Author Topic: Anyone know Japanese?  (Read 1714 times)

Salvatore

  • Джон Спунър
    • Pics
Anyone know Japanese?
« on: 05 July, 2008, 07:21:50 pm »
The vast collective yACF brain came up trumps following my  request for knowledge of Polish.

In a similar vein, I'm curious to know why a Japanese on-line newspaper has used one of my photos of a traditional Malian storehouse to illustrate a story on its front page.

The Daily Planet, June 12 2008

Can anyone help?
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Gus

  • Loosing weight stone by stone
    • We will return
Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #1 on: 05 July, 2008, 07:28:47 pm »
Try PM Jakob , I seem to remember he mentioned he could some japanese

Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #2 on: 05 July, 2008, 07:44:39 pm »
Can't help in this instance, John.
Is it not more to do with your ability to take a damn good pic?

fruitcake

  • some kind of fruitcake
Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #3 on: 05 July, 2008, 08:32:55 pm »
Email them and ask for an English translation of the story, explaining that you are the photographer.  They'll send one.

Salvatore

  • Джон Спунър
    • Pics
Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #4 on: 05 July, 2008, 09:17:46 pm »
Thanks zanda. I've done as you suggested. I'll see what turns up.
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Jakob

Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #5 on: 05 July, 2008, 09:35:56 pm »
No idea.
 I can understand spoken Japanese to some degree, but I really struggle to read it.
I can get it translated for you if the email doesn't work.

Jakob

cometworm

Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #6 on: 06 July, 2008, 12:18:36 am »
Babelfish rocks:


Sirius myth of [dogon] family In Africa the truly various tribes having lived, with news and the like it seems that does not enter very, it is the case that you build individual cultural system, but today, story of [dogon] family of west African & Mali republic. * [dogon] family as for [dogon] family, settlement to the place, [bandeiagara] plateau from the 13th century extending through the 16th century. The [bandeiagara] plateau is the ground which is made desolate almost the rain does not fall via 1 years. The village of the small private house which was made with the mud and the straw scatters, [dogon] family and the tribe and the approximately 2,000,000 person around that, even now have operated the primitive living which does not change from several hundred years ago very. Generally known modern technology, unrelated people. But, they being very high-level, it was announced by the world to 50 age, called big topic that it has accurate astronomical knowledge. Is start of the very important mystery from here!

At unexplored area, as for the [dogon] family which many technology technologies it does not have the people of the country other than by its with contact, the thing ▽ Sirius companion where period of the thing ▽ Sirius companion which is the binary star where the ▽ Sirius consists of the principal star and the companion is 50 years was the white dwarf star, the mass being very much heavy, at point in time of 1930 age, you had already known. Furthermore, having the individual myth that, the Sirius star person came in the earth how, you came from that Sirius, it means that “main [nonmo] of the water”, is start of the mankind itself. (* As for the ancestor of the human who lives in the earth, the extraterrestrial [tsu] lever!? )

As for first investigating the myth of this [dogon] family, you call Marseilles [gurioru] and [jierumenu] [deiteruran] of France, the mankind scholar of the cover [ri]. It crosses also 20 years from 1930 age, [dogon] family and the other 3 tribes and lives together, acquiring the reliance from the inhabitant. Even in the tribe in just the person of extremely part such as God official, furthermore, through no gradual thing initiation, it succeeded in obtaining the knowledge in the secret which is conveyed. With the title where [gurioru] and the D Telecom run return to France in 1950, 'call the report the Sudanese Sirius star system', announcement. This, came to the point of knowledge and others closing the existence of [dogon] family in world. According to the Sirius myth of [dogon] family, thing of principal star Sirius A, “snipe [toro] (the star of the snipe)” or, is called “[yashigi] [toro]”, Sirius B is called “[deijitaria]”, or “[po] [toro] (the small star)” with. (* Sirius B “is small, when knowing that but it is heavy”, naming! ) As for the knowledge regarding their astronomy being truly enormous, in addition to the Sirius As for the ▽ earth around the sun there is a ring in ▽ Saturn which is operated

There are four satellites in ▽ Jupiter, (this the matter which even presently is in the midst of investigating) dries ▽ month, like the blood which finishes to dry has died You say that with it had the knowledge which was said from early on. As for these knowledge, it is not kind of something which entirely, can be acquired with naked eye of the human. In addition, [dogon] family concerning the human body itself has high knowledge, the blood takes in oxygen, says that the internal organs of internal you knew also the difference of thing and the red corpuscle and the leucocyte which are circulating. In other words, say that also medical knowledge today has in like the person. The knowledge whose [dogon] family is tremendous is not to finish to be settled in the framework of our civilization histories. * As for the people of third star [dogon] family of the Sirius, as for these knowledge you came from the Sirius, you say that from giving you applied “main [nonmo] of the water,”. Furthermore [sugo] to be, they “the Sirius not only the star of A and B two, truth has consisted from three stars”, that are to insist. It means 3rd star “[enme] [ya] (the star of the corn of the woman)” existing in Sirius star system, furthermore “[niyan] [toro] (the star of the woman)” with accompanying the planet which is said. With astronomy of today, this third star Sirius C or furthermore that planet is not discovered. But, 'the latest edition of the Orion mystery' (1998) according to, there is the report that the astronomical scholar of the French cover [ri] in 1995, existed Sirius C discovery (presumption). If Sirius C is verified securely, this just wonder! Knowledge of [dogon] family is the case that it means at another dimension from the astronomy of today, to be advanced completely first.

etc etc

Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #7 on: 06 July, 2008, 09:20:59 am »
Babelfish rocks:

....and you can understand that?!  We used to have a similar problem when initially working with CSSAR and CAST in China, using machine translation on documents sometimes worked, but often produced things which were at best obscure about what they were discussing.

I think that article is talking about the Dogon people of Africa, who it is sometimes suggested know things about the star Sirius B (the invisible to the naked eye, companion of Sirius) and the moons and rings of Saturn, which they shouldn't be able to know, since their technology doesn't have optical aids such as astronomical telescopes.  There is also some argument over whether they do know these facts or not (not surprisingly!).  It's amazing what you remember from reading Science Fiction books! (See the Dream Park series by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes).
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Salvatore

  • Джон Спунър
    • Pics
Re: Anyone know Japanese?
« Reply #8 on: 06 July, 2008, 11:11:58 am »
I had a reply from the web director of TOKYO FM this morning:

Quote
here is the abstract about this article and radio program:
----
We merely hear about African culture, so today we pick up
Dogon's people in Mali, Western Africa.

Dogon's people have accurate knowlegde about astronomy,
which seems to be impossible to earn without today's technology.
And also, they have further information about Sirius that we
haven't proved.  They say, human's ancestor is Nommo, alien
from Sirius.
Some scientists say their knowledge is from European
missionary priest, but it's very attractive story, isn't it?

So the photo used in the article was just a picture of something Dogon.

Curiosity satisfied.

BTW, the Dogon country is a fascinating place - they avoided contact with Islam and Christianity until the 1930s, when French ethnologists 'discovered' and studied them and their beliefs in great detail.

I read up about them before I went there, and one thing that stuck was that the blacksmith holds a very high status, as it was a blacksmith who was entrusted by their deity with the secret of fire. To this day the village blacksmith performs circumcisions. As we walked through a village, we passed the village smithy, and I asked our local guide 'The blacksmith is very important, isn't he?', expecting an explanation and description of the blacksmith's role, and he replied : 'Yeah, very important. He makes all the metal stuff.'
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur