glued to its end and special marker particles. The two most important particles are the topic marker ? wa and the object marker ? o.

It becomes a little more complicated if both objects and subjects are mixed within a sentence and the subject marker ? ga is thrown in.

Students of the language can spend years wrapping their heads around the difference between the topic of a sentence (marked by ? wa) and the subject of a sentence (marked by ? ga). However, as a beginner, you can fairly safely always use ? wa to mark the person doing the action and get your message across.

Some other useful particles are:

The verb “To be”There is no verb “to be” as such. The two words ?? iru and ?? aru express the presence of a person or an object respectively, but they are not in any way equivalent to “to be”. E.g. ??????????? Yamada-san wa koko ni iru. means “Mr. Yamada is (physically present) here”. For expressions like “I am ...” or “This is ...” it is technically sufficient to only state the subject or object in question, and colloquially this is often what is done. E.g. ??????? Kore Yamada-san. - “This Yamada-san.” Without sufficient knowledge of the Japanese language and culture one should generally add the polite copula desu though to make the sentence more complete and give it a politeness level: ???? Yamada desu (“I am Yamada.”), ????? ringo desu (“This is an apple.”), ???? akai desu (“It is red.”). Note that “I am” or “it is” is not stated in these sentences but is rather implied by the context: “Who is on call today?” - Yamada desu. “Yamada is.”, “Who screwed this up?” - Yamada desu. “Yamada did.”

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To put it another way: There is no Japanese equivalent to “to be” and no English equivalent to ?? desu, both are only relevant within their respective grammatical contexts. They are both used in roughly the same situations though.

dallas dejesus was here. shge came to japan two months ago on a buisness trip. it was a pleasure having her her. its so sad that she had two leave us. hopfully she will come back and fisit us here in japan and we know we will be sure to visit her her in the us.

addressing oThersMore a cultural than a grammatical problem is the problem of addressing somebody. Even though there exist a multitude of word with the meaning “you”, it is generally avoided to address somebody directly. The closest equivalent to “you” is ??? anata, but it’s only being used among friends or equals. It is usually preferred to address somebody by name, title or status, applying appropriate honorifics.

■■ ?? -san : The most basic honorific, about equivalent to Mis-ter or Miss (no distiction between the two in Japanese). ???? Yamada-san: Mister Yamada

■■ ? -sama : Politer than -san, used to address people ranking higher on the social ladder.

■■ ??? -chan : Usually used to address young children. Also used to address (usually female) close friends.

■■ ? -kun : Used to adress male close friends.■■ ??? okyaku-sama : “Mister customer”, used by hotel or shop owners to address you.

■■ ???? tencho-san : The way to address the owner of a shop, though not the part-time workers.

■■ ???? oni-san, ???? one-san : Literally brother and sister re-spectively, is used to address young people who you’re hav-ing a hard time finding a better honorific for.

■■ ???? oji-san, ???? oba-san : “Gramps” and “granny”, very popular to address old people. Cuter when used with -chan.

■■ ?? shacho : The boss of the company.■■ ??? sochira : Means something like “on your side” and is used when absolutely no better honorific can be found.

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There are also several different words for “I”, with ? watashi being the most commonly used. Grammatically it’s often unnecessary to use the words “you” or “I”, so they should generally be avoided. Sometimes people will also call themselves by their own name. When doing so they must not add any additional honorifics though, you only do this when addressing others.

There’s no specific form for “we” or the plural “you”. To address groups of people you add the plural particle ?? -tachi to somebody within the group or the group designator.

■■ ??? watashi-tachi : lit. “the group around myself”, meaning “we”

■■ ?? ware-ware : a less formal way of saying “we”■■ ????? anata-tachi : “the group around you”, plural “you”■■ ???? kodomo-tachi : “a group of children”, meaning “the children”

■■ ?????? Yamada-san-tachi : “the group around Yamada-san”, everybody you’d associate with Mr. Yamada, based on con-text

reading and WriTingReading and writing Japanese are advanced skills which take years of work to gain much real proficiency. Japanese themselves use three different writing systems of various complexity, two of which (hiragana and katakana) are syllabic and relatively easy to learn with 50 characters each.

The clincher is the set of Chinese characters known as kanji, roughly 2,000 of which are in daily use while many more exist. Kanji originated as pictures, where each character originally represented a meaning, idea or concept, not a sound as in English. Even though kanji have since evolved dramatically and many have long since jettisoned any connection to the original concept, the meaning of some simple kanji can still be easily guessed at (see below).

One difficulty in reading Japanese lies often in the fact that a kanji can have several different pronunciations. The kanji ? for example has the meaning of a person, and by itself it may be

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pronounced hito. The kanji ? means big (imagine a person with outstretched arms) and can be pronounced as dai or o. Together they form the word ?? otona, “adult” (lit. big person). In the word ??? gaikokujin (“foreigner”, lit. outside country person) the same kanji ? is pronounced jin. These pronunciations exist because a single kanji may be used to write one or more different words, or parts of words. These “readings” are normally categorized as either Sino-Japanese; a Japanese approximation of the Chinese pronunciation of the character at the time it was introduced to Japanese, or Japanese (or native); based on the pronunciation of a native Japanese word.

Kanji are mixed with hiragana and katakana in everyday writing for historical reasons. Japan adopted the Chinese hanzi system, but found it difficult to impossible to express sound-based Japanese grammatical inflections with the meaning-based Chinese characters. Hence the sound-based hiragana characters have been invented and tacked onto the end of hanzi/kanji characters. In the course the katakana system was invented to express foreign and loan words. There are also several competing systems for rendering Japanese in the Latin alphabet, although the system is the most common and is used on Wikitravel as well. Do not be surprised if you see these words romanized differently elsewhere.

Also note that there are many homophones in Japanese, i.e. words with different meanings that have the same prononciation (like “there”, “they’re” and “their”). This can be confusing even to native speakers, to the extend that words have to be explained with an alternative reading or need to be drawn. These words may also employ a pitch-accent system to distinguish them, which speakers of non-tonal languages may have difficulty catching on.

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basicsGood afternoon. : ■■ ?????? Kon’nichiwa. (kon-nee-chee-WAH)How are you? : ■■ ??????? Ogenki desu ka? (oh-GEN-kee dess-KAH?)Fine, thank you. : ■■ ????? Genki desu. (GEN-kee dess)How about you? : ■■ ????? Anata wa? (an-ATA wa)What is your name? : ■■ ????????? Onamae wa nan desu ka? (oh-NAH-mah-eh wah NAHN dess-KAH?)My name is ... . : … ■■ ??? ... desu. (... dess.)Nice to meet you. : ■■ ?????? Hajimemashite. (hah-jee-meh-MASH-teh)Please. (request) : ■■ ??????? Onegai shimasu. (oh-neh-gigh shee-moss)Please. (offer) : ■■ ???? Dozo. (DOH-zo)This person is ... . (when introducing somebody) : ■■ ???? … Kochira wa ... (ko-chi-ra)Thank you very much. (formal) : ■■ ????????????? Domo arigato gozaimashita. (doh-moh ah-ree-GAH-toh go-ZIGH-moshita)Thank you. (less formal) : ■■ ?????????? Arigato gozaimasu. (ah-ree-GAH-toh go-ZIGH-moss)Thank you. (normal) : ■■ ????? Arigato. (ah-ree-GAH-toh)Thanks. (informal) : ■■ ???? Domo. (doh-moh)You’re welcome. : ■■ ????????? Doitashimashite. (doh EE-tah-shee mosh-teh)yes : ■■ ?? hai (HIGH)no : ■■ ??? iie (EE-eh)Excuse me. : ■■ ?????? Sumimasen. (soo-mee-mah-sen)I’m sorry. : ■■ ?????? Gomen’nasai. (goh-men-nah-sigh)I’m sorry. (informal) : ■■ ??? GomenGoodbye. (long-term) : ■■ ?????? Sayonara. (sa-YOH-nah-rah)Goodbye. (informal) : ■■ ???? Ja ne.I can’t speak Japanese (very well). : ■■ ????(??)?????? Nihongo ga (yoku) hanasemasen. ( nee-hohn-goh gah (yo-koo) hah-nah-seh-mah-sen)Do you speak Japanese? : ■■ ?????????? Nihongo ga hanase-masu ka? (ni-HON-go gah hah-nah-seh-moss-KAH?)Yes, a little. : ■■ ?????? Hai, sukoshi. (HIGH sko-shee)Do you speak English? : ■■ ????????? Eigo ga hanasemasu ka? (AY-goh gah hah-nah-seh-moss-KAH?)

