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Yuko Tamura
A shogi board game with human pieces is played out in Tendo, Yamagata Prefecture, last year.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 29, 2024
The vocabulary of shogi can help you make moves in your conversations
The world of shogi, a game that is often described as a form of Japanese chess, has given us much more than just checkmates.
Demonstrators hold a banner as they take part in a march to call for gender equality and protest against gender discrimination as part of an International Women’s Day march in Tokyo in 2021.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 8, 2024
Recognizing the vocabulary surrounding International Women’s Day
Many of the terms describing issues women are facing in Japan have a string of complex kanji. Knowing the basics can go a long way in aiding understanding.
What would you do if you received a juicy piece of gossip at work, do you know the Japanese for how you'd respond?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 23, 2024
Rumor, gossip and misinformation with neither roots nor leaves
Areas hit by the New Year's Day earthquake find themselves subject to damaging misinformation as they try to focus on reconstruction.
Valentine's Day in Japan is one way when it comes to chocolate, but the sweets are reciprocated on White Day in March.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 2, 2024
Prepare for date night by practicing reservations in Japanese
Whether its chocolates or a full-course meal, food is the language for Valentine's Day.
One Japanese idiom goes, "the drawn dragon is missing an eye." It means that something lacks that crucial finishing touch.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 4, 2024
The Year of the Dragon has arrived along with a slew of idioms
Japanese sayings that involve dragons tend to invoke the powerful characteristics of the mythical creature.
A Japanese monk rings the bell at his temple. The bell is rung 108 times on New Year's Eve, a way to cleanse ourselves of the worldly desires.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 29, 2023
The year’s end provides us a chance to consider the passage of time
There are plenty of Japanese words that express the passage of time, whether it's a matter of years or the blink of an eye.
While harsh comments from older generations can sometimes be seen as rude, consider instead that they’re often trying to teach us something they hold on to.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 26, 2023
A survival guide for your first Japanese-style at-home New Year’s
Meeting your partner’s Japanese family for the New Year’s holidays? Here are some do’s and don’ts for an ‘oshōgatsu’ success story.
If you're having a Christmas potluck with your friends, you'll want to make sure your dishes look as good as they taste.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 21, 2023
A few linguistic palate cleansers for your holiday potlucks
With the pandemic-era norms subsiding, it looks like home parties may be back and bigger than ever.
Communication is important in a relationship, especially when you and your spouse grew up speaking different languages. Learn a few phrases that show you care.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 22, 2023
A few small expressions can go a long way in your relationship
As we celebrate Couple's Day in Japan, let's review ways to tell your special someone how great they are.
A banner displayed at the entrance of Shibuya Ward’s Center Street makes clear that authorities do not want Halloween revelers to roam the streets as has become the custom.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 27, 2023
Why deal with the crowds when you can have a ‘mundane Halloween’ online?
People are busy thinking up costumes at Halloween, so will yours be flashy and outrageous? Well, an online trend proves "bland" can be just as fun.
The Nakamise shopping street running up to Senso-ji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa area was crowded with tourists this past summer.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 6, 2023
A year after borders fully opened, tourism vocab is also back
After tourists fully returned to Japan last October, so did a term we hadn't heard since before the pandemic: overtourism.
Does a person have a duty to alert others when they see wrongdoing in a company? Or is it better to leave the gods untouched lest you be cursed?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 21, 2023
A culture of silence vs. a culture of speaking up
The scandal at talent agency Johnny & Associates was made worse by a culture of “keeping the lid on a stinky thing.”
With more and more young people entering the workforce, terms that were once popular in the so-called bubble era are falling out of fashion.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 15, 2023
Outdated business jargon strikes out with Japan's Gen Z
Around 70% of survey respondents say jargon leads to misunderstandings that end up wasting time.
A Japanese junior high school student stares off into space while in the classroom. If your child is distracted or preoccupied during lessons, it may be time to speak with their teacher.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 3, 2023
School is back. Is it time to have a word with the teacher?
It’s important to know how to speak to your child’s homeroom teacher at school so you can keep an eye on how they are doing.
Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, attends an open dialogue with students at Keio University in June.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 17, 2023
AI, ChatGPT and the ‘creation’ of work with a human touch
Get to know the terminology involved with new artificial intelligence technology.
You may hear words like "kanshin" used when talking about baseball player Shohei Ohtani, but are people talking about "interest" or "admiration"?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 3, 2023
Step on a rhyme to better understand Japanese homophones
Spending time to learn the Japanese language's many homophones can result in a better understanding of definitions — and it's fun.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 23, 2023
Politically speaking, how should Japan talk about gender?
When trying to pass legislation on topics dealing with the LGBTQ+ community, lawmakers found themselves using a katakana term as a compromise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 2, 2023
Sorry to say, apologizing in Japanese isn't always such a big deal
From bumping into a stranger to making amends for a past wrong, it's important to know how to apologize in Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 25, 2023
Get in on the talk of the town when Roppongi Art Night begins
With the all-night art festival taking place this weekend, we look at ways to talk about art in Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 14, 2023
Long story short, abbreviated Japanese is good value for your time
In English, acronyms are a way to communicate what you want to say quickly. The Japanese tend to shorten their speech by shortening their words.

Longform

Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep