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Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
All articles · Page 68
Hanakotoba: Japanese Flower Language and Gift Taboos
Hanakotoba (花言葉) is the Japanese language of flowers: each flower carries one or more set meanings, such as admiration for the sunflower or nobility for the chrysanthemum. Lists differ from source to source, but a few meanings and a few gift taboos are known to almost everyone.
8 min readShogi Vocabulary: Piece Names, Key Terms and Everyday Idioms
Shogi (将棋) is Japanese chess, played with flat five-sided pieces marked with kanji. The words to learn first are koma (pieces), ōte (check), tsumi (checkmate), naru (to promote) and mochigoma (captured pieces that you can put back on the board).
8 min readJapanese City Names and Their Meanings: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka
Most Japanese city names can be read as two small pictures. Tōkyō (東京) is eastern capital, Kyōto (京都) is capital city, Ōsaka (大阪) is large slope and Yokohama (横浜) is side beach. A few, such as Nara and Nagoya, use kanji mainly for their sound, and their origins are uncertain.
8 min readJapanese Food Names With Literal Meanings: Oyakodon and More
Many Japanese dish names are small jokes or pictures. Oyakodon (親子丼) is a parent-and-child bowl because it combines chicken and egg, tsukimi udon (月見うどん) is moon-viewing udon because of its round yolk, and medamayaki (目玉焼き), a fried egg, is literally a grilled eyeball.
8 min readJapanese Traditional Games: Kendama, Koma, Otedama and More
Japan's traditional games are called mukashi asobi (昔遊び), old-time play. The best known are kendama (a cup-and-ball toy), koma (spinning tops), otedama (beanbag juggling), takoage (kite flying) and the playground game Daruma-san ga koronda.
8 min readKanji of the Year: Kotoshi no Kanji and How to Pick Your Own
Kotoshi no kanji (今年の漢字), the kanji of the year, is a single character chosen by public vote to sum up the year in Japan. It is announced each December at Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, where the head priest writes it with a huge brush.
7 min readJapanese Buzzwords of the Year: Ryūkōgo and How They Form
Ryūkōgo (流行語) are buzzwords: words and phrases that suddenly everyone in Japan is saying. Each December the Shingo Ryūkōgo Taishō (新語・流行語大賞), the new words and buzzwords awards, names a top ten and a grand prize for the year.
7 min readJapanese Autumn Foods: Sanma, Kuri, Matsutake and More
Autumn in Japan is shokuyoku no aki (食欲の秋), the autumn of appetite. The foods in season, or shun (旬), include sanma (Pacific saury), kuri (chestnuts), matsutake mushrooms, satsumaimo (sweet potato), kaki (persimmon) and shinmai, the new rice.
8 min readJapanese at a Conveyor Belt Sushi Restaurant: Kaitenzushi Phrases
At a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, kaitenzushi (回転寿司), you take a number, choose a counter or table seat, order on a touch panel or lift plates off the belt, and pay by the number of plates. About five short Japanese phrases carry you through the whole meal.
8 min readJapanese Curry Rice: Ordering and Spice Levels in Japanese
On a Japanese curry menu, amakuchi (甘口) is mild, chūkara (中辛) is medium and karakuchi (辛口) is hot. At chain shops you also choose a numbered spice level, a rice amount and toppings, usually in a fixed order.
8 min readTempura and Tendon Menu Words: How to Order in Japanese
Tempura (天ぷら) is seafood and vegetables fried in a light batter. On a menu, tendon (天丼) is tempura over a bowl of rice with sauce, tempura teishoku (天ぷら定食) is tempura as a set meal, and you season the pieces with tentsuyu dipping sauce or with salt.
8 min readTonkatsu and Teishoku Set Meals: Rōsu vs Hire and How to Order
Tonkatsu (とんかつ) is a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet, and the main choice on the menu is rōsu (ロース), loin with a strip of fat, or hire (ヒレ), lean fillet. Order it as a teishoku (定食) and it comes with rice, miso soup, shredded cabbage and pickles, often with refills.
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