Some aspects of rudeness are practically universal–calling someone a rude name, for example–but others vary by culture. If you hope to spend any time in Japan or you meet Japanese people, you may benefit from a quick lesson in a…
If you’ve been studying Japanese with our language guides, you should have learned how to make a statement about an action in the past. For example, if you want to say “I wrote a letter,” you might say, “Tegami wo…
When you think of curry, you usually think of India, the homeland of the dish. In Japan, while they do have Indian curry on many a restaurant menu (it’s called “indo karee” in Japan), there’s a Japanese treatment of curry…
This week we thought we’d do something different when it comes to discussing Japanese food and instead discuss what the Japanese do with what is generally considered a Western food: the hamburger. To have a hamburger in Japan (or just…
While Japan has a plethora of “Western-style” bakeries in which you’ll find the typical cakes, cookies, cupcakes, éclairs and other pastries you’re used to finding in North America or Europe, no trip to Japan is complete without sampling the classic…
Elsewhere on the site, we’ve discussed manju, “steam buns,” and briefly, we mentioned anpan as well. A look at Japanese food wouldn’t be complete without a more in-depth look at Japanese bread. Due to early Portuguese influence, the Japanese refer…
Warm foods like chicken soup and vitamin-rich foods like oranges help Westerners clear up their sinuses and build their immunities. When ill in Japan, there are a few cultural comfort foods to which many people turn, much like chicken soup…
It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I was discussing how Japan’s Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio stepped down after only eight months to be replaced by Kan Naoto. Well, now, 15 months after Prime Minister Kan took power,…
The city of Nara in Nara Prefecture is a quiet, gorgeous place that lovers of history must visit when in Japan. A city of about 368,000, Nara offers plenty to do without overwhelming you with the huge, metropolitan flavor of…
When you’re learning to speak and read Japanese, enough of your energy is spent on reading books and online tutorials about conjugations and kanji that you may completely ignore how communication works when you’re face to face with a Japanese-speaking…