New law holds government responsible for teaching Japanese to all foreign residents
The legislation places the onus for providing learning opportunities on the state but does not contain any concrete measures to fund.
In praise of the perfect Japanese compliment
The Japanese haven't traditionally complimented one another in the workplace, but a book on the power of positive reinforcement has garnered a following.
Speak Japanese smoothly by mastering the difference between 'sara-sara' and 'zara-zara'
The onomatopoeic terms "sara-sara" and "zara-zara" both refer to textures, but do you know which is soft and which is coarse?
The Central Japan Railway Co. will shorten its interior cleaning time for the Tokaido Shinkansen arriving at Tokyo Station by two minutes, allowing it to be finished in about 10 minutes.
Here’s to nattō, Japan’s original superfood
One of the country’s most notable 健康食品 (kenkō shokuhin, health food products), 納豆 is made from 大豆 (daizu, soybeans) fermented with 枯草菌 (kosōkin, bacillus subtilis). ...
Finding amazing ways to use the word 'sugoi'
If you’re in Japan, then you’ve probably heard the term すごい, or it’s adverbial form すごく, more times than you can count. ...
Teenage pitcher Carter Stewart excited to start career in Japan
American pitcher Carter Stewart (19), who decided to join SoftBank's pro baseball team despite being a high draft pick during the U.S. Major League draft last June, attended a press conference in Newport Beach, California, on the 30th.
Don't give up yet on giving and getting in Japanese
One of the first things taught in anthropology classes is that presents exchanged in a given society hardly ever come for free. When someone gives another person something, that always entails some sort of obligation. Acts of giving and receiving are hence highly sensitive ...
Don't forget to use 'sokonau' to mark your failings in Japanese
Ikō to omotte-ita-n-da kedo, misokonatchatta. (I was going to go, but I missed it.) ...
Governor looks to draw up Mount Fuji railway plan in two years
Yamanashi Prefecture Gov. Kotaro Nagasaki, who was elected for the first time in January, on the 22nd revealed an idea to draw up a plan that includes an outline to work toward connecting the bottom and fifth station on Mount Fuji via a mountain ...
Moves are afoot to push media to switch Japanese name order in English, but will it work?
Some laugh it off as a First World problem. But others say the topic touches upon issues of identity, sovereignty and press freedom. Foreign Minister Taro Kono recently stirred controversy by saying he wants to change the way Japanese names have long been rendered in ...
Speaking up in Japanese for quality time off work
Decades ago, the mid-1980s to be exact, I complained to my mom that my dad worked too much. Like legions of middle-aged Japanese salarymen, my father was never home before 9 p.m. and spent his weekends on 海外出張 (kaigai shucchō, overseas business trips). He ...
