PROFILE
Hello, everyone! My name is Kaede. My aim for this blog is to cover topics relating to Japan, including its culture and regions. I also would like to include topics that are not widely known to those outside Japan. Since I have a deep passion for Japan, its language and culture, I would like to spread that interest and enthusiasm by teaching others through my writing about Japan. My family and friends would say that, in relation to Japanese culture, that I would be known for my Japanese language skills and that I have an interest in translation. In general, they would also say that I enjoy everything Japanese, and that I like manga and anime. The experiences that stand out most to me where I could experience Japanese culture are during my two exchange student experiences in Japan. The first experience was in Okinawa during my sophomore year (10th grade) of high school. This program was for two weeks, and it opened my eyes to more experiences in Japan I was able to have. Living with a Japanese family allowed me to see what Japanese daily life is like, and I was able to create a deep relationship with my host family that continues until today HOW I GOT TO MAKE A BLOG I didn't really think about having confidence to make a blog, but I would like to tell people about my experiences in Japan, and I think it is important if I can teach people things about Japan that they would not know otherwise. Perhaps having a blog will also help me have a place to organize my thoughts and experiences related to Japan. I am hopeful that my blog will be instrumental in helping people learn more about Japan they didn't know before. It would be nice if this blog could become popular from word of mouth or by being shared on social media, so that would be my ultimate hope for this blog. JAPANESE STUDIES I started studying Japanese more seriously when I entered seventh grade in junior high school. My studies in Japanese continued from seventh grade through senior year of college, when I received a bachelor's degree in Japanese. As for when I came to be known for my interest in Japanese culture, I would say it was around the time when I decided to more seriously study the Japanese language in seventh grade. My first Japanese-related project was when I decided to improve my Japanese comprehension by translating some Japanese volumes of my favorite manga series (Fruits Basket) into English. My original reason for wanting to translate these volumes started with me, perhaps with naive intentions, wanting to translate the manga into English so I could impress one of the students studying in the ESL program at my high school. However, gradually over time, as I got better and better at translating and understanding the meanings of more Japanese words, I came to like translating Japanese to English on my own terms. Following this interest in Japanese to English translation, my next project was being team captain of a Japan Wizards Competition and representing my high school. As team captain for my team in this competition, I was able to assist my team and show our knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture. Due to our efforts and hard work, we were able to win first place in the competition, and a one week, all expense paid trip to Tokyo. I was very proud that I could help my team win first place in the competition, and proud that we all worked hard to achieve this goal. This project was different from the first because it involved working together as a group and achieving a common goal. As a writer, I want to communicate that if there is something interesting one wants to learn, the information is out there for one to discover. MORE BOOKS & ACCURACY As stated in the previous paragraph, my entry into the world of translation began with wanting to translate some Japanese language volumes of manga into English. I also tried translating English manga into Japanese, but found that it was quite difficult, so I decided to focus solely on Japanese to English translation. Another reason I wanted to learn to translate in the beginning was so I could translate anime song lyrics online, and pass the requisite test to be able to translate these lyrics, which involved translating an excerpt from a random manga with a high level of accuracy. Eventually, I was able to pass this test, and although my comprehension of words was still low, and I did not translate many anime song lyrics online, I found that translating manga was more accessible. In addition, translating Japanese helped me strengthen my sentence-making skills and grammar knowledge. My journey of translating recipes started in 2012, when I translated an okonomiyaki book in my spare time from Japanese to English. Since then, I have translated a pasta book and a fried rice book. I am currently working on translating a recipe book about udon. Translating these recipe books has helped me learn more about Japanese food, and I have enjoyed learning more about the restaurants and techniques mentioned in these books. In addition, on my travels to Japan, I sometimes come across the restaurants featured in these books, so it is special to me. TRAVELLING TO JAPAN! My experiences with traveling to Japan started when I was seven years old and traveled with my parents, my grandmother, and my siblings to Gifu, Japan for the shichi-go-san ceremony (coming of age ceremony for girls aged seven and three, and for five-year-old boys). From then, we went to Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, Suo-oshima Island and Okikamuro Island as a family. These trips made me want to travel to Japan on my own someday. My first chance to do so was in my sophomore year (10th grade) of high school, when I got the chance to participate in a two-week exchange program in Okinawa. Participating in this program was the first time I was away from my family, but I did not feel alone. My host family in Okinawa consisted of a single mother and her three daughters. My host family welcomed me very warmly, and I was welcomed warmly at the high school the girl who was my exchange student attended. I was able to make many friends, and wished that the time did not have to go by so quickly. This experience in Okinawa was what made me interested in experiencing Japan by living there, and ultimately I was able to live in Japan for a school year with a host family in Kobe, Japan while studying classes to complete my degree. The idea for this blog came about when thinking of those who want to learn more about Japan, but have a difficult time since there is a language barrier and they do not speak or understand Japanese, which hinders them from learning more about Japan. Although Japan has gotten better over the years at providing access to information about their country with more information available in different languages, a lot of information is still kept behind this language barrier. Therefore, if I can help demystify some questions non-Japanese speakers may have, that would be my goal for this blog.
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