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November 22, 2024
 

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Peter Backhaus
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 22, 2016
Stuff happens: opening up to intransitive Japanese verbs
While English prefers to describe things in terms of an actor who performs some action on an object, in Japanese such things often seem to happen out of themselves.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 27, 2016
In Japanese, you can find the inner child in everything
It's not news that Japan is running out of children. Though the country's total fertility rate has recently shown some slight signs of recovery, this is unlikely to halt the overall trend of 少子化 (shōshika), which is the common term used to describe the dwindling number of kids. But no worries...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 16, 2016
In Japanese, the past tense is present where and when you least expect it
The Japanese past tense looks pretty easy to handle, but it can turn up in sentences about the here and now, as well as in adjectives and imperatives.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2016
Ubiquitous and conveniently vague: Let's look at -ō and -shō
Let's-style hortatives serve a range of purposes in Japanese, running the gamut from polite prohibition to whole-hearted encouragement.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 22, 2016
When it comes to taking the temperature and talking about it, Japanese is sensational
Where in English something is just 'cold,' in Japanese it's not so simple.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 25, 2016
There are many way-zu in Japanese to show there's more than one
In contrast to English, in Japanese the grammatical marking of plurals is optional, meaning the whole matter is dealt with a lot less systematically.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 14, 2015
Avoid offense by heeding these nengajō do's and don'ts
A recent survey revealed quite a few inconvenient truths about what people like and don't like when it comes to New Year's cards.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 9, 2015
Real, imagined and forgotten fears stalk Japanese phrases
A look at how fears and anxieties are expressed in daily conversation in Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 5, 2015
Seeking patterns in the blurred connections that turn two Japanese words into one
When two words melt into one in Japanese, they frequently seal their morphological relationship with a 'blurring' of the second part.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 24, 2015
'Nagara' comes into its own in the age of multitasking
Although it must be quite some task for the brain to multitask, coordinating two concurring activities in Japanese is no problem at all. The suffix 'nagara' does this job, and it does it pretty well.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 4, 2015
'Better Must Come' compares homelessness in Tokyo and Los Angeles
This longitudinal ethnographic study by Matthew D. Marr examines the problem of homelessness in Tokyo and Los Angeles. Special focus is given to the structural conditions that facilitate or impede getting off the streets.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 22, 2015
When too much is not enough, just dial up the 'sugiru'
When something is in excess, English commonly uses the adverb 'too.' Japanese expresses similar things with the verb 'sugiru.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 18, 2015
With yoji jukugo, four little characters can say so much
Saying it in four characters seems to be a pervasive stylistic device permeating all areas of life in Japan, from the pedestrian to the profound.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 6, 2015
Must-knows and no-nos about where those o's and go's go
Where people in English mind their Ps and Qs, speakers of Japanese have to know their o's and go's.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 2, 2015
Turning things into people using suffixes
The physical impossibility of turning things into people is something language does with great ease. If you're from Rome you are a Roman, if you do political science you are a political scientist, and if you're into Star Trek, you are a Trekie. All you need is the right suffix and everything is possible....
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 12, 2015
The No. 1 way to master ichi is by taking one step at a time
Welcome to the first month of the new year, which in Japan comes with the very straightforward name ichigatsu (一月) — literally, "month one".
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 29, 2014
To shine or to die: the messy world of romanized Japanese
One of the also-rans in the competition for the best buzzword of 2014 was the little word "shine." It stirred some discussion this summer when it appeared as a one-word heading in the blog of Prime Minister Abe's just-established Kagayaku Josei Ō en Kaigi (輝く女性応援会議, Council for Supporting...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 24, 2014
Japanese language group puts compound verbs in one place
If nouns are the bones of a language, verbs are the blood that keeps it moving. The thing about Japanese is that there are so many of them that it is close to impossible to know them all, particularly if we include combinations of two single verbs. The good news is that the National Institute for Japanese...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 3, 2014
Paradox of politeness: humbling and exalting at same time
Each year in fall, the Bunkachō (文化庁, Agency of Cultural Affairs) publishes the results of its annual opinion poll on the linguistic state of the nation, officially called Kokugo ni Kansuru Yoron Chōsa (国語に関する世論調査, Survey of the National Language). This time, the survey...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 8, 2014
For better or worse: untangling Japanese antonym pairs
Opposites attract: plus and minus, yin and yang, Mars and Venus, Lennon and McCartney. In English it sometimes happens that such opposites are combined in one expression. Just remember that bitter-sweet romance about the love-hate relationship you once saw on your grandparent's black-and-white TV set....
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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