When you discussed your trip on which you saw that high quality microphone, you mentioned that you told the clerk, "Nihongo-ga shabane masen (sp?)", or something to the effect of "I'm not Japanese," and that sparked my curiosity of why Japanese people refer to themselves as "nihongo," "nihon," and "nippon" while most countries address them as "Japan" and "Japanese," so here's what I discovered.

"In the early part of the Chinese Tang dynasty—in A.D. 670, to be precise—Japanese scholars who had studied Chinese created a new name for their country using the Chinese phrase for 'origin of the sun, sunrise,' because Japan is located east of China. In the Chinese of the time (called Middle Chinese), the phrase was nzyet-pwun. To this the scholars added the Chinese suffix –kwuk, 'country,' yielding a compound nzyet-pwun-kwuk, 'sun-origin-country, land of the rising sun.' The consonant clusters in the word were not pronounceable in Old Japanese, so the form was simplified to Nip-pon-gu or *Ni-pon-gu, the latter developing by regular sound change to Ni-hon-gu. The forms Nippon and Nihon of today are the same as these, minus the 'country' suffix. Interestingly, the Chinese themselves took to calling Japan by the name that the Japanese had invented, and it is from the Chinese version of the name that English Japan is ultimately derived. In Mandarin Chinese, one of the forms of Chinese to develop from Middle Chinese, the phrase evolved to Rìběnguó, an early form of which was recorded by Marco Polo as Chipangu, which he would have pronounced as (chĭ-pän-gū) or (shĭ-pän-gū). The early Mandarin word was borrowed into Malay as Japang, which was encountered by Portuguese traders in Moluccas in the 16th century. These traders may have been the ones to bring the word to Europe; it is first recorded in English in 1577, spelled Giapan."

(Source: www.answers.com via www.yahoo.answers.com)

I've always found exonyms of Asian countries to be fascinating, so I'm glad to have finally taken the initiative to find this answer.

Thanks Taylor,

I think the source of some of the confusion is my general state of being with a clue linguistically here in Tokyo. Upon further review, I don't think that I told the salesman, "I'm not Japanese." I think I was saying something about not being able to use/understand the language.

Maybe I should try to find a language tutor.

Just curious, have you put your hands on the Zoom H2 by Samson? It runs about 20,000 yen and has 4 mics packed in it. I read on a blog that a guy purchased one at the Yodobashi in Akihabara.

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/index.php

The styling is either loved or hated. I haven't been able to find one. Every time I go to the Yodobashi near Yokohama station I ask if they have it and get the same answer - no. I have read that the H2 is pretty darn good, for the money. But, I want to play with it before I just order it.

Steve: Thanks for reminding me about the H2. I found a generally favorable review of it on the Transom site a while back and had forgotten about it until reading your comment. The review concludes with a few test files recorded with the H2 that may be downloaded and listened to.

I've not yet seen one in Japan, though I've not been actively looking. Nor would Mrs. Tokyo Calling be at all pleased to learn of a new "podcasting" purchase. I therefor remain just a window shopper.

Let me know your impressions if you ever able to get your hands on one.

scott, i think that the 'drafting process' or 'dry run process' is very helpful. i've done it a number of times, walking home talking to myself. that's the whole reason why notebooks work for me as well, that I can blast out whatever ridiculousness comes to mind, and buttress it when i transcribe it later.

it feels a bit silly, but i think it's what seems to solidify your thoughts and have a better articulation of what you mean. keep it up!

Finally caught up with your past episodes. I had no idea that I inspired you to start drinking bloody mafuchans. I have to say, I was listening to this on the way home and it made me smile, and then laugh out loud at the name. Interesting variation. I will definitely have to try that. Cheers! I'll drink one for you tomorrow.

Mafuchan: Glad to hear you've been able to catch. I'd wondered if I'd offended you with the suggested name of the drink - hence no response in comments.

My mother actually suggested an alternative name: Sumo Tom. Maybe I'll put the three choices, Bloody Mafuchan, The Tokyo Calling, and Sumo Tom, whenever I can talk Aaron or Christopher into shooting a how-to video. We'll keep you posted.