Hi, I’m Peter. I’ve been studying Japanese language and culture since I fell in love with the country on a high school trip in the late 1990s. I loved it so much that, as soon as I finished school at eighteen, I went travelling around the country for a year.
This allowed me to tour around the country six times from Sapporo to Okinawa playing music for several weeks at a time between 2014 to present. I’ve been to all the major cities, gotten deep into the countryside, and met a lot of the people you wouldn’t meet as a tourist. You can see some pictures on Pinterest here, and I do a lot about music on the Japanoscope youtube.
Since 2019, I’ve done a monthly segment on Melbourne’s RRR radio, Vital Bits Program, where I translate a Japanese song into English and perform it with my friend Caitlin Sullivan. The Japanese Songs In Translation page is here.
Languages are parallel universes. My mission with Japanoscope is to build a wormhole between worlds.
I post translations, look at products and talk about interesting nooks and crannies. I try and write about things or places that I have first-hand experience of. When this is not possible, I research other people’s first-hand experiences online, in English and Japanese, and synthesize this information into something that is useful for others. Hopefully, the result is helpful and of interest to people travelling to the country, or living in the country, or are part of the international Japanese diaspora, or, like me, find themselves having some kind of a fascination with the place.
Collaborations, Profiles etc.
I love collaborating with people on creating different projects. Sometimes people are kind enough to profile my work in different areas.
You can find an interview I did with Tom Czaban about my experiences of living in Japan here. I’ve given comments on sites including Hayk, Soda & Telepaths, and Welp Magazine.
My music has been featured in various media including Pop Matters here.
I appear regularly on Melbournes RRR radio broadcaster performing translations of Japanese songs on the Vital Bits program.
Triple JJJ radio called my music “captivating in all its nervous-awkward-fast-talking-stumbly glory”. Doorstamps blog called it “folk pop music that nails the art of making simplicity sound busy”.
There is more information about the musical side of what I do here
If you’ve got an idea about how can collaborate on anything, drop me a line here
Lone Wolf And Cub Author Koike Kazuo Tweets On Life, Death & Sickness Translated
Today we’ve translated a series of Tweets by Koike Kazuo – author of various manga and other work including Lone Wolf And Cub/Crying Freeman/Lady Snowblood.
Japanese Essays – Inamoto
What’s the difference between “trying to make people smile” and “trying to make people not want to criticize you”? Find out in this translation of Japanese essay by Inazo Inamoto.
David Bowie Space Oddity 和訳 in Japanese
Deniさんがデヴィッド・ボウイの曲「スペイス・オディティ」を日本語に訳しました。
その歌を翻訳するにあたって難しかったところ、また日本語と英語の歌詞の違いなどについて話をしました。
Ever wondered what Bowie’s Space Oddity lyrics would be in Japanese? Probably not. But we tell you anyway.
We go through and translate the song line by line, and discuss what it all means – in Japanese.
Gurenge
Gurenge (Demon Slayer – Kimetsu No Yaiba Opening Song) Translated To English And Explained 鬼滅の刃OP紅蓮華の歌詞を英語に訳して解説 https://youtu.be/rFbA75b_rlA The opening song for Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba,
Japanese Band Musician Chat
Recently I had a chat with few of my favourite musicians from Japan: Saya from Tenniscoats, Yuko Ikema and Sota Tateishi from Jon No Son on the radio show “Kikeru Radio”.
テニスコーツのさや、池間由布子, 立石草太と「きけるラジオ」で話をしました。
Here’s a transcription in Japanese & English.
日本語と英語の文字起こしをつけました。
Transcript and pictures here:
https://japanoscope.com/japanese-band-musician-chat/
Original recording of chat appeared on Minna Kikeru Radio here:
https://minnakikeru.com/item/al:hAWdAge29r
Sayas – New Home
https://minnakikeru.com/item/al:WtNBRiFevV
Ikema Yuko 池間由布子 Albums
https://minnakikeru.com/?q=ikema
Japanese music and Albums mentioned in the recording:
Kanako Numata –
https://minnakikeru.com/item/al:IY3WS9UdJw
Kohost Sota Tateishi’s 立石草太 album with Jon No Son ジョンのサン:
https://minnakikeru.com/item/al:QmQAX2Cpth
Kimetsu No Yaiba meaning – The full story behind Demon Slayer’s Japanese Name
What does the Japanese name of the cult Japanese anime Dragon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba kimetsu 鬼滅の刃 mean? What does it translate to in English?
This post gives an in-depth explanation of Kimetsu No Yaiba meaning as a phrase, what each of the Kanji mean, and the where the words come from.