NEWSWORTHY
Emailing business connections in Japanese is simple if you remember a few handy phrases
The most important thing to remember when writing work-related emails is your manners. Polite Japanese is necessary even when dealing with someone you know, which means a lot of honorifics and thank-yous.
Throw out idioms left and right using ... the Japanese words for left and right!
"Hidari" (left) and "migi" (right) are used in several well known expressions in Japanese that indicate everything from a level of skill to a propensity for spending money.
When reading about a group of monks protesting on social media, the collision of traditional and modern words is a treat.
There's a trend among Japanese restaurants to get rid of plastic straws. Will it help the environment?
Tokyo is gearing up to host an esports tournament, read about what Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said about it in Japanese.
You still need to know your ABCs if you're living in Japan
Written Japanese has three different scripts — hiragana, katakana and kanji — so you wouldn’t think there’d be room for any more. But you’d be wrong.
Using 'kaneru' incorrectly is something we simply cannot do
The verb かねる is slightly complicated. It translates as “being unable to” and is often attached to a verb (X) in its masu-stem form (the masu-form with ます removed).
Join in the chatter during film awards season
With the Golden Globes finished, the race to the Oscars is on. It's time to try out your Japanese on the topic of movies.
Know the circumstances of using 'shidai'
Depending on whether it's used as a noun, an idomatic expression or as an adverb, 'shidai' can mean something entirely different.
A hot spring map proves to be a hot topic in the news. Read about how the city of Beppu is making efforts to welcome tourists with tattoos.
A Nagoya-based effort to recycle food waste gets an award — and we get a lesson on composting.
It's 2019 and it's time to hit those Japanese textbooks — for real
Whether you've been here for several days or several decades, listening to fellow expats, immigrants and other non-Japanese residents groaning about their dissatisfaction with their language abilities is nothing new. The advice I've received on how to improve, however, sometimes skews toward the exasperating. I've ...
