Jordan...

How are you? I can't believe you're back! I always was afraid that you might have to go, but now you're back! I don't know where to start. First of all I'm glad that you bought the ps3 and wii. So which do you think is the better one?

As for me, I'm not that much into games lately. I have to study for school and do lots of stuff. And don't forget: learning Japanese! I became much better then I used to. even though still I'm not that good, I did managed to learn about 400-500 kanjis and I am starting to understand Japanese tv shows and interviews without the need of Japanese subtitles. Cool, huh? You might not remember me anymore...I was the girl (Nour) who lives in Holland and was afraid to use my English :)

Back to games. I'm only playing with my ds every weekend. And yesterday I finished Xenosaga 1 and 2 for the ds the Japanese version. Man, what an awesome game! I love all the characters like Shion, Chaos, Momo, Jr, and Kos-Mos. My heart was broken when SPOILER Jin left Shion in the end, Momo is finally back to her so called mother...I wonder if Jr still really loves Momo now that he knows she is actually a prototype of Sakura...SPOILER There are too many things to talk about. And now, I really want to buy Xenosaga 2 to see all of this in pretty 3d graphics. I hope to god that Xenosaga 3 will reach Europe and that I can finish the story. Did you like Xenosaga 3 by the way?

Well, I have go. I'm in school actually, so...I hope to see Japandemonium on Tuesday.

Love,

Nour

Jordan,

Howslife? Everything alright? Sorry I missed the last one, I'm quite busy at the moment and fell asleep real fast for the last couple of weeks, so I guess I was too tired to write an e-mail. It seems that you haven't posted anything yet, so I still have some bit of a time to send you this one.

Thanks for answering my questions last time. I wonder, since you say theft is low, is it like all the J-Dramas and the anime I see (like Beck) that bullying in high schools is a great issue? I know there was some bullying at my school from what I've heard, but it seems quite harsh in the animes I see. So I wonder whether that reflects real life or not. I also heard - well at least here - that bullying also occurs at workplaces (which is quite childish as you're supposed to be a grown-up by then). Heard any stories of that in Japan?

So all the schools look and sound the same? That's quite amazing! So the impressions from all the movies and animes are somewhat accurate! Do all schools also have the wonderful facilities like a track-and-field (how would they ever do cultural festival without it?) and such? I don't know whether that's government regulated or that it just depends on the "richness" of the school.

I haven't much to ask or to tell, but here's a link to the topic of my first AMV-announcement:

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=74692

Just click on the picture there, you have to be a member of animemusicvideos.org though to be able to download it, but I don't think that's much of a problem. I'll announce the AMV I've won with around Christmas time.

Talking about Christmas - do you have any plans for it yet? Or New Years celebrations?

That's it.. have fun with your MacBook Pro! (*wishes to have enough money to buy one too*). Means you have been saving up for a MacBook, PS3 and Wii?

Douggie

PS. I have Sanjuro in my DVD-collection and it is (somewhat) a sequel to Yojimbo I heard, but never got around to check it out.

"We all know that birds fly, but now can you tell me where they are actually flying to??"

Hey, Sensei,

I just thought I would drop in with some information on the "rou" in Sanjurou, as per the question you received the other day. The "rou" in that name is written with the character [kanji that I can't translate into unicode goes here] which means "man" or "male," and is a common suffix in male names like "Tarou" or "Ichirou". When accompanied by a number, as in the case of Ichirou, the name usually denotes the order of birth; i.e. "Ichirou" would mean "eldest son." In Kurosawa's "Sanjuro," though, Mifune's character seems to make up his name on the spot, taking it from the Camellias in front of him and what we are to assume is his age. Thus, he is Tsubaki Sanjuro ([More kanji that I can't translate into unicode goes here]).

-Atolm

Hi J! Just read your column. Excellent as usual. :-)

Anyway, as for "Sanjurou", I don't even need to see the kanji to know what it is. It's the same "rou" as you find at the end of "yarou" (bakayarou!). I forget what the original meaning is, but it shows up in male names a LOT. I think it was actually a fad several decades ago, the same way "ko" is a fad in female Japanese names today. Some other fads include "-maru" and "-emon" and "-bei" for men, and "O-" for women. These are all really old, though, like 100+ years ago.

So the "sanju" part of that name is most definitely "30," but the "rou" part doesn't really add any meaning. If you really want to dig something meaningful out of it, I guess you could say it means "30th guy" or something similar. Actually, if somebody wants to use numbers for a male name, they almost always end it with "rou". Other famous examples of this: Ichiro (1-rou), Jiro (2-rou or "next"-rou), Zaburo (3-rou). Uninventive parents would sometimes use those names for their eldest son, 2nd eldest son and youngest son respectively. You could even do Shiro (4-rou) [no this is not the kanji Masamune Shirow uses :-)] and Goro (5-rou). I've even seen a Juushirou (14-rou) [Bleach]. The bland male name of "Taro" also usually uses that character. It's a pretty ubiquitous kanji in names. :-)

Hope this helps! :-D

Sic