21st November 2011
issue 4iJapanese Newsletter

Published by iJapanese Language & Culture School

Important Dates& Information
16th January:
Beginning of Term 1, 2012
26th January (Australia day)
There will be no classes running on
this day, but will be replaced on
the 26th April. (Thursdays Classes)
1st April: End of Term 1 Event
In order to organise our new termschedule we ask that you pleaseconfirm your next term scheduling witheither Phillip or your teacher.
To kick start 2012 we are running a
Summer Intensive Course andiCulture workshop consisting of Kanji,Calligraphy & Origami.
Please join us for some fun andenjoyable cultural experience!
If you have any questions regarding theabove dates please contact us.
Contact Details: 0401 886 629
info@ijapanese.com.au

How many sleeps to go till…? もういくつ寝ると... ♪♪
OSHOOGATSU!..... New Year!
This is a Japanese children's song where they look forward to oshoogatsu. Not only for children
but for all Japanese people, New Year is the most important annual event on the Japanesecalendar.
New year is from the 1st tillthe 3rd of January and the
1st day of the month iscalled ‘Gantan’. Japanesefamilies typically gather tocelebrate on these days
and greet each other with "Akemashiteomedetoo gozaimasu" (Happy New Year) or‘Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu. (I hope
we have a good year.)Japanese people traditionally visit shrines topray and make New Year wishes. Somepeople will even go there on the eve of New
Year to listen to ‘Joya no Kane’ (the watchnight bell, which strike at midnight).
Osechi-ryoori is a Japanese New Year food,
which is a variety of dishes beautifullyarranged in a Juubako (lacquer boxes). Eachof the dishes has some auspicious meaning
which reflects people's wishes. For example,Kuro-mame (cooked black soybeans) means’Health’, Tazukuri (dried sardine with soyasauce ) means ’good harvest’, Kazunoko(herring egg) represents fertility and Ebi(prawn) is long life. We also eat Zooni, a soupwith Mochi (rice cake) and depending on theregion it comes from, it will have minor
differences in taste .

End of Term Event!
Please come along and join us for Boonenkai (Year-End Party) !
Let’s enjoy an Aussie / Japanese BBQ.
All students are welcome to bring friends!
DATE :
TIME :PLACE :COST :
RSVP :

Japanese entrances are decorated withKadomatsu (ornaments made of pine, bambooand plum trees) or Shimenawa (a sacred strawfestoon). Inside the home, Kagami-Mochi (adecorated round rice‐cake) is offered to adeity.
During the New Year celebration Japanesepeople will exchange New Year's cards called‘Nengajoo’, they will send postcards to theirfriends, relatives and colleagues to express
their New Year's resolutions as well updatingthem on their current lives thease days.
However these days people send messages
through email or SMS.
It is customary for people to give money to theirchildren, grandchildren, relatives' children andalso friend's children, it’s called ‘Otoshidama’.
Sadly we are slowly loosing traditional customs
during the New Year celebration, but a few ofus still keep to the tradition.
How about your country?
Do you have any traditionalcustoms during New Year?

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iJapanese Newsletter

Noriko’s Thoughts
These days New Year’s celbration has
gradually simplified in Japan, due tomodern life styles and changes inour society. Japanese people aren’t
taking the time to decorate‘Shimenawa’ and ‘Kadomatsu’
anymore.
With today’s busy life styles andsmaller families, not many people aremaking the time to make ‘Osechi’ for
New Year either. Restaurants anddepartment stores provide beautifully
presented ‘Osechi’, and I wassurprised when I saw ‘Frozen Osechi’
online.
As a tradition, my family would
make ‘Osechi’ every year. We would
go shopping the day before New
Year’s Eve and my sister and I werealways excited to go because myparents would allow us to buy all
types of yummy sweets. The next
day my mum would make Osechi for
all the family. My family’s life style
has changed like everyone else, but
we still continue the tradition today.

Student’s Interview 生徒さんに聞く
Tell us a little about yourself and what you
do....

At iJapanese, what is itthat you enjoy most?

I was born in London, England and moved toMelbourne with my parents. My hobbies
include travelling and most sports.

