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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 91
Nagoya Ōsu Guide: Kannon Temple, Covered Arcades and Japanese to Use
Ōsu is Nagoya's liveliest old neighbourhood: a vermilion Kannon temple at one end and a grid of covered shopping arcades packed with secondhand clothes, electronics, street food and old-fashioned shops. It is where Nagoya people go to browse and eat, and every stall is a chance to order in Japanese.
11 min readKiso-Fukushima Guide: Nakasendō Checkpoint, Soba and Japanese to Use
Kiso-Fukushima is a mountain town on the old Nakasendō highway, once home to one of the four great checkpoints of Edo-period Japan. It is a direct limited express ride from Nagoya, quieter than the famous post towns further south, and its soba shops are a friendly place to try your Japanese.
11 min readJapanese Relative Time Words: Ototoi to Shiasatte, Saki and Kondo
Japanese relative time words sit on one line with today at zero: ototoi to asatte for days, sen, kon and rai for weeks and months, kyonen to rainen for years, and a few words, like saki and kondo, that point either way.
13 min readJapanese Rokuyō Lucky Days: Taian, Butsumetsu and Tomobiki Explained
Rokuyō is a six-day cycle of lucky and unlucky days printed on many Japanese calendars: taian is the favourite day for weddings and openings, butsumetsu the one to avoid, and tomobiki is avoided for funerals, though how much people care varies widely.
12 min readJapanese Time of Day Words: Asa, Hiru, Yūgata and Yoru on One Dial
Japanese divides the day two ways: clock words, gozen and gogo, split it exactly at noon, while daylight words such as asa, hiru, yūgata and yoru follow the sun and your routine, so their edges blur and shift with the seasons.
13 min readJapanese Finger Counting: Folding to Count, Raising to Show
In Japan people usually count to themselves by folding fingers into an open palm, thumb first, and unfolding them again for six to ten, but show a number to someone else by raising that many fingers, index first.
12 min readJapanese Formal Number Kanji: Daiji on Envelopes and Receipts
Daiji (大字) are formal kanji numerals, chiefly 壱, 弐, 参 and 拾 for one, two, three and ten, used for sums of money on gift envelopes, receipts and legal documents because the plain 一, 二, 三 and 十 can be enlarged with a single stroke.
12 min readJapanese Large Numbers: Man, Oku and Chō Beyond Ten Thousand
Japanese names large numbers in blocks of four digits rather than three: man is ten thousand, oku a hundred million and chō a trillion, so a million is hyakuman, ten million issenman and a billion jūoku.
12 min readJapanese Map Symbols (Chizu Kigō): How to Read Them, With Diagrams
Japanese map symbols, chizu kigō, are small drawings of something you would find at the place, such as a torii gate for a shrine or crossed batons for a police box, and a circle added around a symbol usually marks the bigger version.
12 min readJapanese Stroke Endings: Tome, Hane and Harai Explained With Diagrams
Every kanji stroke ends in one of three ways: tome, where the pen stops before lifting; hane, where it stops and flicks off in a new direction; or harai, where it sweeps away and thins out while still moving.
12 min readKanji Pictographs: The Kanji That Began as Pictures, With Diagrams
Kanji pictographs are characters that began as drawings of things, such as three peaks for yama, mountain, and a tree for ki; their curves were squared off into strokes, and they now serve as building blocks inside thousands of other kanji.
12 min readDescribing a Picture in Japanese: Start Wide, Then Zoom In
To describe a picture in Japanese, start with the whole scene, then place things and people with ni arimasu and ni imasu, say what people are doing and wearing with te imasu, and finish with an impression using sō or mitai.
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