Japanese learning blog
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
All articles · Page 67
Janken: How to Play Rock Paper Scissors in Japanese
Rock paper scissors in Japanese is janken (じゃんけん): gū is rock, choki is scissors and pā is paper. You chant saisho wa gū, janken pon, show your hand on pon, and call aiko de sho if it is a tie.
8 min readShiritori: Rules of the Japanese Word Chain Game
Shiritori (しりとり) is a Japanese word chain game: each player says a noun that begins with the last kana of the previous word, and whoever says a word ending in n (ん) loses.
8 min readJapanese Riddles (Nazonazo): 7 Classics Explained
Nazonazo (なぞなぞ) are Japanese riddles, and most of them are puns: the answer hides inside the sound of the question. The most famous asks which pan you cannot eat, and the answer is furaipan, a frying pan.
7 min readGoroawase: Japanese Number Wordplay From 39 to 4649
Goroawase (語呂合わせ) is Japanese number wordplay: each digit has several short readings, so a string of digits can be read as a word. 39 becomes sankyū (thank you), 4649 becomes yoroshiku, and 29 becomes niku, meat.
8 min readHardest Japanese Words to Pronounce and How to Fix Them
The hardest Japanese words to pronounce are rarely long: they are words like tsuzuku, ryokō, byōin, kitte, fun'iki and atatakakatta, where one beat too many or too few changes the word. Each has a quick fix once you count the beats.
8 min readLongest Japanese Words: Kanji, Compounds and Jugemu
There is no official longest Japanese word, because Japanese builds long words by joining shorter ones without spaces. The interesting cases are long readings packed into one kanji, such as kokorozashi (志), compounds that keep growing, long katakana loanwords, and the comic name Jugemu.
7 min readJapanese Nicknames (Adana): How They Are Made and Used
Japanese nicknames, adana (あだ名), are usually made by clipping a name to one or two beats and adding a suffix such as chan, kun or tchi, by doubling a syllable, or by blending the family and given names, as in Kimutaku for Kimura Takuya.
8 min readYuru-kyara: Japan's Mascots From Kumamon to Funassyi
Yuru-kyara (ゆるキャラ) are Japan's laid-back mascot characters, most of them created to promote a town, region or organisation. The name shortens yurui kyarakutā, loose or relaxed character, and the best-known examples are Kumamon, Funassyi and Hikonyan.
7 min readBlood Type Personality in Japan: Ketsuekigata Explained
In Japan, asking someone's blood type, ketsuekigata (血液型), is light small talk based on a popular belief that blood type shapes personality. The belief has no scientific support; it works like star signs, as a playful way to talk about character.
7 min readKaruta and Hyakunin Isshu: Japan's Card-Grabbing Game
Karuta (かるた) is a Japanese card game in which a reader reads a card aloud and players race to touch the matching card laid out in front of them. Children play it with proverbs, in iroha karuta; the classic version uses the hundred poems of the Hyakunin Isshu (百人一首).
8 min readDaruma and Maneki-neko: Japanese Lucky Charms Explained
A daruma is a round wishing doll: you paint one eye when you set a goal and the other when you reach it. A maneki-neko is the beckoning cat that shops display to invite customers and money. Both are engimono (縁起物), objects kept for good luck.
8 min readKaidan: Japanese Ghost Stories and the Words to Tell Them
Kaidan (怪談) are Japanese ghost stories: 怪 means strange or uncanny and 談 means talk. They are a summer tradition, because a good shiver is said to cool you down in the heat.
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