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Is there someone here who speaks English? : ■■ ???????????? Dareka eigo ga hanasemasu ka? (dah-reh-kah AY-goh gah hah-nah-seh-moss-KAH?)Please speak slowly. : ■■ ???????????? Yukkuri hanashite ku-dasai. (YOU-cury hanash-te kud-asaee)Please say it again. : ■■ ???????????? Mo ichido itte kudasai. (mo ICHI-doh eete kud-asaee)Please help! : ■■ ???! Tasukete! (tahs-keh-teh!)Look out! : ■■ ???! Abunai! (ah-boo-NIGH!)Good morning. : ■■ ????????? Ohayo gozaimasu. (oh-hah-YOH go-zigh-moss)Good morning. (informal) : ■■ ????? ohayoGood evening. : ■■ ?????? Konbanwa. (kohm-bahn-wah)Good night (to sleep) : ■■ ??????? Oyasuminasai. (oh-yah-soo-mee-nah-sigh)I don’t understand. : ■■ ??????? Wakarimasen. (wah-kah-ree-mah-sen)I am not Japanese. : ■■ ??????????? Nihonjin ja arimasen. (nee-hon-jin ja a-ree-ma-sen)Where is the toilet? : ■■ ?????????? Toire wa doko desu ka? (toy-reh wah DOH-koh dess kah?)What? : ■■ ?? Nani? (nan-ee)Where? : ■■ ??? Doko? (do-koh)Who? : ■■ ?? Dare? (da-reh)When? : ■■ ??? Itsu? (it-soo)Which? : ■■ ??? Dore? (do-reh)Why? : ■■ ???? DoshiteHow? : ■■ ?????? DoyatteHow much? : ■■ ???? Ikura? (ee-koo-ra)What type of? : ■■ ???? Donna?

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ProblemsLeave me alone. : ■■ ????? Hottoke.Don’t touch me! : ■■ ????! Sawaruna!I’ll call the police. : ■■ ???????? Keisatsu o yobimasu.Police! : ■■ ??! Keisatsu!Stop! Thief! : ■■ ??! ????! Mate! Dorobo!I need your help. : ■■ ????????? Tasukete kudasai.It’s an emergency. : ■■ ????? Kinkyu desu.I’m lost. : ■■ ????? Maigo desu.I lost my bag. : ■■ ????????? Kaban o nakushimashita.I dropped my wallet. : ■■ ?????????? Saifu o otoshimashita.I’m sick. : ■■ ????? Byoki desu.I don’t feel well. : ■■ ????????? Kibun ga warui desu.I’ve been injured. : ■■ ??????? Kega shimashita.Please call a doctor. : ■■ ??????????? Isha o yonde kudasai.Can I use your phone? : ■■ ????????????? Denwa o tsukatte mo ii desu ka?

in an emergency

I need a doctor. : ■■ ???????????????? Oishasan ni mite mo-raitai desu.Is there a doctor who can speak English? : ■■ ????????????????? Eigo no dekiru oishasan wa imasu ka?Please take me to a doctor. : ■■ ???????????????? Oishasan ni tsurete itte kudasai.My wife/husband/child is sick. : ■■ ?·??·???????? Tsuma/shujin/kodomo ga byoki desu.Please call an ambulance. : ■■ ??????????? Kyukyusha o yonde kudasai.I need first aid. : ■■ ???????????Okyu teate o shite kudasai.I need to go to the emergency room. : ■■ ???????????????? Kyukyushitsu ni ikanakereba narimasen.shorter: ?????????? Kyukyushitsu ni ikanai to.How long will it take to get better? : ■■ ?????????????? Naoru made dono kurai kakarimasu ka?Where is a pharmacy? : ■■ ????????? Yakkyoku wa doko desu ka?

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allergies

I’m allergic to ... . : ■■ ?? … ???????? Watashi wa ... arerugii desu.antibiotics : ■■ ???? kosei busshitsuaspirin : ■■ ????? asupirincodeine : ■■ ???? kodeindairy products : ■■ ??? nyuseihinfood coloring : ■■ ????? jinko chakushokuryofungus : ■■ ?? kinruiMSG : ■■ ??? ajinomotomushrooms : ■■ ??? kinokopeanuts : ■■ ????? pinattsupenicillin : ■■ ????? penishirinpollen : ■■ ?? kafunseafood : ■■ ??? gyokairuisesame : ■■ ?? gomashellfish : ■■ ?? kairuitree nuts, fruits or berries : ■■ ??? ki no miwheat : ■■ ?? komugi

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exPlaining symPToms

My ... hurts. : … ■■ ????... ga itai.I feek unwell. : ■■ ????? kibun ga waruiI have a fever. : ■■ ??????? Netsu ga arimasu.I cough a lot. : ■■ ?????? Seki ga demasu.I feel listless. : ■■ ?????? Karada ga darui.I feel nauseated. : ■■ ???????? Hakike ga shimasu.I feel dizzy. : ■■ ???????? Memai ga shimasu.I have the chills. : ■■ ??????? Samuke ga shimasu.I swallowed something. : ■■ ????????????? Nanika o nonde shimaimashita.I am bleeding. : ■■ ????? Shukketsu desu.I broke a bone. : ■■ ????? Kossetsu desu.He/she is unconscious. : ■■ ??????? Ishiki fumei desu.I burned myself. : ■■ ????? Yakedo desu.He/she cannot breath. : ■■ ??????? Kokyu konnan desu.He/she had a heart attack. : ■■ ??????? Shinzo hossa desu.My vision got worse. : ■■ ????????? Shiryoku ga ochimashita.I can’t hear well. : ■■ ??????????? Mimi ga yoku kikoemasen.My nose bleeds a lot. : ■■ ????????? Hanaji ga yoku demasu.

numbersWhile Arabic (Western) numerals are employed for most uses in Japan, you will occasionally still spot Japanese numerals at eg. markets and the menus of fancy restaurants. The characters used are nearly identical to Chinese numerals, and like Chinese, Japanese uses groups of 4 digits, not 3. “One million” is thus ?? (hyaku-man), literally “hundred ten-thousands”.

There are both Japanese and Chinese readings for most numbers, but presented below are the more commonly used Chinese readings. Note that, due to superstition (shi also means “death”), 4 and 7 typically use the Japanese readings yon and nana instead.

