Japanese Suffixes, Part 1
In Japan, where politeness in language is so important, suffixes are quite essential. What are suffixes? They’re words that come after other words—in this case,…
Saying the Day and Date in Japanese
If you’ve been teaching yourself Japanese with the grammar lessons on this site, you ought to have a firm grasp on basic counting in Japanese.…
Goukon: Japanese Group Dating
In Japan, a country in which professional matchmaking (called “omiai“) is still a viable method of meeting your fiance(e) (although a much less often used…
Japanese Whaling Ends Early This Year
As we’ve previously covered, Japan conducts an annual whale hunting expedition despite the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling asking that they do not.…
Dealing with an Emergency in Japan
In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent earthquakes and nuclear power plant issues, the world has gotten a glimpse…
How to Talk About Health in Japanese
If you plan on spending time in Japan or around Japanese-speaking people, it’s better that you over prepare than under prepare. Knowing how to talk…
Osaka: The Home of Cuisine and Comedy, Part 2
On Friday, we discussed Osaka as “the nation’s kitchen.” Today we’ll talk instead about Osaka as the home of comedy. But first, we’ll take a…
The Japanese Cinema Experience
When it comes to seeing a movie in cinemas, you probably don’t think the experience differs much from country to country. However, seeing a movie…
Kouhaku Uta Gassen: Red and White Song Battle
Now we’re going to switch our focus over the next few weeks to New Year’s celebrations in Japan, as the New Year is a much…
“America’s Pastime” in Japan: Japanese Baseball
Baseball may be America’s pastime, but it seems like other sports such as football often take the spotlight away from the sport. In Japan, though,…
Japan’s Golden Week
This week, Japanese students and many Japanese businesspeople are sitting back, relaxing and enjoying their week off. The first week in May (actually April 29th…
Utashinai: Japan’s Least Populated City
So far we’ve covered a number of Japan’s most populated cities in this blog. For example, Tokyo, Japan’s most populated city, is home to about…