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Japanese Voices: YuNi no All Night Nippon i – Episode 1

Japanese Voices 日本語のままクールジャパン is a regular series designed for learners of Japanese to enjoy real Japanese language programming from Nippon Broadcasting System, one of the biggest commercial radio stations in Japan.

In our second round, we bring you YuNi no All Night Nippon i YuNiのオールナイトニッポンi, a show on the web radio platform All Night Nippon i オールナイトニッポンi.
With virtual singer YuNi as host, YuNi no All Night Nippon i is a fun and entertaining radio show, comprising a longer live portion on the Vtuber live streaming platform Colon: and a shorter archive-only segment available exclusively on the All Night Nippon i site. YuNi occasionally invites other Virtual Youtubers to join her.

Part 1: Sour Challenge

Continuing from the live portion of the show, YuNi and her guest Megu tried to test the limits of their tolerance for sourness with lip-puckering sour chews called Suppasugīru スッパスギール (which sounds a lot like the Japanese expression 酸っ過ぎる suppasugiru meaning "too sour"), from Meiji. Can you guess how many sour drops they sucked on?

YuNi says that the sour drops were so powerful that they threw her tastebuds out of whack! After the sour drops, they ate Sasandago 笹団子, a sticky rice cake filled with red bean paste and wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Part 2: Advice Corner

On the live portion of the show, YuNi responded to listeners seeking advice, but now it was Megu's turn. Just like YuNi, Megu loves to sing and upload covers on her YouTube channel (see below), but she wants to get better, so she asked YuNi, whom she respects and looks up to, if she had any tips when it comes to singing practice.

Still finishing her sasadango, YuNi suggested to Megu that she should try recording herself singing and fine-tune her skills by repeating that process. That's the way YuNi says she improved her singing. For example, when she was trying to sing a song which featured creaking or "vocal fry" (ganari がなり in Japanese), she realized when listening to her recordings that she hadn't mastered it and this process helped her get it just right.

This week's nihongo tip

Once you've learned a few adjectives in Japanese, this week's tip will come in handy.

Japanese: ～過ぎる
English transliteration: ~sugiru
Meaning: Too {combined with adjective}
Example 1: 大き過ぎる ookisugiru (too big)
Example 2: 高すぎる takasugiru (too expensive (or too tall))
Example 3: 酸っぱ過ぎる suppasugiru (too sour)

Sample sentence 1: このシャツは大き過ぎます　kono shatsu wa ookisugimasu (This shirt is too big)
Sample sentence 2: これはちょっと高すぎます kore wa chotto takasugimasu (This is a bit too expensive)
Sample sentence 3: この梅干しは酸っぱすぎるよ kono umeboshi wa suppasugiru yo (This pickled plum is too sour)

If you'd like to listen to the show, please go to the official page on All Night Nippon i's website:

Episode 1: With guest Megu Shinonome

YuNi music selection

This time, for a change of pace, we'd like to present one of YuNi's collaboration videos. Here's YuNi and Nobuhime Oda covering "Hare Hare Yukai" from the Kyoto Animation classic series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya:

Song: ハレ晴レユカイ "Hare Hare Yukai"
Vocals: 長門有希（C.V.茅原実里）Yuki Nagato (V.A.: Minori Chihara)

YuNi original songs playlist:

Today's Guest

NAME: Megu Shinonome

Birthday: April 6th
Debut Date: February 27th, 2018 (YouTube)

Social Media

YouTube Channel: MeguRoom
bilibili channel: Megu Shinonome Official
Twitter: Haneru Inaba (@megu_shinonome)

More Information

YuNi

Ever since she made her debut on May 30th, 2018, Virtual YouTuber and singer YuNi has created a sensation, thanks to her adorable looks, designed by illustrator Ren Sakuragi, her beautiful singing voice, her remarkable range of expression and the frequency of her updates on her YouTube channel. As she states on her account, YuNi's aim is none other than becoming the world's top virtual singer. On 24 April 2019, she released her first album, clear/CoLoR, featuring selected cover songs and original songs composed and arranged by top musical talents such as YUC'e, kz, Hige Driver and la la larks.

Official Website: yunion.wave

Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc.

Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. is the one of biggest commercial radio stations in Japan and is well-known for its call sign, JOLF. In addition, it plays a central role in the radio network called NRN (National Radio Network) across the nation. Since its establishment in 1954, the company has produced a massive array of Japanese-language programs including entertainment, sports, culture and news, headlined by “All Night Nippon”, one of the most popular and longest-running radio talk shows in Japan which has been broadcast for the past 50 years.

Website: Nippon Broadcasting System.

By - Ben K.