Otaku no Podcast » japan

Cool Find: Rikai Browser, Rikaichain, and Rikaikun

Donald Burr — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:32:22 +0000

Us gaijin anime/manga/Japanese culture fans are presented with a problem, in that these works are typically written with the Japanese in mind. In other words, they are written in the Japanese language. And, I don’t know about you, but as far as languages are concerned, I probably know more Klingon than I do Japanese. (Qapla’!)

Now, this usually isn’t a problem where anime and manga are concerned, because (with any luck) your work of choice has already been (or soon will be) licensed and translated into your language of choice. But what about Japanese websites? How are you supposed to read about the latest and greatest anime, or what your favorite mangaka is up to these days? Or read the latest scintillating tales of Japanese life or insights into Japanese culture provided by your favorite random Japanese blogger? Or even navigate the wild and wonderful world of popular otaku hangouts like Nico Nico Douga or 2ch?

Sure, there are computer-based tools such as Google Translate, and they do the job… sort of… often producing something barely recognizable as some wacked-out form of English that a febrile 5-year-old would write. (But they’re usually pretty funny. Try it sometime.) Maybe barely good enough to get the gist of what the website was trying to say, if that. Also, some of these tools make a real mess of a website’s HTML code, turning a normally pretty and functional website into a jumble of nasty. And on particularly complex websites, they may not even work at all.

So what is a poor linguistically-challenged otaku foreigner to do?

Enter Rikai Browser, a free (yes, you read correctly, FREE!) browser for the iPad. Based on the same WebKit engine that powers the iPad’s native Safari browser, Rikai adds a special twist: when browsing a Japanese website, simply long-press on a word or kanji character, tap the “Rikai” button (“Rikai” is Japanese for “understand” – aha!), and the program will instantly display its English translation. It also remembers your search history and what pages you saw them on, making study and review a snap. (Yet another example of why you, the otaku, should get excited about devices such as the iPad.)

If you own an iPhone or iPod touch, and are trying to learn Japanese, you might also want to check out their Japanese Flash app. (It’ll work on the iPad as well.) This “flash card” style app makes it easy and fun to learn your Japanese words and phrases. Unfortunately this one is not free, but at $6.99 isn’t horribly expensive, and might be worth it to you if you’re struggling with your Japanese studies.

Not yet part of the iCollective? (Resistance is futile…) No problem, as long as you use the Firefox web browser, thanks to the almost as cool (and equally as free) Rikaichan Firefox plugin. Install this bad boy and soon you too will be translating Japanese characters like nobody’s business, by just hovering your cursor over the word/characters you would like to have translated. This tool, as well as the Firefox browser it runs on, is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

And before you Google Chrome users pull out your pitchforks and boiling oil, calm down, we’ve got something for you too – Rikaikun is essentially a port of the aforementioned Rikaichain to the Google Chrome plugin architecture, and works on any OS that Chrome runs on (namely Windows, Mac and Linux). Like Rikaichain, simply hover over the word/characters in question and up will pop a translation.

These tools are by no means perfect, but still, until someone invents the Universal Translator (or we discover that Babel Fish do in fact exist), these are certainly helpful tools that any otaku worth his or her salt should have in their linguistic toolbox.

Cool Find: How to register at Nico Nico Douga

Donald Burr — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:24:51 +0000

Nico Nico Douga is a sort of Japanese YouTube, and is one of the most popular video sharing sites in Japan. It’s a hotbed of otaku-related video sharing activity, and you can often find fun fan-made anime- or video game-related video content on it. (There’s tons of other weird, wild and wacky Japan-related video content on there as well, of course.) One unique feature that NND has over other similar sites is that when a user comments on a video, rather than the comments appearing as one long list below the video, comments are instead overlaid directly on top of the video, and furthermore can be synced to a particular time in the video. The whole effect is rather akin to VH1’s Pop Up Videos.

