read practical japaneseby john braden

Read Practical Japanese by John BradenReview by: John J. Chew, Jr.The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Apr., 1979), pp. 95-97Published by: American Association of Teachers of JapaneseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/489544 .

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95

Journal of the Association Vol. XIV, No. 1 of Teachers of Japanese

READ PRACTICAL JAPANESE, by John Braden. Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 1976, xiv, 268 pp. Y2700.

Reviewed by John J. Chew Jr.

READ PRACTICAL JAPANESE is not an additional textbook for the would-be learner, but rather a sort of passive phrasebook of what kanji and kana one is

apt to see when one moves about in Japan. I can think of no more effective way to report on the ground it covers than to list the main topics in its table of contents. These are grouped into ten parts. Part I, Basic Practical Signs: 1. Exits and Entrances; 2. Re-

ceptionists, Superintendents and Information; 3. Doors; 4. Elevators, Floors and Staircases; 5. Toilets and Washrooms; 6. Water, Hot Water and Baths; 7. Trash and

Garbage; 8. Fire and Smoking; 9. Police; 10. Immigra- tion, Health and Customs; 11. Danger, Be Careful; 12.

Requests and Prohibitions; 13. Not in Operation. Part

II, Names, Places and Official Buildings: 1. Family Names; 2. Place Names and Geographical Words; 3. Pub- lic Institutions (General Words); 4. The Imperial Pal-

ace, Government Buildings and Embassies. Part III, Documents and Miscellaneous Signs and Notices: 1. Docu- ments and Forms; 2. Help Wanted and Students Wanted; 3. Drives and Campaigns; 4. Notice Boards and Miscella- neous. Part IV, Schools and Hospitals: 1. Schools and

Learning; 2. Hospitals and Medical Offices. Part V, Religion, Culture, Recreation and Sightseeing: 1. Ad- mission; 2. Sightseeing; 3. Religions, Weddings, Funer- als and Cemeteries; 4. Gardens, Parks, Zoos and Castles; 5. Theaters; 6. Libraries, Museums, Art Galleries and Exhibitions; 7. Game Parlors, Race Tracks and Baseball Grounds. Part VI, Stores, Restaurants and Hotels: 1. Stores and Shopping (General); 2. Vending Machines and

Money-Changing Machines; 3. Non-Food Stores; 4. Food Stores and Beverage Stores; 5. Restaurants and Coffee

Shops; 6. Hotels, Inns and Hot Springs. Part VII, Bank-

ing,Insurance, Securities, The Post Office and Telephones:



96 1. Banking, Insurance and Securities; 2. Post Offices and Stamps; 3. Telephones and Telegrams. Part VIII, Business and Other Organizations: 1. General; 2. Sales, Trading and Wholesaling; 3. Pawnshopq and Money Lend-

ing; 4. Real Estate, Buildings and Construction; 5.

Manufacturing, Printing and Tatami; 6. Trucking and Warehouses; 7. Gasoline, Automobile Repairs and Wind- shield Stickers. Part IX, Transportation of People: 1. Automobiles and Automobile Traffic; 2. Taxis; 3.

Buses, Trains and Subway Trains; 4. Ports, Airports and Airlines; 5. Travel Agencies and Travel Information. Part X. Numbers, Time, Day, Date and Season: 1. Num- bers and Related Words; 2. Time; 3. Day, Date and Sea- son; 4. New Year's.

There is a 20 page appendix which explains how the book should be used, and gives references to handbooks and dictionaries and other more or less useful information. The book closes with a kanji index, which cannot be used for looking up a kanji that one may en-

counter, but which is approached via the text itself, where each kanji is provided with the number given it in O'Neill's ESSENTIAL KANJI (according to which the kanji in Braden's index are listed) and Sakade's GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING JAPANESE, or in the case of kanji which don't occur in these handbooks, the number in Nelson's MODERN READER'S JAPANESE-ENGLISH CHARACTER DICTIONARY. In addition the index lists the other oc-

!urrences in the book of the kanji in question. At 7 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches and 283 pages (Roman and Arabic) the book is a bit bulky as a traveler's guide, but it cer-

tainly satisfies a need strongly felt by newcomers to the Japanese scene. Furthermore, the book not only covers practically everything that one is most apt to

encounter, but it is surprisingly accurate. There are, however, a few errors, probably the most serious of which is the statement that Meiji began in 1866. On

page 35 i in the second line of the last paragraph should be j& . On page 122 btru comes from Dutch, not

English. If it came from English it would be bia. On

page 220 it is stated that the names of the days of the week are based on simple substances. Actually they are based on heavenly bodies: kay5bi is not based on 'fire'



97 but on kasei "Mars", suiyObi is not based on "water" but on suisei "Mercury".

The appendix could hardly please a linguist: "The 'a' sound is between the 'u' of 'nut' and the 'o' of 'not', the 'e' sound is close to the 'e' of 'egg'" (p. 233). According to whose pronunciation? "Most important words are written in kanji while most relatively unimportant words are written in kana" (p. 347). What could 'important' mean here? Are kara and ni unimportant words? Could the language make sense without them? "The meaning of both prefixes (o- and go-) is the same, but that meaning cannot really be translated because it is more of a feeling than a true meaning," (p. 247). What is "true meaning"?

But these foibles in the appendix are of no great significance, and do nothing to detract from a fine and useful book.

University of Toronto

