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Mokku Mokku

Apr
13
thread
Mokku Mokku
I enjoy visiting this shop in Yanagase in Gifu City. They mostly sell used wooden furniture, but they also have interesting antique & retro items such as lampshades, bottles, picture frames, postcards, etc. The shop is called "mokku mokku." What does mokku mokku mean? It translates as 'wood wood' - an interesting name for an interesting shop!

Grammar:
- What does ___ mean? OK
- What means ___? WRONG
- What does mean _____? WRONG

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Imaise Cherry Blossoms

Apr
12
thread
Imaise Cherry Blossoms
Have you been to see cherry blossoms yet? You`d better hurry - soon they`ll be gone! I took this photo in front of Iwato Shrine in Imaise, Ichinomiya. A festival is held there every spring. Have you ever been to it? This year it`s on the 21st of April. Please go! I`m going.

Grammar:
- "...been..." = 行って来ました
- "...gone..." = 行った (今はもうない)
- "Have you (ever) been...?" は "Have you gone...?" より普通です
#花

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(Non-Alcoholic) Cider

Apr
10
thread
(Non-Alcoholic) Cider
One of my hobbies is to take care of the local park where my kids play. I cut the grass, pull out weeds (雑草), pick up trash etc. I like to keep it looking good.

Anyway, the other day an old lady (really old - she had a walking stick in BOTH hands) in a nearby garden called me over to thank me & give me a gift of five cans of Mitsuya Cider. How nice! Thanks, very old lady near the park.

Japanese English:
- In Japan, cider (サイダー) is a non-alcoholic drink, similar to lemonade, but in western countries, cider is an ALCOHOLIC drink made from apples - don`t buy it for your kids!
#グルメ

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Fleamarket Finds

Apr
10
thread
Fleamarket Finds
Do you like fleamarkets? Some people don`t like them, but I find* them interesting. You can see things that you don`t normally see in shopping centres. Also, if you`re lucky, you can find** a bargain (買い得).

These are my finds*** from a fleamarket in Gifu last weekend: a toy car (¥100), 2 children`s books (¥50 each), a silk necktie (¥50), & a towel with a picture of a sumo wrestler (¥800). The car is for my collection, I gave the books to my kids & I will give the towel to a family member as a present.

Vocabulary:
- *find (動詞)= 思う, 分かる
- **find (動詞) = 見つける
- ***find (名詞) = 見つけた物, 拾い物, 発見、戦利品

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Kogane Shrine Festival

Apr
8
thread
Kogane Shrine Festival
On Saturday there was some kind of festival at Kogane Shrine in Gifu, near our school. As you can see, participants were carrying a 'mikoshi' - a kind of portable shrine, and they were wearing 'happi', a kind of traditional decorative coat. Have you ever worn a happi? I haven`t, but I hope to have the chance one day - I think they look kind of cool.

Grammar:
- a kind of 名詞 = 名詞の種類
- some kind of 名詞 = 名詞の種類 (何の種類か分からない感じ)
- kind of 形容詞 = けっこう、ちょっと形容詞

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You Can Take Photos at Daiso

Mar
6
thread
You Can Take Photos at Daiso
In some shops, you can`t take photos, but I was surprised to see this sign at a Daiso 100yen store. It says that if you want, you can take photos of things in the store & post your photos on Instagram, Twitter, etc.

So I took a photo - of the sign!

Grammar:
- すみませんが、こちらは撮影禁止となっております = I`m sorry, but YOU* can`t take photos here.
- この店舗ではお値打ちなものが買えます = YOU* can buy cheap things in this shop
- * You = 誰でも (not あなた)

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Poky Little Puppy Sign

Feb
26
thread
Poky Little Puppy Sign
This children`s book is about four puppies (子犬) who keep* digging holes under a fence and escaping. Their mother keeps* making signs telling them not to dig holes under the fence anymore.

I don`t have puppies, but I keep** chickens. Soon it will be spring & they will eat the new leaves on my blackberry plant, so I put yellow fencing net around it to keep*** the chickens out, and keep*** my blackberry plant safe. Then my kids and I made a sign like the one from the book.

Vocabulary
*keep + 動詞ing = 〜し続ける
**keep + 名詞 = 飼う
***keep + 名詞 + 前置詞 / 形容詞 = 名詞を〜に保つ、名詞を〜にしておく

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Konomiya Shrine Naked Festival

Feb
21
thread
Konomiya Shrine Naked Festival
On my way home from Nagoya on Sunday, I got off the train at Konomiya Station and made my way to Konomiya Shrine to check out the naked festival (裸祭). It was difficult to take a good photo because there were a lot of people & police in the way. Standing around naked in winter... it looks like a good way to catch a cold.

By the way, the reason I went to Nagoya was to see an art exhibition:
https://en.bloguru.com/otto/343190/2019-nitten-exhibition

Vocabulary:
- On my/your/the way... = 行く途中
- In the way = 邪魔をする、行く手を塞ぐ
- Make my/your way... = 目指す
- By the way = ところで
- A good way (to...) = (...のは) 良い方法
#文化

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Sardine Chocolates

Feb
20
thread
Sardine Chocolates
I like* chocolate & I like tins (缶), so my wife correctly guessed that this would be a good valentines gift for a geek like** me. I like that the chocolates are shaped & wrapped to look like*** sardines (鰯). That`s funny.

Vocabulary:
- *like = 好き
- ** a geek like me = 私ようなギーク
- *** look like = 似ている,
#グルメ

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2019 Nitten Exhibition

Feb
19
thread
2019 Nitten Exhibition
On Sunday I went to the annual (= every year) 'Nitten' Japan Fine Arts Exhibition at The Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Sakae. I took my young daughter, but she got bored quickly. Also, she was impatient to eat ice-cream; I`d promised her beforehand that I would buy her one, so afterward, I quickly bought a few postcards (can you guess the two that my daughter chose?) then we went & ate ice-cream nearby.

Vocabulary:
- beforehand = (何か) する前, あらかじめ
- afterward = (何か) したから
- nearby = (何処か)の近い
#アート

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