Nihongo

Nagano Prefecture is the place that Japanese would most like to move to if they were to relocate to the countryside, a survey shows.

An estimated 400 customers lined up in Bangkok for the opening of the first Thai branch of Animate, a Japanese manga and animation goods store.

February in Tokyo was the season for running, as thousands prepared for one of the world's major sports events: the Tokyo Marathon.

The government has decided to retract its recommendation to UNESCO that a slew of churches and other Christian sites be listed as World Heritage sites.

Today we will introduce the meaning and usage of the adverbial phrases Xに反(はん)して (contrary to X) and X反面(はんめん) (on the contrary), which are mainly used in written language, formal speech, lectures or when talking about a rather serious theme. In the pattern X(noun/noun phrase)に反してY(clause), X is usually a word like 予想 (よそう, anticipation), 期待 (きたい, expectation), 予測 (よそく, prediction), 意志 (いし, will) or 意思 (いし, intention), 法律 (ほうりつ, law) or ルール (rule), and Y is the result or fact that betrays the content of X. In Ms. Yamani's sentence in Situation 1, X is her and her staff's expectation that their product would sell better and Y is the fact that it is not. Its noun-modifying form is ～に反した, as in 常識(じょうしき)に反した行動(こうどう) (an action that defies common sense). ...

Even after tens of millions of people had their online accounts hacked, many Internet users still rely on easy-to-guess passwords.