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0 : ■■ ? (zero or maru) / ? (rei) in finance1 : ■■ ? (ichi)2 : ■■ ? (ni)3 : ■■ ? (san)4 : ■■ ? (yon or shi)5 : ■■ ? (go)6 : ■■ ? (roku)7 : ■■ ? (nana or shichi)8 : ■■ ? (hachi)9 : ■■ ? (kyu)10 : ■■ ? ( ju)11 : ■■ ?? ( ju-ichi)12 : ■■ ?? ( ju-ni)13 : ■■ ?? ( ju-san)14 : ■■ ?? ( ju-yon)15 : ■■ ?? ( ju-go)16 : ■■ ?? ( ju-roku)17 : ■■ ?? ( ju-nana)18 : ■■ ?? ( ju-hachi)19 : ■■ ?? ( ju-kyuu)20 : ■■ ?? (ni-ju)21 : ■■ ??? (ni-ju-ichi)22 : ■■ ??? (ni-ju-ni)23 : ■■ ??? (ni-ju-san)30 : ■■ ?? (san-ju)40 : ■■ ??(yon-ju)50 : ■■ ?? (go-ju)60 : ■■ ?? (ro-ku-ju)70 : ■■ ??(nana-ju)80 : ■■ ?? (hachi-ju)90 : ■■ ?? (kyu-ju)100 : ■■ ? (hyaku)200 : ■■ ?? (ni-hyaku)300 : ■■ ?? (san-byaku)600 : ■■ ?? (roppyaku)800 : ■■ ?? (happyaku)1000 : ■■ ? (sen)2000 : ■■ ?? (ni-sen)3000 : ■■ ?? (san-zen)10,000 : ■■ ?? (ichi-man)1,000,000 : ■■ ?? (hyaku-man)

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100,000,000 : ■■ ?? (ichi-oku)1,000,000,000,000 : ■■ ?? (itcho)0.5 : ■■ ?·? (rei ten go)0.56 : ■■ ?·?? (rei ten go-roku)number _____ (train, bus, etc.) : _____■■ ? (____ ban)half : ■■ ?? (hanbun)less (few) : ■■ ??? (sukunai)more (many) : ■■ ?? (ooi)

Timenow : ■■ ? (ima)later : ■■ ?? (atode)before : ■■ ?? (mae ni)before ___ : ___ ■■ ??? ( ___ no mae ni)morning : ■■ ? (asa)afternoon : ■■ ?? (gogo)evening : ■■ ?? (yugata)night : ■■ ? (yoru)

clock Time

Clock times are formed as Chinese numeral plus ? ji, for example, goji 5? for five o’clock. The exception is four o’clock which is pronounced yoji(??) instead of shiji. You will be understood if you simply substitute gozen ?? for “AM” and gogo ?? for PM, although other time qualifiers like ? asa for morning and ? yoru for night may be more natural. The 24-hour clock is also commonly used in official contexts such as train schedules. TV schedules occasionally use a modified 24-hour clock, with late night showtimes counted from the previous day, e.g. Monday at 2600 AM.

six o’clock AM : ■■ ?6? (asa rokuji)nine o’clock AM : ■■ ??9? (gozen kuji)noon : ■■ ?? (shogo)one o’clock PM : ■■ ??1? (gogo ichiji.)two o’clock PM : ■■ ??2? (gogo niji)midnight : ■■ ?12? (yoru juniji), ?? (reiji)

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duraTion

Confusingly, the Japanese words for “N days” (long) and “Nth day” are the same, so eg. ?? futsuka means both “two days” and “the second day of the month”. (See #Days of the Month for the full list.) You can tag on -? kan at the end, eg. futsukakan 2??, to clarify that you mean “two days long”.

_____ minute(s) : _____ ■■ ? (fun or pun)_____ hour(s) : _____ ■■ ?? ( jikan)_____ day(s) : _____ ■■ ? (nichi or ka, see note above)_____ week(s) : _____ ■■ ?? (shukan)_____ month(s) : _____ ■■ ?? (kagetsu)_____ year(s) : _____ ■■ ? (nen)

days

today : ■■ ??(kyo)yesterday : ■■ ??(kino)tomorrow : ■■ ??(ashita)tomorrow (formal) : ■■ ??(asu)this week : ■■ ??(konshu)last week : ■■ ??(senshu)next week : ■■ ??(raishu)

days oF The Week

The days of the week are named after the sun, the moon and the five elements of Chinese philosophy.

Sunday : ■■ ??? (nichiyobi)Monday : ■■ ??? (getsuyobi)Tuesday : ■■ ??? (kayobi)Wednesday : ■■ ??? (suiyobi)Thursday : ■■ ??? (mokuyobi)Friday : ■■ ??? (kin’yobi)Saturday : ■■ ??? (doyobi)

days oF The monTh

The 1st through the 10th of the month have special names:

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First day of the month :1■■ ? (tsuitachi)Second day of the month : 2■■ ? (futsuka)Third day of the month : 3■■ ? (mikka)Fourth day of the month : 4■■ ? (yokka)Fifth day of the month : 5■■ ? (itsuka)Sixth day of the month : 6■■ ? (muika)Seventh day of the month : 7■■ ? (nanoka)Eighth day of the month : 8■■ ? (yoka)Ninth day of the month : 9■■ ? (kokonoka)Tenth day of the month : 10■■ ? (toka)

The other days of the month are more orderly, just add the suffix -nichi to the ordinal number. Note that 14, 20, and 24 deviate from this pattern.

Eleventh day of the month : 11■■ ? ( juichinichi)Fourteenth day of the month : 14■■ ? ( juyokka)Twentieth day of the month : 20■■ ? (hatsuka)Twenty-fourth day of the month : 24■■ ? (nijuyokka)

monThs

Months are very orderly in Japanese, just add the suffix -gatsu to the ordinal number.

January : ■■ 1? (ichigatsu)February : ■■ 2? (nigatsu)March : ■■ 3? (sangatsu)April : ■■ 4? (shigatsu)May : ■■ 5? (gogatsu)June : ■■ 6? (rokugatsu)July : ■■ 7? (shichigatsu)August : ■■ 8? (hachigatsu)September : ■■ 9? (kugatsu)October : ■■ 10? ( jugatsu)November : ■■ 11? ( juichigatsu)December : ■■ 12? ( junigatsu)

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seasons

Spring : ■■ ? (haru)Summer : ■■ ? (natsu)Autumn : ■■ ? (aki)Winter : ■■ ? (fuyu)

WriTing Time and daTe

Dates are written in year/month/day (day of week) format, with markers:

2007?3?21?(?)

Note that Imperial era years, based on the name and duration of the current Emperor’s reign, are also frequently used. 2007 in the Gregorian calendar corresponds to Heisei 19 (??19?), which may be abbreviated as “H19”. Dates like “19/03/24” (March 24, Heisei 19) are also occasionally seen.

colorsMany of the English words for colors are widely used and understood by almost all Japanese. These are indicated after the slash.

Note that some Japanese colors are normally suffixed with -iro (?) to distinguish between the color and the object. For example, ? cha means “tea”, but ?? chairo means “tea-color” → “brown”.

black : ■■ ? / ???? (kuro / burakku)white : ■■ ? / ???? (shiro / howaito)gray : ■■ ?(?) / ??? (hai(iro) / gure)red : ■■ ? / ??? (aka / reddo)blue : ■■ ? / ??? (ao / buru)yellow : ■■ ?(?) / ???? (ki(iro) / iero)green : ■■ ? / ???? (midori / guriin)orange : ■■ ? / ???? (daidai / orenji)purple : ■■ ? / ???? (murasaki / papuru)brown : ■■ ?(?) / ???? (cha(iro) / buraun)

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bus and Train

How much is a ticket to _____? : _____ ■■ ???????? (_____ made ikura desu ka?)One ticket to _____, please. : _____ ■■ ??????????(_____ made ichi-mai onegaishimasu)Where does this train/bus go? : ■■ ?????????? (kono densha/basu wa doko yuki desuka?)Where is the train/bus to _____? : _____ ■■ ?????????? (_____ yuki no densha/basu wa doko desuka?)Does this train/bus stop in _____? : ■■ ??? _____ ??????? (kono densha/basu wa _____ ni tomarimasuka?)When does the train/bus for _____ leave? : _____ ■■

?????????????(_____ yuki no densha/basu wa nanji ni shup-patsu shimasuka?)When will this train/bus arrive in _____? : ■■ ?????? _____ ??????? (kono densha/basu wa nanji ni _____ ni tsukimasuka?)

