Foreigners in Japan often encounter conversations in which Japanese terms or concepts are expressed in English in ways that, while not necessarily idiomatic, still get the meaning across effectively. One such example would be the Japanese expression 強い (tsuyoi, strong), which in addition to physical strength gets used to describe a person (or an inanimate object) with a specific type of fortitude or ability.

For example, a person with a large capacity for alcohol would be described as お酒に強い (osake ni tsuyoi), which gets rendered in English as being a strong drinker. But when a student is said to be 科学に強い (kagaku ni tsuyoi), a native speaker would probably say science is his best subject. When a type of tree is 公害に強い (kōgai ni tsuyoi), it means it's resistant to pollution; and a person or object that is 寒さに強い (samusa ni tsuyoi) stands up well to cold weather. Or, 将棋が強い (shōgi ga tsuyoi) would describe a person who is skilled at playing shōgi (Japanese chess). And so on.

Some Japanese expressions and idioms do manage to get picked up and adopted almost as-is into English. One of the most familiar would be "to lose face." This is a direct translation from the Japanese 顔負け (kaomake), and it finds use in all kinds of situations. When foreigners achieve mastery in a Japanese discipline such as judo or sumo, a native might remark, 日本人は顔負けする (Nihonjin wa kaomake suru, Japanese have been put to shame). Such a remark is usually delivered in a good-natured way — or not, depending on how seriously the speaker takes sports events.