Ohitorisama: the Japanese art of going solo becomes growing consumer trend
Every so often, 33-year-old Masaki Kitakoga slips into a tiny booth with a desk and a chair and belts out karaoke tunes for 90 minutes — completely on his own. Kitakoga is part of a growing trend in Japan favoring solo activities that is now ...
Relocating to San Francisco with a Japanese spouse
The mariachi blares through the night, mixed with the hustle of elephants. It is Friday night in Oakland, California — a fact embraced by our upstairs neighbors, who are partial to Mexican polka. "It's 11 p.m. — urusai (shut up)," my wife says with jet-lagged ...
Joining up contradictory conditions in Japanese with 'ippo'
Fudan-no seikatsu-wa setsuyaku-suru ippō, o-iwaigoto-wa hade-ni suru. (They economize in their daily lives on the one hand but pull out all the stops for celebrations.) ...
More and more couples from overseas are holding wedding ceremonies in Kyoto, attracted by the ancient capital's reputation as symbolizing traditional Japanese culture. In 2015 the city government started to issue marriage certificates for foreign couples who held weddings in the city, following information from ...
When thinking of using 'omou,' remember the subject dictates the form
Introducing ways of using the verb 思(おも)う (to think) correctly.
An increasing number of people in Japan are living alone, and a lot of them are men with flimsy ties to their community. Many are elderly and isolated, lacking any support, or are still in the working population but have delayed or shunned marriage only ...
Unclaimed remains accumulating in aging Japan
The smell of mold wafted through the small underground room at a municipal-run cemetery in the city of Saitama in late November, where around 600 unclaimed urns filled the shelves. Pointing at the only vacant rack in the vault, Saitama official Satoru Shimizu said it ...
Village in Nagano comes up with hunk calendar to help 12 bachelors find mates
Women hoping to find Mr. Right in 2018 should check for dates on the Otoko Goyomi (Men's Calendar) published by the village of Otari in Nagano Prefecture. The calendar showcases a dozen local bachelors who are looking for wives. Otari is promoting the charms of ...
Women in Japan too tired to care about dating or searching for a partner
While Japanese society and the media continue to exhort — nay plead — with women to find marriage partners, 60 percent of eligible women say they cannot feel relaxed enough to get interested in renai (love relationships), according to a Yomeishu survey picked up ...
U.S. same-sex marriage advocate urges Japan to go beyond municipal certificates
In recent decades, same-sex marriage has become legal in many countries, including the United States, Canada and parts of Europe. In Japan — starting with Tokyo's Shibuya and Setagaya wards in November 2015 — municipal governments have begun issuing certificates that recognize same-sex unions as ...
The delicate Japanese art of rom-com title translation
With so much at stake, it's no wonder distribution companies pour so much thought into coming up with workable, attractive Japanese titles for their films.
The Japanese and love — more complicated than you think
The Japanese suck at this thing called love, and no amount of Valentine's Day chocolate is going to fix that.