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direcTions

How do I get to _____ ? : _____ ■■ ???????? (_____ wa dochira desu ka?)...the train station? : ■■ ?... (eki...)...the bus station? : ■■ ???... (basu tei..)...the airport? : ■■ ??... (kuko...)...downtown? : ■■ ????... (machi no chushin...)...the youth hostel? : ■■ ???·????... (yusu hosuteru...)...the _____ hotel? : _____ ■■ ???... (hoteru...)...the _____ embassy/consulate? : _____■■ ???/???... (_____ taishi-kan/ryojikan...)Where are there a lot of _____ : _____■■ ??????????? (_____ga ooi tokoro wa doko desuka?)...lodgings? : ■■ ?... (yado...)...restaurants? : ■■ ?????... (resutoran...)...bars? : ■■ ??... (baa)...sites to see? : ■■ ??... (mimono...)Where is _____? : _____■■ ???????(_____ wa doko desuka.)Is it far from here? : ■■ ?????????? (Koko kara tooi desu ka.)Please show me on the map. : ■■ ?????????? (chizu de sashite kudasai)street : ■■ ? (michi)Turn left. : ■■ ??????????? (Hidari e magatte kudasai.)Turn right. : ■■ ???????????(Migi e magatte kudasai.)left : ■■ ? (hidari)right : ■■ ? (migi)straight ahead : ■■ ???? (massugu)towards the _____ : _____ ■■ ????? (e mukatte)past the _____ : _____ ■■ ?? (no saki)before the _____ : _____ ■■ ?? (no mae)Watch for the _____. : _____■■ ?????? (ga mejirushi desu)intersection : ■■ ??? (kosaten)traffic light : ■■ ?? (shingou)north : ■■ ? (kita)south : ■■ ? (minami)east : ■■ ? (higashi)west : ■■ ? (nishi)uphill : ■■ ?? (nobori), also used for trains heading towards To-kyodownhill : ■■ ?? (kudari), also used for trains coming from To-kyo

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Taxi

Taxi! : ■■ ????! (Taxi!)Take me to _____, please. : _____■■ ????????? (_____ made onegai shimasu.)How much does it cost to get to _____? : _____ ■■ ????????? (_____ made ikura desuka)Take me there, please. : ■■ ??????????? (soko made onegai shimasu.)

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lodgingDo you have any rooms available? : ■■ ???????????? (Aiteru heya arimasuka?)How much is a room for one person/two people? : ■■

??/?????????????? (Hitori/futari-yo no heya wa ikura desu-ka?)Is the room Japanese/Western style? : ■■ ??/?????? (Washitsu/yoshitsu desuka?)Does the room come with... : ■■ ??? ... ?????? (Heya wa ___ tsuki desuka?)...bedsheets? : ■■ ???????... (beddo no shiitsu...)...a bathroom? : ■■ ??? (furoba...)...a telephone? : ■■ ?? (denwa...)...a TV? : ■■ ???? (terebi...)May I see the room first? : ■■ ???????????? (heya o mitemo ii desuka?)Do you have anything quieter? : ■■ ??? heya arimasuka?)...bigger? : ■■ ?? (hiroi)...cleaner? : ■■ ???? (kirei na)...cheaper? : ■■ ?? (yasui)OK, I’ll take it. : ■■ ???????????(hai, kore de ii desu.)I will stay for _____ night(s). : _____ ■■ ???????(____ ban tomari-masu.)Do you know another place to stay? : ■■ ??????????? (hoka no yado wa gozonji desuka?)Do you have arimasuka?)■■

...lockers? : ...■■ ????? (rokkaa (locker))Is breakfast/supper included? : ■■ ??/????????? (choshoku/yushoku wa tsukimasuka?)What time is breakfast/supper? : ■■ ??/????????? (choshoku/yushoku wa nanji desuka?)Please clean my room. : ■■ ???????????? (heya o soji shite ku-dasai)Please wake me at _____. : _____ ■■ ?????????? (____ ni okoshite kudasai.)I want to check out. : ■■ ??????????(chekku auto (check out) desu.)

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moneyDo you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars? : ■■

????/???????/??????????? (Amerika/osutoraria/kanada doru wa tsukae masuka?)Do you accept British pounds? : ■■ ?????????????? (igirisu pondo wa tsukaemasuka?)Do you accept credit cards? : ■■ ??????????????? (kurejitto kaado (credit card) wa tsukaemasuka?)Can you change money for me? : ■■ ?????????? (okane ryogae dekimasuka?)Where can I get money changed? : ■■ ?????????????? (okane wa doko de ryogae dekimasuka?)Can you change a traveler’s check for me? : ■■

??????·???????????? ((traveler’s check) ryogae dekimasu-ka?)Where can I get a traveler’s check changed? : ■■

??????·???????????????? ((traveler’s check) wa doko de ryogae dekimasuka?)What is the exchange rate? : ■■ ?????????????(kawase reeto wa ikura desu ka?)Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)? : ATM ■■

?????????? (ATM wa doko ni arimasuka?)

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eaTingI’m hungry. : ■■ ??????? (onaka-ga-suita)A table for one person/two people, please. : ■■ ??/????? (hi-tori/futari desu)Please bring a menu. : ■■ ????????? (menu o kudasai.)Can I look in the kitchen? : ■■ ????????????? (choriba o mite mo ii desu ka?)Is there a house specialty? : ■■ ?????????? (O-susume wa ari-masuka?)Is there a local specialty? : ■■ ????????????? (Kono hen no meibutsu wa arimasuka?)Please choose for me. : ■■ ??????? (O-makase shimasu.)I’m a vegetarian. : ■■ ????????? (Bejitarian desu.)I don’t eat pork. : ■■ ???????? (Butaniku wa dame desu.)I don’t eat beef. : ■■ ????????(Gyuniku wa dame desu.)I don’t eat raw fish. : ■■ ?????????(Nama no sakana wa dame desu.)Please do not use too much oil. : ■■ ?????????(Abura o hikaete kudasai.)fixed-price meal : ■■ ?? (teishoku)à la carte : ■■ ???? (ippinryori)breakfast : ■■ ?? (choshoku) / ??? (asagohan)lunch : ■■ ?? (chushoku) / ??? (hirugohan)light meal/snack : ■■ ?? (keishoku)supper : ■■ ?? (yushoku) / ??? (bangohan)Please bring _____. : _____ ■■ ?????(_____ o kudasai.)I want a dish containing _____. : _____■■ ???????????? (____ ga haitteru mono o kudasai.)chicken : ■■ ?? (toriniku)beef : ■■ ?? (gyuniku)pork : ■■ ?? (butaniku)fish : ■■ ? (sakana)ham : ■■ ?? (hamu)sausage : ■■ ????? (soseeji)cheese : ■■ ??? (chiizu)eggs : ■■ ? (tamago)salad : ■■ ??? (sarada)(fresh) vegetables : (■■ ?)?? ( (nama) yasai)(fresh) fruit : (■■ ?)?? ( (nama) kudamono)bread : ■■ ?? (pan)

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toast : ■■ ???? (tosuto)noodles : ■■ ?? (menrui)pasta : ■■ ??? (pasta)rice : ■■ ?? (gohan)soup : ■■ ??? : (supu)beans : ■■ ? (mame)May I have a glass/cup of _____? : _____ ■■ ??????? (____ o ippai kudasai.)May I have a bottle of _____? : _____ ■■ ??????? (_____ o ippon ku-dasai.)coffee : ■■ ???? (kohii)green tea : ■■ ?? (o-cha)black tea : ■■ ?? (kocha)juice : ■■ ?? (kaju)water : ■■ ? (mizu)beer : ■■ ??? (biiru)red/white wine : ■■ ?/???? (aka/shiro wain)Do you have _____? : _____ ■■ ??????? (_____ wa arimasuka?)chopsticks : ■■ ?? (o-hashi)fork : ■■ ???? (foku)spoon : ■■ ???? (supun)salt : ■■ ? (shio)black pepper : ■■ ?? (kosho)soy sauce : ■■ ?? (shoyu)ashtray : ■■ ?? (haizara)Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server) : ■■ ????? (sum-imasen)(when starting a meal) : ■■ ???????(itadakimasu)It was delicious. (when finishing a meal) : ■■ ????????? (Go-chiso-sama deshita.)Please clear the plates. : ■■ ??????????? (Osara o sagete kuda-sai.)The check, please. : ■■ ?????????? (O-kanjo onegai shimasu.)

