# What is this Japanese gesture/body language? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture-body-language/474374 "2008-11-25T02:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture-body-language/474374/21 "2008-11-25T17:54:22Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Actually, I’ve been listening to a lot of Japanese music lately. For your trouble, here are some other bands that you might like even without knowing the words To tell the truth, not understanding the words is one of the things I like about Japanese music! I’ve a very lyrics-oriented person when it comes to music (most of my favorite bands, like Rush, are known for intelligent lyrics), and I also like to read a lot. Often I want to listen to music while I read. But the problem is that when the songs are in English I get distracted by the lyrics and have a hard time concentrating on what I’m trying to read. But when the songs are in Japanese, the singer’s voice becomes simply another musical instrument in the mix and I don’t get distracted. Another benefit of not understanding the lyrics is that the emotions expressed by the music and the vocal delivery become much more apparent. Aiko is so good at _musically_ expressing the emotions in her songs (and I also have to credit her pianist, who does the actual musical arrangements for the full band)\* that, on the few occasions when I’ve been able to find an English translation, I’ve been astonished to discover that my impressions of the song’s emotional context were extremely accurate. _Kabutomushi_, the song I mentioned in the other thread, is a perfect example of this. Listening to the song, I got a very strong impression of grief and sorrow, but toward the end of the song there was a current of hope running underneath. So imagine my surprise when I found an English translation and discovered that the song is about a loved one who has died, and that the last verse includes the following lines: If every powerfully sad thing remains in my heart, then that’s proof that I was with you, and I can think happily of it. \*aiko writes the lyrics and melody and comes up with a basic chord progression on the piano, and then her pianist takes that and expands it into a more complex arrangement for the full band. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture-body-language/474374/22 "2008-11-26T00:31:24Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Yes, santoku are very trendy, and no, you probably don’t want one. They are excellent for extremely specific applications, but poor for general use. I don’t recommend them unless you’ve already acquired the five or six more-common knife types for the professional collection (eight inch chef’s, ten inch chef’s, paring, bread, boning, and maybe a slicer). Wow, I couldn’t disagree more. A santoku is _all_ you need. Seriously. You don’t need eight different kinds of knife, you just need to know how to use one very good knife. You may want to add a small paring knife and a bread knife to your collection but I’ve done with only a single santoku for a long time. I find the santoku much easier to use than the chef’s knife, and good Japanese santoku are much sharper than any western knife I’ve yet tried. YMMV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-japanese-gesture-body-language/474374.md?page=1)