To learn Japanese, as with anything, you’ve got to start somewhere. That means accepting to speak like a child for a while. Did you know there was a phrase for that in Japanese? 片言日本語 – k...
Reading: takai (alone), kou (combined) Meaning: high, tall, expensive Category: compound ideogram Examples: 高い – たかい – takai – high, tall, expensive 高温 – こうおん – kouon - ...
Old ladies from around the world, I love you! Or at least, I love the way you communicate. Osaka Obaachans (word meaning both ‘old lady’ and ‘grandma’) are usually super dynam...
Reading: manabu (alone), gaku (combined) Meaning: to learn, education, school Category: pictogram Examples: 学ぶ – まなぶ – manabu – to study, to learn 大学 – だいがく – daigaku &#...
I was going to Yodoyabashi to have a chat about the possibility of Japanese lessons with people at the YMCA (apparently a preceding never ending series of emails was not enough). I am using an IC OCA...
Reading: toshi (alone and combined), nen (combined) Meaning: year Category: pictogram Examples: 年 - とし - toshi - year 年上 – としうえ – toshiue – senior 去年 - きょねん - kyonen - last year Ori...
“Different games, different rules. Why Americans and Japanese Misunderstand Each Other” by Haru Yama is (in my opinion) the bible of Japanese communication. It is an incredible eye opener...
Reading aida (alone), ma (alone and combined), kan (combined) Meaning: between, interval Category: compound ideogram Examples: 間 - あいだ - aida - interval, between 間に合う – まにあう – ma ni au &#...
We finally managed to have our weekend trip to our (so far) favourite spot of Japan: Kinosaki onsen. If I wanted to be very brief, I could summarize Kinosaki in two keywords: ‘hot springs’...
Reading: man, ban Meaning: ten thousand Category: phonetic loan Examples: 一万円 – いちまんえん – ichimanen – ten thousand yen 万国 – ばんこく – bankoku – all nations Origin: se...
Is it just us not putting two and two together? Did you guys know this? Last week, we were having a lazy Sunday lunch at an Italian restaurant with Japanese friends and their kids. At some point, one...
Before I picked up my study of Japanese again, I spent some of my downtime making origami. I’ve bought origami paper in bulk to make Kusudama just to notice, after folding and assembling 30 ori...
Reading: otoko (alone), dan (combined) Meaning: man, male Category: combined pictogram Examples: 男 - おとこ - otoko - a man 男性 – だんせい – dansei – man, male person Origin: see picture be...
Finally, I’m out of long months of procrastination and decided to start studying Japanese again. Immersion has brought me as far as it could for the time being and I got fed up with strategizin...
Reading: iu (alone), koto, gen, gon (combined) Meaning: to say, to tell Category: pictogram Examples: 言う – いう – iu – to say 言葉 – ことば – kotoba – a word 言外 – ...
The great thing with learning a language is that you can give in to your guilty pleasures under the cover or learning. You can watch the most stupid TV show or read the most girly manga and you’...
Reading: sukunai, sukoshi (alone), shou (combined) Meaning: a little, few, small Category: pictogram Examples: 少ない – すくない – sukunai – few 少し – すこし – sukoshi – a li...
(or at least that’s what I think) “Living in Japan is as close as it gets to living on Mars”, with its implicit corollary that Japanese people are “like Martians”, is a phrase that I used to use fair...
Reading: iku, okonau (alone), kou, gyou (combined), yuki (alone and combined) Meaning: to go, to do/act/behave, line of text Category: pictogram Examples: 行く – いく – iku – to go 行い &...
We were really looking forward to our trip to Kinosaki onsen. It’s a small hot spring town with a lovely main street in the middle of which flows a stream channelled within stone walls. You are...
Reading: minami (alone and combined), nan (combined) Meaning: south Category: pictogram Examples: 南 - みなみ - minami - south 南口 – みなみぐち – minamiguchi – south entrance/exit 南国 – ...
Pink, big-eyed baby faces, sparkly hearts, fluffy animals… that’s for little girls, right? Well… things might not be so clear cut here in Japan. Yes, items aimed at girls are pinker...
Reading: ta[beru] (alone), ta[be], shoku (combined) Meaning: to eat Category: pictogram Examples: 食べる – たべる – taberu – to eat 食べ物 - たべもの – tabemono – a food item 食事 - しょ...
Alleluia!! The blog is working again. I can’t believe it’s been over three weeks since our last post. So what happened (prepare for a rant)? First a bug occured overnight without us makin...
Reading: au (alone), kai (combined) Meaning: to meet, meeting Category: pictogram Examples: 会う – あう – au – to meet 会議 – かいぎ – kaigi – a meeting 会社 – かいしゃ ...
We’re fortunate enough to have landed in Osaka. As you can see from the map of Kansai below, this places us very close to the cities of Kyoto and Kobe as well. We can hop on a train over luncht...
Reading: ki, ko, ou (combined) Meaning: yellow Category: Pictogram Examples: 黄色 – きいろ – kiiro – the colour yellow 黄金 – おうごん – ougon – gold 黄金虫 – こがねむし –...
We’re in the coldest time of the year and the air is rife with all kinds of germs, ready to settle in any cozy organism. This is when the streets of Japan are filled with people wearing face-ma...
Reading: hara (alone and combined), gen (combined) Meaning: plain, field; source, origin Category: Pictogram Examples: 野原 - のはら - nohara – a field 高原 - こうげん - kougen – a plateau 原色 –...
What makes the experience of living in a foreign country is not so much the big cultural, economic or political differences as the myriad of little details of everyday life: people in your neighbourh...
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