Japanese: やまでらへいきました！　日本は秋がさむい、そして雨がふりました、でもたのしかった。

English: Enjoying the Japanese autumn in Yamadera. We had some rain to enjoy the climb with.

えいごで: Kansai-style okonomiyaki differs from Hiroshima-style in that the latter includes noodles. Both styles of savoury pancake are often baked on the table by the costumers. I have been told that together with monjayaki these are a favourite among Japanese students.

日本語で: けんきゅうしゃといっしょにおこのみやきのたべほうだいにいった。

えいごで: The past week I was in Tokyo for the CTFM2015 workshop. Again I got to meet old acquaintances and make new ones. The logic researchers in Japan form a lively community. Their enthusiasm has also been noticed by the international guests, many of whom are regular visitors now. The focus on a limited number of subjects has helped keep the number of interesting talks high. The relaxed atmosphere helped the younger researchers feel confident enough to approach the international guests. Many of the members of my research group helped with the practical things necessary for organising a successful workshop. I was really impressed by their hard work! The workshop was also a good opportunity to celebrate my host professor’s 60th birthday, as he is the main instigator of the conference series.

えいごで: When writing a mathematics paper: your notation probably needs some explanation.

Japanese: すうがくのろんぶんかいたら、たぶん、だれもはノウテイションわかりません。

えいごで: The famously hot Japanese summer is now in full force. This period is easily recognised by the chirping of cicada’s, hot temperature and bouts of heavy rain caused by passing typhoons. Luckily, in Sendai temperatures are quite mild in comparison to West-Japan.

In Japan the feature-phones are still in heavy use. Japanese text input is surprisingly easy, provided that one has learned the a-i-u-e-o of the hiragana charts.

For kanji-mode, the shown hiragana (phonetic symbols) are:

a ka sa
ta na ha
ma ya ra

With on the *-button the dakuten and handakuten (modifiers).

Pressing on the buttons repeatedly switches between the a-i-u-e-o versions of the corresponding symbol. So if you want to type, for example, かぶき (kabuki) you press: 2666*22.

Special cases are the 8-button, wich only has ya-yu-yo and the 0-button, which has only wa-wo-n.

The most important button on this phone is in the lower right corner, which allows you to put it into manner (silent) mode.

Japanese: 日本のなつあついですよそしてあめたくさんふっている。

なつのあいだ、たくさんのももをたべる。きのう、ももとパスタつくった、つくりかた日本にならった。

日本にけいたのとくべつなボタンはマナーモードのだ。がいこくのでんわはマナーモードのボタンない。

English: For the JSPS science dialogue programme I gave a talk at Akashi college. Afterwards I was invited to taste the local delicacy, akashiyaki, which was the inspiration for takoyaki.

にほんごで: サイエンスダイアログのはなしをあげるに明石へゆった。つぎ明石やきにつれてもらった。

English: The Japanese often take great delight in entertaining their guests with interesting food. Naturally, anyone visiting Japan nowadays will be fully familiar with famous dishes like sashimi and eel, often before even leaving their country of origin.

にほんごで: ときどきにほんりょうりおもしろい。さしみとあなごおいしかった。

日本語で: こんしゅうはなしはえいごで。むずかしだから。

English: The observant followers of the news from Japan may have noticed the prevalence of earthquakes in this country. The Pacific plate moving into the Philippine plate and both of them moving into the Eurasia plate cause about 2000 quakes that can be felt in Japan per year. The bigger quake from last week’s post was caused by the Pacific plate smashing into the Philippine plate and, thanks to its depth (over 500 km), did not cause any tsunami, unlike the Tohoku quake from 2011.

In Japan much attention is spent in preparation for the coming Toukai earthquake. This quake, to occur in a part of the line where the Philippine plate meets the Eurasian plate which lies south west of and near to Tokyo, is predicted to have a magnitude in excess of 8 on the Richter scale. The effects of this quake are predicted to be similar to the Tohoku quake, with many densely populated areas experiencing the highest amount of shaking on the Japanese earthquake scale (7) and coastal areas being flooded by tsunami.

The Japanese meteorological agency monitors all seismic activity:

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/00000000095.html

and provides the information for warnings issued to warning systems and smartphone applications, such as the one kindly provided by the Japan National Tourism Organization:

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/essential/emergency/safety_tips.html

えいごで: Most often missed sign on Aoba mountain.

Japanese: あおば山にじてんしゃでゆきときだれもこのサインをみない。

English: One of the main features of this festival is the sparrow dance. I was told that this dance has over 2000 participants in the streets of Sendai. This dance is said to be created by Aoba castle’s stone masons around 1600.

にほんごで: きょうおまつりにすずめおどりみた。