Japan National Interpreter Guide Exam （通訳案内士試験）

 You've passed the JLPT, taken the Kanji Kentei, and mastered the Business Japanese Test (BJT)... and what now? Why not try out the National Interpreter Guide Exam?

This exam has gained more attention recently, due to record-breaking numbers of foreign tourists coming into the country. It was initiated in an effort to put a licensing system in place for individuals who want to offer paid guide and interpreting services to foreign tourists. According to the law, individuals performing paid interpreting and guide services for tourists can be fined up to 500,000 yen. As of last April, there are 19,033 licensed guides operating in the country.

The Basics

• Offered once a year in major cities.
• Certification for interpreting into one other language costs 11,700 yen.
• Locations include Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Naha. The exam is also administered in Taipei and Seoul, but only for certain languages.
• In 2014, there were 1,658 individuals who passed the exam with an average 22.7% pass rate.

Exam Contents

The main part of the exam focuses on interpreting between Japanese and one other language. Currently licenses are offered for 10 different languages.

• English
• French
• Spanish
• German
• Chinese
• Italian
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Korean
• Thai

Exam Format

The exam consists of a written section and an oral examination. 

The written exam consists of two parts, a language section and a knowledge section that tests your knowledge of Japanese geography, history, and general knowledge of topics like industry, economics, politics, and culture.

The format of the language section differs depending on the language chosen. Individuals who take the exam in English have multiple choice marksheet-style questions. Individuals taking the exam in Chinese or Korean have a combination of both multiple choice and long-form questions. All other languages have only long-form written response questions.

Scoring

The point breakdown for the written exam is as follows:

Section 1

1. Reading comprehension in a foreign language (25 pt)
2. English (or another language) into Japanese (15 pt)
3. Japanese into English (or another language) (30 pt)
4. Giving explanations in a foreign language (30 pt)

Section 2

1. Geography (40 questions)
2. History (40 questions)
3. General knowledge (40 questions)

To pass the exam you have to get at least 70 points on the language section, 70 points in the geography and history sections, and 60 points in the general knowledge section. The general knowledge section questions consist of content in high school-level Social Studies textbooks, recent events in newspapers, and the Tourism White Paper that is published annually by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT).

Participants who pass the written section of the exam will be invited to take a 10 minute oral exam. Interviews for English, Chinese, and Korean are held in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. All other languages are required to interview in Tokyo. The oral examination tests your ability to utilize practical grammar and vocabulary required to perform the duties of a Interpreter Guide.

Passing the Exam

Once you pass the exam, you must register with your prefecture who will issue the actual license. For certain areas of Japan, there is a separate region-specific exam. This includes Hokkaido, Iwate Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, Nagasaki and Okinawa. Individuals wishing to operate within these prefectures should inquire with their prefectural government, because they cannot obtain a license even if they pass the national examination.

One thing I found very interesting is that you can apply for exemption for certain parts of the exam by getting certain scores on various examinations. For example, passing a Geography Aptitude Exam with a level of 1 or 2 will exempt you from the 40 geography questions. A certain score on the TOEIC will exempt you from the language section, et cetera.

Now... I have no clue whether or not this exam is limited to Japanese citizens or not. Prior to writing this post, I contacted JNTO to ask whether or not foreign/temporary residents are able to take the exam, but did not receive a reply in time. It seems like the level of Japanese required is so high that it requires an extended amount of time spent in Japan. At the very least, go check out their website. If you want to see past test questions, visit this link for sample questions from each section. At the very least you can practice some higher-level reading and expand your knowledge about Japan!

1/23/2016 EDIT: According to their test center, foreign individuals are not only eligible to take the exam, but they make up a large number of test takers.

Sources: 

1. Guidelines for the National Interpreter Guide Exam, JNTO (Japanese)
2. Numbers of Examinees and Pass/Fail Rate for National Interpreter Guide Exam (Japanese)
3. Tour Guide Interpreter System (English)

Song of the Week #5

Artist: Kero Kero Bonito (remixed by WTN3)
Title: Flamingo
Genre: Cutesy Electro-pop





Don't let the Japanese name or lyrics fool you - the trio that composes Kero Kero Bonito is based right out of London, England.

