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October 19, 2025
 

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VOCABULARY

While Kyoto's Kiyomizu Temple is a famous spot for viewing the autumn foliage, Japan has no shortage of colorful forests.
LIFE / Language
Oct 16, 2025
The what, where and when of Japan’s autumn leaves
Autumn in Japan is a lesson in color and language — learn how to ask the right questions when it comes to hunting fall foliage.
Even if you don’t get your exact wishes across, younger Japanese　hair dressers tend to know a smattering of English and, of course,　you can always use hand gestures.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 9, 2025
From straight to curly: Getting your hair done in Japanese
From perms to straightening, navigating a Japanese salon isn’t difficult when you know the right words.
What’s worse, waking up to find a bear going through your trash or getting an earful from your neighbor on garbage separation?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 3, 2025
Don’t poke the bear: Learn how to sort your garbage the right way
Bears are increasingly wandering into towns and cities looking for food. Make sure you don’t tempt them with your leftovers.
Ed Sheeran's marketing team has taken over a shop in Tokyo's Ichigaya Station.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 26, 2025
Oh, Ed(o)! Where have all the vowels gone?
Japan’s playful “Magica spellings” drop vowels and swap consonants, blending Japanese and English into crafty puns.
The promise of autumn is one of relaxation and just being cozy overall.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 18, 2025
How Japanese captures the subtle shift into autumn
From the equinox to cooler mornings, Japanese grammar and expressions reflect how the season gradually deepens into autumn.
Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce kisses partner — now finacee — Taylor Swift as they celebrate after his team won Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 10, 2025
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s announcement hits all the right notes in Japan
Japanese culture is in the depths of a nostalgia wave, and the engagement announcement for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce fits in with it nicely.
Experts say staying off your phone and sticking to a sleep schedule can help those who have trouble dozing off.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 2, 2025
Mark Japan’s Sleep Day by making some lifestyle changes
The Japanese are not getting enough sleep. Luckily, everyone from scientists to Shohei Ohtani are offering solutions.
A boy looks at samples of Pokemon toys available with the McDonald's Happy Meal set in Tokyo earlier this month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 28, 2025
How to complain politely: Lessons from the McDonald’s Pokemon debacle
In Japan, the right phrasing can mean the difference between a request and harassment.
A lot of Japanese workers join online group texts to communicate with their coworkers, but at what point do those chats threaten a healthy work-life balance?
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 22, 2025
Expressing annoyance with work group chats in Japanese
Some employees value the convenience; others feel trapped by after-hours texts and social expectations embedded in office messaging culture.
People walk past a time board at Hakata Station in Fukuoka. Luckily for those trying to catch a train, reading a clock is universal.
LIFE / Bilingual
Aug 15, 2025
Reading the Japanese clock: Are times a-changin'?
Learn how the Japanese tell time — from zero o’clock to 27 o’clock, and why 10 minutes "before" isn’t always clear.
Heavy traffic on the nation's highways is just as much a part of the Bon holiday period as visiting ancestral graves.
LIFE / Bilingual
Aug 7, 2025
Brave the Bon holiday traffic to discover tourism gems off the beaten path
Learn how to ask about secret spots, regional dishes and specialty gifts using natural Japanese structures on your summer travels.
Incredibly popular in summer, Japanese wind chimes are said to cool the mind by giving the wind a voice.
LIFE / Bilingual
Jul 31, 2025
A language built on the wind, from mountain gusts to wind chimes
A breeze is always appreciated in summer, and Japan’s rich wind vocabulary reflects a deep cultural connection to nature, poetry and everyday life.
It is recommended that screen time for children should be kept to under two hours a day.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 24, 2025
Study first, screens later: Japanese kids have summer projects to do
From book reports to free research, parents are helping kids build good habits — and grammar — over summer break.
A man takes part in Tokyo’s Sanja Matsuri by helping to carry a "mikoshi" (portable shrine). Many Japanese festivals are open to foreign residents and tourists to participate in.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 19, 2025
Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point
From Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri to Tokyo’s Sumida fireworks, Japan’s summer festivals offer history, spectacle — and a chance to learn some vocabulary.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 11, 2025
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
With World Emoji Day approaching, it's a good opportunity to recognize how important these digital pictures have become.
People carry a portable shrine at Sensoji temple during the Sanja Festival in May. The festival is one of the three largest in Tokyo.
LIFE / Language
Jul 5, 2025
What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a Japanese summer?
Fireworks and festivals are part of the traditional Japanese summer, but what do people associate with the season these days?
An illustration of a scene from the fourth act of "Aoto Zōshi Hana no Nishiki-e" by Toyokuni Utagawa III (1862).
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 26, 2025
Take your first steps into the world of kabuki with these basic terms
The language of Japanese theater is full of double — even triple — meanings. Knowing the terminology is the first step in understanding it.
Though Kyotoites play down their reputation for not meaning what they say, there are certain phrases you should look out for if you’re invited to a home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 20, 2025
How to get kicked out of a Kyoto home with a smile
In Kyoto, a polite offer of tea might really mean “please leave.” Learn how to decode Kansai’s indirect dialect through a few phrases.
Get those umbrellas out, rainy season has arrived in much of Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 12, 2025
In the forecast for June — a lot of talk about the weather
From "tsuyu" to "amayadori," the current season has no shortage of vocabulary for downpours, floods and wet weather.
Reports claim that children with unusual names were being bullied at school and facing difficulties finding jobs.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 6, 2025
What’s in a name? With new guidelines, the Japanese government wants to know.
Japan now requires official furigana for names in the family register, aiming to limit overly creative "kira-kira" readings.
Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
Tokyo ordered to pay damages to South Asian woman over police response
The Tokyo High Court held that, “even taking the woman’s consent into account” for sharing her personal information, the officers breached their duty of care and acted unlawfully.
Former PM Tomiichi Murayama dies at age 101
Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama speaks during an interview in Tokyo in March 2007.
Japan's fractured politics could ensnarl Takaichi's economic plans
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, attends a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
Tokyo homebuyers split on purchase plans as living costs soar, survey shows
A survey showed that some potential homebuyers in Tokyo are delaying purchases while others are wary of missing out on opportunities posed by rising home prices.
What does Jimbocho think of its unexpected ‘cool’ status?
Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood is a haven for book lovers, its rows of secondhand bookstores spilling over with printed materials.
What you need to see at this year's Tokyo film festival
Chloe Zhao’s "Hamnet"
New film explores how Japan and the U.S. found common ground through baseball
Masanori Murakami became the first MLB player from Japan when he made his debut with the Giants on Sept 1, 1964.
As they wrestle for power, Japan’s political parties must remember their base
Rengo's head Tomoko Yoshino speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 8.
Sumo is about to hit London and the West with a force previously unseen
Preparations advance on Monday for the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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