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July 12, 2025
 

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GRAMMAR

Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 11, 2025
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
With World Emoji Day approaching, it's a good opportunity to recognize how important these digital pictures have become.
Get those umbrellas out, rainy season has arrived in much of Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 12, 2025
In the forecast for June — a lot of talk about the weather
From "tsuyu" to "amayadori," the current season has no shortage of vocabulary for downpours, floods and wet weather.
Feelings of lethargy and anxiety can sometimes hit after the Golden Week holiday period has concluded. The Japanese call this the “May blues.”
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 1, 2025
Why the month of May feels tough and how language can help
The phenomenon known as the "May blues" can have serious ramifications if you don't deal with it.
As in other cultures, when someone shares bad news in Japanese it’s best to respond with supportive words.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 26, 2025
How to bring up bad news in Japanese
A few grammatical structures can help you talk about being sick, but set phrases will come in handy when the illness is more severe.
Signs advertising the upcoming World Expo in Osaka have proliferated in the city's different neighborhood for the past few years.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2025
I’ve only just come back from Osaka, but I’m ready to hit the Expo
The term “bakari” can be used in several different ways to emphasize and define the limit of a range.
While AI has added increased uncertainty over what is and isn't true, misinformation has been around for a while.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 14, 2025
How to tell if what you're hearing is true (or just sounds like it is)
Some Japanese grammatical terms signal uncertainty, and that is when you need phrases to help you get to the truth of the matter.
The concept of diversity isn't foreign to Japanese people, but new ways of referring to the practice in society might be.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 9, 2025
DEI, woke and 'forest bathing': When a direct translation just won't cut it
Take a three-step approach that includes context and nuance when describing buzzwords and complicated terminology.
Getting caught in the rain while walking home may require you to use the passive voice when relaying your bad luck to others.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 23, 2025
Annoyed? Unfairly treated? Express yourself in Japanese with the passive voice
Verbs get complicated when they're used to describe feelings of annoyance or victimization.
What does the year hold for Japan? Make your own predictions using some key phrases.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 17, 2025
Let’s make some predictions about what will happen in the year ahead
The start of the new year comes with expectations as to how the following months will unfold. Learn how to respond to what others predict.
Casual Japanese usage increasingly sees the "i" at the end of exclamations like "yabai" (dangerous) replaced by a small "tsu."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 26, 2024
Small letter, big impact: A little 'tsu' makes all the difference
When reading the small "tsu," shorten the preceding vowel slightly and then start with the sound of the subsequent consonant.
People walk around an outlet mall in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture. At stores across Japan, clerks use a form of polite language called "manyuaru keigo," literally, “manual honorifics,” named for the service manuals they study it from.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 6, 2024
Japan's honorific language can be challenging for native speakers, too
According to surveys, more than half of those in their teens, 20s and 30s, believe they cannot use "keigo," or honorific language, appropriately.
Customers enter Aeon's Shinagawa Seaside store in Tokyo for a Black Friday sale in 2022.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 29, 2024
Master this double negative to better express your Black Friday urges
What better time to learn how to say you can't resist a deal than on a weekend of discounted shopping.
With Labor Thanksgiving Day approaching in Japan, it's a good time to show some appreciation to your colleagues.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 20, 2024
You don’t need an onion bouquet to say thanks — just the right words
Nov. 23 is Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan and Nov. 28 is Thanksgiving in the United States. That makes it a good time to learn how to show your appreciation.
As the weather gets colder, we are seeing an uptick in cases of influenza as well as COVID-19.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 13, 2024
The Japanese you need to get vaccinated before winter comes
With strains of both COVID-19 and the flu circulating, learn the words that will help you navigate a visit to the clinic.
A picture of the writer with his sibling and grandparents sits alongside double “Best of” CDs by British rock group the Beatles. Music by the band continues to conjure memories for the writer of staying at his grandparents’ home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 7, 2024
Hearing a song from the past and expressing nostalgia in Japanese
You're in a cafe and suddenly a song from the past starts to play. How do you tell your Japanese friends that you're in the "time slip"?
Familiarizing yourself with different types of honorifics and formal verb structures will be crucial to successfully completing a job interview in Japanese.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 2, 2024
Get to know basic honorifics before you head into that Japanese job interview
Honorific language, or “keigo,” is something you’ll want to get a handle on before you head out to hunt for a job in Japan.
A pedestrian walks past a 7-Eleven convenience store in Tokyo. The Japanese model for a convenience store is gaining fans overseas where similar stores sell mostly gasoline and junk food.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 1, 2024
Making a habit of describing your morning convenience store run
Hitting up the local convenience store before or after work can wind up becoming habitual, and there are a number of grammar points to help describe it.
A farmer harvests rice in a paddy field in Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, last month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 25, 2024
In need of rice and some Japanese words that describe necessity
When does something go from being a "want" to a "need"? A few grammar structures can give the listener a sense of how urgent a situation is becoming.
Get your dark blue suit out of the closet, job hunting season is once again upon us.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 6, 2024
Those looking for jobs in Japan get another shot at it in September
Hiring for new recruits usually takes place in time for an April start, but Japanese companies are increasingly looking to hire in the autumn.
Japan is divided into many different regions, sometimes distinguishing areas of the country by old borders or climate.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 16, 2024
When it comes to Japan, do you know your 'Kanto' from your 'Kanto-koshin'?
Japanese people tend to travel to their hometowns around this time of year, and asking where they went is an easy conversation starter.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
Air India crash report to offer peek into last seconds
Members of the Indian Army's engineering arm prepare to remove the wreckage of an Air India aircraft in Ahmedabad on June 14.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.
NGOs condemn rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of Upper House vote
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya holds a board that reads "Japanese First" in Tokyo on July 2. In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights nongovernmental organizations described the far-right party's stance as "hate speech."
Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
From the Abes to the Ohtanis: How siblings shape athletic development
Olympic judoka Uta Abe (second from left) and Hifumi Abe (second from right) with their brother Yuichiro (center) and their parents. “I’m always consciously trying to be a good older brother,” Yuichiro said.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after
Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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