You love MMA as much as the next guy that thinks he’s tough, but what if you had to wrestle a preying mantis on the website Japanese Bug Fights?  Could you hang as long in insect wresting as you do in your mind when your imagine yourself kicking the crap out of that jackass in the tight shirt that has something lame printed on it like “Affliction” or “Truth” or “Faith” or some other stupid faux philosophical blathering?

Frankly I think the centipede would kick the s#%^ out of you and all your gym rat friends like Chris Brown did to Rhianna.  If you feel that you could take on the tarantula like Conan the Barbarian does at the beginning of the film fighting in the pit, then you’ll need to bone-up on all 30 of the fights listed on Japanese Bug Fights. Our top pick is the Scorpion vs. the Crawfish in fight 11.  Take a look at how the crawfish gets yoked before his bout.  Sweet!

This is yet another example of the insanely creative stuff Japanese people come up with.  What other things have you seen come out of Japan that has you saying, “Sweet!”?

Hiroko Fukuda has brought us a fantastic book for learning Japanese called Jazz Up Your Japanese with Onomatopoeia.  If you’re like us and have had a challenging time learning another language, then you know the suffering and pain associated with conjugations, specialized vocabulary and not sounding like a total loser.

Not only does this book cover words that you’d never learn studying for the JPLT Level 2 or the JETRO test, it provides natural situations in which they can be used.  Genius!

We’ve included the 1st situation below to give you a taste of what they offer.  Have fun.

“A New Lease on Life”　ｂｙ：福田ひろこ

Takahashi of the Marketing Department at Heiwa Securities and his boss, Section Cheif Sato, drop by a bar after work. The beer has just arrived.

高橋　「今日は参りましたね、課長。もうへとへとですよ。」

佐藤　「がんがん飲もう。俺がおごるよ。」

高橋　「はあ。有難う御座います。まあどうぞ。」
（課長のグラスにビールを注ぐ。ビールがあふれそうになって。）

佐藤　「おうっとっと。。。。ぎりぎりすることばっかりで、喉もからからだな。」

高橋　「全くですね。一日中どたばたして、ぺこぺこ頭をさげまわって。」
（佐藤さんにビールを注ぎながら）

佐藤　「ま、こういうときにはじたばたしたって駄目なもんだよ。」

高橋　「はあ、どうも。 （注がれたビールを一口飲んで）うまい。冷えている。やっぱり すかっとします ね、ビールは。

佐藤　「ちびちび飲んでないで、ぐうっといこうよ、ぐうっと。」
（さらに高橋さんにビールを注ぐと、高橋さんはいきいよく飲み干して）

高橋　「課長こそどんどんいきましょう。」
（佐藤課長、このところ目立ってきたおなかをさすりながら）

佐藤　「どんどんはいいけど、水を飲んでも太る体質でね。まあいいか、今日のところは。」 　
（課長にビールを注ぎ終えたところに、注文したおつまみがくる。）

店員　「へい、お待ちどう、焼き鳥５人前。」

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Vocabulary
へとへと- worn out, completely tired, exhausted
がんがん- extremely strong or violent action
きりきり- stress or tension or pain due to haste and hard work…tightly wound person
からから- completely dry…containing no moisture
とたばた- rushing around from place to place wildly (when used for oneself, it’s humble)
ぺこぺこ- bow one’s head in a fawning or groveling manner
したばた- to panic or become flustered when confronting imminent problem
すかっと- clear, refreshing…free from bad feelings
ちびちび- action done slowly and steadily
ぐっとう- action done with all one’s energy and focus
どんどん- action done continuously and vigorously…w/out hesitation or delay

ISBN 4-7700-2956-X