Ryan |
January 17, 2010
Anybody who has visited Japan will have seen Fukuzawa Yukichi on nearly a daily basis, though they may not know it. His serious face and stalwart image is indeed involved in many everyday transactions. Even if you haven’t set foot even close to Japan yet, then the first few pages of a textbook on Japanese will undoubtedly present his image to you. And in both cases, he’s usually worth about £70, $110 or ¥10000.
Of course, having your face printed on the one side of a yen bill is truly a mark of a nation’s recognition for the work that one has undertaken, however awareness of Fukuzawa very rarely goes further than this, if indeed one is aware even of his presence on Japanese money. So, why is he so celebrated? What did this man borne into a family of both honour and hardship do that gives him the right to be recognised by every Japanese person every single day of their lives..? Continue reading
Podcast: Download (7.2MB)
Posted in 有名！
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Ryan |
January 5, 2010
Well, well, well. Did you enter? Do you think you’re in with a chance of winning? Read on for the results! Continue reading
Podcast: Download (2.8MB)
Posted in giveaway
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Ryan |
December 19, 2009
Well hello again. It’s that time of year once more, and Caught*Red-handed (through a genuine dislike for the 25th day of December) is completely bypassing the subject and moving directly onto New Year! And with that, as advertised tirelessly on Twitter over the past month or so, Caught*Red-handed launches the first of (hopefully many) New Year Giveaways! Continue reading
Podcast: Download (Duration: 11:52 — 5.7MB)
Posted in giveaway
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Ryan |
December 12, 2009
One additional year of study. Three months of intense revision. Countless early starts. Frantic days of worry. A miasma of guilty feelings. Endless late nights. One suppressed social life. This is: Japanese Language Proficiency Test 2009.
As you all know, the build up to December 6th 2009 had been traumatic to say the least. When it came to it, there were no drums, nor were their hordes of tribesmen attempting to induct me into their crazy JLPT Sect, but what there was instead was a whole load of worry, an incessant smattering of rain, two crazy Americans, a late train, a complete lack of geographical awareness, a crazy invigilator, and a whole load of people looking a million times more nervous than myself. (I think that’s a good thing, but it depends on how you look at it, right?) Continue reading
Podcast: Download (6.2MB)
Posted in JLPT
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Ryan |
November 15, 2009
The morning is quiet. A slight haze blurs the otherwise radiant sunshine of the beautiful, crisp morning. Cows chew the cud merrily in a field, a cat lazily licks its fur clean. The odd car can be heard trundling by in the distance. Everything is quiet. Everything is peaceful. Everything is serene.
Pleasant at first, it starts, yet as the sound begins to amplify, the rhythmic, almost soothing beating of drums seems to become distorted, erratic, demonic even. On the horizon, people can be seen. A tribe. The drums intensify, the cries encroach on the morning. The cat takes one look and scarpers, the cows move to the other side of the field. They’re approaching. And they’re bringing their drums right this way. Their pace quickens, the drums speeding to match their footfall. You begin to make out features. Masks. Spears. The odd sword. You turn to run, but there’s more, coming from all sides. Your heart beats in time with the metallic drum beats. They’re just yards away now. A white flag unfurls, a black skull and crossbones atop four distinct red letters scrawled across it, as if painted in blood: J.L.P.T. You begin to scream. One of the tribesman makes a lunge for you, his knife between his teeth.
And suddenly, you’re awake… Continue reading
Podcast: Download (5.6MB)
Posted in JLPT, RedBox
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Ryan |
November 8, 2009
Of course, we all know that deaf people live everywhere. There is no Deafland from which these people originally came, and there is no Deaflanguage that they universally use. That said, deaf people are unique in their society, their culture, and their languages, and their concerns and appraisal for the place in which they live are gaining significant credence with academics the world over. Continue reading
Podcast: Download (12.5MB)
Posted in Society
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Ryan |
October 23, 2009
On the horizon a flickering light can be seen. At first it is but a small pinprick of light against a sky of deafening blackness. As you look, you notice that actually the light is not burning white as you first thought, in fact it’s green, that is bright, fluorescent green. The light is now getting bigger, the darkness not quite so deafening. Suddenly, a flash of light bursts above you, again green, but this time, like somebody has released a million fireworks all at once, the light is colossal, almost burning its iridescence on the back of your eyes. And then, from nowhere and everywhere all at once, you hear the sounds of violins… Continue reading
Podcast: Download (Duration: 7:02 — 16.1MB)
Posted in RedBox
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Ryan |
October 13, 2009
As you will know by now, I am rather fond of a mini-series or two, therefore Caught*Red-handed is being press-ganged (I mean, proudly presents) yet another..有名！ Yuumei is an ongoing series that will touch on both obvious and unobvious personalities from Japan, and those that have been influenced by this magnificent country. It will document, in the signature C*R-h way, an in-depth analysis of people, and bring this to you all wrapped up in a beautiful, little box. And if that wasn’t enough, once RedBox is launched..well, that’d be telling, wouldn’t it?
So who better to start off the proceedings than the one, the only: Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki-sama is truly a genius, and one that has transcended cultures to give not just Japanese people the time of their lives, through his glorious animations, but has penetrated the imaginations of Westerners alike. But what about Miyazaki-sama himself? Is it all just drawings..? Continue reading
Posted in 有名！
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Ryan |
September 24, 2009
When I started Caught*Red-handed, one of my first posts was a review on a new Japanese restaurant that had opened in Manchester. It was dismal, and I don’t mean the restaurant. From that point forward, I realised that reviewing was not the way for me. Which was a shame, as I’d had this idea for a series (surprise, surprise) of Japanese oddities, and I was going to cover a different one each week. Too bad at this early stage in the game then, that I realised my reviewing skills were crap. And so I turned my attention to the intangibles of Japanese society, culture, philosophy and language. The blue-, or should I say red-print, for Caught*Red-handed, had changed forever.
The review hiatus would have continued indefinitely I feel, had a month ago I not have picked up my now battered copy of Shogun by the legendary James Clavell, and begun to read it once more. It is a truly captivating novel, and it is this love and warmth and general happiness that I get from a story of such calibre, that inclined me to don my reviewing cap once more, and venture directly into the melee. Come on, let’s see what happens.. Continue reading
Posted in Review
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Ryan |
September 21, 2009
Two weeks ago, eduFire did me the massive honour of being able to giveaway one of their highly coveted SuperPasses, providing one lucky winner with a whole month’s worth of language lessons for free! (See original post here) Continue reading
Posted in eduFire
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