I decided to pick up a few books I probably won't be able to find in the US. Even Amazon.com (as opposed to amazon.jp) doesn't carry these books. Therefore I decided to pick them up. They are a mix of vocabulary and JLPT test practice books.

Blue: Japanese Vocab Speed Master N1
Red: Japanese Vocab Speed Master N2
Dog (Green): Japanese Vocab Speed Master N3 (This is the one I am currently on which is why it has a cute book cover.)
Larger Green: Is a JLPT N5-N4 Grammar/Kanji/Vocab work book

This is the JLPT N4-N5 Book. 

This book is really good if you can read on train or in transit. I am not good at that but it's still good to carry around. It's not very big and has good problems and answers. (I also have the N3/N2 book, packed away). It has three problems per page and on the back of that page it has the answers and explanations. Each page has one Kanji, one Vocab and one Grammar problem.

Speed Master

This is one of the Speed Master books. It has a list of vocab in both Kanji with red furigana (the pronunciation of the Kanji) and the English answers written in red. It came with this handy dandy red thing so I can cover the answers and test myself. These books also come with CDs that has example sentences which are under some of the vocab. Vocabulary is separated by category, it has notes for polite words as well.

I picked these up mainly because I am not going to carry around my text book. Books in America are awkwardly big and I don't care to carry such a heavy thing in my back back. Why America doesn't like pocket editions, I have no idea. 



I am also not too fond of the text book we use in class but it is a very popular text book in America and Europe I hear.
There is more English than Japanese in the text book, so it is good for beginners. Vocab per chapter used to match up in early chapters, same with the kanji, but in later chapters and the second volume, they seem random and don't line up with the chapter theme. 
Japanese can be an intimidating language and the book does provide a fun, easy looking means to learn Japanese.
The good thing is, it does come with a work book and has a CD for the conversation parts.


If you are studying for JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test), then there are a few options of books. Really, a few. If you want instruction, not just practice tests, then pick up these:

These pictures are the N3 level. (Beginner is N5, fluent is N1). The raccoon is always reading, monkey is grammar, owl is kanji, bunny is listening and chipmunk is vocabulary. The only down side is that these are thin text books. They aren't small pocket sized books unfortunately. I have not bought them but use them from the library. I currently work with N3 and N4 typically.

I can't really tell you how to learn a language nor what book works best. There are many books out there. "Learn Japanese in 60 days!" Well, that probably won't happen. It will be frustrating and you will hit walls that will force you to take a day or two off. It will be hard, and self study is very difficult. Keep at it, try your best and find what works for you!

Mai is a sweet girl I met in Arao. She is a family friend of my host family and we are close in age. When I first met her we visited the local amusement park over the summer. So, when I came back to Arao we hung out again!

We visited Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine which houses the god of literature and calligraphy. It was packed when we went. Just to give our respects of ten yen and make a wish we had to wait. My host mother was saying that, in the new year last year, she waited an hour to give thanks to the god because there were so many people in line. Normally you toss money into a large box, maybe three feet wide, by two feet tall, but they had a whole barrier around the front of the shrine where you could toss money so there wouldn't be a line just for the box.

We visited here specifically for Mai's game match. She plays Hyakunin Isshu which is essentially a card game made up of matching poem card. I really can't explain this game and couldn't figure it out from watching, nor from reading descriptions. It's fast paced and players slap and smack the cards in front of them. Cards go flying so it's entertaining to watch but I have no idea nor understand how to play.

Mai is on the left

Sitting like that takes a lot of strength, as it kills your legs after only a few minutes. It's a super intense game and lasts a while! To be honest I can't tell how people win either. It's very formal so no long sighs from the loser, no big smiles from the winner.

After that, we got the local specialty sweet which is Ume ga e mochi. Which is plum (flower) picture mochi. It's mochi, with a picture of a plum on it. We went to a small Japanese style cafe, where you can sit outside with hot tea, on the same table you eat off of.

Left is the mochi, you can see little indents. Those are the plum flowers. There is anko (sweet red bean paste) inside.
The green stuff is green tea which I love very much. It is bitter and goes good with sweets.
The two little things are umeboshi. Pickled plums. I don't like, but I ate anyways because it's fun to pucker!

