Tag - language

 
Menu
Search
 
October 30, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

LANGUAGE

Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 1, 2018
Nothing is left undone with the plethora of negative prefixes in Japanese
Everything in life has a negative side to it. This nasty fact has also left its mark on Japanese, in the form of negative prefixes that will turn just everything into its opposite.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 1, 2018
Impress with your powers of prediction in Japanese by using 'yappari'
Introducing the adverb u3084u306fu308a and its casual spoken version, u3084u3063u3071u308a, which is frequently used in Japanese conversation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Sep 24, 2018
Know your spicy from your sweet in Japanese with 'karai' and 'amai'
Introducing the meanings and uses of u8f9b(u304bu3089)u3044 (spicy) and u7518(u3042u307e)u3044 (sweet), two adjectives that relate to taste.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 24, 2018
How to sum up Japan's summer of disaster in Japanese?
The summer of 2018 was one for the books — busting meteorological records, wreaking havoc and devastating entire regions along the coast of western Japan.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 24, 2018
Let's discuss Namie Amuro
Fans across the country flocked to events paying tribute to pop diva Namie Amuro on the day she chose to step out of the spotlight.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 17, 2018
When stumped in Japanese, go where stumped Japanese go
Reading Japanese explanations of Japanese grammar patterns is a surefire way to improve your reading ability and to make sure you're getting unadulterated content.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Sep 17, 2018
Living and working — choosing the right verb in Japanese
Introducing the differences between the verbs 'sumu' and 'kurasu,' as well as 'tsutomeru' and 'hataraku'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 10, 2018
Rest, weary Japan traveler, and read this riveting 'ishibumi'
Much can be gleaned from memorials and markers erected at roadsides and elsewhere in Japan to commemorate people or mark events.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Sep 10, 2018
Chilling in Japanese with 'hieru,' 'hiyasu,' 'sameru' and 'samasu'
Introducing the verb u51b7(u3072)u3048u308b (to become cold) and its related words and expressions.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Sep 10, 2018
Fossils of largest dinosaur ever found in Japan go on show in Hokkaido
At a little over 8 meters from head to tail, a dinosaur skeleton on show in Hokkaido is the largest ever discovered in Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 3, 2018
Getting to know Japan on a first-name basis
What's in a first name? In Japan, you'll find insights into societal change.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Sep 3, 2018
In Japanese, turn to 'omoi' when something weighs on your shoulders or mind
Introducing the i-adjective u91cd(u304au3082)u3044/u91cdu305fu3044 (heavy).
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Sep 3, 2018
Five deaths go unreported at Gifu city hospital
Five patients in their 80s passed away while staying in rooms with broken air conditioning at Y&M Fujikake Daiichi Hospital in Gifu.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 3, 2018
Let's discuss flying cars
Japan is making a push to develop flying cars, enlisting companies including Uber and Airbus to join a public-private panel tasked with making airborne vehicles a reality in the next decade.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 29, 2018
In Japan, the most important rule for language translation is often broken
As Japan continues to court more foreign tourists, the nation must learn to respect foreign languages as much as its own.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 27, 2018
Will society still need me, will it still feed me, when I'm 100?
Back in the 1960s when Paul McCartney wrote 'When I'm 64,' the average life expectancy worldwide was 52. Yet half a century on, Japan is already gearing up for the era of u4ebau751fu767eu5e74 (jinsei hyakunen, 100-year life).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 27, 2018
Using 'zenzen' in Japanese is no problem at all
Introducing some of the usages of the adverb u5168u7136(u305cu3093u305cu3093, never/not at all), which is often heard in conversation.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 27, 2018
Let's discuss the lost and found boy
The recent discovery of an uninjured 2-year-old boy who had been missing for three days on an island in western Japan is being called a miracle.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 20, 2018
Let's discuss the Japan boxing scandal
Japan Amateur Boxing Federation President Akira Yamane has quit following numerous allegations of misconduct, including pressuring referees to fix matches and misuse of grant money.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 20, 2018
Smile as you study:/ Sharp salaryman senryu/ satirize the slog
Highlights from the 31st Senryu for Salaried Workers Contest riff on the situations employees encounter at the office, home or both.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
At first summit with Trump, Takaichi pledges 'new golden age' for alliance
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi raises her fist as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech in front of U.S. Navy personnel on board the U.S. Navy's USS George Washington aircraft carrier at the American naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
Abe shooting suspect Yamagami pleads guilty to murder
Members of the media gather outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara on Tuesday hours before the start of the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.
Takaichi buys time and builds trust with ‘near-perfect’ Trump summit
U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during a visit to the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JPYC, world’s first yen stablecoin, is issued
Noritaka Okabe, head of Japanese startup JPYC, at a news conference for the first yen stablecoin in Tokyo on Monday
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18
Tokyo Film Festival opens with global stars and a spotlight on Asian storytelling
Director Junji Sakamoto (left) walked the Tokyo International Film Festival red carpet with Sayuri Yoshinaga (center) and Non (right), who both play mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, in the biopic "Climbing for Life."
Spanish artist and Japanese writer duos diversify the manga talent pool in Japan
"Menheim” is a dark fantasy manga with a story that centers on a girl’s quest to find a cure for her ill brother.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality
Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER