Our group came up with 15 different examples of katakana, which fit into four different categories:
Names/Characters, Brands, Loan Words, and Onomatopoeia. I will choose to analyze words in the categories other than loanwords, since that category is fairly self-explanatory.
Names/Characters:
Kontan - コンタン
Nobu - ノブ
Although these names are of japanese origin, my group found that they were spelled in katakana when presented as characters in books or manga. Our TA told us that this was often the "cool" thing to do, spelling ones name in katakana rather than in hiragana or kanji. Perhaps this is also a way of setting the names apart from the text, making them stand out as an important part of the story.
Onomatopoeia
DokiDoki - ドキドキ (sound of an empty stomach)
Piruru - ピルル (sound of starting a car)
Although both these words mimic sounds, they were used differently in the examples found by my group. Dokidoki was used in a sentence, as if it were a substitute for saying "i'm hungry", where as piruru was drawn in the background of a manga, to illustrate the sounds coming from a car.
Textbooks seem to have varying definition of katakana, and although all of them agree that katakana is used for loanwords, there are some discrepancies as to any other ways in which katakana are used. One text mentions onomatopoeia, and another mentions brand names. Because katakana is used in so many different situations, it is difficult to classify a disticnt set of guidelines for use.
わたしはともだちとじゅうにじにたべました。ちいさいパーチーをじました。
カップケーキをみてください！カップケーキのなかでもレインボーえす！
そのばん、わたしのちちにあいました。ちちわニューヨークへミチングおしにきました。イタリアのレストランでたべました。
わたしのたんじょうびはとてもおもしろいです！
1. Purchase your ingredients! たまご、みず、ベジオイル、とケエキミクス。
2. I used white cake mix, so separate the egg-whites. きおつけて！
3. Mix all the ingredients together!... If only I had a mixer instead of elbow grease!... >.< 
4. If you want your cupcakes to be かわいい, add some food coloring!
8. Time for frosting! Remember, we want かわいいのカップケエキ, so choose a color for your frosting!
I also love baking regular cakes. Here are some pictures of adorable japanese cakes from the internet! おいしいです！
いちごケエキです！いちごわだいすきです。
... fish... cake?
Since my most previous post was incredibly boring, I decided i would try to make this one more interesting by throwing in some COLORFUL PICTURES! Here are some of the various japanese street fashion pics i found on the internet. Some are very cute! Others are.... umm... well you'll see.
Is this really a fashion?! Yikes! Ganguro.
Decora/FRUiTS
