Vocabulary and phrases
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Vocabulary and phrases · Page 13
Japanese Prefectures and Regions Map: To, Dō, Fu, Ken and the Eight Regions
Japan has 47 prefectures, called todōfuken: one to (Tokyo), one dō (Hokkaidō), two fu (Osaka and Kyoto) and 43 ken, and people group them into eight regions, from Hokkaidō in the north to Kyūshū and Okinawa in the south.
12 min readJapanese Origami Vocabulary: Yamaori, Taniori and the Words for Every Fold
Japanese origami instructions rest on two folds: taniori, the valley fold, drawn as a dashed line and folded toward you, and yamaori, the mountain fold, drawn as a dash-dot line and folded away; verbs such as oru, hiraku and uragaesu cover the rest.
11 min readJapanese Traditional Month Names: Mutsuki to Shiwasu Explained
Japan's traditional month names run from mutsuki, the first month, to shiwasu, the twelfth; they were made for the old lunar calendar, so most of them describe the season a month or more later than today's month with that number.
12 min readJapanese Shusse-uo: Fish That Change Their Names as They Grow
Shusse-uo are fish whose Japanese names change as they grow, the way a samurai took a new name on promotion: a young buri is wakashi, inada and warasa in Kantō, or tsubasu, hamachi and mejiro in Kansai.
12 min readJapanese Katakana Words You Already Know: Free Vocabulary for English Speakers
If you speak English you already know hundreds of Japanese words, because katakana loanwords like kōhī, hoteru, shatsu and sakkā are English words reshaped to Japanese sounds, and learning the reshaping rules unlocks them all at once.
12 min readJapanese Onomatopoeia for Eating and Textures: Mogumogu, Paripari, Fuwafuwa
Japanese describes food through sound words: paripari and sakusaku for crisp things, mochimochi and fuwafuwa for soft ones, torotoro for anything that melts, and mogumogu or gokugoku for the act of eating and drinking itself.
13 min readJapanese Time Nouns Kinō and Ashita List: Ototoi to Asatte, Senshū to Rainen
Japanese relative time words such as kinō, kyō, ashita, senshū and rainen are nouns that sit in a sentence without a particle, while clock times, dates and days of the week take ni, and this post gives the full list with readings and sentences for each.
13 min readJapanese Verbs for Daily Chores: Sōji Suru, Sentaku Suru, Katazukeru and More
Japanese housework vocabulary is built from a handful of suru verbs, sōji suru, sentaku suru, ryōri suru, plus ordinary verbs such as hosu, tatamu, katazukeru and arau, and once you know them you can share chores, set up a rota and ask a housemate to take out the rubbish.
13 min readJapanese Words for Describing Taste and Flavour: Amai, Karai, Shoppai and Beyond
Japanese has five basic taste adjectives, amai, karai, shoppai, suppai and nigai, plus a second layer of words such as koi, usui, assari and kotteri that describe how rich or light a dish is, and those are what you need to talk about food well.
13 min readJapanese Words for Quantities and Amounts: Takusan, Sukoshi, Zenbu, Hotondo
Japanese expresses amounts with adverb-like words such as takusan, sukoshi, zenbu and hotondo that sit before the verb without a counter, and knowing which one to use, and where it goes, lets you order, shop and describe a crowd without counting anything.
13 min readAra Ara Meaning: Real Japanese Use vs the Anime Stereotype
Ara ara is a soft, slightly amused "oh my, oh dear" that real Japanese speakers use every day, but anime has turned it into a character type, and that changes how it sounds when a learner says it.
9 min readMasaka Meaning: No Way, Surely Not and Masaka no Toki
Masaka is the Japanese reaction to something you thought could not happen: no way, surely not, or I never imagined, and it also names the unexpected emergency you should prepare for.
9 min readPractical guides
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