While the website is in Japanese, it isn’t really that difficult to find and view videos. (“see shiny looking video thumbnail? click on it.”) Registering for the site is another matter entirely, and unless you have a fairly good grasp of the Japanese writing system, you’re out of luck. Until now, that is. This excellent video from the folks over at Ichiro-Style (a site that I honestly hadn’t heard of until today) shows you the step-by-step procedure for registering, including translations of all the prompts. Wonderful!

So why not head over to Nico Nico Douga today and try it out for yourself? Registration is free (there are paid Premium accounts that give you certain unknown added benefits, but registering for one of those requires a Japanese credit card). All you need is a working e-mail address where you can receive the validation e-mail. Of course, if you’re afraid of spam or whatnot, you don’t have to use your regular e-mail address; you can always set up a free Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, or heck, even a Hotmail account.

Video #0004 – The Sushi Experiment 3.0: Nigiri, Temaki, Chirashi, and Facing the Fish

Donald Burr — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:45:34 +0000

Greetings, and welcome to the third and final installment in this series of sushi making videos. It’s finally time to run with the big dogs and face your fears – raw fish. But don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as it sounds, and assuming you have access to a reasonably good Asian foods market (or are willing to order frozen products shipped to you in dry ice over the internet) you’ll be just fine. (Look at it this way, not only do you get good quality raw fish, but also dry ice to play with. Fun!) Today we learn how to make Temaki, or hand rolls; and Nigiri, or pressed sushi. We also take a brief detour and learn the Way of the Blade – handling sushi knives.

This is the final video in the Sushi series. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it. I’ll be returning to audio podcasting after this. But stay tuned until the end of the video, because I’ll be talking about the future of Otaku no Podcast and these video podcasts.

Links to some of the products mentioned in this video:

Sushi Making Set VI

Japanese Import, Kitchen, $50.50

Laquer Sushi Bowl and Sushi mat set D482

Ekitron, Kitchen, $25.99

Sushi Rice Japanese style – 5 lb (Kokuho Rose)

Kokuho, Misc., $9.99

RiceSelect Sushi Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

RiceSelect 2006, Grocery, $24.33

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

Zojirushi 2005, Kitchen, $159.99

Sushi for Dummies

Judi Strada. For Dummies 2004, Paperback, 288 pages, $9.47

Snow River 7V03389 Wood Oil

Snow River, Kitchen, $3.05

Edozen – Seaweed Sushi Nori – (10 Full Sheets) – 0.88 Oz – for Sushi or Hand Roll

Edozen, Misc., $2.98

Global 1804/270 10-1/2-Inch Yanagi Sashimi Knife

Yoshikin, Kitchen, $99.95

A good seller of frozen sushi/sashimi-grade seafood
Reasonably priced carbon steel yanagi (sushi knives) on eBay – if this one is sold out, use the “see other items” link to find more)
The more high-end sushi knife I own – again use the “see other items” link to find more, if you’re interested
A source of good Japanese water stones
A really lengthy article about proper knife care, sharpening, etc.
Another article on the proper care of carbon steel knives
How to make proper Nigiri Sushi (this is pretty intense)
Another method of making Nigiri Sushi (somewhat less intense than the previous one, but not by much!)

Project 760 Productions and Pop Japan Travel Present The Tokyo International Anime Fair Tour!

Donald Burr — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:50:07 +0000

Psst! Hey… wanna go to Japan? I know you do! So listen up!

Project 760 Productions, the group behind many otaku-centric events in the San Francisco Bay area including JTAF, is teaming up with Pop Japan Travel to offer you a chance to travel to Japan to attend the 2010 Tokyo International Anime Fair, one of the largest anime trade fairs in the world! You’ll get to take a sneak peek at the latest anime projects and series scheduled for the Spring and Summer TV seasons in Japan.

In addition, the tour will include visits to famous otaku landmarks, including Akihabara, the so-called “Electric Town,” a major shopping area for electronics and consumer goods, and now a hotbed of otaku activity, with many anime and manga shops, maid and cosplay cafés, and the like; Nakano Broadway, a ginormous building chock full of otaku-worthy shops — arcades, manga, anime, idol, music, toy, etc.; the Ghibli Museum, shrine of all things Studio Ghibli; a dinner at a cosplay café, a picnic by the sakura (cherry blossoms), a visit to an animation studio, and more!

