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 88
Toyosu Market Guide: Tuna Auction, Sushi Breakfast and Japanese to Use
Toyosu Market is the wholesale market that replaced Tsukiji's inner market in 2018, and the place where Tokyo's tuna is auctioned before dawn. Visitors watch from glass-walled walkways, then queue for sushi breakfast upstairs, and both are easier with a few words of market Japanese.
12 min readKappabashi Kitchen Town Guide: Knives, Food Samples and Japanese to Use
Kappabashi Dōgu-gai is an 800-metre street between Ueno and Asakusa lined with more than 170 shops that supply Japan's restaurants. It is where cooks buy their knives, plates and noren curtains, and where visitors find handmade knives and plastic food samples, with a few polite shop phrases making every purchase easier.
12 min readNakano Broadway Guide: Mandarake, Collectors' Shops and Japanese to Use
Nakano Broadway is a 1960s shopping and apartment block in west Tokyo whose upper floors are packed with second-hand manga, figures, retro games and idol goods. It is quieter and stranger than Akihabara, and the collectors' shops reward a visitor who can ask about condition and boxes in Japanese.
11 min readSanrio Puroland Guide: Hello Kitty's Indoor Park and Japanese to Use
Sanrio Puroland is the indoor theme park of Hello Kitty and her friends, a short walk from Tama Center Station in western Tokyo. You need both a passport ticket and a visit reservation, and inside you will read, queue and ask in a very particular kind of cheerful Japanese.
14 min readHama-rikyū Gardens Guide: Tidal Pond, Teahouse and Japanese to Use
Hama-rikyū Gardens is a shogun's seaside garden on Tokyo Bay, with a pond that still rises and falls with the tide and a teahouse where you can drink matcha surrounded by skyscrapers. It has a small entry fee, sits a short walk from Shiodome, and can be reached by boat from Asakusa.
13 min readRikugi-en Garden Guide: Poetry Landscapes, Teahouses and Japanese to Use
Rikugi-en is a stroll garden built in 1702 around a pond and hills that recreate scenes from classical Japanese poetry. It is quiet, compact and close to the Yamanote Line, and its signs, teahouse and ticket window are ideal for practising polite, simple Japanese.
12 min readJinbōchō Book Town Guide: Used Bookshops, Curry and Japanese to Use
Jinbōchō is Tokyo's book town, with well over a hundred second-hand and antiquarian bookshops around one crossing in Chiyoda. It is a paradise for anyone who loves old prints, photo books or manga, and a very good place to read real Japanese signs and ask booksellers for help.
12 min readKōenji Guide: Vintage Shops, Awa Odori and Japanese to Use
Kōenji is a low-rise neighbourhood west of Shinjuku known for vintage clothing, used records, tiny live music venues and cheap izakaya. It is also where the JR rapid train skips the station at weekends, so a little Japanese on the platform and in the fitting room goes a long way.
11 min readOsaka Aquarium Kaiyūkan Guide: Whale Sharks, Tickets and Japanese to Use
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyūkan is one of the largest aquariums in Japan, built around a giant central tank where a whale shark glides past you again and again as you spiral down the building. It is an easy half day from central Osaka, and every zone is labelled in Japanese you can learn to read in an afternoon.
12 min readCup Noodles Museum Yokohama Guide: Design Your Cup and Japanese to Use
The Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama's Minato Mirai tells the story of instant ramen and lets you design and seal your own cup of noodles to take home. It is cheerful, hands-on and full of short, practical Japanese, from numbered tickets to choosing a soup and four toppings.
12 min readKyoto Railway Museum Guide: Roundhouse, Steam Rides and Japanese to Use
The Kyoto Railway Museum, a short walk from Kyoto Station, is one of the largest railway museums in Japan, with bullet trains, a working turntable and a steam train you can ride. It is a joy for train fans and a surprisingly good place to learn the railway Japanese you use every day of a trip.
12 min readKyoto International Manga Museum Guide: Wall of Manga and Japanese to Use
The Kyoto International Manga Museum is a manga library and museum in a 1920s primary school, where you can pull any of around 50,000 volumes off the shelves and read them anywhere on site, even on the lawn. For a Japanese learner it is the best reading room in the country.
11 min readPractical guides
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