Most here are doing AJATT, with an SRS and are typing up cards. I hate typing up cards, it's slow, unsatisfying, and worst of all it is not much benefit to anyone except me. All of us are tapping away at the same things, movies, books, dramas, and because of copyright we're too wary about sharing. So we need to start creating material that can be freely advertised, will never have copywrite issues, and that is authentic. And when I said we need to start, I meant I already started and here it is:

http://itsajapanesesign.blogspot.com/

and I hope others follow suit. Blogging these days is very easy, and totally free. I hope a number of SRS-worthy content blogs get created, I mean if we are typing it up anyway, we might as well throw it on the web and let everyone at it. Of course, this call goes out mostly to the Japan-based AJATTers, every day we take for granted that our next sentences are out there, easily available and eternally renewable. However, for those not in Japan, there is a need for access to authentic Japanese.

Signs. I chose signs because they are easily translatable, they are everywhere, and they are useful to know and I wanted more pictures in my deck. When you walk around in Tokyo, it's just like a study session if you pay attention, but you can't just have your dictionary out tapping away. Here are some other ideas of things which you could make a blog about.

signs
ads
maps
ticket stubs, receipts
names on people's letter boxes
menus
pizza boxes
slogans on food
forms
pamphlets
tissue packs
things you hear people say on the train
games
clothing tags
etc.

Of course you could just mix anything you find, there is no need for a unifying theme. Your blog could be just any text you take a pic of and make a sentence for.

So here is a call for content. I intend the sign site for anyone, it will stay on the web forever, I will add to it until I leave Japan, and then I'll take other people's photos and continue. Please tell anyone you think may use it. And thanks in advance for all the sentences that will be created for the AJATT community.

I think it's awesome that you're trying to help the community so much, so I'm not going to say anything bad about what you're trying. Just that you should keep it up and encourage others to do the same.

But I would like to say that copyright is holding us back as a community. People here are way to afraid to break copyright. This is the only internet community I've seen that actually cares about it. The only real solution I see is to share the information using certain websites where they can't enforce copyright. I'm not trying to make a stance for/against copyright, but rather on what would be best for the people here.

I think 一本毎に　is いっぽんごとに. Great idea by the way.

Thanks, I'll change it.

Whatever you feel about copyright, I think most people here are concerned about it mainly because fabrice can get in trouble or at least be hassled if content on his site infringes on copyright. At worst, it could conceivably cause him legal trouble, or more likely, he would have to respond to cease and desist letters from lawyers asking him to remove content.

That said, I do think copyright laws need an update for the internet age.

And if you do want to stretch your definition of "fair use", I don't think many people would hold it against you =) It just has to be done in emails, instant messages, your own website or some other medium that you are responsible for. That way you, and not fabrice, can get the stern letters from the publishing compnay lawyers if they do come ^_^

Also, I think it is a good idea to assemble public domain sources of Japanese.

Actually, as long as Fabrice complies with any take-down notices, Fabrice won't get in any actual trouble. The stress from it is a different matter, of course. Not to mention that when you're in someone else's house, you need to abide by their rules. Anything done against the wishes of the site owner is beyond rude.

Personally, I don't break copyright law because I don't want to be sued. I don't care what anyone else does, but I just can't afford the time, expense, and stress of that.

Edit: Thanks for the site, btw... I expect to find it tremendously useful. Sadly, I won't be able to add any content for a long time, if ever.

neither the anki deck download or the excel file worked for me (though I was trying to use open office instead of excel, but it should work)

The anki deck has the text, but the pictures don't display right. When I extract the zip file, all the photos get renamed stuff like "_______.jpg"

do the originals have Japanese file names that are getting gimped either when zipping or unzipping maybe?

wccrawford Wrote:Actually, as long as Fabrice complies with any take-down notices, Fabrice won't get in any actual trouble.

Safe Harbor protection has specific requirements which Fabrice would have to comply with, otherwise he does not receive the immunity from personal liability you're talking about.

~J

I've had a similar idea I had before, and tried it a bit before being tempermental and stopping. But I wouldn't mind trying at it again.

I'm not in Japan, so I can't take photos of things. Excluding copyrighted things, the best I could do in terms of manuals and insert papers. I hoard all those little アンケート slips and notices you get out of CDs/DVDs/games/books/etc., and I did make a start on typing up some parts from a manual. Kind of useful, but a bit dry. I hoarded this stuff in the hope of using it to practice with, but it's about time I actually start doing so. I might try to set it up over the next few days.

Nobody will ever jail you for posting photos of signs displayed on public spaces, unless you live on really weird places such as France, and even then, I don't think it's illegal there.

johnzep Wrote:neither the anki deck download or the excel file worked for me (though I was trying to use open office instead of excel, but it should work)

The anki deck has the text, but the pictures don't display right. When I extract the zip file, all the photos get renamed stuff like "_______.jpg"

do the originals have Japanese file names that are getting gimped either when zipping or unzipping maybe?

There's an open office file which I suppose will work better. I'm using Excel 2007, I think, maybe it's a compatibility issue. As for the anki deck not working, the pictures do have Japanese file names, the name is the Kanji on the sign. I'll check it out and see what I can do, it may be the unzipper you are using.

