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Japanese Humor ...本当に面白い

Moderators: Moderator Team, Admin Team

I find Japanese humor to be...

本当に面白い
8
44%
なかなかいいですよ
6
33%
けっこうです
1
6%
ちょと....
3
17%
 
Total votes: 18

7daytrial
Been Around a Bit
Posts: 30
Joined: June 22nd, 2007 10:21 am

Japanese Humor ...本当に面白い

Postby 7daytrial » October 24th, 2007 6:04 am

Anyone else find Japanese humor LOL funny?

I am actually interested in learning how to make Japanese jokes (mainly to impress a girl). What is it that makes Japanese people laugh? Does anyone have any good jokes? Or does anyone understand how Japanese Humor differs from American humor?

These questions are probably stupid. I really just wanted to share some LOL funny videos which are posted below.




Human Tetris (Who hasn't seen this??)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2kajMH2u0

ガキの使い (Gaki no Tsukai, Police Station: Do not laugh punishment game)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxce9UC3KsU

志村けん (Shimura Ken, various humorous clips)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWy-Qd6J76k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa8ru0Q2hjI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fs0cWD3XCU

Ulver_684
Expert on Something
Posts: 869
Joined: July 19th, 2006 6:31 pm

Re: Japanese Humor ...本当に面白い

Postby Ulver_684 » October 26th, 2007 10:27 pm

7daytrial wrote:Anyone else find Japanese humor LOL funny?

I am actually interested in learning how to make Japanese jokes (mainly to impress a girl). What is it that makes Japanese people laugh? Does anyone have any good jokes? Or does anyone understand how Japanese Humor differs from American humor?

These questions are probably stupid. I really just wanted to share some LOL funny videos which are posted below.




Human Tetris (Who hasn't seen this??)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2kajMH2u0

ガキの使い (Gaki no Tsukai, Police Station: Do not laugh punishment game)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxce9UC3KsU

志村けん (Shimura Ken, various humorous clips)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWy-Qd6J76k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa8ru0Q2hjI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fs0cWD3XCU


Seven-san! :wink:

Great Videos! :lol:

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blindcat
New in Town
Posts: 4
Joined: October 29th, 2007 5:36 pm

Postby blindcat » December 17th, 2007 11:31 pm

I followed some other links from your Shimura Ken. My japanese isn't very advanced so I have no idea what they're saying but this one had me rolling on the floor. Anybody got a rough translation? Did he have them chant curses and what was that stuff in the bath?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKQK-S9vdMY&feature=related

Bissen
Been Around a Bit
Posts: 44
Joined: November 15th, 2007 6:37 pm

Postby Bissen » June 18th, 2008 6:52 pm

I LOVE Gaki No Tsukai! It's the best! Unfortunately I'm not good at Japanese, so I need subs :(

WalterWills
Expert on Something
Posts: 154
Joined: May 19th, 2007 9:25 pm

Postby WalterWills » June 20th, 2008 11:27 pm

I've been watching a drama called "Hana yori dango" recently, and I think it's funny.

ManuCo
New in Town
Posts: 1
Joined: August 3rd, 2007 10:42 pm

Postby ManuCo » July 26th, 2008 7:58 pm

I cant tell for other people. My japanese friends are great teasers. It is different than in the west though, I think. Teasing is never cruel, or really putting you down.

Many things pass as jokes in the west, which are really like "on the cost" of others, belitteling others, gloating etc. I do not hear that kind of "joking" from my asian friends in general.

stuu
Been Around a Bit
Posts: 17
Joined: November 3rd, 2006 1:04 pm

Postby stuu » July 26th, 2008 9:14 pm

One of my favourite youtube clips, you don't need subtitles for this one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwvVh0_ZelI

IncrediBeast
New in Town
Posts: 1
Joined: August 7th, 2008 10:30 pm

Postby IncrediBeast » August 8th, 2008 7:53 am

Oh god...

Look up "Hard Gay Father's Day" on Youtube.

I know. It sounds scary as hell, but trust me, it's totally clean and it's funny as HELL.

emccormick
New in Town
Posts: 7
Joined: August 21st, 2008 4:41 pm

Postby emccormick » August 31st, 2008 9:56 pm

I have said for years that Japan is the Land of the Rising Pun.

Word play is very common in Japanese. The lack of phonemes in Japanese makes for many homonyms, and a ton of sound alike words. This situation lends itself to word plays, and puns.

In manzai Japanese humor, they make the most of this linguistic trend. And a manzai like pair of characters, the boke and the tsukkomi, are common in many TV shows. Even if they are not the main characters, they are regularly shown somewhere.

Nakama Yukie, a popular Japanese actress, can be compared with Lucile Ball. She is able to present excellent physical comedy that transcends language barriers, and is still very skilled with verbal presentation, situational comedy, and some other comedic forms.

In "Joshi Deka!" she brings humor to a more serious role. It turns a serious police drama into a drama comedy, much in the same way that the interplay between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover changes the "Leathal Weapon" movies from action to action comedy.

I would say that "Joshi Deka!" is one of the least comedy roles I have seen Nakama Yukie in, but it still has some very funny moments.

In "Erai Tokoro ni Totsuide Shimatta!" she plays a daughter in law who is ready to battle with her new family. Instead she is accepted in, and introduced to the familie's somewhat obscure customs. This creates situational comedy that is easily understood. There is also much verbal comedy, and the rest of the cast is not at all slack, making for something quite humorous.

One of the running jokes is how un-funny one character is. He constantly goes for lame puns.

So the pun is a high art form in Japan, and when done poorly, it can make you the joke more than the joke itself. This makes humor very hard for non-natives.

These things are hard to understand without good translation. The colloquialisms, dialects, and other unique linguistic aspects can even be confusing to Japanese. This makes it all the much more difficult for non-Japanese to understand.

I still think that Japanese humor is well worth trying to understand. They certainly have some funny stuff. But do not expect to be telling many jokes soon.

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