A useful Japanese slang word, changing in the Japanese savings rate, and one “key” to understanding Japan and America (?)…
Recently we took our daughter to a resort hotel in Kusatsu, a hot springs town in the mountains with more ...
Tag: manga
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. ...
Learning about Japan through first- and second-person pronouns, the relationship of Japan and Hawaii, and more fun with Japanese superstitions
Strangely enough, you can learn a lot about Japan through its first and second person pronouns: there are several of ...
The next Prime Minister of Japan is decided, more thoughts on how the Japanese keep their politics peaceful, and things to do in Tokyo
Well, the race for the leadership of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is over, and the calm, moderate Yasuo Fukuda has ...
More about the “second childhood” you get when learning a language, my daughter’s Sports Day, and all about the Toyoya Prius and Tezuka Osamu
Last time I mentioned the "second childhood" I'd enjoyed as a student of Japanese. It's true -- learning a foreign ...
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 ...
A big typhoon pummels Japan, thoughts on the concept of “standing out” and a fun word of Japanese for you
September is storm season in Japan, as we were reminded when Typhoon Fitow -- designated boringly as Typhoon No. 9 ...
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) ...
Masi Oka of Heroes visiting Japan, contemplating Japanese culture through its food, and more dogs in Japan than babies
I knew it would happen: Heroes is starting to get popular in Japan. This morning I turned on the TV ...
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 ...
Japanese High school baseball update, things I’ve learned from teaching ESL, and the next “boom” to hit Japan — Vinegar Beer?
You never know where the next interesting "boom" will come from in Japan. Maybe it'll be a strange new fashion ...
Thoughts on e-books and other “revolutions,” the worst-run government program in history, and why you don’t want to be in a car in Japan now
Imagine what would happen if a quarter of all Americans lived in the Washington D.C. area instead of spread out ...
Japan as a “Matrix of Strange English,” on the strong-willed (and unattractive?) women of our prefecture, and language error “best hits”
Japan is, of course, the home of funny English. It's everywhere, like a bizarre Matrix of Strangeness that pervades the ...
All about Saiou and his horse, update on our summer school trip decision, and enjoying Japan’s seasons through bug noises
The Japanese have a saying that they got from the Chinese that I mention from time to time: ningen banji, ...
More on the language of men and women, the Jerusalem of Otakuism, and all about sex and nudity in Japan (cool!)
There are subtle nuances in how we use language, and the speech we choose to use says something about all ...
The lack of patriotic songs in Japan, what happened in our prefecture during WWII, and a useful word for Atari fans
The Fourth of July celebration was a lot of fun, a rare treat for me since Anime Expo usually falls ...
Dire straights for the Nova Bunny, Japanese test culture and manga artists, and all about Japanese democracy
The teaching of eikaiwa, or English conversation, is quite an industry in Japan, and there are many schools where people ...
More fun at Star Wars Celebration IV, all about Japanese bathing, and some interesting ways you can study Japanese (or anything)
The Star Wars Celebration IV convention continues, and we're having lots of fun. Highlights have included Carrie Fisher coming by ...
What a difference an elongated vowel makes, Jamestown vs. Sekigahara, and other cultural observations from a cunning linguist
What a difference an elongated vowel can make. Japanese is quite different from English, having had a totally unique developmental ...
Shared experiences through anime and manga, on raising kids who are “half,” and understanding an aspect of Japan through Newsweek
Anime and comic books -- which are collectively referred with the term "manga" in Japanese -- are an inseparable part ...
Bizarre urban legends of Japan, funny English words the Japanese invent, and where are all the pregnant women?
Urban legends are funny things, sometimes leading millions of people to believe something that just isn't true. When Gerber started ...
Living in Japan and changes in your native language, of Golden Week and flying carp, and a “Gaijin Battle” on Japanese TV
Living in Japan means adapting to many things, not the least of which is modifying your native language. When I ...
Buddhist lucky and unlucky days in Japan, a funeral for a great anime character, and do you have a “good head”?
If you want to get married on the cheap in Japan, I suggest you do it on Butsumetsu ("Buddha's Death"), ...
Concepts like giri and ninjo, eating raw fish in Boston and Hokkaido, and fun with a Japanese ear pick
No study of pop Japanology can be complete without exploring the twin concepts of giri and ninjo (義理と人情）, which crop ...
