NEWSWORTHY
Diary entry shows late Emperor's anguish over war responsibility
The diaries of the late Chamberlain Shinobu Kobayashi from 1987, when Emperor Showa was 85 years old, reveal how the Emperor was troubled by his war responsibilities.
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.
A little Japanese primer on using 'chotto' in Japanese
introducing some uses of the adverb ちょっと, which comes up in all kinds of situations.
Japanese surnames: Among the usual suspects, you're bound to find some curveballs
How many Japanese surnames are there anyway? It's a tricky question, because the total depends on how you decide to count them.
The good, the bad and the 'by all means' of 'zehi' in Japanese
A closer look at 是非(ぜひ), which means "good and/or bad" or "by all means."
Spooky Japanese tales will scare the summer's heat out of you
Until recently, summer nights involved turning off the AC and doing things like kurumaza ni natte kaidanbanashi (sitting in a circle and telling ghost stories).
Raise a glass, count your squid, say you're full but watch your tone with 'hai'
Introduce the word 一杯 (いっぱい, one cup) and its related expressions.
In a bid to boost the user-friendliness of the subway for visually impaired people, the Tokyo Metro will place new QR-coded stickers on the bumpy tiles that mark the path for the blind in one of its stations.
Get a handle on kanji in Japanese with the hand classifier
Considering the versatility of the human hand, it should come as no surprise that it can be found within more than 1,000 kanji.
In Japanese, 'sorosoro' shows what's coming slowly and carefully, or what's coming up
The adverb そろそろ can be used to indicate that an action is done not only slowly but also carefully, or that it is almost the time for something.
Wherever you go in Japanese, you'll always find your 'tokoro'
The word "tokoro" can be used to pin down a place in space, time or in a more abstract sense.
Much ado about 'nothing but' in Japanese with 'shika nai'
Introducing some uses of the phrase Xしかない/しかありません (There is nothing but X).
