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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 82
Kōyasan Guide: Temple Lodging, Okunoin and Japanese to Use
Kōyasan is a mountaintop town of more than a hundred temples in Wakayama, the centre of Shingon Buddhism since the ninth century. The reason to go is to sleep in one: a shukubō temple stay with a vegetarian dinner, an early morning service and a walk through the great cemetery of Okunoin.
14 min readKumano Kodō Guide: Nakahechi Trail, Hongū and Japanese to Use
The Kumano Kodō is a network of pilgrimage trails through the mountains of southern Kii, walked for over a thousand years on the way to the three grand shrines of Kumano. The Nakahechi route to Kumano Hongū Taisha is the classic walk, and the village inns and quiet forest paths make it a very Japanese-speaking journey.
13 min readNachi Falls and Kumano Nachi Taisha Guide: Tips and Japanese to Use
Nachi Falls drops 133 metres through ancient forest in southern Wakayama, the tallest single drop in Japan, and it is worshipped as a god in its own right. Above it stand Kumano Nachi Taisha, one of the three grand shrines of Kumano, and Seiganto-ji with its vermilion pagoda, one of the most famous views in the country.
13 min readShirahama Guide: White Beach, Seaside Onsen and Japanese to Use
Shirahama is Kansai's classic beach and hot spring resort, with a bay of white quartz sand and one of the three oldest hot springs in Japan. Soak in a rock pool beside the Pacific at Sakinoyu, watch the sun set behind the arch of Engetsutō, and practise your onsen Japanese in the town's public baths.
12 min readIse Jingū Guide: Gekū, Naikū, Oharai-machi and Japanese to Use
Ise Jingū in Mie is the most sacred Shinto shrine in Japan, home of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and its plain wooden halls are rebuilt every twenty years. Visit the Outer Shrine first, cross the Uji-bashi to the Inner Shrine, then eat your way along the old pilgrims' street of Oharai-machi.
13 min readHikone Castle Guide: Original Keep, Genkyūen and Japanese to Use
Hikone Castle, on the shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga, is one of only twelve castles in Japan whose keep has survived since the Edo period, and one of five designated National Treasures. It is an easy trip from Kyoto, with a beautiful daimyō garden below the walls and a very famous cat mascot.
12 min readŌmihachiman Guide: Hachiman-bori Canal, Merchant Town and Japanese to Use
Ōmihachiman, on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, is an old merchant town built around a stone-walled canal. Ride a wooden boat along the Hachiman-bori, walk streets of Edo-period merchant houses, and take a ropeway up to a castle ruin with views over the lake, all within forty minutes of Kyoto.
12 min readMinoo Park Guide: Waterfall Trail, Maple Tempura and Japanese to Use
Minoo Park, half an hour from central Osaka, is a forested river valley where a gentle trail leads to a 33-metre waterfall. It is famous for autumn leaves and for a snack you will not find anywhere else: maple leaves fried in sweet tempura batter, sold in shops all along the path.
12 min readAwaji Island Guide: Naruto Whirlpools, Myths and Japanese to Use
Awaji Island sits between Kobe and Shikoku, joined to the mainland by one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. Ride a boat out to the Naruto whirlpools, visit the shrine of the god who created Japan in myth, and eat Awaji beef and sweet island onions, all within an hour or two of Kobe.
12 min readKinosaki Onsen Guide: Seven Public Baths, Yukata Walks and Japanese to Use
Kinosaki Onsen is a small hot spring town in northern Hyōgo where guests change into yukata and wooden geta and walk between public bathhouses along a willow-lined canal. Stay a night at a ryokan, pick up your bath pass at check-in, and spend the evening hopping from bath to bath like generations of Japanese visitors before you.
13 min readHiroshima Peace Memorial Park Guide: Visiting with Care and Japanese to Use
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park stands on the ground beneath the atomic bomb of 6 August 1945, and it is a place of mourning as much as a place to visit. The park itself is free and open at all hours; the museum asks for a small entry fee. This guide covers how to get there, what you will see, the words on the monuments and the quiet, polite Japanese that fits the place.
13 min readMiyajima and Itsukushima Shrine Guide: Tides, Torii and Japanese to Use
Miyajima is the island off Hiroshima where Itsukushima Shrine stands over the sea and its great vermilion torii seems to float at high tide. The ferry takes about ten minutes, the shrine asks a small entry fee, and the tide decides what your photos will look like, which makes it a perfect place to ask your first questions in Japanese about time and water.
13 min readPractical guides
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