I like the school size(small) and the way thatevery class can be alittle flexible if I havesome struggling point.
Also the location isAndrew Bircham
handy for me.

Travelling for me is the best education. I enjoy
different food, culture and landscapes. My
ideal holiday is being somewhere where I
can’t understand the language, great foodand cold beer and hot weather.
I follow football (soccer) rugby and F1.
Although I no longer play I like to keep fit.
I like to relax by listening to music andspending time with friends.
I work for Toyota Motor Corporation
Australia, current position of AssistantManager, previously in Toyota I worked in
Maintenance and Engineering.

What are the differences between westernand Japanese culture you’ve noticed?
Respect for people is the biggest difference I
feel, Japanese people respect authority andappreciate many things, although sometimes
too much. For example on the negative side,
Japanese people sometimes will not be
outspoken if they disagree with someone they
regard in authority. On the positive side,celebrating the changing of seasons theappreciation of the life cycle. And of course
appreciation of food (oishie desu)

Reasons for learning Japanese....
I never believed I could learn anotherlanguage and I admired people who could
talk another language, so since I can use
Japanese for work I have now got a reason
and motivation to do so.

Regarding Japanese studies, do you have a
New Year’s resolution?
Yes, to pass JLPT level 5 as I will transfer toToyota, Japan for 1 year next July!

Work Experience at iJapanese ! 日本人の高校生が実習に来てくれました！
Airi san was working with us for 1 week and she was very helpful.
We hope the experience will help her to consider her future.
Thanks Airi san and Ganbatte Kudasai!

My Name is Airi Takano and I’m 16 years old.
I came to Australia as an exchange student from Japan and have been here for about 10 months now.
I was required to do work experience for my English class at school, so I choose iJapanese Language andCulture School because I wish to have international carrier in the future and teaching Japanese is one of my interests.
During the time I was able to join some of the classes, there were so many various types of people learning Japanese and they all
looked to be enjoying it. I found that students were working very hard and the teachers were helping. When I was able to help students
with conversation, I really had to think about how I should answer them. It was really a great time to spend with students.
I also helped to make teaching materials; this was the first time for me to do this type of work because I am still a student.
I realised that all teachers prepared classes well so that they were fun and help students to be motivated.
I am going back to Japan this month and I will be a 3rd grade student in high school (year12) next year. This means I will need to decide
which university I am planning to go to. In this experience I realized the attraction of teaching languages.
Thanks to Phillip, Noriko-sansei, Mari-sensei and people who are coming to learn Japanese, I have a great experience.
Thank you so much.

iJapanese Newsletter

Page 3 of 4

iCulture Workshops 文化講座
Kakizome Calligraphy Workshop - 抱負 Hoofu‘Kakizome’ is the first calligraphy writing of the New Year. Japanese people write auspicious words,
poems and new year’s resolutions.
In Japanese New Year’s resolution is called ’Kotoshi no hoofu’.
In this workshop, you will create your own calligraphy art on a traditional Japanese fan or paper board to keep. So it would be great
to write your ‘Hoofu’ in calligraphy and hang it on the wall at home.
You will be able to take home calligraphy tools so that you can continue practicing at home. This means we can continue to provide
workshops to improve your calligraphy skills as you progress.

SCHEDULE
25 January 2012
6:00pm - 8:00pm ( 2 hours )thPRICE$35 +GST (only session)$60 +GST (session + calligraphy set)

Let’s try cookingJapanese food!

From Mari まりより
Have you heard of ‘忘年会(boonenkai)’? It
can be translated to ‘End-of-the-Year Party’and literally means ‘Forget-the-year Party’.
忘（boo/wasureru)-to forget
年（nen)-year
会 (kai)-party
About six hundreds years ago, in the
Muromachi era, the End-of-the-Year party is
mentioned in a book describing how people
talked about the year in their poems. In theEdo era, high-class people had a similar kindof party. About one hundred years ago in theMeiji era, the party came to be as it is now,with everyone drinking to a big toast, callingout “kanpai! (cheers)”. It has since become acommon yearly event in Japan.
Nowadays, a lot of people enjoy boonenkai
with their friends and colleagues. At theparty, people drink (lots!) and eat well. So at
this time of the year, there are a lot of TV
commercials with Japanese celebrities
holding stomach medicine in their hands andsaying “odaijini (look after yourself)”. At theparty, some people sing songs, do magic
tricks, and exchange presents while they talkabout the year and appreciate all the efforts
they made and the challenges they
overcame that year.

