Japan’s Newest Internet Trend
Like most countries, the keitai (mobile phone) has become a huge part of life in Japan, and for the younger ...
Tag: sports
Fixating on Japanese Phrases and Kanji
One interesting side effect of studying a foreign language like Japanese is finding yourself naturally fixating on various aspects of ...
Spring Vacation! Time to Think About Serious Studying
Spring vacation is finally here, and all through Japan children are getting ready to enjoy a well deserved two week ...
Famous Japanese Sometimes Beget Famous Japanese
Who's your daddy? While Japan as a society is very much a meritocracy, with success largely going to those who ...
History lesson: Japan’s First English Teacher
It's interesting, looking at Japan through some of the "firsts" in its history. Like John Kendrick, the ship's captain who ...
Japanese ASCII Art Can Make you Cry
I've always been amazed at how expressive the Japanese can be, whether they're inventing new English words to describe products ...
The rivalry of Universities: Keio vs. Waseda
Have you ever noticed that when two groups occupy a similar space, rivalries emerge? Whether you're talking about Mac vs ...
A big scandal in the Japanese Pentagon, fine dining in Tokyo, and Japan and its Beverly Hills 90210 connection.
Maybe my post on Wednesday about the Japanese not seeming to care about government waste was read by someone important. ...
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. ...
Thoughts on innovation and cameras in cell phones, the “next” Brad Pitt as an Otaku, and update on all those lovely fires…
Is teen heart-throb Zac Efron, the so-called "next Brad Pitt," an otaku? That's the question asked in a Japanese magazine ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
On psychology and jealousy of gaijin living in Japan, thinking about Japanese grammar while in the bath, and using the Far Side in English class
I've written before about the psychology of ex-pats living in Japan, such as the the Three Stages of Eye Aversion ...
About Japan’s most famous (only?) charity, all about the word “genki,” and my kids re-adjusting to life in Japan
This past weekend saw the broadcast of "24 Hour TV," an annual charity drive broadcast by the Nippon TV network ...
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 flying to Japan, comparing sports and sexy waitresses, and more oddities of written Japanese
Well, I've completed my return journey, and am safely back in Japan. Whenever people hear I'm flying across the Pacific ...
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 ...
All about the Japanese attention to “kakko” (style), feelings about Japanese who make the country look good (and bad), and “Vegas, baby, Vegas.”
Hello again from J-List. This time I've hopped over to sunny Las Vegas for a few days of much-needed relaxation ...
All about the word “banzai,” a giant love hotel in my city, and more on differences between languages
The word banzai is one of the most well-known Japanese phrases in the West, up there with geisha, samurai, ninja ...
The Japanese fear of making mistakes, the end of the Japanese blood type myth, and panty shots in anime you didn’t expect to see
Although the Japanese generally study six years of English (or up to ten if they take it in college), they're ...
