Radek Sprta (Posts about Japanese)https://radeksprta.eu/categories/cat_japanese.atom2024-01-07T02:28:55ZRadek SprtaNikolaScarlet Johansson in Ghost in the Shellhttps://radeksprta.eu/posts/scarlet-johansson-in-ghost-in-the-shell/2016-04-25T07:52:59+02:002016-04-25T07:52:59+02:00Radek Sprta<div><p><img alt="Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell as Major Motoko Kusanagi" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgBITcbUAAEdMiV.png"></p>
<p>Couple days ago, the media confirmed, that <a href="https://fandom.wikia.com/articles/first-look-scarlett-johansson-ghost-shell">Scarlet Johansson will star as
Major Motoko Kusanagi</a>
in the upcoming Hollywood adaptation of the cyberpunk
classic Ghost in the Shell. This immediately caused a huge uproar, with posts
accusing the creators of 'white-washing' <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/15/scarlett-johanssons-role-in-ghost-in-the-shell-ignites-twitter-storm">springing up like
mushrooms</a>.
There is even a <a href="https://www.thepetitionsite.com/683/366/733/dreamworks-dont-whitewash-japanese-films/">petition that supports casting of an Asian actress in favor of Scarlett
Johansson</a>.
To be honest, I was baffled when I found out about
the backlash. But more about that later. The opponents of have two issues with
Johansson's. Firstly, that the creators chose a white female for the role of a
Japanese woman. Secondly, that they refer to the character as 'The Major' to
further obscure its Japanese background. Let's take a look at the legitimacy
of those claims. Motoko Kusanagi uses an artificial, robotic body. So her
ethnicity has no impact on her looks. In the original movie she is pictured
with blue eyes and distinctly Caucasian features. I would argue that casting a
white female to the role is actually staying true to the original. You can see
the picture below and decide for yourself. Does the Major strike you as
ethically Japanese in the anime?</p>
<p><a href="https://radeksprta.eu/posts/scarlet-johansson-in-ghost-in-the-shell/">Read more…</a> (2 min remaining to read)</p></div>Attack on the Titan - Kansaiben versionhttps://radeksprta.eu/posts/attack-on-the-titan-kansaiben-version/2015-05-10T07:15:02+02:002015-05-10T07:15:02+02:00Radek Sprta<div><p>Last year, the Attack on the Titan attraction has opened in Universal Studios
Japan in Ôsaka. It featured 15 m statues of Eren and the Female Titan.
Naturally, it was an immense success. Now, to celebrate one year anniversary
of its opening, the publishing house has released Kansaiben version of the
first manga.</p>
<p><img alt="Source: arecollection.hatenablog.com" src="https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/images/fotolife/o/ornith/20150313/20150313012944.jpg"></p>
<p><a href="https://radeksprta.eu/posts/attack-on-the-titan-kansaiben-version/">Read more…</a> (1 min remaining to read)</p></div>NHK Radio Special on Tôhoku Earthquakehttps://radeksprta.eu/posts/nhk-radio-special-tohoku-earthquake/2015-03-11T23:54:35+01:002015-03-11T23:54:35+01:00Radek Sprta<p>It has been 4 years since the Tôhoku Earthquake already. This tragedy has
extinguished countless lives, but among the continuing problems at Hukusima
Power Plant and reconstruction work delays, many people are still suffering
from the ruin it has brought. In reaction, NHK Radio have released a 3 part
special, where they revisit these areas to look at the current situation and
speak with the locals about the disaster and the future. It is quite
interesting. Unfortunately, NHK delete the podcasts from the feed after 2
days. So I have decided to upload them on Youtube:</p>
<h3>Part 1</h3>
<p><iframe width="200" height="150" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ye8PO0LBDRU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen title="3月9日震災から4年 震災地は今"></iframe></p>
<h3>Part 2</h3>
<p><iframe width="200" height="150" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bForkfOKvK8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen title="3月10日震災から4年 震災地は今"></iframe></p>
<h3>Part 3</h3>
<p><iframe width="200" height="150" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hGPTZ33Ijio?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen title="3月11日震災から4年 震災地は今"></iframe></p>On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morninghttps://radeksprta.eu/posts/on-seeing-the-100-perfect-girl-one-beautiful-april-morning/2014-12-23T11:30:39+01:002014-12-23T11:30:39+01:00Radek Sprta<div><p>On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning is one of my
favorite Murakami's works and probably my favorite short story overall. I
wholeheartedly recommend everybody to read it. Unfortunately, it was not
published in Czech yet. Nor does it seem it will be anytime soon, so I have
decided to translate it myself.</p>
<h3>Jak jsem jednoho krásného dubnového rána potkal 100% dokonalou dívku</h3>
<p>Jednoho krásného dubnového rána jsem v uličce na čtvrti Haradžuku prošel okolo
100% dokonalé dívky. Upřímně řečeno, nebyla zas tak pěkná. Nebo že by na ní
něco poutalo pozornost. Ani na sobě neměla nijak skvělé šaty. Vlasy měla vzadu
ještě po ránu rozcuchané a co se věku týče, nebyla už úplně mladá. Mohlo jí
být tak ke třicíti. Technicky vzato, už to vlastně ani nebyla dívka. Bez
ohledu na to, už z 50 metrů mi to bylo jasné. Ona je pro mě 100% dokonalou
dívkou. V okamžiku, kdy jsem ji spatřil, se mi srdce rozbušilo jako o závod a
v ústech mi vyprahlo jako na poušti.</p>
<p>Možná máte mezi holkami nějaký svůj typ.
