Penshon・ペンション is taken from the French word “Pension.” While the majority of the katakana words are based on English there are quite a few non-English origin words.
E.g.: Pan・パン - bread, Karute・カルテ - medical chart

BTW, apparently you can leave you bags behind the counter at the Capsule hotel, just in case you were interested. At least that is what I’ve heard.

Great、 all the talk about allergies yesterday and mine just had to come up today. I’m useless when mine kick in. I took a sick day so I’m going to listen to the podcast and review older ones. 　またね。

KPってだれですか？台湾からきたって？　私も台湾人だから、知り合いたい！

そして、どうやってメンバーになるの？

I am now willing to find something to help me learn Kanji. Admittedly, I am trying to focus on speech and comprehension, however, I know that Kanji is a vital part of the experience.

My question - what are some good resources for learning Kanji (either web or book based).

Arigato gozaimasu!

Nate-san

I’m here, Peter-san!

Praful-san,

As Peter-san mentioned, there is a great little site called The Mixxer where you can find language exchange partners and actually engage in voice chat over a free voice chat client called Skype. It’s a great opportunity! You can find the site here:

http://langtech.dickinson.edu/globalclass/login.aspx

And a tip for you: when selecting your native and target languages, you can always swap them around and choose Japanese for native and English for target. In doing so, you can find other English-speakers who are learning Japanese! This way, you can talk with native speakers as well as your fellow Japanese-learners!

As for finding written exchange, there are quite a few sites out there. Here is a small pen-pal site that is usually updated fairly often:

http://www.yorihuzi.net/japan.html

If you are looking for something more specific, or for instance online forums, just let me know. I’ve got tons of links!

Nate-san,

I’ll give you some links in a following comment so that I don’t get set to moderation

Nate-san,

Kanji!! Oh, do I have links for you
I suppose I’ll have to carefully choose so as not to go overboard, though

I’ll start by saying I recommend you sign up for the daily kanji mailing lists that I posted about previously. And a tip regarding that: don’t worry about LEARNING every single kanji that comes to your inbox. Instead, watch the stroke animation, draw the kanji yourself, and simply look over the meanings, readings, pronunciations. If it seems like one you definitely want to remember, go ahead and make note of it and learn it, but simply writing kanji daily (using correct stroke order) will give you a feel for how kanji in general are written. You’ll also find that you start recognizing characters you’ve seen more often. Once again, you can find those mailing lists here:

http://yookoso.com/phpList/?p=subscribe

Now, I suppose a small introduction to kanji would be nice, ne! If you haven’t noticed, About.com is great for doing small informative articles about lots of topics! This case is no exception. For a very brief introduction, as well as some commonly used kanji, check this out:

http://japanese.about.com/blkanji.htm

More links to follow…

And just two more! Sumimasen!

This site picks up where the last leaves off. It is pure stroke order heaven. Not only does it have the animations for the 常用漢字 (common use kanji), but it has animations for 常用外漢字 (non-common use kanji), 人名漢字 (name kanji), and even requested kanji! This site is a fantastic resource!

http://www.aiu.ac.jp/~kawatsu/gahoh/Japanese.html

Lastly, here is a collection of columns and articles written for the non-Japanese adult tackling kanji. There’s a lot of fun and informative material here:

http://www.kanjiclinic.com/

If you’re looking for anything else in particular, just let me know! I’ve got plenty of resources! Hope that helps

Ah, thanks Wayne-san for reminding me that this is indeed comments for the podcast! I got stuck on kanji and forgot to address that

This is a site I came across not too long ago. It’s called the “Japan Backpackers’ Hostel Network”. It’s basically just a big resource of hostels across Japan, as well as other useful, related information. There’s even coupons! So who wants to backpack across Japan with me?

http://jp_backpackers.at.infoseek.co.jp/en_top.html

B&D.. haha

hi rob,

I have TERRBILE tastebuds, and I find a lot of things unpalatable (fussy, picky, I can’t help it ), I found the easiest way is to say you are allergic How is that said in japanese? I have a feeling when i get to japan i will have to be allergic to just about everything .

haha. thanks rob

RobGillon-san,

That was indeed a great article! The serious follow-up was good, as well

About raw eggs… the danger is all hype! I’ve eaten plenty of raw eggs and never had a problem. Even if, by chance, an egg had salmonella bacteria in it, the only people at risk are those with weakened immune systems. You can read some more here about the issue:

http://www.mercola.com/2002/nov/13/eggs.htm

Jonas-san,

It’s definitely my pleasure! I know the crew there has a full plate, so it’s great to be able to help out in what little way possible. Thanks for all of your hard work, and let me know if there’s anything else I can do!

Long-san,

Welcome to the site!!

So you’ve found JapanesePod! Soon you’ll be addicted just like the rest of us

I’m not Peter-san, but perhaps I can help you with your question. I will assume you’re using iTunes. If so, to download any older episodes that may be missing from your library, first check your “Pocasts” folder in iTunes. Expand the view, and if any episodes are grayed out, click the “Get” button next to the episode name.

