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Jan 2 2007

The Japanese School System

By Axel Terizaki on Jan 2 2007, 00:12

As you'll see, a big part of Blind Spot will happen at school, precisely highschool and college.

The japanese school system is divided as is

  • From 7 to 13 years old : Grade school
  • From 13 to 16 years old : Junior school
  • From 16 to 18 years old : High school

Years are labelled after your level of school: Class 1-B for Ayako is actually the first year of highschool.

Some people might have noticed that too, but in the first chapter, the school year begins in April. In Japan, school year is divded in 3 trimesters: April-July, September-December, and January-March. There are 3 weeks of holidays from one year to the other, and one month of holidays in August.

There is no specialization in high school, but some schools are better placed than others to gain access to some universities. So it's very important ot decide on which school to go to early on. Students who can't follow the compeetition of school are reoriented to other schools and classes.

Students wear a school uniform here as you probably know. The uniform is sailor-inspired for girls and quite popular worldwide. For boys, it's usually pants and a black jacket with buttons, or navy blue depending on the school. Yes, depending on the school, uniforms change. Shizuka has a more elaborate uniform with a blouse and blazer, for example. The uniform is obviously mandatory, but students don't have to take it off when out of school. A lot of students go directly to the city for shopping or to have fun and only change out of it when they are home.

Students also have a summer and winter uniform. In summer, boys take off the jacket and show short-sleeved shirts, and in winter, girls gets warmer with more layers and uses darker tones and long sleeves.

Also, at the beginning of the year, student's places in the classroom are decided at random. They have to stay there during the whole year. For Ayako, however, it is a little special since she needs to be placed close to a power outlet and have Karen next to her.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below.

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Jan 1 2007

Honorific titles in Japanese

By Axel Terizaki on Jan 1 2007, 23:48

I thought it would be interesting to talk about the particles you can find at the end of names from time to time. This can be obvious for people used to read manga and watch anime, but for some of my readers, it's not always easy.

Japanese use suffixes that they attach to people's names, may it be to call them or talk about them. They are not always easy to translate in English, and are kept in the english edition of Blind Spot.

Here is a list of some of them, the main ones used in the story.

  • -san : Politeness. Someone with -san behind its name is seen as a person you respect and don't know very well. This can also be used at your workplace to designate someone higher in the hierarchy. This is a little like "Mister" or "Miss". Not using it when talking about someone shows some kind of intimacy between you and the person you're tlaking about.
  • -kun : That's the contrary of -san in a workplace environment: you're speaking about something below yourself. It is also used to name males. For example Ayako calls Ogata Shu "Ogata-kun". It is sometimes used for girls too, in a workplace environment. A teacher can call a student like this even if it is a girl.
  • -chan : Very familiar, used mainly on little girls or between close people. You'll notice that Karen is not using -chan on Ayako, while Shizuka does almost everytime. -chan is also used between lovers, even if it's a girl calling a boy like that. Obviously not in public :)
  • -sensei : Teacher, professor, doctor. Someone who has the knowledge.
  • -sama : Very honorific, almost never used, except for joking. For example, God is called "kami-sama".

A little bonus now...

  • sempai : Also written "senpai". A sempai is someone who works in the company or is a student at school for longer than yourself. First years often call Second years "sempai".
  • kouhai : A kouhai is simply the contrary of sempai.

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Jul 31 2006

What is Blind Spot?

By Axel Terizaki on Jul 31 2006, 13:49

Blind Spot is an original story created from my imagination, my experience and some research here and there.

Contrary to a few years ago, where I was writing a lot of fanfictions for the animated series Evangelion in particular, this story is 100% original.

A word about the story:

Ayako is a young highschool girl living in Japan, nowadays. She is living normally, surrounded by her friends. However, Ayako isn't an ordinary girl, she has magic powers! she is visually impaired, and her social life is impacted by this.

Blind Spot is a light novel, with a little bit of comedy and romance, but it is mainly a "slice of life". This slice of life will go from her teenage days to her woman, adult ones.

What's so special about Blind Spot compared to the stories I might have writen before? This is, first of all, an original story, but also a story in which I can tell of my experiences as a visually impaired person. In order to make it more challenging, and because I like sport (In a certain way...), I decided to make the story happen in Japan, and on a female character. It's a difficult exercise, since I live in France and am male. However, I have a lot of great people I can contact when I need input or advice on a particular scene or situation.

Concerning the place, I lived in Japan about 3 weeks, and I can count on some friends living there, and the various anime and manga I have seen and read to provide answers to my questions.

However, the story isn't meant to be real in all it's little details, I will then ask you to be forgiving of my possible mistake. Don't hesitate to tell me about it in a constructive way.

For me, this is an excellent storytelling and style exercise. For you, and for my friends, this can be a nice way fo knowing visually imapired people better.

Have a nice read!

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