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November 21, 2024
 

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With Labor Thanksgiving Day approaching in Japan, it's a good time to show some appreciation to your colleagues.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
You don’t need an onion bouquet to say thanks — just the right words
Nov. 23 is Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan and Nov. 28 is Thanksgiving in the United States. That makes it a good time to learn how to show your appreciation.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
The Japanese you need to get vaccinated before winter comes
With strains of both COVID-19 and the flu circulating, learn the words that will help you navigate a visit to the clinic.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Hearing a song from the past and expressing nostalgia in Japanese
You're in a cafe and suddenly a song from the past starts to play. How do you tell your Japanese friends that you're in the "time slip"?
Familiarizing yourself with different types of honorifics and formal verb structures will be crucial to successfully completing a job interview in Japanese.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 2, 2024
Get to know basic honorifics before you head into that Japanese job interview
By Yaeko Kabe
Honorific language, or “keigo,” is something you’ll want to get a handle on before you head out to hunt for a job in Japan.
Japanese people love to dress up for Halloween, but in recent years there has been an effort to cut down on the alcohol and crowds that tend to come with the holiday here.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 24, 2024
Celebrating spooky season with Halloween-themed vocabulary
By Yuko Tamura
Get to know the vocabulary behind different levels of scares from spooky to absolutely terrifying.
Context has always been the key to successfully translating a video game from Japanese to English. Recently, though, cultural sensitivities come into play as well.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 17, 2024
How your favorite Japanese video games are translated into English
By Eric Margolis
Localizers have to grapple with challenging issues of tone and nuance. Even a simple "thank you" may not be what it seems.
Squats are a good way to exercise your legs and glutes, just don't neglect exercising your mind when it comes to new vocabulary.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 10, 2024
Studying Japanese is like exercise: The more you do it, the better you'll feel.
By Yuko Tamura
Get to know the language of weight training as experts say strengthening muscles is key to remaining comfortable and injury-free in your old age.
A pedestrian walks past a 7-Eleven convenience store in Tokyo. The Japanese model for a convenience store is gaining fans overseas where similar stores sell mostly gasoline and junk food.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 1, 2024
Making a habit of describing your morning convenience store run
By Yuko Tamura
Hitting up the local convenience store before or after work can wind up becoming habitual, and there are a number of grammar points to help describe it.
The Japanese used by any shop clerk in Japan will generally be the most polite form of the language.
LIFE / Language / Vocabulary Boost
Oct 1, 2024
'Need a bag for that?': Knowing what the clerks are saying at the convenience store
By Yuko Tamura
When it comes to serving their customers, convenience store workers tend to all read from the same mannerly script.
A farmer harvests rice in a paddy field in Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, last month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 25, 2024
In need of rice and some Japanese words that describe necessity
By Yuko Tamura
When does something go from being a "want" to a "need"? A few grammar structures can give the listener a sense of how urgent a situation is becoming.

Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
China may soon resume visa exemptions for Japanese nationals, reports say
A view inside Beijing Daxing International Airport. Japanese nationals could soon visit China without a visa for up to 15 days, according to reports.
Why Yamanashi gave up building a light-rail system on Mount Fuji
A rubber-tired tram system, tentatively called the “Fuji Tram,” would run along magnetic markers, reducing environmental damage, according to the Yamanashi Prefectural Government.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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