Exceptions to Rules in Japanese
When you study a language like Japanese, you learn many rules that make up the grammar, like the unique particles ...
Tag: manga
Genshiken
One of my favorite anime/manga series is Genshiken, an exploration of the deeper aspects of anime, manga and related culture ...
Zipang… Cipangu… Giapan…
The name of Japan in its own language is nihon or nippon, alternate readings of kanji characters that mean "origin ...
The Progenitors of the Otaku
The word otaku is a formal term meaning "you" or "your family" which acquired its alternate meaning of "obsessed fanboy" ...
How Japanese Sound Word (onomatopoeia) Can Change a Gaijin
One of the surprising things about living in a country like Japan is, is how you can get used to ...
Meet Doraemon, Japan’s New Anime Ambassador
Japan has a new ambassador, and it's...Doraemon? Yes, the well-known robot cat from the future has been designated as the ...
The Pachinko + Speed Racer Connection
Japan's Pachinko industry continues to innovate in interesting ways as it tries to appeal to new kinds of customers, and ...
Thoughts on the Japanese fascination with Europe and the U.S.
Just as many in the U.S. and Europe have a fascination with all things Japanesque, the Japanese have their own ...
Funny Japanese place names: Eromanga??
There are some pretty hilarious place names in the world, like Hell, Michigan, Hookersville, West Virginia or Lord Berkeley's Knob, ...
Anime and Japanese Pop Culture Are Everywhere
One thing I really like about being so involved with Japanese popular culture is the global nature of it, how ...
My hop to New York, narrowly dodging staying in the city’s worst hotel, and comparing it to the Star Wars Cantina
I've made the long hop from Japan to New York, and I'm now enjoying the 19 degree (with wind chill) ...
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 ...
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 ...
