Commomorating Karaoke Culture Day, a cruel joke on the population front, and all about mixed bathing in Japan
Japan is a big fan of naming special days to create awareness about things we take for granted, like Sweet ...
Tag: Studio Ghibli
Language learning and the “Han Solo Factor,” example of silly English in product names, and more
As a student of a foreign language, I know that there's no "magic" way to learn, and even if you ...
Thuoghts on “car culture” in Japan, the basics of how kanji work, and autumn = school sports day
Although Japan is a lot smaller than the U.S. -- it's about the same land area as Nebraska, but spread ...
More ways we foreigners can save Japan, all about “Nihonjinron” and superstitions about death
Last time I put forth the idea that perhaps one solution to Japan's birth rate woes might lie in international ...
Seeing Japan through iced coffee goggles, relieving stress through coloring books, and how we gaijin can save Japan from its falling birthrate!
Whenever my wife and I try a new restaurant we order aisu kohi, which we use to judge the dedication ...
The end of Comicon again, thoughts on math and the abacus, and strategies for communication
It's that time of year again: the crowds have gone home, the D.C. Comics banners have been pulled down, and ...
Fun in my Miata, all about Sake and what to avoid, and the sound of silence in Japanese
We're quite a Mazda family around here, with a Miata in San Diego, a Miata (or "Roadster," which Japanese think ...
Back in Japan with culture shock, all about Japanese dialects, perceptions between countries and A-Kon wrap up
Well, I'm back in Japan now, the land of sushi and small cars and very cute things. No matter how ...
Experiments with Japanese literature, my impressions on positives and negatives education in Japan, and squid ink pizza
Coming to Japan brought many surprises for me, and not just the usual things like beer vending machines and ikasumi ...
An easy Japanese pronunciation guide, fun with the word “origami” and glottal stops and you
I clearly remember an episode back in the third grade. I had checked a book called Flying Origami by Eiji ...
Japanese aesthetics not found in Vegas, how computers display Japanese, and bilingualism
We're on our way back from Las Vegas, tired but sated from our time here. The AVN show was good ...
A watershed year for Japan, notes on Japanese education and university life, and Alo-Hello USA!
Hello from sunny San Diego. We've made the hop from Japan to the U.S. to enjoy our first Christmas at ...
Christmas vs. Buddhism in Japan, all about New Year’s, and a Japanese math problem for you to solve
The Christmas holiday means different things to different people, and each country has its own way of observing it. By ...
A new way of thinking about Japanese animation, and this year’s Japanese slang words
Japanese animation has been a huge influence on the West over the years, and there are many ways that American ...
All about Japanese roads, a Mongolian sumo wrestler does good, and goodbye Mr. Miyagi
You've been in Japan too long when you see a road with two lanes going in the same direction and ...
The Old West comes to Karuizawa, and World Peace through Japanese verb conjugations
This weekend we all got in the car and headed off to Karuizawa ("ka-roo-EE-za-wa"), our favorite mountain getaway, for a ...
Wedding bells in the Imperial Palace, beautiful autumn in Kyoto, and George Bush in Japan
Every autumn in Japan the leaves change to beautiful shades of red and yellow and vermillion, a spectacle called koyo ...
Halloween in Japan, some funny Japanese English words, and all about Daylight Savings Time
Happy Halloween from all of us at J-List. Yesterday was the big Halloween Party at my son's experimental elementary school, ...
All about coffee in Japan, where cheap “low mileage” engines come from, and the psyches of students of Japanese
Have you ever strolled into a coffee shop an ordered an "American"? Although green tea seems as popular a drink ...
Lightning strikes, space-faring Japanese astronauts, and interesting tips on learning kanji
Lightning strikes! Twice before the J-List office has had the bad luck of being struck by lightning, frying our main ...
Weird Japanese food, and my collected wisdom from living in Japan
Japanese food is famous for containing things not usually eaten by Westerners, something which I was reminded of when my ...
The history of the Pocky company and Japan’s tiny land mass
Hello again from Japan, the home of such products as Mapple (map book), Crunky (crunchy chocolate) and Quickle Wiper (floor ...
Coming-of-Age Day, Godzilla’s end and more
Hello all. It's Monday but because today is Coming-of-Age Day (see below), the kids have school off, even though they ...
Greetings from J-List 12/15/04
Japanese television is always interesting, with a broad mix of entertaining things to watch. Variety shows, which feature popular "talents" ...
