Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Katakana) (Jimi's Book of Japanese) [Paperback]

Peter X. Takahashi (Author), Mikki Moto (Author, Editor), Yumie Toka (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Jimi's Book of Japanese | Publication Date: March 16, 2005

This second interactive book in the "Jimi's Book of Japanese" series is a publishing rarity: a sequel that is every bit as good as the original. So many sequels come off like a side dish nobody ordered. But "Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese(Katakana)" is just as fresh and entertaining as the original. The lessons pick up seamlessly from where the first book left off, and don't feel forced at all. There are dozens of fresh, entertaining illustrations and new characters like Dizzy Fugu. Plus, the bonus material is simply genius! After all, any book that has monkeys, robots, and assorted other creatures teaching you how to speak Japanese has to be cool--and this book certainly is. Perfect for the Japanophile in you.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter X. Takahashi is an award-winning author, underrated DJ and soon-to-be-sought-after nightclub act. In his free time, PXT enjoys eating yakiniku, sculpting bonsai, playing gorufu and perfecting his Nimzo-Indian Defense. He lives in Tokyo. This is his third book.

Yumie Toka is an award-winning illustrator and interaction designer whose trend-setting style is loved by kids, adults and monkeys around the world. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, meditation and teaching karate, kung fu and a whole bunch of magic tricks. Born and raised in Tokyo, she lives and works in Atlanta. This is her third book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 76 pages
• Publisher: PB&J Omnimedia; 1 edition (March 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972324720
• ISBN-13: 978-0972324724
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Japanese

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, April 14, 2005

By 

Ping Lim (Christchurch) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Katakana) (Jimi's Book of Japanese) (Paperback)

Forget about other Japanese books and audio CDs to enhance your understanding of this language. I was captivated by the author's first offering in hiragana and I have to say that this sequel is just as compelling and effective. The graphics are big and easy to remember and there are some useful facts in there to allow us to understand just a bit more about Japan. What I find even more useful is a summary of Japanese words towards the end of the book, which we could use to give us small tests to gauge our own improvements. Rest assured, answers are provided in the beginning of the book. Anyhow, the old saying about never judge a book by its cover is very true. Whilst it is a very small book, it is very powerful and useful, indeed. Highly recommended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jimi's Book of Japanese Sequel: As Fantastic as the First, April 7, 2005

By 

Mojo Jojo (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Katakana) (Jimi's Book of Japanese) (Paperback)

After hearing inumerable Japanese phrases and other assorted Asian utterances--most likely from the hours my 9-year old niece spends watching Samurai Jack and Avatar--I bought her two books in the Jimi's Book of Japanese series (this being the second) in an attempt to at least encourage her to further her foreign language efforts in a meaningful way.

These books are great. After a brief period of time she's mastered both basic syllable sets of modern Japanese. I am happy to say I would recommend both books to anyone who is looking to motivate their kids/relatives to expand their intellectual horizons.

JIMI'S BOOK OF JAPANESE: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Katakana) by Peter X. Takahashi, illus. by Yumie Toka, (Takahashi & Black, ISBN 0972324720 16.95, 76pp.)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful book with a very Japanese look, March 18, 2005

By 

Mikey Walters "WEBmikey" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Katakana) (Jimi's Book of Japanese) (Paperback)

I discovered this book since it gets great reviews (and keeps popping up as a recommendation), so I decided to give it a shot since my Katakana reading isn't so great (I can read Hiragana pretty quickly, but for whatever reason my Katakana just won't "stick"). The look of the book is irresistible, since it's filled with fantastic color graphics that really have a Japanese kawaii look to them, featuring the little monkey Jimi. Each page is filled with a giant Katakana character (big enough so you can trace it with your finger to help remember it), along with several little cartoons of different vocabulary words. Most pages also have a little paragraph that explains various culture references, too (I wish all of the pages had these!). There are lots of other neat touches, like color-coding the pages for the "K" sounds, "T" sounds, and so on. I don't think it's a miracle book, though - I think it needs to explain more about how English words are broken down into Katakana, but it's still a great presentation of the characters anyway! In fact, it's so colorful and cool that I think I might buy the accompanying Hiragana book just to have in my library.