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on The PhoneTelephone : ■■ ?? denwaTelephone number : ■■ ???? denwa bangoPhone book : ■■ ??? denwa choAnswering machine : ■■ ????? rusuban denwaHello : ■■ ???? moshi moshiMay I speak to ... . : … ■■ ????????... o onegaishimasu.Is ... there? : … ■■ ??????????? ... wa irasshaimasu ka?Who is calling? : ■■ ??????? Donata desu ka?One moment, please. : ■■ ???????????? Chotto omachi kuda-sai.... is not here right now. : … ■■ ??????? ... wa ima imasen.I will call you again later. : ■■ ????????? Mata ato de denwa shimasu.I got the wrong number. : ■■ ??????? Machigaemashita.The line is busy. : ■■ ?????? Hanashichu desu.What is your phone number? : ■■ ??????????? Denwa bango wa nanban desu ka?

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barsDo you serve alcohol? : ■■ ???????? (O-sake arimasuka?)Is there table service? : ■■ ?????????????? (Teburu sabisu ari-masuka?)A beer/two beers, please. : ■■ ?????/??????(Biiru ippai/nihai kudasai.)A glass of red/white wine, please. : ■■ ?/??????????(Aka/shiro wain ippai kudasai.)A mug (of beer), please. : ■■ ????????????(Biiru no jokki ku-dasai.)A bottle, please. : ■■ ?????. (Bin kudasai.)_____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please. : _____ ■■ ? _____ ????(_____ to _____ kudasai.)sake : ■■ ??? (nihonshu)Japanese liquor : ■■ ?? (shochu)whiskey : ■■ ????? (uisukii)vodka : ■■ ???? (wokka)rum : ■■ ?? (ramu)water : ■■ ? (mizu)club soda : ■■ ??? (soda)tonic water : ■■ ????????? (tonikku uota)orange juice : ■■ ???????? (orenji jusu)cola (soda) : ■■ ??? (kora)with ice : ■■ ?????? (onzarokku)Do you have any bar snacks? : ■■ ?????????? (o-tsumami ari-masuka?)One more, please. : ■■ ????????? (Mo hitotsu kudasai.)Another round, please. : ■■ ?????????????????? (Minna ni onaji mono o ippai zutsu kudasai.)When is closing time? : ■■ ????????? (Heiten wa nanji desu-ka?)

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shoPPingDo you have this in my size? : ■■ ???????????? (Watashi no saizu de arimasuka?)How much is this? : ■■ ??????? (Ikura desuka?)That’s too expensive. : ■■ ?????? (Takasugimasu.)Would you take _____? : _____■■ ???????? (_____ wa do desuka?)expensive : ■■ ?? (takai)cheap : ■■ ?? (yasui)I can’t afford it. : ■■ ??????????????? (Sonna-ni o-kane wa motte imasen.)I don’t want it. : ■■ ??????? (Iranai desu.)You’re cheating me. : ■■ ??????? (Damashiteru n da.) Use with caution!I’m not interested. : ■■ ??????? (Kyomi nai desu.)OK, I’ll take it. : ■■ ?????????? (Hai, sore ni shimasu.)Can I have a bag? : ■■ ???????????? (Fukuro moratte mo ii desuka?)Do you ship (overseas)? : ■■ ??????????? (Kaigai e hasso deki-masuka?)I need... : ___■■ ??????? (____ ga hoshii desu.)...spectacles. : ■■ ?? (megane)...toothpaste. : ■■ ??? (hamigaki)...a toothbrush. : ■■ ???? (ha-burashi)...tampons. : ■■ ???? (tanpon)...soap. : ■■ ?? (sekken)...shampoo. : ■■ ????? (shanpu)...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen) : ■■ ??? (chintsuzai)...cold medicine. : ■■ ??? (kazegusuri)...stomach medicine. : ■■ ??? (ichoyaku)...a razor. : ■■ ?? (kamisori)...an umbrella. : ■■ ? (kasa)...sunblock lotion. : ■■ ????? (hiyakedome)...a postcard. : ■■ ?? (hagaki)...postage stamps. : ■■ ?? (kitte)...batteries. : ■■ ?? (denchi)...writing paper. : ■■ ? (kami)...a pen. : ■■ ?? (pen)...a pencil. : ■■ ?? (en-pitsu)...English-language books. : ■■ ???? (eigo no hon)...English-language magazines. : ■■ ????? (eigo no zasshi)

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...an English-language newspaper. : ■■ ????? (eigo no shinbun)

...a Japanese-English dictionary. : ■■ ???? (waei jiten)

...an English-Japanese dictionary. : ■■ ???? (eiwa jiten)

FamilyAre you married? : ■■ ????????? (Kekkon shiteimasu ka?)I am married. : ■■ ???????? (Kekkon shiteimasu.)I am single. : ■■ ????? (Dokushin desu)Do you have brothers and sisters? : ■■ ???????? (Kyodai ga im-asu ka?)Do you have children? : ■■ ???????? (Kodomo ga imasu ka?)

Talking abouT your oWn Family

Father : ■■ ? (chichi)Mother : ■■ ? (haha)Older Brother : ■■ ? (ani)Older Sister : ■■ ? (ane)Younger Brother : ■■ ? (ototo)Younger Sister : ■■ ? (imoto)Grandfather : ■■ ?? (sofu)Grandmother : ■■ ?? (sobo)Uncle : ■■ ??/?? (oji)Aunt : ■■ ??/?? (oba)Husband : ■■ ? (otto) / ?? (shujin)Wife : ■■ ? (tsuma) / ?? (kanai)Son : ■■ ?? (musuko)Daughter : ■■ ? (musume)Grandchild : ■■ ? (mago)

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Talking abouT anoTher’s Family

Father : ■■ ???? (otosan)Mother : ■■ ???? (okasan)Older Brother : ■■ ???? (onisan)Older Sister : ■■ ???? (onesan)Younger Brother : ■■ ??? (ototosan)Younger Sister : ■■ ??? (imotosan)Grandfather : ■■ ????? (ojisan)Grandmother : ■■ ????? (obasan)Uncle : ■■ ???? (ojisan)Aunt : ■■ ???? (obasan)Husband : ■■ ??? (goshujin)Wife : ■■ ??? (okusan)Son : ■■ ???? (musukosan)Daughter : ■■ ???? (ojosan)Grandchild : ■■ ??? (magosan)

drivingI want to rent a car. : ■■ ???????????? (rent-a-car onegaishi-masu.)Can I get insurance? : ■■ ???????? (hoken hairemasuka?)Do you have a driver’s license? : ■■ ???????????? (Menkyosho o motte imasu ka.)stop (on a street sign) : ■■ ???/??? (tomare)one way : ■■ ???? (ippo tsuko)caution : ■■ ?? ( joko)no parking : ■■ ???? (chusha kinshi)speed limit : ■■ ???? (seigen sokudo)gas (petrol) station : ■■ ???????? (gasorin sutando)petrol : ■■ ???? (gasorin)diesel : ■■ ??/????? (keiyu / diizeru)

auThoriTyIn Japan, you can legally be incarcerated for twenty-three (23) days before you are charged, but you do have the right to see a lawyer after the first 48 hours of detention. Note that if you sign a confession, you will be convicted.

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I haven’t done anything (wrong). : ■■ ??(????)??????(Nani mo (warui koto) shitemasen.)It was a misunderstanding. : ■■ ?????? (Gokai deshita.)Where are you taking me? : ■■ ????????????? (Doko e tsurete yukuno desuka?)Am I under arrest? : ■■ ????????????? (Watashi wa taiho sare-teruno desuka?)I am a citizen of ____. : ____ ■■ ?????? (____ no kokumin desu.)I want to meet with the ____ embassy. : ____ ■■ ???????????? (____ taishikan to awasete kudasai.)I want to meet with a lawyer. : ■■ ????????????(Bengoshi to awasete kudasai.)Can it be settled with a fine? : ■■ ????????? (Bakkin de sumi-masuka?)Note: You can say this to a traffic cop, but bribery is highly unlikely to work in Japan.

TyPical JaPanese exPressions■■ ?????? So desu ne. : “That’s how it is, isn’t it?”General agree-ment. Especially old people can be heard going so desu ne back and forth quite a few times.

