Mysterious show
Yeah
Japanese tutorial show that included characters "Mine-San",
"Kayho-San", and "Sine Hana-San". It used to air in the Philippines
but I haven't been able to locate it on the internet, and I'm pretty
good at searching for stuff! It might have aired under a different
title in a different country (or even in Japan). The closest thing
I've found is something called "Yan-San to Nihon no Hitobito", which
is another Japanese tutorial thing, but is apparently a cartoon (so
far as I know). If anyone has heard of it, please respond. Thanks.
Joseph Irwin
"Yeah" <evolu...@canada.com> wrote in message
news:e82010cb.04021...@posting.google.com...
I remember (way back two college semesters ago) in my Japanese 1001 class
the professor brought in a tape of this show. It was about this guy (I think
he was American) visiting some friends of his in Japan. We only watched a
few minutes of it, but during that time he managed to arrive at Narita
airport, bump into several people and apologive profusely, drive into Tokyo
with his friend and look for an apartment to rent. I'm afraid I don't know
anything more, but I might be able to find something out from the professor.
Cheers,
Joseph
Charles Eicher
>
>
>"Yeah" <evolu...@canada.com> wrote in message
>news:e82010cb.04021...@posting.google.com...
>> Has anyone heard of the show "Yan-San in Japan"? It is a sort of
>> Japanese tutorial show that included characters "Mine-San",
>> "Kayho-San", and "Sine Hana-San". It used to air in the Philippines
>> but I haven't been able to locate it on the internet, and I'm pretty
>> good at searching for stuff! It might have aired under a different
>> title in a different country (or even in Japan). The closest thing
>> I've found is something called "Yan-San to Nihon no Hitobito", which
>> is another Japanese tutorial thing, but is apparently a cartoon (so
>> far as I know). If anyone has heard of it, please respond. Thanks.
>
>I remember (way back two college semesters ago) in my Japanese 1001 class
>the professor brought in a tape of this show. It was about this guy (I think
>he was American)
Pakistani, actually.
>visiting some friends of his in Japan. We only watched a
>few minutes of it, but during that time he managed to arrive at Narita
>airport, bump into several people and apologive profusely, drive into Tokyo
>with his friend and look for an apartment to rent. I'm afraid I don't know
>anything more, but I might be able to find something out from the professor.
>
>Cheers,
>Joseph
The Yan tapes are available through The Japan Foundation
http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/urawa/e_j_rsorcs/e_jrs_02_syousai/e_yan_video.html
Unfortunately, they're astonishingly expensive. Generally these tapes are
provided to language teachers
with subsidies from The Japan Foundation (the usual kickback system). Sometimes
you can catch the
shows on Public TV.
Now what I really want to know is what happened to Yan at the end of the series.
My teacher told us the
last few episodes were a lot more advanced and much more interesting than the
early episodes where
the dialog mostly consists of mundane crap like someone asking Yan to take a
letter to the post office.
And she showed us some of the last episodes. For example..
Yan is out drinking with his coworkers, and declares his love for one of the
office ladies, who cruelly
snubs him, much to the amusement of everyone except Yan. He runs away, and tries
to drown his
sorrows in sake at a nearby soba stand. He gets into a drunken fight with a
customer and the
proprietor, one of his coworkers witnesses the scene, and drags Yan away. Yan
accuses him of
deliberately setting out to cause humiliation, by encouraging Yan's crush on the
OL, he says "is THIS
how you treat foreigners?" Then...
Then my class was over and I never got to see the final episode, dammit.
Daniel
I remember seeing that series about 10 years ago. The full title of
the series is "Yan-San to Nihon no Hitobito" so those hits you're
getting are what you're looking for (it has a cartoon of some people
on the cover) - unless there was a sequel..
Dan Rempel
> In article <c0v3bc$5re$1...@news-int.gatech.edu>, Joseph Irwin says...
>
>>
>>"Yeah" <evolu...@canada.com> wrote in message
>>news:e82010cb.04021...@posting.google.com...
>>
>>>Has anyone heard of the show "Yan-San in Japan"? It is a sort of
>>>Japanese tutorial show that included characters "Mine-San",
>>>"Kayho-San", and "Sine Hana-San". It used to air in the Philippines
>>>but I haven't been able to locate it on the internet, and I'm pretty
>>>good at searching for stuff! It might have aired under a different
>>>title in a different country (or even in Japan). The closest thing
>>>I've found is something called "Yan-San to Nihon no Hitobito", which
>>>is another Japanese tutorial thing, but is apparently a cartoon (so
>>>far as I know). If anyone has heard of it, please respond. Thanks.
>>
>>I remember (way back two college semesters ago) in my Japanese 1001 class
>>the professor brought in a tape of this show. It was about this guy (I think
>>he was American)
>
>
> Pakistani, actually.
Canadian, I think.
If I remember correctly, Yan goes on a trip to Niigata while the OL gets
married in her inaka-machi, Yan comes back, gets a grip, finishes his
design, and then returns to Canada. The End.
