Welcome to our Japanese lesson blog. Every week or so, a JOI teacher posts a new entry,
covering a range of Japanese and Japan-related topics. Try reading the Japanese version first,
then scroll down to check your understanding with the English translation.
New Japanese vocabulary, phrases, and usage patterns appear in blue,
with translation and usage notes at the bottom of the text. For a Kanji reading challenge, click the
blue icon below to turn off furigana (the small hiragana above the Kanji). Please enjoy, and check back often
for the latest topic.
Have you ever eaten Ishi Yaki Imo ?
Ishi Yaki Imo is sweet potatoes roasted using a hot pebbles.When autumn changes to winter, the sweet potato sellers come around selling it. They are sweet, soft and very delicious.
In this picture you can see a toy model of a scene featuring an Ishi Yaki Imo cart.
It has a switch and when you put on the switch, it sings, “Ishi Yaa Kii Moo !” in the same voice as the sweet potato seller uses when he comes round.It is one of my favorite toys.
Apparently, Ishi Yaki Imo salesmen looked much like this around the 30th year of the Showa period (or 1955).
Nowadays, they don't come around using a hand cart like you see in the picture, this has changed to a small truck. I expect that you'd like to know how much these sweet potatoes cost, well... they are about 800 yen each .
In these times, when we have so many delicious sweets available to us, this food is still popular among women now, just as it was in the old days.
今週の語彙 This week's vocabulary
■石焼いも a sweet potato roasted on hot pebbles ■焼く roast ■売る sell ■さつまいも a sweet potato ■ほくほくする soft and flaky ■風景 a scene ■模型 a model ■おもちゃ a toy ■音声 a voice ■鳴る sound ■お気に入り a favorite ■リヤカー a hand cart ■気になる be anxious
To post your comment, click here (current students only—login is required).
To post your comment, 