Mei and I!

It's fun to speak English and Japanese with Mei, as she doesn't know much English and my Japanese isn't perfect of course. I had so much fun with her! When I come back to Japan I will come to Arao to visit my host family and Mai!

My host mother is a lovely cook. We always eat so much when I am with them but it consists of such healthy foods, a bunch of vegetables and fish! On New Years day, for dinner we had Tai (red sea bream). I really have no idea how she cooked it, as she simply pulled it out of the fridge, so it was cool. It's difficult to eat, but soft and using chopsticks makes it easier but I can definitely see how someone who isn't used to chop sticks could have a lot of trouble!

The following day we ate crab! Cold water crab from Hokkaido (the northern most island). Within two days we ate all of these. Who ever said Japan has tiny portions lied. We first just ate them cold, with a little lemon juice. We had to use scissors to cut into the crab legs. We had crab utensils but it was easier to use chop sticks and scissors!

My host mother also made sukiyaki which is probably my favorite Japanese food ever. It's like a soup, served hot post style. It's on top of a hot plate that keeps it warm, but it is cooked before hand. There are many vegetables and meats in it, usually beef or pork. The soup is soy sauce, sugar and mirin which is a sweet cooking sake (alcohol). It's very sweet tasting! It's good in the winter. Usually you dip the vegetables in raw egg (which is in the little dishes).

So much crab, I think about 20 shoulders each with like, four or five arms on them. They were the best things I've ever eaten, aside from sukiyaki.






Lastly, let me tell you about why the US is not up to my standards. There are no Kotatsu. In Japan most people sit on cushions on the floor around tables. Low tables are super popular and I like the idea. Kotatsu are tables with a heater under them. The blanket is super soft and keeps in the heat. I want to live under this kotatsu.

お節料理! Osechi Ryori! (New Years feast!) I tried my best to label things that readers wouldn't know by sight maybe. The main focus of the dinner was the crab, but there were many delicious foods! We did make a few things, but mostly it comes in a large stacked box resembling a set platter of food! We separated it into smaller boxes too.

Kamaboko: Processed fish cakes made into loaves and are pretty colors! They have a festive look, don't they? (Left)
Takoyaki: Is a ball shaped snack with a wheat flour-based batter. On the inside is octopus! (Right)

Kinpira Gobou: Carrot and Burdock root (gobou) sauteed together in soy sauce. We made this! Very easy and tasty! (Burdock Root, Left)
Karaage: Basically fried chicken, famous in Oita! (Right)

Tamagoyaki: It's basically scrambled egg made into a loaf and cut in an aesthetically pleasing manner. (Left)
Edamame/Kuromame: Beans! Kuromame are sweet black beans. Edamame are soy beans.

Mochi and Dango: I typically eat it when it's in a sweet/candy form, covered in, or filled with something sweet, but it can be used in soups, or grilled, basically anything. Here is what Wikipedia has to say: "Mochi is Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki."Dango is made from a mochiko, related to mochi. Both are very chewy and glutinous!

I drank sake out of a crab head. Apparently that's a thing. According to my host family, crab and sake go hand in hand and I can assure you, they do. Hot sake is best. For the new year, of course there were fireworks. Always fireworks. In Arao, there is an amusement park that shoots of fireworks. We didn't go into the amusement park, but we went to a shrine near it and watched the fireworks from there. They were short, but very pretty. After that we visited the shrine we watched from and asked for good luck/health/fortune for the new year.

On new years day we visited a local shrine. Yotsuyama Shrine which was built nearly 1000 years ago. It's a shrine that has a god for small business owners. So at the beginning of the year many shop owners go there to pray for a good year. It's a small shrine up a small mountain. It's a steep walk, but many elderly people still made it with ease. By elderly I mean like 80 and 90 years old.

Yotsuyama Shinto Shrine

In front of a 5 yen coin!

I prayed for a happy new year for my friends and family, as well as good health! I hope I got that, because the fortune I got said I'd have a bad year with money. I got the worst one for money. Go figure! I hope everyone had a lovely New Years!