日本料理を今年はどうでしたか。
(kotoshi wa doo deshitaka)？
What was this year like for you?
I have to admit that the earthquake changed
my life. Experiencing traffic regulation was
the hardest for me, since I was commuting toTokyo everyday by train from my hometown,
Utsunomiya city (it takes two and a halfhours). I would not say that the electric power
and food restrictions were easy to handle,
and I hope we never have the same
experience again. However this experiencetaught me various important things that I
should remember - not ‘forget’.
Boonenkai does not necessarily make you
forget things, but always makes you think
about the year and allows you to start thenew year with a fresh mind.
Would you like to have boonenkai sometimesoon?

つくってみよう！
Buta no Shoogayaki(Ginger Pork)
Ingredientsfor 2 people:
200g Sliced Pork
A: Mix2/3 tbs Sake
1/2tbs Shooyu
1/2tbs Ginger juice
B: Mix together
1/2tbs Suger
1tbs Sake
2tbs Shooyu
2tbs Mirin
1/3 tbs Freshly-grated ginger
1tbs Oil, lettuce leaves andtomatoes for a salad.
Method:1. Marinate pork with ‘A’ for atleast 10mins.
2. Put oil into pan and grill pork
until golden.
3. Add ‘B’ and simmer away.
4. Serve together with salad.

iJapanese Newsletter

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Announcement お知らせ
iJapanese free service
for students!
Write a diary in Japanese!
日本語で日記を書こう！
And Noriko will complimentary
check your writing !
The best way to improve yourJapanese is to use it on a daily
basis.
We recommend writing a diary inJapanese. It would help yourJapanese skill, not only in writing,but also speaking, listening andreading.
Please send an email tonoriko@ijapanese.com.au

Noriko’s Hoofu
My “Hoofu’ for next year is reading

Catch up Lesson Price Increases
We would like to advise you of a prices
increase for “Catch up Lessons” in 2012.
We trust that you will understand the necessity
for these price increase and we look forward
to continuing to provide you with the utmost
quality in lessons.
Price as of 16th Jan 2012:$22/hourCancelation System
If you are unable to attend your class,
we ask that you notify us as soon aspossible.
Private Lessons;48 hours notification is required toreschedule lesson
within the same term.
Group lessons;
You will be able to reschedule and join
another group lesson or reschedule a
private lesson.

From Noriko & Phillip のりことフィルより
How was the year?
It might be too early, but have you made yourresolution for next year?
Do you have a goal for learning Japanese fornext year? The purpose of learning Japanesevaries from person to person. Some students
study for their work, and some as a hobby.

Make a resolution for Japanese studies, write
it down in Japanese and let us know. We are
happy to help you.
Better yet write it in Japanese during ourcalligraphy class !

lots of books, I’ll probably try English
ones. And quitting chocolate!
…… But who am I kidding, that’s
impossible!!!

Whatever your reasons, it would be a goodidea to have a goal for studying Japanese,such as ‘Pass JLPT test’, ‘Make lots ofJapanese friends’ or ‘To live in Japan’.

Thank You ご挨拶
We would like to take this opportunity to extend a big thank-you to all of you for your support us
in 2011! We hope you have enjoyed learning Japanese with us.

Phil’s Hoofu
To get fit and exercise
more often! Perhaps takepart in a marathon or
an exercise challenge.

2012 is a new Year with new challenges and, as always, we will continue to grow and do ourbest towards improvement our school while maintaining the best quality of lessons.
Wishing you all a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We look forward to seeing you all during the new Term in 2012!
来年もよろしくおねがいします！

iJapanese Language & Culture School
488 Bourke Street Melbourne 3000
Phone: 0401 886 629
E-Mail: Info@ijapanese.com.au
Website: www.ijapanese.com.au