■■ (??)????????? (Taihen) omataseshimashita. : “I have made you wait (terribly) long.”Used as an excuse after any amount of downtime, even just seconds. Often also used as a starter to get things going again.

■■ ????????? Otsukaresama deshita. : “It’s been honorably tiresome.”To colleagues in the sense of “you gave it all, good work”, but more generally at the end of almost any activity.

■■ ????! Ganbatte! : “Give it your best!”Meant to be encourag-ing and motivating.

■■ ??????? Itadakimasu. : “I will receive.”To yourself before starting to eat or when accepting something offered to you.

■■ ?????? Shitsurei shimasu. : “I will trouble you.” or “I will be impolite.”When entering your superiors room or an unfamil-iar house, when trying to get someone’s attention or gener-ally when interrupting someone.

■■ ??????? Shitsurei shimashita. : “I have troubled you.” or “Ex-cuse my impoliteness.”When leaving your superiors room or

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an unfamiliar house or generally as “Sorry to have bothered you, carry on.”

■■ ???? Daijobu. : “It is alright.”For general reassurance. Used with desu ka? to inquire if something or somebody is al-right.

■■ ??! Sugoi! : “Great!”, “Incredible!”Very popular amongst girls and greatly overused.

■■ ???! Kawaii! : “How cute!”See sugoi.■■ ???? Eee~ : “Reallyyyyyyy~?”Almost a standard reaction to any kind of news. Can be lengthened indefinitely and is hence useful to stall for time when thinking about a real answer.

■■ ??! Uso! : “Lie!”Doesn’t necessarily accuse one of lying, usu-ally used in the sense of “Seriously?!”

honouriFicsJapanese makes extensive use of honorific language (?? keigo) when talking to people of higher status. Keigo is famously difficult to master and even Japanese salespeople often need to take special courses to learn to speak correctly, but it is very commonly used in situations like salespeople talking to customers and train announcements, so even passive familiarity with the most common keigo verbs and constructs can be very handy.

resPecTFul Form

When talking to someone of higher status than yourself, it is important to use a respectful form (??? sonkeigo) when talking about the other person. Generally, this follows the pattern ?~???(o ~ ni naru), where ~ represents the stem of the basic polite form: eg. to read, ??(yomu), basic polite form ????(yomimasu) becomes ??????(o-yomi-ni-naru). The naru at the end follows the normal conjugation patterns for naru, most commonly becoming narimasu (present) or narimashita (past). The main exceptions are listed below:

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To see: ■■ ?? becomes ????? (goran-ni-naru).To eat/drink: ■■ ???/?? becomes ????? (meshi-agaru).To come/go/be at a place: ■■ ??/??/?? becomes ?????? (irassharu). (basic polite form ???????? irasshaimasu and not ????????)To know: ■■ ?? becomes ???? (gozonji-da).To give (to yourself ): ■■ ??? becomes ??? (kudasaru). (basic po-lite form ????? kudasaimasu and not ?????)To do: ■■ ?? becomes ??? (nasaru). (basic polite form ????? nasaimasu and not ?????)To say: ■■ ?? becomes ????? (ossharu) (basic polite form ??????? osshaimasu and not ???????)

humble Form

When talking about yourself to someone of higher status than you, it is important to put yourself down by using a humble form (??? kensongo). Generally this follows the pattern ?~?? (o ~ suru), where ~ reprents the stem of the basic polite form: eg. to borrow, ???(kariru), basic polite form ???? (karimasu) becomes ????? (o-kari-suru). The suru at the end follows the usual conjugation pattern of suru, most commonly becoming shimasu (present) or shimashita (past); for an extra helping of humility, the verb ?? itasu ???? itashimasu can be substituted. The main exceptions are listed below:

To see: ■■ ?? becomes ???? (haiken-suru).To come/go: ■■ ??/?? becomes ?? (mairu).To eat/drink/receive: ■■ ???/??/??? becomes ???? (itadaku)To give: ■■ ??? becomes ????? (sashi-ageru).To do: ■■ ?? becomes ?? (itasu)To know: ■■ ?? becomes ??? (zonjiru)To say: ■■ ?? becomes ????? (moshi-ageru)My name is: ■■ ?? becomes ?? (mosu)

PoliTe Form

The third type of keigo is called simply “polite language”, or teineigo (???). Whereas respectful and humble language refer to the subject (you and I), teineigo is used to simply imply respect to the listener. An example:

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Ringo wo goran ni narimasuka? : Can you see the apple? (re-■■

spectful)Ringo wo haiken shimasu. : I see the apple. (humble)■■

Kare mo ringo wo mimasu. : He also sees the apple. (polite)■■

In fact, the desu copula and the -masu form taught to beginning students of Japanese are both examples of teineigo. A few verbs and adjectives have special teineigo forms:

to be : aru (■■ ??) &rarr gozaru (???????) (basic polite form ????? (gozaimasu) and not ?????)to die : shinu (■■ ??) &rarr nakunaru (????)good : ii/yoi (■■ ??/??) &rarr yoroshii (????)

counTry and TerriTory namesCountry and territory names in Japanese are generally borrowed from their English names and written in katakana. Some of the main exceptions are as follows:

■■ ?? Nihon/Nippon : Japan■■ ?? Chugoku : China (or, confusingly, Western Honshu)■■ ?? Taiwan : Taiwan■■ ?? Honkon: Hong Kong■■ ?? Kankoku : South Korea■■ ??? Kitachosen : North Korea■■ ??? Doitsu : Germany■■ ???? Igirisu : United Kingdom■■ ??? Indo : India■■ ?? Tai : Thailand■■ ???? Itaria : Italy■■ ???? Amerika : United States of America (not the whole American continent)

■■ ????? Minami-afurika : South Africa■■ ???? Oranda : The Netherlands■■ ???? Berugi : Belgium■■ ???????? Arabu-shuchokoku-renpo : United Arab Emirates

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oFFensive languageIt might happen that there is a need to express negative emotions towards others. Or it might happen that others do this to you. In those cases it is useful to understand some Japanese offensive words. Please use these with care.

Fool or idiot (Kanto) : ■■ ?? (baka)Fool or idiot (Kansai) : ■■ ?? (aho)Doing something untimely : ■■ ??? (manuke)A slow person : ■■ ??? (noroma)Being bad at something : ■■ ?? (heta)Being very bad at something : ■■ ??? (hetakuso)A stingy person : ■■ ?? (kechi)An old man : ■■ ??? ( jijii)An old woman : ■■ ??? (babaa)Not being cool : ■■ ??? (dasai)Fussy or depressing : ■■ ??? (uzai)Creepy : ■■ ??? (kimoi)Drop dead! : ■■ ???? (kutabare)Get out of the way! : ■■ ?? (doke)Noisy! : ■■ ???? (urusai)Shit : ■■ ? (kuso)These words are mostly used by young people■■

learning more— English-Japanese-English dictionary including sentence ■■

translation, kanji lookup and place/personal name diction-ary— A collection of online study aids and quizzes■■

— Some Japanese lessons in mp3.■■

— Daily Japanese lessons.■■

Japanese language

Sprachführer JapanischGuía de conversación en japonésGuide linguistique japonaisFrasario giapponeseGuia de conversação japonês

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Japanin matkasanakirja

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eventsmonday, June 23, 2008

salvaTion army baZaarDonated goods are sold at thebazzar, which opens from900 P.M. every saturday.

