Tag - language

 
Menu
Search
 
August 25, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

LANGUAGE

JAPAN
Dec 4, 2022
From 'HTT' and 'SusHi Tech' to 'NHK,' Koike’s way with words falters
The Tokyo governor is known for her past catchy policy terms such as Cool Biz, but lately her choice of expressions has failed to resonate with the public.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 1, 2022
Quebec plans to bar long-term immigrants who don’t speak French
The nationalist Coalition Avenir Quebec party was re-elected with a huge majority in October, partly on a platform of protecting French as the dominant language in the province.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 28, 2022
Wordplay, blank signs and music: How China is protesting 'COVID zero'
Protesters in China are using creative ways to voice dissent against the government and its zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 26, 2022
Leg booty? Panoramic? How TikTok is changing language
A new vocabulary — a little fun, a little dystopian — has emerged on the social video platform, as creators try to get around algorithms and strict content moderation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2022
The new geopolitics demands a new vocabulary
Terms such as 'the West' and 'the East' are lazy, awkward and inaccurate geopolitical signifiers in the Post-Cold War era.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2022
Can sex, gender and language live happily ever after?
Politicizing language adds to polarization and compromises elegance. There's a better approach, if we're capable of it.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 18, 2022
Modi hails Indian ‘golden era’ in speeches when times get tough
In the face of high inflation and unemployment, Modi has been repeatedly telling voters that India is just beginning a 'golden era” that will run for the next quarter century.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 18, 2022
Japanese firm donates smart masks to Ukrainian evacuees
Capable of translating into 100 different languages, the masks were provided to Ukrainians for better communication with locals in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 15, 2022
Ukraine's past and present intertwine as a war historian seeks refuge
She was one of the 10 million displaced Ukrainians whose lives have been upended by Russia's invasion. Her newfound status felt alien, something belonging to survivors of past wars.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Mar 14, 2022
Woman's plight puts Japanese-language school cancellation fees in spotlight
The practice of making students pay a fee in the event of them leaving school to obtain a work visa has been met with criticism.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 17, 2021
All is not golden with the 2021 selection for kanji of the year
There was a sense of serious deja vu when 'u91d1' (kin) was announced as kanji of the year for 2021, it's fourth time to take the honor.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 10, 2021
Sports, silent meals and 'Shut Up!': What Japan was talking about in 2021
The year's top buzzwords were announced to great fanfare, but the real word on everyone's lip last week was 'omicron.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Nov 15, 2021
Japanese-Korean-Turkish language group traced to farmers in ancient China
Various descended languages and peoples are thought to have spread across an area of some 8,000 kilometers.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 24, 2021
Andorra, then Yemen: Japan's alphabet gives unique order to opening ceremony parade
Unlike previous Olympics held in Japan, where athletes marched into the stadium in the English order of their names, Tokyo 2020 followed Japan's writing system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 7, 2021
How Hokkaido is breaking down language barriers
With the number of non-Japanese continuing to grow, the prefecture is hoping to help all of its residents with more accessible information.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Jun 6, 2021
Japan Times 1971: Japanese believe they are 'superior'
As witnesses took to the stand at the 1946 Tokyo trials, they addressed the propaganda campaign that led the Japanese to think they were superior. Attitudes hadn't changed 25 years later.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 20, 2021
Japanese language opens doors for Thai students
Driven by a love of anime and manga, and enticed by employment opportunities, the number of people wanting to learn has risen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2021
Japan's health ministry publishes translated COVID-19 vaccination form
The document has so far been translated into 12 languages: English, Arabic, French, Indonesian, Korean, Myanmar, Nepalese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Thai.
Japan Times
JAPAN / SPELLING BEE
Mar 12, 2021
Winner of Japan Spelling Bee looks ahead to U.S. contest
Yugen Padhye won the 12th Japan Spelling Bee on March 6, after correctly spelling the winning word — 'dodecahedron.'
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2021
Cities and towns face language barriers as they prepare to vaccinate Japan's foreign residents
With their hands already full, some municipalities are less prepared than others and many have been forced to put the issue on the back burner.
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Japan to boost support for joint ride-hailing services
Tatsuaki Igarashi, mayor of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, exits a ride-sharing vehicle at Tsukuba Station in January.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER