Yaya’s Life in Japan

May 03 | Evan | Comments Off |

A glimpse of everyday life in Japan

There is a new YouTube channel in town! Well, this is a new YouTube channel created by Japan Photo Guide’s friend in Japan. She is a photographer so despite it’s new for her to do videography, the videos are beautiful. The angles, subjects, and lighting, you can tell that a photographer worked on it.

Anyways, this new YouTube channel is called “Yaya’s Life in Japan.” It captures everyday life in Japan, which might be nothing special nor spectacular to Japanese people, but for those who are dying to travel back to Japan or hoping to finally make it to your dream land, Japan, it’s fascinating. You get to see the glimpse of Japanese people’s daily lives on this channel as well as you can learn Japanese words and cultures.

Yes, watching this channel will definitely be useful for you to prepare for your photo tour of Japan when international traveling resumes, but it’s simply entertaining and educational if you want to learn more about everyday Japan!

“Enjoy SOBA Lunch”

Are you a big Japanese food fan? If so, have you heard of soba? Soba is Japanese noodle, which is made from buckwheat. Many people probably know ramen, but if you are health conscious, you definitely want to try soba because it’s as great as the whole wheat spaghetti, much healthier than ramen. If you do not believe it, below is the list of nutritious facts about soba.

Less carb than regular pasta
High in fiber
High in protein and low in fat
Good source of Vitamin B1
Good course of manganese (which supports bone health, glucose metabolism, wound healing & support nervous system)
Helps cardiovascular health
Control blood sugar
Free of gluten
Prebiotic
Other minerals (zinc, magnesium, & iron etc.)

Do I have your attention now? If you are trying something new and are trying to better your health, choose soba over ramen when you are in a Japanese/Asian store next time! Also, are you curious to find out about how to eat soba? Well, take a look at “Enjoy SOBA lunch” from Yaya’s Life in Japan.

Interview with Yaya, the creator of “Yaya’s Life in Japan”

I was fortunate to interview Yaya, the creator of the new YouTube channel to learn more about “Yaya’s Life in Japan.” Let’s learn how this YouTube channel came to life.

Q: What is the reason behind creating this YouTube channel?

Yaya: There are 3 reasons why I started my channel.

I wanted my international friends to learn more about Japan.
I wanted my Japanese friends who live abroad to feel closer to Japan through my videos.
As a photographer, I have always wanted to try videography.

Q: Your YouTube videos are beautiful. Is videography new to you?

Yaya: Yes, I am a photographer, but I am completely new to videography. I have a desire to learn so through doing YouTube, I hope to polish my skill as a videographer.

Q: How are you choosing your themes?

Yaya: I am focused on “real life.” I don’t go anywhere special just because I am shooting for YouTube, but instead, I think of my friends’ faces and if anything comes up to my mind that I want to share with them, that is what I create.

Q: What quality do you value when creating your videos?

Yaya: I am not too keen on loud and busy so instead, I want the viewers to enjoy the videos without effort. If you can enjoy my videos and feel relaxed, that makes me happy.

Q: Are there any videos you particularly want this blog reader to check it out?

Yaya: Yes, the one with cherry blossoms at a local temple, Ikegami Honmouji is my recommendation. I am also going to upload kaitenzushi (converter belt sushi) one soon so if you enjoy sushi and/or Japanese food, please take a look at that one too!

What do you notice by watching “Yaya’s Life in Japan?” If you have never been to Japan, everything is probably new to you, but if you have been to Japan, have you noticed anything new? In the pandemic era, we are all travel deprived. We are all on the same boat about missing traveling, missing the photo tour of Japan. You can’t yet go traveling to Japan freely, but by watching this channel, I hope you get inspired to learn about Japan as well as inspired to photograph and be more motivated to travel to Japan hopefully in near future.

Learn Japanese Today

May 01 | Evan | No Comments |

Learn how to make possessive sentences in Japanese!

In the last “Learn Japanese Today,” you learned how to say “this” and “that” in Japanese. In this article, let’s expand your Japanese even further to learn how to make a possessive sentence using this and that in Japanese. This will certainly be beneficial on your Japan photo tour next year! Sounds exciting? Let’s begin!!

This dog is Pochi!

You all know how to say “This is ….” in Japanese now. What if you want to be more informative in Japanese sentences. Below is an example using possessive, “no”

This dog is Pochi.

Kono inu ha pochi desu. (*In Japanese, you write “ha,” but pronunciate “wa.”)

このいぬはポチです。

この犬はポチです。

When you want to make a possessive “this,” you add “no” and subtract “re” from kore to make “kono.” Here you are providing the dog’s name.

Let’s do another example using “This dog is…”:

This dog is a Shiba inu.

Kono inu ha shiba inu desu.

このいぬはしばいぬです。

この犬は柴犬です。

As well as explaining the name of this dog, in this example, you can describe a type of dog, which is Shiba Inu. By the way, in Japan, as well as Shiba inu, you will hear Shiba ken for the same dog type.

Interesting fact

Pochi is a well-recognized dog name in Japan, but in more recent years, following names are gaining popularity as dog names in Japan: Maron, Leon, Coco, and Moka to name a few. As for cats, Tama is an equivalent of Pochi, but in more recent years, following names are gaining popularity as cat names in Japan: Mugi, Momo, Hime, Chachamaru to name a few. So when you are in Japan on your photography tour of Japan, pay attention to dogs and cats names. Maybe you can find a new trend in Japan’s pet names?

“I am Lisa.” and “My name is Lisa.”

So using possessive, “no” let’s try another one. To introduce yourself, you can do below. Let’s pretend that you are Lisa.

I am Lisa.

Watashi ha Lisa desu.

わたしはりさです。

私は理紗です。

AND

My name is Lisa.

Watashi no namae ha Lisa desu.

わたしのなまえはりさです。

私の名前は理紗です。

To introduce yourself in Japanese, you can use the “watashi wa… desu” form with your name at the … spot. This is simple and totally makes sense in Japanese, but you can also use the example above with the possessive tense using “no.” Even with simple sentences like these, Japanese would always appreciate it if you try using their language so don’t be shy, but try your best to introduce yourself when you meet new people on Japan Photo Guide’s photo tour of Japan!

Additionally, when you want to say “That is mine” in Japanese, you can do below using “no.”

That is mine.

Are ha watashi no desu.

あれはわたしのです。

あれは私のです。

As you know “kore” “sore” and “are” in Japanese, depending on the location of the object you are talking about, make sure you use the right one. Furthermore, if you replace “watashi” to “Lisa” in the above sentence, you can say “That is Lisa’s” in Japanese.

Are ha Lisa no desu.

あれはりさのです。

Finally…

Learning about the possessive “no” gives you more freedom to play with Japanese. You may not have a lot of Japanese knowledge, but by 3 lessons we have had so far, you can say simple sentences to navigate yourself to have a small conversation with Japanese people on the Japan photo tour. If you also know more variety of Japanese nouns, you can also use the above structures to figure out how to say “That is my dog.,” “This is your cat.,” and “That is Lisa’s horse.” etc.