Profits are used for social welfareservice by the Salvation Army.DATE: Jun 23—Jun, 23 2008VENUE: The Salvation Army’s Men’s Social Service CentreADDRESS: 2-21-2 Wada Suginami-ku Tokyo, Tokyo , 13

The Tokyo exhilaraTing combaT exercise meeTing

DATE: Jun 23VENUE: Tokyo, TÃ´kyÃ´, Japan

Tomomi nishimoTo, conducTor; shohei sekimoTo, Piano; monTe carlo Philharmonic orchesTraTomomi Nishimoto, conductor; Shohei Sekimoto, piano; Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra 7.00pm, Monday 23 June 2008 Bizet: Carmen, Suite No. 1, for orchestra Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, op. 11 Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (From the New World), op. 95DATE: Jun 23VENUE: Suntory Hall

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

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June oPen WriTing sessionWriter’s salon, non-meeting - meeting. afternoon writing session, bring ongoing projects to work on, come together and write for 2 hours, with some snacks and a few drinks. Not our regular group and writing exercise work, this smaller session is just to work on existing projects with the thought that organizing something might motivate us to work on our ideas. Open only to writer’s salon members who have attended a regular meeting before. (not open to newcomers please come to a regular group session first!) no structured activity for this one, just bring your writing and pens and work together for a couple of hours. No 500 yen fee, but please order something from the restaurant if possible to support them for giving us the space. questions? let me know *LaurenDATE: Jun 24VENUE: Tokyo, TÃ´kyÃ´, Japan

The Tokyo comedy sTore imProv WorkshoP meeTing


Tomomi nishimoTo, conducTor; soichi muraJi, guiTar; monTe carlo Philharmonic orchesTraTomomi Nishimoto, conductor; Soichi Muraji, guitar; Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra 7.00pm, Tuesday 24 June 2008 Debussy: Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), for orchestra, L 86 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez, for guitar and orchestra Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (From the New World), op. 95DATE: Jun 24VENUE: Suntory Hall

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

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dms - design engineering & manuFacTuring soluTions exPo / conFerence 2008Japan’s Largest Trade Show and Conference Focusing on IT Solutions for the Manufacturing IndustryDATE: Jun 25—Jun, 27 2008VENUE: Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)ADDRESS: 3-21-1 Ariake Koto-ku Tokyo 135-0063, Tokyo , 13

ivr - indusTrial virTual realiTy exPo / conFerence 2008Japan’s Largest Trade Show and Conference of Comprehensive VR Products, Technologies for Industrial ApplicationsDATE: Jun 25—Jun, 27 2008VENUE: Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)ADDRESS: 3-21-1 Ariake Koto-ku Tokyo 135-0063, Tokyo , 13

m-Tech - mechanical comPonenTs & maTerials Technology exPo 2008Largest Trade Fair in Japan for Mechanical Components & MaterialsDATE: Jun 25—Jun, 27 2008VENUE: Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)ADDRESS: 3-21-1 Ariake Koto-ku Tokyo 135-0063, Tokyo , 13

hedge Fund invesTmenTs JaPan iq 2008

DATE: Jun 25—Jun, 26 2008VENUE: Tokyo, TÃ´kyÃ´, Japan

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mTech mechanical comPonenTs & maTerials Technology exPoJapans largest trade fair focusing on mechanical components, materials, and fabrication technology. Gateway to the lucrative manufacturing industry of Japan.DATE: Jun 25—Jun, 27 2008VENUE: Bridgewaters

massimo ZaneTTi, conducTor; lisa larsson, soPrano; nhk symPhony orchesTraMassimo Zanetti, conductor; Lisa Larsson, soprano; NHK Symphony Orchestra 7.00pm, Wednesday 25 June 2008 Programme of Songs by Mozart and Richard StraussDATE: Jun 25VENUE: Suntory Hall

June book club meeTingCome join us for our Monthly Book Group meeting! June is a FICTION month, we alternate each month between fiction and non. Once a month - lets meet and discuss a book together in English. And let’s have some good food at the same time. Some book clubs meet at the same spot every month, but let’s get to know new food joints as we learn about new authors and books. The Book for June as voted on by our members is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak From The Washington Post’s Book World / washingtonpost.com Death, it turns out, is not proud. The narrator of The Book Thief is many things -- sardonic, wry, darkly humorous, compassionate -- but not especially proud. As author Marcus Zusak channels him, Death -- who doesn’t carry a scythe but gets a kick out of the idea -- is as afraid of humans as humans are of him. Knopf is blitz-marketing this 550-page book set in Nazi Germany as a young-adult novel, though it was published in the author’s native Australia for grown-ups. (Zusak, 30, has written several books for kids, including the award-winning I Am the Messenger.) The book’s length, subject matter and approach might give early teen readers pause, but those who can get beyond the rather confusing first pages will find an absorbing and searing narrative. Death meets the book thief, a 9-year-old girl named Liesel Meminger, when he comes

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to take her little brother, and she becomes an enduring force in his life, despite his efforts to resist her. “I traveled the globe . . . handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity,” Death writes. “I warned myself that I should keep a good distance from the burial of Liesel Meminger’s brother. I did not heed my advice.” As Death lingers at the burial, he watches the girl, who can’t yet read, steal a gravedigger’s instruction manual. Thus Liesel is touched first by Death, then by words, as if she knows she’ll need their comfort during the hardships ahead. And there are plenty to come. Liesel’s father has already been carted off for being a communist and soon her mother disappears, too, leaving her in the care of foster parents: the accordion-playing, silver-eyed Hans Hubermann and his wife, Rosa, who has a face like “creased-up cardboard.” Liesel’s new family lives on the unfortunately named Himmel (Heaven) Street, in a small town on the outskirts of Munich populated by vivid characters: from the blond-haired boy who relates to Jesse Owens to the mayor’s wife who hides from despair in her library. They are, for the most part, foul-spoken but good-hearted folks, some of whom have the strength to stand up to the Nazis in small but telling ways. Stolen books form the spine of the story. Though Liesel’s foster father realizes the subject matter isn’t ideal, he uses “The Grave Digger’s Handbook” to teach her to read. “If I die anytime soon, you make sure they bury me right,” he tells her, and she solemnly agrees. Reading opens new worlds to her; soon she is looking for other material for distraction. She rescues a book from a pile being burned by the Nazis, then begins stealing more books from the mayor’s wife. After a Jewish fist-fighter hides behind a copy of Mein Kampf as he makes his way to the relative safety of the Hubermanns’ basement, he then literally whitewashes the pages to create his own book for Liesel, which sustains her through her darkest times. Other books come in handy as diversions during bombing raids or hedges against grief. And it is the book she is writing herself that, ultimately, will save Liesel’s life. Death recounts all this mostly dispassionately -- you can tell he almost hates to be involved. His language is spare but evocative, and he’s fond of emphasizing points with bold type and centered pronouncements, just to make sure you get them (how almost endearing that is, that Death feels a need to emphasize anything). “A NICE THOUGHT,” Death will suddenly announce, or “A KEY WORD.” He’s also full of deft descriptions:

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“Pimples were gathered in peer groups on his face.” Death, like Liesel, has a way with words. And he recognizes them not only for the good they can do, but for the evil as well. What would Hitler have been, after all, without words? As this book reminds us, what would any of us be?DATE: Jun 25VENUE: Tokyo, TÃ´kyÃ´, Japan

Thursday, June 26, 2008

daishin kashimoTo, violin; konsTanTin liFschiTZ, PianoDaishin Kashimoto, violin; Konstantin Lifschitz, piano 7.00pm, Thursday 26 June 2008 Shostakovich: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, op. 61 Shostakovich: Viola Sonata in C major, op. 147 Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major (Kreutzer), op. 47DATE: Jun 26VENUE: Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall

massimo ZaneTTi, conducTor; lisa larsson, soPrano; nhk symPhony orchesTraMassimo Zanetti, conductor; Lisa Larsson, soprano; NHK Symphony Orchestra 7.00pm, Thursday 26 June 2008 Programme of Songs by Mozart and Richard StraussDATE: Jun 26VENUE: Suntory Hall

oPen mic nighT @ coZmo’s caFe meeTing


Friday, June 27, 2008

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ProPosed Weekend TriP To souTh koreaIm thinking of planning a weekend trip to South Korea sometime in June 2008 anyone wanting to join is most welcome. Dates are flexible. I had to change it to end of June due very busy work schedule. If your interested lets get together and plan the trip. Let’s enjoy sightseeing, eating some new foods, drinking and shopping for souviners. As most people have jobs im thinking a weekend trip. Leaving late friday evening and returning late sunday evening. For more information on South Korea check out: Lonely Planet - South Korea Information Korea Travel Guide Please RSVP your interest and preferred date of travel. Corinne Organizer of Tokyo Travel Buddies.DATE: Jun 27VENUE: Tokyo, TÃ´kyÃ´, Japan