If you have all of the listed episodes and need even older episodes, simply go to the “Music Store” and search for “japanesepod”. (You can find the search bar in the top right corner of iTunes.) Click on the correct podcast to go to the information page, and scroll left to the “Price” column, there should be a “Get Episode” button. They’re free, of course! Now simply choose “Get Episode” for all of the back episodes that you’re missing!

If you need help with something other than iTunes, just let us know and I’m sure we can help out! And remember, you can always download the episodes directly from this page! At the bottom of each episode description in the blog, you’ll find the episode as well as the supplemental material. Just Right Click and choose Save As!

Hope that helps! Let us know if you need anything else

Sharon-san,

Welcome!!

I’ve just checked your website, and I have to say, it’s one of my favorites now!

Stick around and let us know if you have any questions, or any fun tips or stories to share!

Wayne-san: I was lobbying to get love hotels in, but… Sometimes (often?) it is even cheaper than a normal hotel…
Check out this link for some more information in English.

Jonas

Sorry for the downtime everyone! And for any inconveniences it might have led to. We just got a call from our ISP in California, telling us an armadillo went wild in the server room. No, but seriously, we blew through our monthly bandwidth limit at 2000 gigabytes/month. The growth of this site has been amazing, and it is all because of you guys! Please keep the support coming. As mentioned above, we’ve just spoken with the provider, and they have assured us that this will not happen again.

Regards from the whole japanesepod101.com team.

PS: apparently they’re sending us the armadillo as compensation.

Armadillo…crunchy on the outside, smooth on the inside

Hi everybody!

First, a thanks to Peter and the crew for a great show! I only found this website last week, and since then I’ve been listening to your show most days since through itunes, catching up on all the past ones.

I’ve been learning Japanese since last June here in London, and love it! Went to Japan for the first time in October for 2 weeks, and going back in May

Anyway as I’ve read no comments yet about peoples experiences in Capsule hotels, I thought I’d interject mine

So in my October visit, I stayed in two, each for one night. One in Tokyo (Asakusa), and one in Osaka. To clear a couple things up, least with my experience of those two then:

1. I’m 5′9 and I could easily sit up in my capsule. They’re actually not *that* small. I mean obviously they’re just a bed, some controls for light/tv and a tv, but they don’t feel constrictive. You obviously only go inside the actual capsule when you want to relax and sleep

2. You get a locker for your bags and stuff. It fitted my 60-litre pack and other things. And you get given cotton top/bottoms to walk around in.

3. The actual facilities vary between hotels. The one in Asakusa really has nothing - a few shared areas with chairs, and a couple of small rooms with a bath and showers. Oh, and a single floor for women
The one in Osaka had a restaurant (pay at vending machine), huge shower room with several baths, and a lot bigger shared areas. It was also cheaper, and a lot cleaner and nicer. But it’s not in Tokyo.

Anyway, that ends my spiel about Capsules. Hope it’s a bit informative
I would stay in the Osaka one again, but not in the Asakusa one. I did it just to try them out, and also got to spend nights in a ryokan and western-style hotels, so a good mix!

Finally, I’d like to say that this looks like a great community, and I hope these podcasts continue indefinately! Thanks again guys!

Bye for now,
Mark.

Mark-san,

excellent information there. I`ve been in Japan for almost 2 years now, but I have yet to stay in one. But with the long hours here, I guess I would have to one of these days My last train leaves at 23:10, and it never seems to be enough hours in a day!

Nathan-san; I guess you`re tired of getting praise every time you post here, so I`m not gonna… ehehe (But rest asure that we`re super thankful for all the help and info you`re providing us and the other listeners).

Jonas

Hi Japanesepod friends,

I just listed to the lesson today and I also wanted to mention that you guys forgot about “Love Hotel”. I had the experience standing *almost* in front of one but didn’t have the nerve to go in to take a look. But I want to try it next time I go to Japan.

Can anyone recommend a good and reasonably priced Ryokans in mid and northern Japan? I’m planning a trip to Japan later this year and would like to spend a few nights at different Ryokans. Thanks in advance for your help.

Go, JapanesePod101!

Lily

Here there is a blog with pictures and prices of many of the lodging places mentioned in this episode:

http://www.links.net/vita/trip/japan/lodging/

I know I’m really REALLY late on this one, too, but…I really feel that if there is any way to clear up the subject of Love Hotels for your average non-Japanese who might be getting their first impression of them from some kind of horrifying Fox shockumentary, it would be very beneficial.

Before I met my fiance and we started planning our honeymoon in Japan, I always thought a Love Hotel was some kind of seedy dive reserved strictly for Japanese businessmen to carry on illicit affairs in!

Granted, maybe there are those who do engage in that type of behavior, and there may well be a few less-than-classy establishments here and there, but isn’t a pretty major point of the thing to just be a place where couples can honestly go to escape the nearly paper thin walls that separate the sounds of their activities from neighbors and/or family members in the next room at home???

That’s not so scandalous, now is it?

P.S. Heee! I can’t wait!!!

hahaha i saw the カプセルホテル on tv and that was so funny!
i don’t think i can sleep there.