Hey TUJ students! Check out our webpage to find out how to get involved in TUJ Activities, Events and Workshops.
On February 17, OSS held a Samurai Workshop where about 20 students joined and experienced Japanese traditional sword action taught by a professional group of teachers. The teachers were a group of sword performers called “Kamui,” who also choreographed and acted in the movie
Kill Bill. The workshop was held at a community center near Tamachi Station where the students were very enthusiastic about learning the Japanese sword action. The students learned several basic moves as well as a choreographed routine in which they each performed at the end.
- Maria Takaoka, OSS Student Worker
Hey TUJ students! Check out our webpage to find out how to get involved in TUJ Activities, Events and Workshops.
The students were very excited about experiencing how to make the most traditional of Japanese food – sushi. A group of students visited a famous sushi restaurant – Bikkuri Sushi, where the Sushi Shokunin, or sushi chef, went very carefully in teaching the foreign students the art of making sushi. The students made a variety of sushi, which they later got to eat. They also learned about the history and the usage of traditional Japanese knives used to cut fish in making sushi. All of the students did a very good job in making sushi for the first time and impressed the chef.
- Maria Takaoka
Hey TUJ students! Check out our webpage to find out how to get involved in TUJ Activities, Events and Workshops.
When considering Japan, the colossal image of the sumo wrestler is one of the concepts that comes to mind. However, when closely examined, one finds that there is much more to the sumo wrestler than the stereotypes. TUJ students who attended the event were fortunate enough to be able to experience sumo for themselves in Ryogoku, an area in Sumida, Tokyo that is often considered the heartland of sumo. While watching the event, many questions were raised. What is it that the wrestlers toss into the air? Why do they stomp the ground with their feet? Simply watching sumo is one thing, but to truly appreciate this ancient art of Japan, a knowledge of the rich tradition that lies within it is needed.
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Frijoles: Great-tasting real food, served fast. Not fast food.
Can’t find a good burrito in Tokyo?
Why not enjoy some great food for under 1000 yen?
FRIJOLES celebrated their grand opening on November 4 with mouth-watering success. And if their delicious food and great prices aren’t enough to pursuade you, just show your TUID (or alumni card) and get a free soft drink with any meal.
Just around the corner from Azabu Juban station. Check out their webpage here.
Frijoles Map
- Posted: July 28, 2009, 2:39 pm
- Categories: Campus Life, Japan Life, Jasmine Louis, STUDENTS, TOPICS, Tokyo Life
- Tags: african american, black, black women, campus, culture, dancing, female, hip hop, history, japan, japan campus, japanese, japanese food, jigger, nihon, nihongo, racism, stereotypes, student, study, study abroad, temple university, tokyo, tuj, yakisoba
- No Comments »
I’ve been procrastinating on this post because this is probably the most difficult/uncomfortable thing that’s happened to me in Japan–well, race-related. Now that I think about it, it might very well be the most uncomfortable, race-related situation that has happened to me in my life. And instead of drawing it out, I want to get right into what happened.
It was the middle of May.
My old roommate Kira introduced my to my favorite place on earth, the bar I mentioned in my previous post. After I went there twice with Kira, the bar owner and his wife invited us and a few others to their house for an okonomiyaki party. As we stepped into their house, I noticed that the house looked a lot like their bar–full of American paraphernalia. All sorts of gadgets and toys lined their walls and shelves. Cans of Campbell’s soup, a box of Stove Top stuffing mix, figurines of the Budweiser toads, 1950’s Coco Cola bottles, a stuffed animal of Alf (the 1980’s television show), Tom and Jerry mugs, etc. If you name something American, I’m sure they have a replica of it in their house. And if not, it’s in their bar.
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- Posted: July 28, 2009, 2:39 pm
- Categories: CONTRIBUTORS, Campus Life, Japan Life, Jasmine Louis, STUDENTS, TOPICS, Tokyo Life
- Tags: african american, black, black women, campus, culture, dancing, female, history, japan, japan campus, japanese, japanese food, jigger, learning japanese, nihon, nihongo, okonomiyaki, racism, student, study, study abroad, temple university, tokyo, tuj, yakisoba
- 1 Comment »
[This is Part 2. Click here for Part 1.]
