Boost your Japanese level and your motivation.
When you’re busy dealing with the stress of every day life, whether it be school or work, sometimes you just need to give and receive a good compliment. Osaka’s four-day-long “compliment bar” tested this theory with some teary-eyed results.
Another group is aiming for a more permanent solution, though. A crowdfunding campaign on Japanese site Makuake is currently raising money to produce a card game called Home Jouzu (meaning “Good at Compliments“). This game is all about complimenting your partner and raising each other’s spirits.
▼ It’s a win-win situation for everyone!
The rules are easy enough that anyone from children to adults can play it. When it’s your turn to do the complimenting, you roll the dice and draw the number of cards indicated by the rules. Your objective is to give your partner a compliment using all the cards you just drew.
▼ There are furigana pronunciation guides for all of the kanji characters so it’s easy to understand.
If your partner likes the compliment you gave them, they can give you a little “thank you” card. They’re divided into “great” and “excellent,” so there’s no way to turn down a compliment.
▼ Be grateful for every compliment. Every. Compliment.
The creators of Home Jouzu aimed to raise 100,000 yen in 30 days, but as of Day 11, they’ve raised over five times that amount. It turns out a lot of people like the idea of dealing out positivity. The makers have conducted test runs of the game with couples, office workers, and students. At the university where the test run was conducted, over 90 percent of the participants rated the game as being fun.
▼ Actual students playing the game and enjoying it.
Home Jouzu sounds like a great way for players to raise each other’s spirits, and if you’re studying Japanese, you might even learn some new vocabulary. The game is still taking crowdfunding donations, but it will officially go on sale on November 22 for 2,750 yen (US$25.50). The benefit of donating to the fund is that you’ll get it before everyone else.
▼ Sadly, the cat is not included.
If you’re looking for more card games that are beneficial to society, check out this one about disaster prevention awareness made by the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
Sources: Net Lab, Makuake
Images: Makuake
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