I had read about Kero Kero Bonito in last month's issue of AJET Connect and had been meaning to look them up for sometime now. This past week remixes like this one by WTN3 started popping up on my YouTube feed. At first I was thinking, "Is it just me, or did these guys practically explode overnight?"

Actually...

They've been around for a while. I'm a little bit behind the recent musical curve, so to speak. Their album Intro Bonito was released on iTunes in August 2014,  but it seems like they're just starting to pick up real momentum.

When I first heard their track Flamingo, I knew right away that this is definitely one for the summer driving playlist. (Bonus? The cute lyrics and simple Japanese make this a perfect song for listening practice too!)

Check out the mastermind behind the remix on Soundcloud here!

...and more KKB!

Kero Kero Bonito - Homework
Kero Kero Bonito - Picture This
Kero Kero Bonito - Sick Beat (especially love the Super Mario 64 samples on this one!)

Best 100円 Store Finds: Trumpet Shaped iPhone Amplifier

We went to Daiso for a few household items and my boyfriend picked up this extra. He doesn't even have an iPhone. (It was totally worth the 100 yen, even if we will never use it again.)

My Experience Moving in Japan (Part 1)

It's old news now, but just a month after arriving in Japan with the JET Program I decided to move.

When I first arrived, I moved into my predecessor's old apartment. There were years of personal belongings accumulated, including an entire bench press setup, an ancient A4-sized Wacom Intuos tablet, a half-dozen musty futons, an entire shelf of dusty liquor bottles, kitchen appliances that probably hadn't been cleaned since their purchase...

Even though I lived in that apartment for a month, I was always finding new stuff that required cleaning.

The apartment itself was very nice and spacious, however. It had a lovely ocean-side view and in the morning, the sun would shine through the large sliding door in my bedroom. A cool breeze would come off the water. It was a 2LDK with one western and one tatami room, relatively spacious kitchen and separate bath and toilet. It was on a main street and close to work, so I always biked. It also had two chain supermarkets and inexpensive restaurants within walking distance. Not a bad deal at 60,000 yen a month (a little less than $600 USD).

View from my first apartment in Tanabe

The most charming part of my apartment ended up being the reason why I moved out: it was way way too close to the water.

Just an hour after landing at Kansai International Airport, in the whirlwind of meeting my new co-workers, predecessor, and supervisor I was informed of the Nankai Earthquake. It was never mentioned to me before my arrival, and my pre-arrival research didn't turn up any information about it. I was told that the region I would soon be working and living in was expected to have a mega earthquake -- one that only occurs every 90 to 200 years -- in the near future.

The lovely ocean at dusk, taken outside my apartment

The last time it happened was about 68 years ago now, so technically it shouldn't be due any time soon... but research shows that it will occur sooner rather than later. The resulting earthquakes are a magnitude of 8 or higher and produce a massive tsunami. Yikes.

My supervisor told me very bluntly that if such a massive earthquake occurred while I was at my apartment that the resultant tsunami would move so quickly that I could not reach a safe elevation before it made landfall. In other words, if this earthquake occurs, I will almost surely die.

The highest elevation in my old neighborhood was only about 4 meters (~13 feet) which would require me to travel over 20 minutes by foot to reach a decent elevation. Moreover, the district where my old apartment was located is separated from Central Tanabe by bridges that span Aizu River -- bridges that would probably not be standing after a strong earthquake.

Houses along the Aizu River

In the end, I decided to move so I could have the peace of mind knowing that I was safely inland. I was not only supported, but rather encouraged by my co-workers to make the move. I don't think I would have been able to go about the entire process without them. The move coincided with my boyfriend's arrival in Japan, so we found a larger apartment that could accommodate both of our belongings and vehicles (it's surprisingly hard to find places that provide parking for 2 cars included in the rent).

