Sunday, April 25, 2010

Q,P Mayonnaise マヨネーズ

There are a lot of delicious seasonings in Japan. Soy sauce or Miso is typical Japanese taste.

I think mayonnaise made in Japan is so delicious. I saw a topic that Japanese mayonnaise, Q.P mayonnaise is sold well at Amazon in US.

In Japan two mayonnaise mainly are sold, one is Q.P Mayonnaise and Ajinomoto's mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise is sold in plastic squeeze bottle. Kewpie doll is a mascot of Q.P and it is so cute.

Japanese love mayonnaise. it is used in Japanese food well. We call people who especially are addicted to it and eat it well, Mayolar マヨラー. It is new Japanese word and recently is used in daily life. However, mayonnaise is high calorie. Too much eating is not healthy. I like it and sometimes use for sauce of salad. It is very delicious and convenience seasoning.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

White Kazoku (Family)

Today's topic is dog. Hachi in Shibuya is very famous, However, the most well-known dog now is a white dog of "White Kazoku (family)".

White Kazoku is a campaign charactor of Soft Bank that is one of mobile phone in Japan.
(There are three mobile phone campanies in Japan. The others are NTT (Docomo) and KDDI(AU.))

Family members are father, mother, daughter and son. This family appears in daily TV comercial. This white dog is the father (お父さん) of the family. You might be think a dog is father of human beings. He can speak Japanese. Father's voise is dubbed by a famous actor.

When I saw these TV commercials at first, I thought it was strange. However, the situation is very funny. There are a lot of version of commercials. I attached the site of TV commercial series. When you see them, you will like him.

Father, Otou-san, お父さん (white dog) is very cute...

Sunday, April 11, 2010

招き猫 (Maneki Neko)

Which do you like, dogs or cats ? We often ask someone a question about pets. I like dog better than cats. There are a lot of people that have pets and dogs and cats is so common for pets.
(I have no pets.)
Now cats (Neko 猫) is very popular. I heard a news in TV that some photo books about cats are sold well. I like kitten, however, I am a little bit scary about big cats.
Maneki neko 招き猫 is very cute and I like it. It is a traditional ornament for bringing customers in business or 商売繁盛 Shoubai Hanjou (this is a slogan that we use when we hope that business prospers)
We sometimes see it in shops or restaurants in Japan. Maneki (verb, Maneku 招く) means beckon. This is a cat for bring good luck.
Animals or pet sometimes heal in our life. Maneki neko isn't real animal. However, the look is so cute, it might bring fortune to us.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Haruichiban 春一番

Spring comes. Beautiful cherry blossoms (Sakura) bloom now. Everything begins in April. New term begins at school. Recruits who graduate from university or high school join a company.

There are some words that express each season. Haruichiban 春一番 is a very symbolic word for Japanese spring. Haruichiban 春一番 means the first gale of spring in the end of February or March. We can hear this word in weather report. "Haru" 春 means spring and "ichiban" 一番 means first or No.1.

When haruichiban blow, it is a sign that long winter in Japan ends at last and we feel spring. Everyone wait for spring. March in this year was very cold after haruichiban blew. We couldn't take off winter coat for a long time. Now it becomes warmer in April.

I hate the gale, however, I like the sound of Haruichiban, I don't know why.


I want to add new part "My favorite phrase " in my blog. I will update when I'm touched or find good phrases. Please sometimes check it.