Yes, I was uncomfortable beyond words.
I had a slew of different thoughts that kept hitting me at 1,000,000 MPH. The most important thoughts/questions were:
Why did he show ME that toy??
Doesn’t he understand where that toy comes from?
Doesn’t he understand the history behind toys like that?
Does he not know how many Black people have died to fight racist things like that?
More importantly, I wouldn’t even be here in Japan studying Communications and Japanese if it weren’t for my parents and grandparents who fought for their rights and the rights of their children.
But I couldn’t say any of that. Not only did I not know how to say that in Japanese, but I was completely speechless. What do you say to a toy like that in such a friendly environment?
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- Posted: July 20, 2009, 1:34 am
- Categories: CONTRIBUTORS, Campus Life, Japan Life, Jasmine Louis, STUDENTS, TOPICS, Tokyo Life
- Tags: bar, beer, campus, culture, drinking, japan, japan campus, japanese, language, learning japanese, listening skills, nerima, nihon, nihongo, student, study, study abroad, temple university, tokyo, tuj
- 2 Comments »
Yes, I am studying Japanese
Yes, you read the title right.
In this post, I want to talk about going to a Japanese bar in order to study Japanese.
When I first came to TUJ, I met a student who was really great at speaking Japanese. I asked him how long he had been studying and he said, “a year and a half.”
Any student of Japanese knows that a year and a half is a fairly short amount of time to get a tight grasp on Japanese. Eager for tips, I asked him what has helped him the most in his journey to fluency, and he said going to his local bar.
I was so suprised! He said he didn’t even learn from taking a class.
After going to a bar myself, I have seen how helpful it can be. You’re able to hear different speeds of talking, different accents and intonations, and you’re forced to speak– even if you’re usually too nervous!
For two months, I have been going to a bar in my neighborhood every Friday night. I bring my notebook and pen, electronic Japanese-English dictionary, and of course, money to spend. The bar is great for learning Japanese.
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- Posted: July 19, 2009, 11:04 pm
- Categories: CONTRIBUTORS, Japan Life, Jasmine Louis, STUDENTS, Tokyo Life
- Tags: culture, dining, food, japan, japan campus, japanese, japanese food, nerima, nihon, student, study abroad, temple university, tokyo, tuj, yakiniku
- No Comments »
My friends and I went to a yakiniku restaurant in Nerima-ku.
Hot coals at yakiniku
Beef and chicken sizzle on the piping hot grill
The last pieces 
Yakiniku is great on a Saturday night with friends before heading to a party!
- Posted: July 17, 2009, 1:28 pm
- Categories: CONTRIBUTORS, Campus Life, Japan Life, Jasmine Louis, STUDENTS, Tokyo Life
- Tags: african american, black women, dating, japan, japan campus, japanese, japanese men, japanese men and black women, love, nihon, racism, takoyaki, temple university, tokyo, tuj, women
- 6 Comments »
Before I came to Japan, the one thing I didn’t want to be was unprepared.
Two weeks before getting on the plane to Tokyo, I might have gotten a little obsessive in my search for information on Japan. Useful language phrases, how to correctly use chopsticks (yes, there’s a correct way), how to make nikujaga, how to tie a kimono… and of course I spent hours upon hours locked in my room on Rosetta Stone pounding basic Japanese into my head, just to make sure I wouldn’t forget it when I arrived.
Maybe “obessive” isn’t a strong enough word.
However, no matter how much research I did on the internet, the one thing I could never find enough information on was how Japanese men feel about Black women.
And this was probably the question I cared about the most!
Do they think Black women are attractive? Are Black women “too curvy” for Japanese men? Why don’t I ever see Black women and Asian men together??
The information I found on the internet was very discouraging, to say the least. There were two types of websites.
The first type was always too open-ended. There were no personal testimonies of Black women in relationships with Japanese men. No data or statistics. Nothing but forums that asked “Do Japanese men date Black women?” … There were never any answers.
The second type was offensive and discouraging. These sites said Japanese men didn’t like Black women because we’re too dark, we’re not skinny enough, we’re too aggressive and blah blah blah.
However, I am happy to say, FROM MY EXPERIENCE, those awful websites are completely and utterly DEAD-wrong 
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