This 9 day tour will take place between March 24 – April 1, and will run you $1,985, which includes all costs including round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, transportation, interpreters/tour guides, entrance fees, etc. You’ll also get a customized guidebook created exclusively for the tour. If you like, you can arrange your own travel plans to Japan, which drops the price to $1,360.

If there’s enough interest, they will also make several tour extensions available, including a tour of the port city of Yokohama and the history-filled city of Kamakura; and a tour of Studio Pierrot. (Tour extension is contingent on whether or not there is enough interest in it, and will incur an extra charge.)

Also, to commemorate the Studio Pierrot Tour, Pop Japan Travel is hosting a special contest through their YouTube channel.
The fan that submits the best video with a question for Studio Pierrot will receive their choice of three books courtesy of Digital Manga, Inc. and will get to visit Studio Pierrot free if they take the tour. Winners will receive a PJT credit towards a future tour if they cannot attend the TAF tour. The contest concludes on February 14, 2010.

For more information, visit the Pop Japan Travel website or email popjapantravel@gmail.com for more information. Mention Project 760 and get a $50 discount.

Better hurry – all applications are due by February 23, 2010

The TJX crew talk about one of my favorite subjects – FOOD!

Donald Burr — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:49:34 +0000

The good news is that my two work projects went very well, and I’ve been having a great time at BlogWorld and New Media Expo, learning a lot of good blog/podcasting stuff and meeting and networking with a lot of cool people. I even took the opportunity to upgrade my podcasting setup – I got a new, much less crappy microphone, so the next podcast should sound pretty good.

Speaking of the next show, I’m actually working on it. We’re still in Vegas for another few days, and unfortunately the Internet access is pretty lousy, so I doubt I’ll be able to post the show before I return this weekend. But you should definitely have a new show by next week.

In the meantime, I’ve got something to tide you over. Your friends and mine, DJ City and DJ Gladiator of TJX – The Japan Xperience – have released a new episode in which they talk about one of my favorite subjects in the world – FOOD! More specifically, they take a gastronomical tour through Japan, and focus in on the most well-known/famous foods for various regions/cities of Japan. Give it a listen, you’ll like it. But beware – better have some snacks handy, as listening to these guys talk is gonna make you hungry!

Holy crap, that’s a lot of people!

Donald Burr — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:05:50 +0000

If you’re a long time listener of Otaku no Podcast, I’m sure you’ve heard certain of our panelists complaining about the large crowds at certain of the more high-profile anime/comic conventions. Indeed, when you look at the attendance figures for two recent events, Anime Expo (reportedly 44,000) and San Diego Comic-Con (reported by Wikipedia as “[n]early 140,000, at least 125,000″ but suspected to be much higher, perhaps as high as 250,000), you can’t help but be impressed by those numbers. Comic-Con attendance, in particular, has eclipsed the population figures of most small to mid-sized towns here in the USA.

But even that pales in comparison with the news I received today that, according to early estimates, Japan’s Comic Market (“Comiket”) welcomed a record 560,000 attendees at its Summer Comiket event this past weekend (August 14-16, 2009). Comiket’s organizing body reports that the high attendance figures also indicate a spike in new attendees, which should come as good news to the manga industry.

Think about that, people. FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY THOUSAND. Holy crap, that’s a lot of people! Sure makes our grousing and complaining sound petty and immature, doesn’t it?

Comiket, as it’s called by the cool kids, isn’t the same as your typical western Anime convention. For one thing, it’s frakkin’ HUGE. It dominates the entire Tokyo Big Sight, a massively huge (one might even say “Xbox huge”) convention center with a total floor space of 230,873 m². It’s almost exclusively devoted to manga, specifically doujinshi, essentially self-published manga. Most doujinshi “circles” (the groups who sell their doujinshi at Comiket) are unknown fans, though many well-known manga artists choose to publish doujinshi in order to publish outside of their usual publisher relationships. And they sell a TON of this stuff at Comiket – perhaps as many 20 acres (81,000 m² according to one source). It’s also known for its epic and legendary cosplay. There is plenty of photographic evidence to back this claim. Search for yourself. (I would post links, but there are really too many to post here, and I don’t want to make this article over 9,000 pages long!)