Třeba se vám líbí holky se štíhlými kotníky, nebo velkýma očima, potrpíte si
na pěkné prsty nebo vás z nějakého důvodu přitahují dívky, co si pomalu
vychutnávají jídlo. Já mám samozřejmě taky svůj typ. Někdy když jsem v
restauraci, okouzleně pozoruju tvar nosu dívky u sousedního stolu. Ale popsat
dokonalou dívku, to nikdo nedokáže. Jaký měla nos, to si vůbec nedokážu
vybavit. Vlastně si ani dost dobře nepamatuju, jestli nějaký měla. Jediné co
si vzpomínám, že to nebyla kdovíjaká kráska. Je to zvláštní.</p>
<p><a href="https://radeksprta.eu/posts/on-seeing-the-100-perfect-girl-one-beautiful-april-morning/">Read more…</a> (4 min remaining to read)</p></div>Facebook in Kansaiben - Finally Here!https://radeksprta.eu/posts/facebook-in-kansaiben/2014-10-12T12:23:35+02:002014-10-12T12:23:35+02:00Radek Sprta<p>On 8th October, Facebook has rolled out a feature we have all been waiting for
- Kansaiben version. (Everyone is a Kansaiben lover, some people just don't
know it yet ;). Here is the release statement in Kansaiben:</p>
<p><img alt="Facebook in Kansaiben, source: itmedia.co.jp" src="https://image.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1410/08/tomomi_141008facebook02.png"></p>
<p>For example, like has become ええやん!, comment つっこむ and share わけわけ, along with
bunch of other stuff. So head straight into your language settings and give it
a try! And if you also like Attack on the Titan, there is <a href="https://radeksprta.eu/attack-on-the-titan-kansaiben-version/">Kansaiben version
of that</a> too!</p>Japanese Cloze Card Generation Plugin For Ankihttps://radeksprta.eu/posts/japanese-cloze-card-generation-plugin-for-anki/2014-08-17T10:47:50+02:002014-08-17T10:47:50+02:00Radek Sprta<p>Studying new vocabulary is only really good if you learn the words in context.
And finding the proper context for multiple words can be quite time-consuming.
So I have decided to quicken the process by writing a small plugin for Anki
(<a href="https://www.ankisrs.net" title="http://www.ankisrs.net">a great piece of SRS software, if you have not heard about it
before</a>), that pulls example
sentences straight from the Tanaka Corpus. I have been using it for quite some
time. Now, I have finally come around to polish it, so that other people can
benefit from it, too. So, what does it actually do? The plugin comes with a
custom model, which searches the Tanaka corpus for examples and then generates
cloze cards out of them. (If the you are not using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloze_test" title="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloze_test">cloze
deletion</a> already, you really should try it
in some form). It also generates the readings, supports multiple clozes per
sentence and user edits. In theory, it should cover all your needs. Using the
plugin is extremely easy. Just search for a Japanese expression, </p>
<p><img alt="Searching
a Japanese expression" src="https://radeksprta.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/anki1.png"></p>
<p>choose an example sentence</p>
<p><img alt="Choosing
example sentence" src="https://radeksprta.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/anki2.png"></p>
<p>and voilà, here is your card.</p>
<p><img alt="Generated
card" src="https://radeksprta.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/anki3.png"></p>
<p>For any questions or bug reports, head over
to the <a href="https://launchpad.net/japanese-cloze-examples" title="https://launchpad.net/japanese-cloze-examples">plugin's page</a>. You can download the plugin
from there as well, but I recommend using the built-in Anki downloader - the
code is 247705873. You can find other interesting stuff on my <a href="https://radeksprta.eu/projects/">project
page</a>.</p>