Dan
>
Drew Hamilton
>My teacher told us the
>last few episodes were a lot more advanced and much more interesting than the
>early episodes where
>the dialog mostly consists of mundane crap like someone asking Yan to take a
>letter to the post office.
My favourite one was where Yan loses his handbag on the train. He
goes to the Shibuya Station lost & found to get the bag back and has
to describe its contents to the lost & found worker. So he says
something like "there's a day planner with my name in it". So the guy
fishes out a day planner with his name on it. And then Yan says "There's
also a map with a big rip in the center". So the guy fishes out a map
with a big rip in the center. But that still wasn't enough to satisfy
the lost and found guy that Yan wasn't really trying to steal someone
else's handbag, so Yan had to describe about 7 items before the guy
finally let Yan have the bag.
>Yan is out drinking with his coworkers, and declares his love for one of the
>office ladies, who cruelly
>snubs him, much to the amusement of everyone except Yan.
Isn't Yan married? I thought I saw an episode where he was shopping with
a Japanese lady who he referred to as his wife...
- awh
Drew Hamilton
Rempel wrote:
>Yan comes back, gets a grip, finishes his design, and then returns to Canada.
Just like a good gaijin should!
- awh
Dan Rempel
Ah, here we go with the Yan-san lore. I think that was his friend
Katoh's wife: Yan refers to her as "okaasan."
Dan
Charles Eicher
>
>Charles Eicher wrote:
>> In article <c0v3bc$5re$1...@news-int.gatech.edu>, Joseph Irwin says...
>>
>>>
>>>"Yeah" <evolu...@canada.com> wrote in message
>>>news:e82010cb.04021...@posting.google.com...
>>>
>>>>Has anyone heard of the show "Yan-San in Japan"? It is a sort of
>>>>Japanese tutorial show that included characters "Mine-San",
>>>>"Kayho-San", and "Sine Hana-San". It used to air in the Philippines
>>>>but I haven't been able to locate it on the internet, and I'm pretty
>>>>good at searching for stuff! It might have aired under a different
>>>>title in a different country (or even in Japan). The closest thing
>>>>I've found is something called "Yan-San to Nihon no Hitobito", which
>>>>is another Japanese tutorial thing, but is apparently a cartoon (so
>>>>far as I know). If anyone has heard of it, please respond. Thanks.
>>>
>>>I remember (way back two college semesters ago) in my Japanese 1001 class
>>>the professor brought in a tape of this show. It was about this guy (I think
>>>he was American)
>>
>>
>> Pakistani, actually.
>
>Canadian, I think.
Well, Pakistani-Canadian.
Somehow that description is unfulfilling.
Yeah
Thanks guys. Just making it clear, the show you're talking about is
NOT a cartoon, right? 'Cause the one I'm asking about is not. And as
for the tapes, I think I have several ways to gain access to them, so
that's not a problem.
Charles Eicher
No, it's definitely not a cartoon. Note that there are books and instructional
materials that go with the
series, those might be harder to find. You can probably check with The Japan
Foundation, which has
offices in almost every Japanese Consulate. The JF puts out several video series
for students, advanced
students might like "Seishun Kazoku" which I rather liked.
Bart Mathias
> Drew Hamilton wrote:
>
>>...
>> Isn't Yan married? I thought I saw an episode where he was shopping with
>> a Japanese lady who he referred to as his wife...
>
>
> Ah, here we go with the Yan-san lore. I think that was his friend
> Katoh's wife: Yan refers to her as "okaasan."
Why wouldn't he save that for Kato's mother? Could that be a typo for
"okusan"?
I used to watch these sometimes on local TV. After each of Yan's
adventures some Australian (?) Professor would give awful lectures on
what had happened.
I never got the feeling that Yan would have been a native speaker of
English.
Bart
skel
FYI, the "Yan" series of which you speak is/has been posted in it's
entirety to alt.binaries.world-languages. I hope this helps.
skel
Dan Rempel
> Dan Rempel wrote:
>
>> Drew Hamilton wrote:
>>
>>> ...
>>> Isn't Yan married? I thought I saw an episode where he was shopping
>>> with
>>> a Japanese lady who he referred to as his wife...
>>
>>
>>
>> Ah, here we go with the Yan-san lore. I think that was his friend
>> Katoh's wife: Yan refers to her as "okaasan."
>
>
> Why wouldn't he save that for Kato's mother? Could that be a typo for
> "okusan"?
Perhaps. I thought he called her "okaasan" because he'd been hanging
around with her son, but I could easily be mistaken.
> I used to watch these sometimes on local TV. After each of Yan's
> adventures some Australian (?) Professor would give awful lectures on
> what had happened.
Around here theye were part of a show called Nihongo Shoykyuu that had a
Japanese woman and her sidekicks who gave lessons based on each
episode. I thought they were pretty useful for beginners.
> I never got the feeling that Yan would have been a native speaker of
> English.
