Speaking and pronunciation
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Speaking and pronunciation · Page 24
Blood 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.
8 min readHanakotoba: 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 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 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 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 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.
13 min readJapanese Rendaku: Why Tegami Has a G and Hitobito Has a B
Rendaku is the voicing that often happens where two Japanese words join, so the k of kami becomes g in tegami and the h of hito becomes b in hitobito; it is a strong tendency with known blockers, not a fixed rule.
12 min readJapanese Address Format Explained: From Prefecture to Room Number
A Japanese address runs from the biggest area to the smallest: postcode, prefecture, city or ward, town, then three numbers for the chōme, the block and the building, and finally the building name and room, because Japan numbers blocks rather than streets.
12 min readJapanese Hanko and Inkan Guide: Jitsuin, Ginkōin and Mitomein
A hanko, also called an inkan, is a personal name seal used in Japan in place of or beside a signature; many adults keep an everyday seal, a bank seal and a registered seal, each accepted for a different weight of paperwork.
12 min readPractical guides
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