Okay, I've tried the Excel file and it works for me, but I'll upload an Excel 97-03 file too, try that here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?aaaagkaatqa

Okay, it's the zipping which seems to be a problem, so I can just upload unzipped and there shouldn't be a problem.

I'll get on it. Wait a bit.

johnzep Wrote:neither the anki deck download or the excel file worked for me (though I was trying to use open office instead of excel, but it should work)

The anki deck has the text, but the pictures don't display right. When I extract the zip file, all the photos get renamed stuff like "_______.jpg"

do the originals have Japanese file names that are getting gimped either when zipping or unzipping maybe?

Depending on the unzipper you're using, you may have go to your language options and change the language for non-unicode programs to Japanese. That's what fixed the problem for me with some other files a while back, that were doing the same thing. I don't know if this has to be done on both sides of the process, though.

Well I've reuploaded the 'Anki' deck and the 'Pictures only' folder in 7z format which seems to have no problems whatsoever, without fiddling with the language options. I think for zip files the changes do need to be done on both sides of the process, however 7z seems to be working fine, so try that. 7zip can be found here: http://www.7-zip.org/ it's free and open source.

Anki deck 7z format: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mtdozfjck1h

Pictures only: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dfhzfq0yw8n

Hopefully the next pack will go smoothly with all this testing going on to iron out the problems. Of course you could just cut and paste the blog itself if you are really desperate.

Thanks everyone for the heads up.

Albion: yes please put anything you have on the web. Those sorts of things, no one is going to care about copyright for them, you don't even need to type it all up, although that would be a big help. It just needs a good picture or scan, others might help with the translation. If we had a whole webring of content blogs, that would be a major success.

I threw together a blog, and will look into putting at least a small post now or a little later tonight.

http://gochuui.blogspot.com/

phauna: I was reading your post on Toshimaen 6, and have a question about it: http://itsajapanesesign.blogspot.com/200...aen-6.html
２才までのお子様は無料です
にさいまでのおこどもむりょうです

Do people say お子様 as 'おこども'? I always read it as おこさま, but I can't remember now if that's something I've actually read (with furigana) before or an assumption I've made.

(Would you rather these kind of comments in the future be made on the blog instead?)

It's おこさま. The Hiragana version is also lacking the は particle.

Nice idea. I seem to be in the minority of people who actually like entering in their own stuff and don't like using other peoples', but the usefulness of a signs database is pretty unarguable.

Your blog is awesome! I started reading it and could not stop it until I got to the first post.

For anyone who is considering helping, but doesn't have a physical presence in Japan... Google Maps now has street view in Japan!

Most signs are hard to read, so this isn't an ideal way to find signs, but you can find a really clear one once in a while. For instance:

http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?f=q&hl=en&...8171732379

No, I have no idea what that bus says, (well, okay, it's something Bus) but it's very clear.

都営バス　とえいバス　City Bus

クレイジーソルト　crazy salt

天然ハーブ調味料　てんねんハーブちょうみりょう　Natural Herb Seasoning

I found a sign today in a Familymart bathroom. That this sign would be necessary completely baffles me.

http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hairql6.jpg

髪の毛を切らないで！！　かみのけをきらないで！！
ほかのお客様のご迷惑になります。　ほかのおきゃくさまのごめいわくになります。

Don't cut your hair!
It will bother the other customers.

albion: sorry that's a typo, thanks for catching it. 子供　（こども） is the normal everyday word, and お子様 （おこさま） is the fancy word. Yes, and I missed は also. I've fixed it:

http://itsajapanesesign.blogspot.com/200...aen-6.html

Comments here are fine but I may not catch them, whereas on the blog I get an email sent with new comments so I'll always get them. Also it's important that others see mistakes quickly, so comments on the blog will help that.

Mentat: Thanks, nice of you to say so. It's somewhat mundane for me because I live here, but I remember when I first arrived in Tokyo and had no idea what was going on, and being totally illiterate. It's a strange feeling.

wccrawford: Your link didn't seem to work for me, but google street view sounds like a great resource for some road signs. I don't drive much here, and of course when I do I don't take pictures at the same time so I don't think I'll be able to get many road signs going. I'll try though.

Johnzep: kombini toilets might as well be public toilets and I suspect travellers waiting for a train go in and have a bit of a clean up, perhaps beard trimming or something? Then there is hair everywhere, Japanese people hate hair. That's why you have to wear those stupid swim caps in public pools.

Albion, I've looked at your blog and I think it's a great idea. These things need dissection. I'll try to send some pics your way.

And so it begins.....

There's a ton of hilarious signs here, starring Picto-san! (Many of them have English translations already, due to the cautionary nature of the signs and presumably their many locations in tourist areas.)

http://www.pictosan.com/index.html

More here: http://ittemia.jp/zensen/themes/view/2

via

Phauna, it looks like a great blog. I enjoyed reading it.

The Picto-san site is great, especially for the commentary by the Japan Mr. Picto Research Association. Poor Mr. Picto gets into so much trouble. Thank you, Nestor!

Those in Japan are probably seeing a lot of signs for Roots coffee. The signs have various complaints or observations about life or relationships or work. All of the variations seem to be on the product website. Just click on the poster on the right or on the blue and red tags below it for slightly different campains.

http://www.jt-roots.com/main.html?3

I guess you probably can't use signs taken directly from company websites, but major companies seem to frequently post their advertising