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Mary Sisk Noguchi
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Apr 15, 2009
These kanji have literally all gone to the dogs
Despite tough economic times, many dog owners in Japan still shell out big yen to pamper their pooches: Delectable ドッグおやつ (dogguoyatsu, dog snacks), perky 犬洋服 (inuy ōfuku, dog clothing), and outings to the 犬の美容院 (inu no biyōin, dog beauty salon) are de rigueur for the coddled...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 18, 2009
A rainbow of kanji brightens Japan's palette of colors
Guys who received Valentine's chocolates from female friends or coworkers last Friday are expected to reciprocate with small gifts on ホワイトデー (howaitodē, White Day) on March 14. ホワイトデー is one of many color-related gairaigo (foreign loan-words, mostly English, written in katakana)...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 18, 2009
A rainbow of kanji brightens Japan's palette of colors
Guys who received Valentine's chocolates from female friends or coworkers last Friday are expected to reciprocate with small gifts on ホワイトデー (howaitodē, White Day) on March 14. ホワイトデー is one of many color-related gairaigo (foreign loan-words, mostly English, written in katakana)...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Dec 16, 2008
A judgment on Aso in the negative . . . kanji-wise
Prime Minister Taro Aso is notorious for making insensitive off-the-cuff remarks to the media, and on more than one occasion recently, he has also raised eyebrows for mispronouncing kanji in his scripted speeches. Last month, speaking at prestigious Gakushuin University about the earthquake in May in...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 28, 2008
Take the first step to writing home in kanji
A friend in North Carolina recently showed me a yellowing nengajō (年賀状, New Year's card) I had sent her soon after first arriving in Japan back in the early 1980s. The return address, penciled in my best effort at the time — a childlike, uneven scrawl of kanji — reminded me of the intense...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Aug 19, 2008
Cache of weapons concealed in kanji
By 200 A.D., Chinese scholars had already created the 50,000-kanji prototype for the modern written languages of China and Japan. Many Sino-Japanese characters still in use today feature components picturing objects from everyday life in ancient China, including weapons for battling other humans or confronting...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Jun 17, 2008
King Kojien dictionary knights new words
The four writing systems utilized in Japanese (>kanji, katakana, hiragana and the Roman alphabet, known as romaji ) provide Japanese advertising copywriters, journalists and young people with an abundance of raw material from which to create new words. The great majority of these neologisms fade away...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 16, 2007
Self-study sites welcome you to the world of kanji
When I first suggested in this column using Internet resources for learning kanji in 2001, a Yahoo search yielded 12,700 hits for "kanji learning." That number has now reached a staggering 1.4 million. New, sophisticated online kanji self-study resources are increasingly enabling foreign kanji learners...
LIFE / Language
Nov 22, 2005
TV shows confront decline of Japanese language
Beginning this fall, four of the major commercial television networks began broadcasting variety programs aimed at rehabilitating Japanese television viewers' inability to correctly utilize their native language. Why the sudden flood of kokugo (national language) programs?
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Nov 4, 2004
Thinking of naming your baby 'Spiderman'? Think again
Unlike that of many countries, the Japanese government has the legal authority to prevent parents from giving their children certain names -- say the kanji incarnation of "Spiderman."
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 14, 2004
New options raise the stakes in the 'Name that Baby' game
Since middle names are not used in Japan, the parents of a newborn need only agree on one name for their offspring. This is probably just as well: Choosing a kanji name involves a whole host of complex considerations, and while some couples settle on a name written in kana (Japan's phonetic script),...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Nov 20, 2003
What's the point in learning how to write kanji?
Joe Lauer, a long-term American resident of Hiroshima, sent the following feedback on a workshop I conducted to promote the Kanji Proficiency Examination (Kanken), a standardized test that measures both kanji reading and writing ability:
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 9, 2003
Kanji tattoos are primarily for Western eyes
Tattoo culture in Japan, especially among Japan's gangster element, has a rich history. While some young Japanese are breaking the traditional taboo and obtaining discreet tattoos, they almost never opt to have Chinese characters etched permanently on their bodies. Kanji tattoos are a Western phenomenon....
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Sep 18, 2003
A trove of kanji-learning treasure in cyberspace
Vacation is over and kanji learners at schools around the planet are once again cracking the books. Increasingly, they and their teachers -- as well as self-directed English-speaking kanji learners of all ages -- are supplementing paper-based publications with online learning resources. Today, Kanji...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Mar 20, 2003
Katakana-happy Japan must again look to China
During times of friendly relations with Western nations, the Japanese have laid out a linguistic welcome mat to foreign vocabulary items, particularly English.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 11, 2002
Kanji power unlocks the secret room of Japanese literature
Surely many of you, including overseas readers of The Japan Times online, live within 100 km of a Japanese-language bookstore or a university with a collection of Japanese books. Japanese literature is available, but confronting the sheer volume of offerings can be overwhelming.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Aug 30, 2002
Cyberspace -- the final frontier of kanji-learning
Last fall, I reported the results of my search for kanji-learning gold in cyberspace. Today, in this second report, I am happy to inform you that the panning has never been better.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Apr 26, 2002
Forget the textbooks and discover the pleasure of real books
At the start of each new school year, I would confidently advise my university students: "Becoming a fluent reader in English is like learning to play the piano -- it requires constant practice.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Mar 29, 2002
Seize the reins and blaze your own kanji-learning trail
Dear Dario Simunovic,
COMMUNITY
Jul 27, 2001
Tips on how to make your kanji garden grow
TO: Diane Grace Shimizu RE: Your Kanji Dream
Chinese buyer of Okinawa island to make visit in summer
Yanaha Island in Okinawa Prefecture as seen from a ferry.
More bird flu cases found in Japan; 1.44 million birds to be culled
Officials with the agriculture ministry hold a news conference in Nagoya on Friday following an outbreak of avian influenza in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, earlier this month.
Top sumo pros to enter the ring in Paris in June 2026
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (right) alongside David Rothschild, the promoter of an upcoming tournament in Paris, on Sunday in Tokyo
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
LDP heavyweight Moriyama boosting profile within party
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday.
As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
For tourists in search of seasonal sights, Yamagata makes its case
For some time away from Tokyo's suffocating urban sameness, Yamagata Prefecture is home to a soothing array of natural abundance.
A slow dive into ‘a moment and an eternity’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto
From the mid-2000s onward, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a number of installation works, often in collaboration with Shiro Takatani, of multimedia art collective Dumb Type.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

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