Anyways, I spent a little too much time rambling about earthquakes this evening (oops...)! In my next post I will be sure to write more about the process of searching, applying, and moving house!

Snack Review: Sweet Potato Monaka Ice Cream

It's fall in Japan, which means that satsuma imo, kabocha and kuri reign supreme. (That would be sweet potato, Japanese pumpkin, and chestnut... mmmm.) There are a wealth of seasonal products on the shelves right now, but I always seem to be drawn to the freezer bins in search of new, interesting items.

We always have a box of some sugary junk in our freezer - whether it's ice cream sandwiches, mochi ice cream, or chocolate dipped bars. The thing I've noticed is that Japanese ice cream isn't necessarily good. The quality is relatively low* and portion sizes are small... but the novelty factor is high, and that totally makes up for the lack of decent ice cream.

I mean... where ELSE in the world are you going to find a potato shaped and flavored ice cream bar?!

This monaka boasts the flavors of sweet potato from Kagoshima Prefecture and has a dyed outer shell to mimic the look of the real thing. Inside is sweet potato-flavored ice cream with a layer of sweet potato paste or jam... this stuff is pure sugar goop, but it's delicious sugar goop.

The colors and shape made this really fun to eat. As you can see in the above pictures, the shell had not only the coloring but the dimpling that a real potato would have (but thankfully none of the dirt). It was quite thin and did a good job of staying together even after the ice cream melted a little.

Edit: According to the manufacturer's website this is not an ice cream product, but rather an "ice milk" product. Whatever that means.

Compared to the packaging, the actual ice cream bar is quite small. The inside was supposed to be satsma-imo flavored as well, but it was really overshadowed by the potato-sugar-goop. I wish there was a little less of it. 

In terms of taste I would give this a 3 out of 5. It was good (by virtue of the fact that I'm a sucker for anything sweet potato) but it was really one dimensional in terms of flavor and almost sickeningly sweet. I wouldn't eat it again, but I'm glad I gave it a shot.

Even though I wasn't a huge fan, this "oimo monaka" has its own hashtag on Twitter and is listed as one of the top seasonal ice cream treats this year so I recommend checking it out for yourself! It retails for about 130 yen and can be found at your local grocer this fall and winter.






* When I say that ice cream quality is low, I mean that it pales in comparison to my beloved hometown Ben and Jerry's. Nothing can compete with my first and true ice cream love. 

2014 League of Legends World Championship

I'm back!

We finally have a wired internet connection in our apartment after being here for almost 3 months. Even though we live in a rural part of Japan, we have fiber optic internet (called hikari) that gives us a pretty snappy connection.

The internet was actually set up last weekend, but the day after the installation we left for South Korea to see the 2014 League of Legends World Championship.

It was a weekend of a lot of firsts. It was my first e-sports event as well as my first time traveling outside of North America and Japan. We were only there for a mere 48 hours but all in all it was a great experience and I'm looking forward to visiting Korea again soon.

Day 1 -- Saturday, October 18

The day of our flight we slept through our 5:00 am alarms and ended up having to catch the (very expensive) express train to the airport. The upside of sleeping through the alarm meant that we didn't have to take the stupidly early highway bus or wait for a layover.

We made our flight with no issue and were in Korea by the mid-afternoon!

Incheon International Airport

Train station in the airport

     

Streets of Seoul

More Seoul, near Hongik University Sta.

Our hostel - Twin Mini Rabbit Hostel

We had to stop and ask for directions on the way to find our hostel. We eventually made it to where we needed to go thanks to a friendly group of street performers in front of Hongik University Station and a few unsecured WiFi networks. After a short rest and shower we took a walk toward the Hongdae area!

So good! So cheap!

We were too tired to stay out all night, so we decided to check out Bau House. It's really popular with tourists and there are a bajillion blogs about it online, but it's definitely something you have to go and experience at least once.

 

Despite the fact that there were 20+ doggies running around at any given time, I was really impressed with the overall cleanliness of the place. If there were dogs causing a problem (rough play, bad behavior with the customers) they would take them to a different room to kennel them. Unfortunately, after about 40 minutes my allergies started killing me, so we called it quits.

