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There were a number of Japanese-language newspapers in California before WWII, but during and after the war, all but one of these newspapers went out of business -- the Rafu Shimpo. Here is the story of the only Japanese-language newspaper in California that is still in business. (When I visit Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, I always have lunch at my favorite ramen restaurant in Little Tokyo, and they always have a copy of the Rafu Shimpo that I can read.)

 
A good time to visit Little Tokyo in Los Angeles is during the annual Nissei Week Festival.

 
Regarding the Japanese-Brazilian video I posted earlier, I have learned there are 1.2 million Japanese-Brazilians in Brazil, making it the largest group of Japanese immigrants outside of Japan.

~~~

Did you know the Nisei Week Festival in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles has a gyoza eating contest, similar to the American Fourth of July hotdog eating contest? Check it out from 1:09. (If I enter, I just might win…) We also get to see a glimpse of George Takei at 1:26.

By the way, the Nisei Week Festival is happening right now, and will be held August 13-21 2022.

Nisei Week Festival

Celebrating community, culture, and the place so many see as home. – The Nisei Week Japanese Festival is a cultural …
culturela.org

The following link has links to other events, such as the Los Angeles Taiko Festival.

Official Nisei Week Japanese Festival Website

Celebrate Nisei Week in the historic Little Tokyo District in Downtown Los Angeles.
niseiweek.org

 
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Check out this walk-along rice-planting machine. This video is from the Philippines, not Japan, although I would imagine this type of machine is also being used in Japan. (This still looks like hard work.)

 
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Here is an even more automated way to plant rice. Watch from 4:15 as they load the rice plants, then drive the machine like a tractor while sitting down. Watch from 4:34 as the machine grabs each plant and plants it at an incredibly fast pace. (This video shows the entire process from creating seedlings to planting to harvest.)

 
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A lot of Japan is mountainous terrain, which makes farming in such locations seemingly impossible. Look how this farmer family has carved out some farmland by creating farmland terraces on a mountainside. (These are called 'slope farms' in the video.) Take a look from 0:53.

 
Check out this home-made farming monorail for climbing up a slope to a slope farm. (This is a video from Korea, not Japan.)


Here is one in Japan.

 
Tokyo Flood Prevention | Underground tunnel system in Tokyo. These tunnels for capturing flood water, called underground temples, are huge, take a look from 7:05. (The video also mentions at 2:36 that more than 100 square kilometers of Tokyo are below sea level, so when the 'big one' hits, a lot of people will be swimming.)

 
Learn Japanese From Harry Potter Book 1 - Chapter 1 Full Version ハリー・ポッターと賢者の石 - Emma Qu[/H1]

 
Here is a painful video about a chapter in Tokyo WWII history that many people are unaware of. On March 9, 1945, fire-bombs were dropped on Tokyo. At that time, the vast majority of people in Japan lived in wooden homes, and thousands of homes went up in flames. 100,000 people were killed in one night. The heat was so intense the air temperature reached 1,800 degrees in some places. Wikipedia calls it "the single most destructive bombing raid in human history." It is said more people were killed in the Tokyo fire-bomb raids in one day than in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in one day .

The description of the firebombing begins at 1:20.

 
For those of you planning to visit Japan someday, one of the best ways to interact with 'locals' is to visit a Japanese karaoke bar, which means learning to sing a karaoke song in Japanese.

An easy way to learn Japanese is to learn a karaoke children's song. Here is my favorite, チューリップ (Tulip). (This is maybe the simplest Japanese song ever, recommended for even bare beginners) If you have any questions about the lyrics, please do not hesitate to ask, Plenty of people on this forum would be more than happy to help.

 
Another relatively easy karaoke song to learn is 酒よ (さけ よ) (Sake Yo). I think this is the first song I ever sung in a karaoke bar. It took a lot of work to be able to sing it, but I finally pulled it off.

This song is in a style called enka, which is always in a minor key and has a sad sound. This is the most popular type of song sung in karaoke bars, which reflects how a lot of people in Japan sing karaoke to relieve feelings of unhappiness. (The life of a 'salary man' is a tough one, and you can see a lot of 'salary men' in the video hitting the bars after work.) The song even has a line, 演歌を聞きながら （えんか を ききながら）(enka o kikinagara), meaning to drink alcohol while listening to someone sing an enka song.

 
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Here is a fun Japanese children's song to learn — "If you're happy and you know it" (しあわせ なら て を たたこう) Do not hesitate to ask questions about the vocabulary.)

 
The song 花 (はな) (Hana) (Flower) is well-known for being able to be sung with two people singing harmony. If you go to a Japanese karaoke bar, I guarantee you will be able to find someone who knows the harmony part and can sing harmony with you. Listen to these two young ladies sing in beautiful harmony.

Please ask questions about the vocabulary.

 
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Here is another enaka song and, like all enka songs, it is quite sad. Here is 氷雨 (ひさめ) (Hisame) (Freezing Rain)

Here is a version with furigana.


Below is a version without furigana, but it shows in the video the story of a lonely woman drinking all by herself in a bar.

 
敦賀海峡 (つりが かいきょう) (Tsuruga Kaikyō) (Tsuruyga Strait) is the piece of water between Honshu Island and Hokkaido Island. It is also the title of one of my favorite karaoke songs. This song is a little more difficult than the previous songs I have posted, because the sentences are longer and some of the syllables are sung in a rapid, staccato style. But it is still a fun song for people learning karaoke.

Here is the karaoke version


Here is the same song, sung by 石川さゆり (いしかわ さゆり) (Sayuri Ishikawa) , to give you a feel of what it sounds like to sing the song.

 
Here is a fun and relatively easy song, included in most karaoke collections, yet it is not a sad enka song.

翼をください (Tsubasa o kudasai) (Give me wings)

Karaoke version


Here is 山本潤子 (Junko Yamamoto) doing a great job singing the song.

 
We had several videos on the Japanese diaspora in Brazil. I believe this one hasn't been posted yet.


The Japanese who Came to Call Brazil Home


 
Here is a children's song where I learned the word for policeman (お巡りさん) (おまわりさん) (omawarisan) and one way to ask, "Where do you live?" (あなた の おうち は どこ ですか？) (Anata no ouchi wa doko desu ka?") In the story, a little girl (kitten) is lost and a policeman (dog) tries to help. The policeman asks questions such as, "What is your name?" and "Where do you live?" but the kitten only answers, "I don't know." Both of the them get upset and start crying until...

 
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君といつまでも (きみ と いつ まで も) (Kimi to itsu made mo) (Together With You Forever) is another well-known karaoke song. My goodness, this song really brings back memories of the good ol' days singing in a karaoke bar. Here is the karaoke version


Below is the same song being sung by 加山雄三 (かやま ゆうぞう) (Yuzo Kayama) and 星由里子 (ほし ゆりこ) (Yuriko Hoshi). The singing part starts at 2:14.

 
The best-known Japanese song is Sakura (Cherry Blossoms). This version is in kanji, hiragana, Romaji, and English translation. It also has several verses I had never heard before. (For some reason, the English subtitles appear when I watch the video on YouTube but they do not appear when I watch this video embedded here in this thread.)

 
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