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November 22, 2024
 

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Peter Backhaus
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jul 28, 2014
The here and there of who's who and what's what
There are some Japanese words that act like little arrows. They are pointing devices that can be used to indicate a specific part of the wider context of what is being said. Some examples in English are "here" and "there," "this" and "that," "me" and "you." But Japanese does this in a more systematic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 7, 2014
It's all a matter of character — but which one to choose?
Much has been made of the alleged difficulty of the Japanese language for non-native and even native speakers. My personal impression is that this view is most commonly cherished by two types of people: those who don't know much Japanese (or any at all), and those who only know Japanese.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 1, 2014
Warming up for the Soccer W-Cup
For real soccer fans, the upcoming World Cup in Brazil will be the highlight of the past four years. On top of that, many lukewarm supporters will surely soon discover that they are, in fact, true sports fans. But even those who consider it entirely pointless to watch 22 people running after a ball for...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 18, 2014
Translating movie titles into Japanese can get a bit wairudo
For one of my classes recently, I needed to get the Japanese movie version of Harper Lee's classic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird." When I looked for it on Amazon Japan, I was a little confused because they didn't seem to have it. Instead they kept offering me a DVD titled "Arabama monogatari" (「アラバマ物語」)....
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 30, 2014
The sounds of everyday Japanese life
Living in Japan can be quite a noisy experience. Even in my quiet little neighborhood, rarely a day passes without a great variety of sounds being heard. Four days a week the garbage truck fills the air with its most peculiar orugōru (オルゴール, music box) sound. At least once a week, a second-hand...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 2, 2014
Getting all mixed up with mixed kanji readings
Gyūdon (牛丼, beef-over-rice bowl) and tonjiru (豚汁, miso soup with pork and vegetables) have much in common. Not only are they a nice combo for a quick lunch (and that it's almost noon while I'm writing this), but on closer inspection both terms also turn out to be a little off with regard to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 2, 2014
It's never too early to start juken
It's that time of year again, when hundreds of thousands of soon-to-be high school graduates are busy taking university entrance exams for the coming academic year. This activity is commonly known as juken (受験), and usually translated into English as "taking an examination." The translation is somewhat...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 29, 2013
So much for nau: What will we say next?
The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on what is, was and will be. With regard to language, one of the most stimulating things I have recently read in this respect was from an article in the journal Nihongogaku (日本語学) about a study in which Japanese university students were asked...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 28, 2013
Hyper, mega, ultra: talking in superlatives
One of the ultra-fascinating facets of Japanese is its super-large arsenal of intensifying prefixes that provide an otherwise neutral expression with some emphatic edge. The best-known (and least spectacular) of them is dai (大), which usually translates as "big." When something went really well, for...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 27, 2013
Oyaji gyagu, more than just cheesy puns
Stop me if you've heard this one. Two men aged around 50 enter a sushi restaurant. One orders a raincoat, the other a garage. What looks like the beginning of a "Monty Python" sketch is in fact the stuff of a most typical oyaji gyagu (おやじギャグ), or old man's joke/gag. Such jokes normally center...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 29, 2013
Bilingual beauty, straight and permed
Beauty must be a bilingual thing. At least that's the impression one gets from looking at signs outside hairdressers, beauty parlors and similar types of businesses in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 25, 2013
Yoisho! A word to move mountains (and smaller things)
The man from next door says it. My mother-in-law says it. The guy in the grocery store says it. The nurse on TV says it. Seems like everyone says Yoisho! (よいしょ!) It's one of those expressions that appear to be a common part of everyday Japanese life but are not usually taught in Japanese language...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 25, 2013
The Japanese traffic light blues: Stop on red, go on what?
Road traffic in Japan is a complicated affair. Apart from those narrow, crooked streets that sometimes end without warning, you have to get used to unclear right-of-way rules and the national fetish for backward parking.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 31, 2012
Even language has winners and losers
If there's one thing to be sure of in Japan these days, it's that by the end of the year you will have a prime minister different from the one you started out with. This year was the sixth year in succession to follow this pattern. Somewhat differently, though, this year there was a general election...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 22, 2012
Politicians may ru the day their names became verbs
"Which new words would you like to see added to the dictionary?" A couple of months ago the publishing house Taishukan put this generous question to Japanese high school and junior high school students.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 24, 2012
Indecent proposals: the language of Japanese dating spam
It started with an email from a 20-year-old college student called Emi, who told me she was looking for a Showa umare no dansei (昭和生まれの男性, a man born in Showa, i.e., born before 1989). Next was Norika, a bored housewife in her early thirties asking me to spend some himajikan (ヒマ時間,...
LIFE / Language
Sep 2, 2008
So is it respect for 'the aged,' 'the elderly' or 'the seniors'?
As it is every September, people in Japan are looking forward to keirō no hi, the coming national holiday dedicated to the older members of the population. Respect for the Aged Day provides an annual opportunity to visit one's elderly relatives, get involved in various welfare activities or just stay...
LIFE / Language
Apr 22, 2008
KY-style Japanese: Express yourself alphabetically
Waiting at the railroad crossing, I couldn't help but overhear the animated conversation that the two students standing behind me were having.
LIFE / Language
Mar 21, 2006
Odd use of foreign loan words a sign of the times
Heed this safety warning: "Caution! Don't lean on the gate. The gate would fall down when lean on it. It occurs you trouble." Having eluded the gate, then follow this health instruction: "The Italian word pomodoro means golden fruit. Tomatoes have vitamin, carotene, potash, pectene, and is good for blood...
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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