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In November it starts to get cold. Really cold. It’s the time for snuggling up with hot sweet potatoes and watching the beautiful deep red leaves on the trees.

And that is the inspiration for this month’s Japan calendar:

There are more of these posters in my Learn Japanese Download Pack.

And if you’d like another calendar next month, be sure to like this on Facebook!

Finding somewhere cheap to stay in Japan is tough. Apart from the flight there and getting around inside the country your biggest expense will be hotels and accommodation in Japan.

If you’re on your own then capsule hotels are one cheap option, especially in cities.

Or if you are hiring a car and what to get out and see the real Japan and Japanese countryside, you can’t beat camping.

Best of all you don’t need to bring a tent, you can hire one of these very funky camping huts!

They’re all around from Japan, this one happens to be in the mountains of kyushu.

The best thing with camping in Japan of course is that you get to have a hot onsen bath before you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning!

Be genki,

Richard

Anthony Joh over at Tokyo Podcast has just put up on audio interview he did with me on the ideas and techniques I use to get fluent in Japanese.

We talk about all the tricks and tips I used, why I came to Japan, the space programme, using fear in language learning, Thailand and India projects and lots of Star Wars references!

My bit starts 6 mins 30 seconds in and goes on for a good 30 minutes, so grab a coffee and have a listen!

Listen Now:

Or Listen on iTunes
Or Download audio file

Q: Do Japanese celebrate Halloween or similar holidays like it? – Confirukia

A: Good question!  Not really celebrate as such, but as with any country shops and stores need something “new” each month to keep you coming back. So in October they tend to get all out decorated with Jack o’Lanterns and lots of black & orange!

Here’s a very tame selection in a cake shop I did a while back!

A lot of you were very enthusiastic about doing a “Photo of Month” column.

So Shoko’s busy sorting out some of her best photos for you.  Here’s one to get you started, a Japanese 絵馬 !

This is photo of  絵馬 ( ema ).
絵馬 ( ema ) are wooden tablets on which to write one’s wishes at the shrine.

Photograph by Shoko Fujiki

Web: http://www.shokofujiki.com/photo-japan/

(Anyone know those kanji?)

Q: Hi Richard,   I find your websites so useful for learning Japanese. I was wandering how you would describe a modern house in Japanese using colours, maybe adjectives e.g. big [ookii], small [chiisai], how many floors, how many rooms etc.   Thanks,  Olly

A:  Hi Olly,

The best word to describe most houses in Japan would be – busaiku – ugly! The architectural here is shockingly bad.

Hence there isn’t the same pride in your house or doing it up like there is in Europe or America.

Think designed by Microsoft, not by Apple.

Having said that, there is a whole convention on describing housing here, involving a secret code of numbers and letters!

So you might see places described like this outside real estate agents:

1K or 1DK = one small room plus a small kitchen or one dining kitchen.  (Of course you also have a bath or shower room and toilet)

2K or 2DK = two small rooms plus a kitchen or dining kitchen.

3K = I think you get the idea….

1LDK = means you also get a “living room”

On the whole don’t expect to spend much time at home.    Most people are at work or school all day and then go out to starbucks, izakaya or restaurants on an evening before going home to just crash.

It’s a shame because traditional Japan looks amazing, and there is so much good old design here.  I just wish the architects would study it a bit more!  (As well as take into account basic things like if you have an amazing view, put the windows facing it, not on the other side!)

Anyway, it all makes for a different experience!

October is a great time for fruit picking in Japan.

But what shape are the pears over here?

(If you’re on email, click here to see the video, and like it on facebook! )

Although October has its own “Health & Sports” national holiday ( to commemorate the opening of the Tokyo Olympics), and Trick or Treating isn’t well known, it’s still Halloween decorations that fill the city streets now that things are cooling down.

So that’s the theme for this month’s calendar.

As usual, keep liking them on Facebook and I’ll keep making them for you!

P.S. I’m also thinking of starting a “Photo from Japan” column from my friend Shoko who’s a photographer over here.  What do you think?  Good idea? Bad idea?

Q: Konnichiwa Richard Sensei,

I want to ask you about how to order things and all like how to say “I’ll take two strawberry cakes” or “I’ll take three umbrellas”? Thanks in advance! -Darren~ Peace out.

A:  Hi Darren,

Cool question.

As usual there is a textbook “official” way of saying this, and also the downright cheating real life way that Japanese people use everyday.

Needless to say I go for the latter!

(Ah, those Japanese, not following the textbook rules when speaking!)

So the ninja cheating formula is ….

Name of the thing you want + how many you want of it + kudasai

e.g.  イチゴケーキ   二つ　ください

ichigo keeki futatsu kudasai

= strawberry cake 2 please

Dead easy!

or if wanted just one it would be イチゴケーキ 一つ(hitotsu) ください

Or …

傘　三つ　ください

kasa mitsu kudasai

= umbrella three please

So if the counter for “four” is 四つ = yotsu and beer is ビール = biiru,  how do you say “I’ll take four beers please?”

Q: I am a bit confused on Onegai shimasu  in the song it says “Ill take it” however, in other places Ive seen it mean “please” .. can you tell me all the meanings of it? Thank you,   Ludi

A: Hi Ludi,  yeah basically they are the same meaning, in the song I just translated it as “I’ll take it” because that’s what you’d say in English.  But I could have just as easily gone with “please”.

Onegaishimasu is a really cool phrase that you can use all the time.  You finish meetings with it (meaning “please do what we’ve discussed it would be fantastic”) or if you really have to beg for something it’s also the word to use – e.g. you see it all the time on TV when someone has done something wrong, they drop to their knees in a full on bow and say “onegaishimasu”  Plus of course it can also just mean, “I’d love your continued support in this”   Literally an “onegai” is just a wish or request.

All very cool stuff!

Be sure to check out the next set of questions,  yoroshiku onegaishimasu !

Be genki,

Richard

P.S.  The Genki Japan download pack (with the new Heads & Shoulders song in Japanese!) is going up in price today.  So get your order in ASAP!