Menu of dogs!

   

 

...and then we walked back home! Seoul is a beautiful and modern city. We ended up walking the equivalent of three subway stops (~40 minutes) and were able to see a lot of cool stuff.

Day 2 -- Sunday, October 19

The next morning I woke up to a stream of KakaoTalk notifications on my phone. We weren't planning on leaving for the World Cup Stadium until noon, but other attendees from /r/LeagueofLegends were saying that lines were already getting long.  

Complementary breakfast bar at our hostel

On the bus!

At the entrance of the stadium

When we finally got there the lines were quite long with queues of over an hour for most booths. There were booths by Korean Air, NVIDIA, Logitech, and Coca-Cola that were handing out free stuff.

The line for the merchandise booth was at least a 2 hour wait, so we waited to get inside the stadium to make our purchases. There was another booth called "Jinx's Tattoo Shop" where people could choose from a variety of temporary tattoos... unfortunately we didn't make it to that one! There was a huge stage for cosplayers, live art of the Summoner's Cup, and a display of fan-made art. I'm sure there were so many other things, but our time was limited. 

The World Cup Stadium

First look at the crowd

Ticket booth with English speaking staff 

The ticket booths were set up really efficiently and had extra support for people who didn't speak Korea. Here we got our tickets and headsets that were broadcasting the game in other languages for only ~$10 USD. 

We only had time to wait in one line, so we chose the Coca-Cola booth which was giving out limited edition cups (only 5,000 available) with Shyvana on them. They were also giving out cans of Coca-Cola with limited edition art. There were also two SK Telecom players signing merch, but we decided to move on and find out how to get into the stadium.

Crowds really started to grow around lunchtime...

We got a little lost on our way to finding the main gate and ended up spotting this guy carrying a quad-rotor helicopter. They used this to film all of the overhead shots of the stadium during the online broadcast of the game. 

Fans waiting to get in

Doors were supposed to be at noon (with the game starting at 15:00) but they were running almost 30 minutes late. Platinum ticket holders had their own queue while Diamond, Gold and Silver waited all together. Had they made different entry times for the different ticket types, I think it would have gone much more smoothly...

Interior of the stadium

My poro!

The late entry time also delayed the start of the games. They seriously underestimated the time required to get 40,000 fans going through ticket checks, security and bag check, then handing out cloaks and snack bags. Being there so early meant that we got to see the stadium fill up, which was quite interesting -- note the difference in the crowd between the pictures above and below.

The "swag bags" provided to all ticket holders upon entry were really awesome.  Every person who came got the following:

• World Championship cloak
• light-up League of Legends bracelet
• "I hate/love Teemo" reversible bracelet
• snack bag with water, saltine crackers, chocolate cakes, and some type of peanut candy
• Riot Points (redeemable only on Korean server)
• Championship skins code
• more Coca-Cola cups 
• inflatable clapper sticks

We also caught a squishy Poro, Gragas barrel and Teemo mushroom before the games started. 

Then the Opening Ceremony started...

Character select for Game 1

Loading in...

Making friends with the Korean fans in the row behind us

Did I mention there was really cheap beer there too?

It was quite hard to see who was who from our seats in the Gold section, but the games were exciting nonetheless. I was REALLY impressed with the quality of the headsets we purchased because the timing was just about perfect and it helped us follow along with what was happening in game In the end, things pretty much went as expected -- Samsung White crushed StarHorn Royal Club mercilessly, winning 3 out of 4 games.

End of Game 4

Samsung White are the victors!

When all was said and done, Imagine Dragons came on and played an encore performance while SSW laid claim to the Summoner's Cup. The games went by so quickly and I didn't want to leave the stadium...! :(

League of Legends is constantly criticized as having the worst community, but I think that really applies to the online aspect. Everyone was incredibly friendly and there was a shared positive energy going through the crowd. It was encouraging to see so many people from different countries gathered in one place. I'm already looking forward to next year!