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ALC Newsletter No. 076 1/31/08
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By the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
http://www.alc.co.jp/international

Contents:
1) The "Dear Readers" Column: Messages from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
2) Trendy Japanese #32: Kanako Yanagihara: a "chubby, but cute"
3) Quiz on Japan #15: "Which superstition does not exist in Japan?"
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Dear Readers,

Greetings from Tokyo!

As we wrote in the newsletter#72 issued on November 14, 2007 <http://www.alc.co.jp/international/Newsletter/072.html>,
we are offering a free English conversation lesson from 10:00pm to 11:00pm, Japan time, every night at English Cafe located in the center of ALC's SIM in Second Life. We just launched a website explaining what Second Life is, how to start it and how to attend ALC's English class in an easy-to-understand manner for those who do not know anything about Second Life. Sorry, it is only in Japanese, but if you can read Japanese, please take a look at it. Also, please encourage your Japanese students to check it out and visit our English conversation lesson and see what they think about this new way of studying English!
http://www.alc.co.jp/eng/feature/index.html

Best wishes from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press.

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Trendy Japanese #32: Kanako Yanagihara: a "chubby, but cute"
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It's been a long while since comedians and comedy shows were so popular in Japan. We see new comedians almost every month on TV, and the number of female comedians is growing faster than ever.
Kanako Yanagihara, a 21-year-old comedian, is one of them. And she doesn't seem to fit the stereotype of female comedians.

What makes Kanako distinct is her figure ── she is 5''1' tall and 154lbs, which is considered "chubby" for young Japanese women. And in most cases, if a female comedian is chubby, she will make people laugh by playing a "chubby and ugly woman, who does funny things." But Kanako is different. She wears makeup, does her hair nicely, and wears fashionable clothes just like other "slim and pretty" young girls do. Unlike many chubby women, who try to hide their body shape from the public eye, Kanako even wears camisoles and miniskirts!

Yes, Kanako's established a "chubby, but cute" character. She doesn't say "Guys will like me if I lose weight." Instead, she says, "Guys like me just the way I am." This is quite rare in Japan, where the majority of young women have standard or slim figures. Furthermore, Kanako was recently selected as an advertising model of a leading esthetic salon chain where, usually, only beautiful women with perfect proportions have been able to model.

How about Kanako's talent as a comedian? Well, she usually imitates funny conversations among high school girls or apparel store staff. These performances are quite popular, and she is now appearing more and more on TV. For chubby women in Japan, where you can easily be labelled as "ugly" by being just a little too big, Kanako's existence must be somewhat encouraging. And who knows if "chubby, but cute" will become normal someday, if Kanako continues to be successful?

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Quiz on Japan #15: "Which superstition does not exist in Japan?"
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How much do you know about Japan? We'll give you a quiz in each issue, so try to find the right answer!

［Answer to last week's quiz］
Last week's quiz question was "What should you do if bad fortune is predicted for you?" The answer is: (c) Tie the paper to one of the trees of the shrine/temple. The rituals concerning omikuji (fortune telling) paper depend on each shrine/temple, but generally, people tie the paper to a tree of the shrine/temple to leave the bad luck there and not bring it back home.

Quiz for this week: We have quite a few superstitions in Japan.
Not many people believe or even know about these superstitions anymore, but they still sound interesting. Among the four alternatives below, which saying does NOT exist in Japan?

(a) If you whistle late at night, you will attract snakes.
(b) If your chopstick breaks, someone is falling in love with you.
(c) If you respond to someone talking in their sleep, the person will die.
(d) If you clip your nails at night, your parents' lives will be shortened.

Check out the correct answer in the next issue!

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Thank you for reading!

*Back issues of the ALC Newsletter are available at:
http://www.alc.co.jp/international/Newsletter.html

*If you wish to be removed from this newsletter or change the e-mail address to which it is sent, please let us know by e-mailing us at:
intl-mag@alc.co.jp

Publisher: ALC Press, Inc.
2-54-12 Eifuku, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8611 Japan
Writers: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press / Ayako Ishimoto
Editor: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press

Copyright (c) 2008 ALC Press, Inc. All rights reserved.