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October 11, 2025
 

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JLPT N1

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.
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.
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.
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.
The idea of quitting tends to be associated with weakness, but moving on from a problematic situation can sometimes be extremely positive.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 10, 2024
Sometimes there's power in quitting
Modern society tends to see quitting as a sign of weakness, but Buddhist teaching has extolled the benefits of letting go of something at the right time.
The carp-shaped streamers you see flying in the wind around the start of May are connected to Children's Day. The carp is a symbol of strength and success, which is why it is used in connection to the holiday.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 25, 2024
Getting extremely emotional with grammar ahead of Children's Day
Certain Japanese grammatical structures can help enhance emotions in conversation and writing, conveying the idea of "unbearably."
The “dogeza” position is used for the sincerest of apologies and it was deployed by the man who mistakenly ruined an attempt at a Guinness world record on live television.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 9, 2024
The year so far has been marked by some good and bad apologies
A social norm seems to persist in Japan that one should apologize first and explain later. That goes for companies as well.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 22, 2020
Dare to take action in Japanese with 'isso' and 'omoikitte'
The terms 'isso' and 'omoikitte' both convey the nuance of doing something daring, or even 'taking the plunge.' Learn when it's best to use them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Nov 24, 2020
We won't force you to learn 'yogi naku,' but you can't help doing so anyway
Ano suigai de ōku no katagata ga hinan-seikatsu o yogi naku saremashita.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 27, 2020
The possibilities only 'naradewa' can offer
The structures 'naradewa' and 'ni kagiru' point out the singularity of something that's usually rather good.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Sep 22, 2020
You ought to know how 'beki' can help your Japanese
The negative 'bekarazu' structure may be old, but you can still find it in written Japanese with a strong prohibitive nuance attached to it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 25, 2020
When it comes to Japanese, 'mamire' and 'darake' have you covered
While 'darake' and 'mamire' both have different nuances, the one thing they have in common is that they always refer to something bad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jul 28, 2020
Since you're studying, why not study 'gatera' while you're at it?
The 'gatera' structure is often used in formal situations and points out that you will do one action because you're already doing another.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jun 23, 2020
Pointing out things that run counter to a situation with 'X-ta tokoro de'
The 'X-ta tokoro de' structure can help you out even if you don't have too much time on your hands.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
May 26, 2020
Tell people your hopes and wishes using 'kana'
Stating your desires in Japanese can be done using a number of different structures.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 28, 2020
'Nashi ni' and 'nuki de' will help you do without
The 'nashi ni' structure can sound somewhat formal, so you wouldn't necessarily use it when you want to hold the bacon on a pasta dish. That's where 'nuki de' comes in.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 7, 2020
What to do when a Japanese word shows signs of needing 'meku' attached to it
Attaching the verb 'meku' to certain Japanese words can emphasize the idea of showing signs of something or appearing to look like something.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Mar 31, 2020
The 'ni ataranai' structure is actually a grammar point that's worth learning
The terms 'ni(wa) ataranai' and 'made mo nai/naku' point out things that aren't worth doing, but they have slightly different nuances.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Feb 25, 2020
Endowed with the talent for understanding the Japanese structures using 'nagara ni'
The structures 'nagara ni' and 'nagara no' are used in very specific ways in Japanese, which makes their comprehension slightly easier.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jan 28, 2020
Filled to the brim with tips on how to use 'zukume' and 'zukushi'
The suffixes 'zukume' and 'zukushi' express the idea of 'entirety' and 'variety,' and are sure to give you an edge in more formal situations.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
University of Tokyo lands its highest spot ever in global higher education ranking
The University of Tokyo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
Tokyo named world’s best big city for second straight year
Tokyo was ranked the world's best large city for the second year in a row in the Conde Nast Traveler's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards.
With nuclear sub proposal, Japan faces array of political and tech challenges
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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