1. What is 信じられないだろうが
“You probably wouldn’t be able to believe it, but…”

注意：Since 信じる is an 一段(いちだん) Verb – also know as a Group 2 verb or a る verb – 信じられない is both the Negative Passive form (will not be believed) and the Negative Potential form (can’t believe). Although, in English “It probably wouldn’t be believed” sounds strange, so it is most likely the Potential from.

“It probably wouldn’t be believed” sounds natural in Japanese though, since it is more polite to be less direct.

2. What is 江戸?
“江戸” is “Edo” which is what Tokyo used to be called.

3. Anything cool happen in 江戸?
Tokyo was called “Edo” during the feudal era of Japan, so there were Samurais, and Ninjas. :P
There were also Feudal Wars.

4. What is 俺は今江戸にいる。
It means “Right now, I am in Edo.”

5. What’s the whole sentence? What’s something you can assume happened to this character based off this sentence?

“You probably wouldn’t be able to believe it, but right now I’m in Edo.”

By the sentence, I can assume that he somehow was transported back in time to Edo. Actually I know, because I’ve seen this episode. :)

• This reply was modified 13 years, 2 months ago by  Drayomi.

“わけ” means “reason” or conclusion”　and can be used to say something like: “心無くしたわけじゃない…” “It is not the case that I lost my heart…”　or “It is not that I lost my heart…”. Though according to Denshi Jisho, “わけがない” means “there is no way”. Though I would literally translate it as “reason/conclusion exists not.”.

“って” is the casual quoting particle. It is a shortened version of “というのは”. But it also can be a substitute for the “は” particle.

So, そんなの覚えてるわけがないって? can be translated as: “Did you say that there is no way he could remember something like that?” or “There is no way he could remember something like that?”

Edit: Though Elenkis makes a good point. It could also be translated as: “I thought there was no way that you could remember something like that?”

• This reply was modified 13 years, 3 months ago by  Drayomi. Reason: Due to Elenkis' response

Tip to the people who thought 覚えている meant “remembering”. Although “いる”　after the “て-form” can mean an action is taking place: “食べている” (eating) it can also mean something occurred and is now in that state: “姉さんは来ている” (My older sister is here) or literally (My older sister came and exists). For 覚えている in this sentence it means: “Recalled and exist” or “in a state of remembering”. But, in English we say “remember” with the same effect.

That is what I find interesting about Japanese. In Japanese they designate things that are just assumed or felt in English, or add extra details – interesting details not over the top like English’s pronoun-centric-ness – that is left out in English. しまう is a good example of this. “I forgot.” in Japanese could be written – ignoring other politeness levels and slang – either as “忘れた” or as “忘れてしまった”. The first one is the basic past tense of “to forget” which would get your point across, but the second one tells you that with the added feeling of it being an unintentional or regrettable action.

I just love the Japanese language! ;3

• This reply was modified 13 years, 3 months ago by  Drayomi. Reason: 4th stupid typo

Because of the “I” used (僕) I would say the individual is most likely male and probably on the young side – child, 20′s, possibly even early 30′s.

I would translate this sentence as “I remember the day I was born.” or “I recall the day I was born.”

“僕は僕が” is used because “僕は” marks the subject – “‘I’ remember…” – and “僕が” marks the object of the verb “生まれた”. “僕” isn’t a direct object of the action, and the verb “生まれる” is an intransitive verb so “を” and “に” aren’t used.

“生まれた日” literally means “was born day” but in English we would say “day that (subject) was born”.

That was a good late night Japanese exercise! :)
I had no trouble with this one, whatsoever. Easy-peasy, but I have been self-studying Japanese very passionately for 17 months already so if you haven’t been learning Japanese very long, don’t make anything of it. It is good to make mistakes and have trouble with Japanese. I started strictly using a Japanese to Japanese dictionary last week and I am having a lot of trouble, but I know the failures and difficulties will all be worth it eventually, by quickening my path to fluency and keeping my brain out of the “OK plateau”.

Happy Studying! ;3
I am off to read more of 乙一’s 「夏と花火と私の死体」 and to listen to more Japanese podcasts – which I can only somewhat understand – for now. :P

• This reply was modified 13 years, 3 months ago by  Drayomi.

I definitely understand how effective this tip can be. When I do a project last minute I always chant to myself “You’re going to be so relieved when you done!” or “You will feel so relaxed!” or something like that. It definitely helps!

Another thing you could do – possibly in conjunction with Koichi’s tip – is give yourself a reward whenever you finish a task you don’t want to do. While working last minute on projects, since I tend to stay up late finishing them I tell myself “Once you are done you can sleep!”. It always keeps me going.

Lastly, another thing you could use in conjunction with either or both tips is “time-boxing“. With time-boxing you can have many small victories instead of just one big victory so the task doesn’t feel too long or too boring.