The instructors at the local university, which used the tapes as part of
first-year Japanese, were convinced that he was a NSOJ.
Dan
Bart Mathias
> Bart Mathias wrote:
>
>> Dan Rempel wrote:
>>
>>...
>>> Ah, here we go with the Yan-san lore. I think that was his friend
>>> Katoh's wife: Yan refers to her as "okaasan."
>>
>>
>>
>> Why wouldn't he save that for Kato's mother? Could that be a typo for
>> "okusan"?
>
>
> Perhaps. I thought he called her "okaasan" because he'd been hanging
> around with her son, but I could easily be mistaken.
If that were the case, I'd expect him to call Mr. Kato "Otoosan." (BWDIK?)
Bart
>
>>...
Bill
Charles Eicher <cei...@inav.net> wrote:
> >> Yan is out drinking with his coworkers, and declares his love for one of
> >> the
> >> office ladies, who cruelly
> >>snubs him, much to the amusement of everyone except Yan. He runs away, and
> >>tries
> >> to drown his
> >> sorrows in sake at a nearby soba stand. He gets into a drunken fight with
> >> a
> >> customer and the
> >> proprietor, one of his coworkers witnesses the scene, and drags Yan away.
> >> Yan
> >> accuses him of
> >>deliberately setting out to cause humiliation, by encouraging Yan's crush
> >>on the
> >> OL, he says "is THIS
> >> how you treat foreigners?" Then...
If this is for real, it's great. I don't think I've ever seen language
instruction that dealt with uncomfortable situations.
Dan Rempel
Good point; I don't really know either (but I suspect you know much
better than you're letter on, Uncle Bart), although I've been referring
to a friend of mine's mother as "okaasan" as long as I've know her, but
her dad is always "Baba-san." Of course I could be guilty of another
famous gaigin faux-pas; I'll ask some Japanese friends if I can.
Dan
Sean Holland
evolu...@canada.com wrote on 2/17/04 10:53 PM:
It aired here as Yan-San to Nihon no Hitobito, a live action thing, not a
cartoon. It's pretty goofy in places, but I liked it. I used to have a tape
of a couple of the shows but I can't find it.
--
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/seanhollandmusic.htm
pantssea...@telus.pants.net Remove pants to email me.
Sean Holland
mat...@hawaii.edu wrote on 2/18/04 6:35 PM:
The version I've seen was part of a "Let's Learn Japanese" program that
included a somewhat bizarre Japanese woman introducing the bits of the show
and explaining grammar, and a small troupe of actors doing quite weird and
often very funny skits to illustrate the language points. A certain grammar
point would be the "theme" of an episode, and the parts of the Yan story in
which that grammar occurred would be played back and analyzed over and over.
I showed it to several classes of students who laughed and mocked and...
learned. It worked!
Dan Rempel
Despite the corniness of the show and it's various actors, people seem
to like it, in fact Yan is strangely famous among UVic Japanese
students. I also liked that some of the skits were (perhaps
unintentionally) quite revealing of Japanese culture.
Dan
Bart Mathias
> ...
> The version I've seen was part of a "Let's Learn Japanese" program that
> included a somewhat bizarre Japanese woman introducing the bits of the show
> and explaining grammar, and a small troupe of actors doing quite weird and
> often very funny skits to illustrate the language points. A certain grammar
> point would be the "theme" of an episode, and the parts of the Yan story in
> which that grammar occurred would be played back and analyzed over and over.
> I showed it to several classes of students who laughed and mocked and...
> learned. It worked!
My version had a somewhat bizarre woman too, but she certainly was not
Japanese. I didn't enjoy hearing her say Japanese words.
Bart
Bart Mathias
> Bart Mathias wrote:
>
>> Dan Rempel wrote:
>>
>>> around with her son, but I could easily be mistaken.
>>
>> If that were the case, I'd expect him to call Mr. Kato "Otoosan."
>> (BWDIK?)
>>
> Good point; I don't really know either (but I suspect you know much
> better than you're letter on, Uncle Bart), although I've been referring
> to a friend of mine's mother as "okaasan" as long as I've know her, but
> her dad is always "Baba-san." Of course I could be guilty of another
> famous gaigin faux-pas; I'll ask some Japanese friends if I can.
I don't subscribe to sci.culture.japan, and tend to be insensitive to
things of that nature. I do recall how startled I was to be called
"otousan" by a man near my age that I had just met in Honolulu. He and
his wife had boarded my daughter for a while on her first to-Japan
Greenpeace mission, so I was the father of the person he knew.
I suspect there could be a lot of variation. Like I wonder how it works
if you first know Mr. Baba, then get to be friends with his son (whom
you would never address as "Musukosan," or--unless you were much
older--"Botchan," leaving... hmmm... "Babasannidai"? And then through
him you meet his mother... As the famous old Japanese philosopher said,
(Oops--kinput2 didn't boot today!).
Bart
Dan Rempel
I think that was the first half of the series, and she was primly
bizarre, wasn't she? As you suggested, weird pronunciation too.
Dan