On our last episode I expressed my doubts as to whether my stamina would hold me through a Comic-Con. Well, after reading this, I don’t think I’ll be attempting Comiket anytime soon… perhaps ever. *sweatdrop*

DJ City and DJ Gladiator talk travel in and around Nara Prefecture

Donald Burr — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:23:59 +0000

This year marks the 5 year anniversary of our trip to Japan on the AX Tokyo tour. (And I STILL haven’t edited together our trip video! Yeah, feel free to beat me with whatever blunt objects happen to be within easy reach.) I was interested in Asian and Japanese culture long before becoming an anime fan, so this trip for me was doubly exciting. And totally worth it. To this very day, I am haunted by many of the events and scenes I saw while traveling around Japan, as well as the general “sugoi”-ness of it all. My hope above all hopes is to be able to return for a second visit sometime before the global economy collapses, air travel becomes impossible (or only for the hyper-rich, and we are forced to hunt for our food using only sharp pointy sticks and wear their skins as clothing. (Me? Bitter? What gives you that idea?)

One of the ways I console my aching soul (well, besides watching anime that is) is to listen to podcasts about travel in Japan. And just the other day, the fine folks at TJX: The Japan Xperience put up a new episode once again detailing one of their adventures traveling through Japan. In this episode, your fearless leaders DJ City and DJ Gladiator talk about their travels in and around Nara prefecture (which we never got to in our tour). Among the subjects they talk about include the rather friendly deer in Nara Park that come right up to you (but sometimes bite you, so be careful!), the Daibutsu (or Great Buddha of Nara), arguably the world’s largest buddha, and… well… lots of other cool stuff.

Listen to it here. Or – better yet – subscribe to their podcast – they’re cool guys and their talk of Japan travel and music (plus plenty of friendly jabs at each other) is always entertaining and interesting.

Now please excuse me while I go sigh dramatically and pine away… (and hand me that cheese over there, it’ll go great with my whine…)

Episode #0004 – JTAF 5 Review

The Ghost in the Machine — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:53:39 +0000

If you are a new listener, and heard about us through either the Feeble Force network of podcasts, or Allison Sheridan’s excellent NosillaCast… welcome! Thank you for taking the time to download this episode, and we hope you stick around for many more to come!

In this episode, I discuss my review and impressions of the JTAF 5 (formerly JapanTown Anime Faire) anime convention, held November 10-11, 2007 at the Fort Mason center in San Francisco, CA. On the whole it was an enjoyable convention, but had some notable problems in terms of location and crowd control. Sadly, JTAF is going on hiatus, and have put all plans for next year’s JTAF on hold until further notice. I certainly hope this does not spell the end of what I consider a very friendly and fun convention.

Pictures from the event can be found on my Flickr page, and a highlights video will be posted here soon.

We also discuss some of the latest news in the anime and manga community, including the following stories:

Episode #0003 – Geneon and Anime Cons

The Ghost in the Machine — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:53:06 +0000

Finally, after a long hiatus, we are back in action! This time around, I decided to mix things up a bit and put together a panel discussion. We talk about this week’s big news, Geneon pulling out of the US anime business. We also talked about MikomiCon, a relatively new (only in its 2nd year) anime convention that we really like, as well as the awesome World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), recently held in Yokohama, Japan. We also make some recommendations on anime you should watch. Finally, I also talk a bit about my latest podcasting project, Podcasting on the Cheap.

Our Panelists:

Upcoming Anime Conventions

(check AnimeCons.com for a list of even more conventions)

Another Anime Convention

Courtyard Marriott Nashua Hotel, Nashua, NH

October 12-14

Zenkaikon

Valley Forge Scanticon Hotel and Conference Center, King of Prussia, PA