TaiJiro iimori, conducTor; eiichi chiJiiWa, violin; Tokyo ciTy Philharmonic orchesTraTaijiro Iimori, conductor; Eiichi Chijiiwa, violin; Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra 7.00pm, Friday 27 June 2008 Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, op. 61 Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (Inextinguishable), op. 29, FS 76DATE: Jun 27VENUE: Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall

vladimir valek, conducTor; sTanislav bunin, Piano; Prague radio symPhony orchesTraVladimir Valek, conductor; Stanislav Bunin, piano; Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra 7.00pm, Friday 27 June 2008 Smetana: The Moldau, symphonic poem (from the symphonic cycle Ma vlast) Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (From the New World), op. 95 Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (Pathetique), op. 13 Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, op. 37DATE: Jun 27VENUE: Suntory Hall

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saTurday, June 28, 2008

Will’s suPer chicken sex bbq

DATE: Jun 28VENUE: Tokyo Makuhari Messe

Jun-ichi hirokami, conducTor; neW JaPan PhilharmonicJun-ichi Hirokami, conductor; New Japan Philharmonic 2.00pm, Saturday 28 June 2008 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 30DATE: Jun 28VENUE: Suntory Hall

Produced by The royal academy oF music and dramaProduced by the Royal Academy of Music and Drama 2.00pm, Saturday 28 June 2008 Saint-Saëns: Septet for piano, trumpet, string quartet, and bass in E flat major, op. 65 Arthur Bliss: Oboe Quintet Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major (Trout), op. 114, D 667DATE: Jun 28VENUE: Suntory Hall/Small Hall

yasuo maruyama, cello; keiTa kosaka, PianoYasuo Maruyama, cello; Keita Kosaka, piano 2.00pm, Saturday 28 June 2008 Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, op. 5, No. 1 Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, op. 69 Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 4 in C major, op. 102, No. 1 Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, op. 102, No. 2 Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, op. 5, No. 2DATE: Jun 28VENUE: Hakuju HallADDRESS: 1-37-5 Tomigaya Shibuya-ku Tokyo 151-0063 Japan HAKUJU INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH SCIENCE CO LTD, Tokyo , 13

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Wine TasTing evenT alsace Wines WiTh assorTed menu in a resTauranT oF TokyoWine tasting event ALSACE wines with assorted menu in a restaurant of TokyoDATE: Jun 28VENUE: RestaurantADDRESS: Kagurazaka, Tokyo , 13

sunday, June 29, 2008

henrik schaeFer, conducTor; kyoko TakeZaWa, violin; risako hayakaWa, harP; Tokyo meTroPoliTan orchesTraHenrik Schaefer, conductor; Kyoko Takezawa, violin; Risako Hayakawa, harp; Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra 2.00pm, Sunday 29 June 2008 Carl Maria von Weber: Oberon Overture, J 306 Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, for violin and orchestra, op. 46 Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Rhenish), op. 97DATE: Jun 29VENUE: Suntory Hall

daikanyama nomad live shoWPerformers : Dewi Puspita ( piano ) Laurier Tiernan ( guitar ) Brad ( guitar )from Maryland, Tokyo debut Paul Liew ( cello ) entry : 1,600yen ( ADV ) drink 500yen organizer : Dewi PuspitaDATE: Jun 29VENUE: Tokyo, TÃ´kyÃ´, Japan

monday, June 30, 2008

olari elTs, conducTor; lucerne symPhony orchesTraOlari Elts, conductor; Lucerne Symphony Orchestra

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7.00pm, Monday 30 June 2008 Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz (overture) Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, op. 21 Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68DATE: Jun 30VENUE: Suntory Hall

The Tokyo exhilaraTing combaT exercise meeTing


Tokyo WriTers’ salon Junea casual gathering involving short exercises, sharing your work and a chance to meet other writers. Any genre ok! RBR Creative Center for the Arts, last Monday of every month, from 7:30pm. NOTE THE NEW TIME and Address!!!!DATE: Jun 30VENUE: Tokyo, TÃ´kyÃ´, Japan

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

business shoW Tokyo 2008Office Equipment ExhibitionDATE: Jul 01—Jul, 31 2008VENUE: Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)ADDRESS: 3-21-1 Ariake Koto-ku Tokyo 135-0063, Tokyo , 13

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Pharma Pack JaPan 2008International Pharmaceutical Packaging Machinery & Materials ExpoDATE: Jul 02—Jul, 04 2008

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VENUE: Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)ADDRESS: 3-21-1 Ariake Koto-ku Tokyo 135-0063, Tokyo , 13

inTerPhex JaPan ‘2008International Pharmaceutical Exposition and ConferenceDATE: Jul 02—Jul, 04 2008VENUE: Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)ADDRESS: 3-21-1 Ariake Koto-ku Tokyo 135-0063, Tokyo , 13

inTernaTional bio exPo JaPan 2008International Exhibition & Conference for Biotechnology in the Fields of Drug Discovery, Food and EnvironmentDATE: Jul 02—Jul, 04 2008VENUE: Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight)ADDRESS: 3-21-1 Ariake Koto-ku Tokyo 135-0063, Tokyo , 13

saTurday, July 05, 2008

children oF bodom JaPn Tour 2008

DATE: Jul 05VENUE: Studio Coast

sunday, July 06, 2008

children oF bodom JaPn Tour 2008

DATE: Jul 06VENUE: Studio Coast

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rage

DATE: Jul 06VENUE: Shibuya O-East

monday, July 07, 2008

bigFish live vol.5

DATE: Jul 07VENUE: shibuya 7th floorADDRESS: 2-3 maruyama Shibuya TOkyo, Tokyo , 13

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Weather Forecast

sunday, June 01, 2008Sunrise: 4:26 AM■■

Sunset: 6:52 PM■■

Expect: Turning cloudy and warm-■■

erHigh: 81■■

Low: 63■■

Wind: 7SSW■■

UV: 9■■

monday, June 02, 2008Sunrise: 4:26 AM■■


Expect: Mostly cloudy with peri-■■

ods of rain in the afternoonHigh: 72■■

Low: 53■■

Wind: 6SSE■■

UV: 5■■

Rain Amount: 0.12■■

Tuesday, June 03, 2008Sunrise: 4:26 AM■■


Expect: Mostly cloudy and breezy ■■

with rain tapering to a couple of showersHigh: 65■■

Low: 49■■

Wind: 15NE■■

UV: 3■■


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Wednesday, June 04, 2008Sunrise: 4:25 AM■■


Expect: Pleasant with times of ■■

clouds and sunHigh: 79■■

Low: 57■■

Wind: 5ESE■■

UV: 8■■

Thursday, June 05, 2008Sunrise: 4:25 AM■■


Expect: Periods of rain■■

High: 67■■

Low: 57■■

Wind: 8SE■■

UV: 3■■


Friday, June 06, 2008Sunrise: 4:25 AM■■


Expect: Warmer with intervals of ■■

clouds and sunHigh: 80■■

Low: 62■■

Wind: 6NNW■■

UV: 8■■

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saTurday, June 07, 2008Sunrise: 4:25 AM■■


Expect: Times of sun and clouds■■

High: 80■■

Low: 66■■

Wind: 7ENE■■

UV: 6■■

sunday, June 08, 2008Sunrise: 4:25 AM■■


Expect: Partial sunshine■■

High: 85■■

Low: 65■■

Wind: 7SE■■

UV: 8■■

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referencesoFFbeaT resources

1. Wikipedia, Tokyo; http://en.wikipedia.org2. Wikitravel, Tokyo; http://wikitravel.org3. Yahoo! Finance, Japanese Yen; http://finance.yahoo.com/currency

4. AccuWeather, Forecast for Tokyo; http://www.accuweather.com/world-index-forecast.asp

5. Google Maps, Maps of Tokyo; http://www.google.com/maps?q=Tokyo%2c+Japan

Guía de Tokyo

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