My Favorite Japanese Food, “Nabe”
It's winter in Japan right now, the season for one of my favorite dishes, nabe (NAH-beh). The word means "pot" ...
Tag: Japan
All about the Japanese word “Gambaru” (do your best)
One word that comes up in anime a lot is gambaru (gahn-BAH-roo, alternately written ganbaru, in Japanese 頑張る), a happy, ...
What Happens to Foreigners who Live in Japan Too Long
Strange things can happen to foreigners who live in Japan for too long. They might watch TV while drinking beer ...
The truth behind “Omiai” (Arranged Marriages)
When I was growing up, I remember thinking that they had arranged marriages in Japan, probably something I got from ...
Japan’s Wonderful TV “Talents”
Spend a little time in front of a TV in Japan and you'll see more than a few interesting "talents" ...
Barrier to white people learning Japanese: Kanji
Without a doubt, one of the big barriers to learning Japanese are the kanji, the Chinese characters that communicate meaning ...
Some thoughts on the series “Lost,” how to brighten a Japanese salaryman’s day, and how learning Japanese can get you fewer dates
I've caught the "Lost" bug, and am enjoying watching the series on DVD here in San Diego. One interesting aspect ...
The interesting status of voice actors in Japan, shortening foreign words in English and Japanese, and ways that the Japanese aren’t so polite
Anime has really gotten big in the U.S. in recent years, changing the face of popular culture as people are ...
The plight of the poor Japanese taxi driver, finding government waste very close to home, and how to sound like a dirty old man in Japanese
I wrote a couple weeks ago that taxi fares were going to be going up 7%, a rare instance of ...
The joy of “onigiri” rice balls, observations on cooperative elements of Japanese language, and man, that’s a really Nice Boat!
If you were to plan a picnic, you might pack a basket containing things like sandwiches, potato salad or maybe ...
Finding the geographic center of American English, adventures in New Zealand with plenty of sheep, and getting complimented on chopstick use
One question I've been asked by my ESL students in Japan is, just where is "standard" American English located geographically? ...
Funny moments in Japan, Tokyo’s famous Asakusa district, and limitations of Japanese “humility”
(It looks like we were experiencing some problems with the site due to heavy server load, although it's fixed now. ...
Having fun with perceptions, all about Japanese steak, and my trip to a Caribbean Beach
Perceptions are funny things, and it's surprising how easily they can be wrong. One day a student of mine asked ...
Internalizing a foreign culture through gestures, the current state of English conversation in Japan, and guess what day to day is?
Living in a foreign country means more than just learning that country's language. It also means subtly taking the local ...
Questions about ice cream in Japan, on Japanese students who use their dictionaries too much, and funny corporate slogans in English
I was once asked if the Japanese eat any flavors of ice cream other than Green Tea. The answer, of ...
Linguistic foibles in Japanese, “made-in-Japan” English words for people who like mayonnaise, and questions about inflation
The other day my wife asked me what a "window-breaker" was. I assumed she was asking about a type of ...
Thoughts on how the Japanese define “family,” confusion over English lyrics in Japanese songs, and how to tell a Korean from a Japanese
We've got a bit of a running joke in our family. South Korean television dramas are popular in Japan, and ...
Learning about Japan through late-night TV, update on international marriage in Japan, and learning Chinese “for free”
I watch more than a little late-night Japanese TV, and I enjoy its light- hearted goofiness. The other night I ...
The possibility of Japan’s first “otaku” Prime Minister, various thoughts on bilingualism, and all about Japanese health drinks (and other potions)
The rush is on to choose a successor to Prime Minister Abe after his sudden resignation on Wednesday. I saw ...
More about “standing out in a crowd,” what Steven Spielberg has to do with learning Japanese, and ways that Japanese people save space
I talked last time about how the dynamic of "standing out in a crowd" can work a little differently when ...
A trip to a Japanese doctor’s office, insights into Japanese home remodeling, and differences between Gaijin and Japanese
I was feeling a little under the weather the other day so I went for a visit to our local ...
Learning about Japan through traditional calligraphy, interesting trends on Japanese television, and all about the word “Domo”
One way to learn about Japan is through its traditional calligraphy, which uses a writing brush called a fude (FOO-day) ...
My weekend trip to Akiba, times when Japanese do or don’t apologize, and the history of the stapler in Japan
I took the train into Tokyo on Sunday to meet a friend in Akihabara, the area of Tokyo famous as ...
