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July 16, 2024
 

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LANGUAGE

When Fighters interpreter Shinju Sakuma set her mind on becoming a language liaison in sports, she picked a sport she enjoyed watching and an employer who thinks outside the box.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 26, 2024
Rookie female interpreter provides voice for foreign baseball stars in Japan
Shinju Sakuma, who will graduate from Rikkyo University in Tokyo this spring, is believed to be the first female interpreter in NPB history.
Food industry researchers and academics are hard at work formulating a new dictionary aiming to refine Japan's discourse over rice.
LIFE / Language
Feb 21, 2024
New dictionary to clear up sticking points over Japanese rice
By setting standards for common expressions that are often ambiguous, researchers hope to convey the "individuality" of products to consumers.
Anastasiia Pelykh (left) and Daria Datsenko talk about their lives in Japan after evacuating from Ukraine during an interview in Kyoto earlier this month.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 19, 2024
Two years after invasion, Ukrainians in Japan forge their own paths
A pair of women have taken different paths, but echoed the same refrain: They want the war to end as soon as possible so they can see their families.
Facing severe shortages of drivers, Japan will offer tests for driver's licenses for taxis and buses in foreign languages to attract more foreign nationals to the sector.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 11, 2024
Japan taxi and bus driver's license tests to go multilingual
The National Police Agency will issue sample exam questions nationwide in 20 languages by the end of March.
A team of volunteers from the Non-Resident Nepali Association in Japan serves curry to evacuees in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 13.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 6, 2024
Support helps lift spirits of foreign residents in quake-hit areas
Ishikawa Prefecture is home to around 16,500 foreign residents, and multilingual hotlines were set up shortly after the quake to provide vital information.
Foreign investors are seeking more English-language disclosure from companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024
Foreign investors want more English info from TSE firms
The TSE plans to make Prime firms release key information in Japanese and English simultaneously.
To mitigate China’s growing tech influence and establish a foothold in the budding artificial intelligence ecosystem, Taiwan budgeted some 17.4 billion New Taiwan dollars ($555.6 million) through 2026 to develop expertise and tools in the industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2024
Taiwan builds own AI language model to counter China’s influence
Taiwan is spending $7.4 million for a tool free of China’s political influence
The "wolf warrior" metaphor is used for Chinese diplomats who are known for aggressively making their country’s case on the world stage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2024
Doves, pandas and dragons: Decoding the global political zoo
Animal metaphors help us reflect on the rich and varied landscape of foreign policy discourse.
The logo of language-learning app, Duolingo, on a smartphone
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2024
Duolingo cuts contractors by 10% amid AI content shift
The company said no full-time employees were affected by the cutback.
Participants in traditional Korean attire holds signs using the Korean Hangul script — used to document the language of the Cia-Cia ethnic group, which has no written form — on Buton island, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Oct. 14.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 20, 2023
Indigenous Indonesians use Korean letters to save dialect
The language of the Cia-Cia ethnic group in southeast Sulawesi province's Baubau has no written form.
Children learn Japanese in Chicago in May 2017, with a Japanese language teacher in the background.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023
Japan and U.S. craft measures to step up cooperation in education
The measures include those aimed at promoting exchange programs and developing people in Japan to work in the technology industry.
Seihan Mori, the chief Buddhist priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, writes the kanji character "zei," meaning "tax," with a calligraphy brush to announce the Kanji of the Year.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 15, 2023
Despite a taxing year, 2023's top kanji still draws questions
In a year of major crises around the world, Japanese voters pick the kanji for "zei," meaning "tax," based on a plan yet to be implemented.
Seihan Mori, chief priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, writes "zei" (taxes), which was chosen on Tuesday as the kanji of the year.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2023
Talk of taxes spurs choice for Japan’s kanji of the year
The choice came as tax hikes and cuts were heavily covered in the news and discussed among policymakers.
If we let writers and translators be replaced by AI tools such as ChatGPT, we lose control over language and how it shapes us.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2023
When we abandon language to AI, we abandon our humanity
Not only does AI threaten writers' and translators' jobs, giving it control over how we shape and are shaped by language is detrimental to who we are.
Japan's inflation marked a four-decade high this year, caused by surging fuel and raw material costs amid Russia's war against Ukraine. Japanese firms chose the kanji character for 'change' to describe such turbulence.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 3, 2023
Firms in Japan pick kanji for 'change' to describe turbulent 2023
From extreme weather to global conflicts, many companies in Japan say they spent the year adapting to new market forces.
Tigers manager Akinobu Okada speaks during a news conference in Tokyo after the buzzword of the year was announced on Friday. The team's slogan, an indirect reference to victory, took the top spot.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 1, 2023
Japan’s 2023 buzzword of the year is all about winning
A.R.E — based on the Japanese word “are” (“that”) — took the top spot, after the Hanshin Tigers popularized the term as an indirect reference to victory.
Pages from a new Otaku Dictionary catalog the lexicons of Japan’s various subcultures.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 30, 2023
A problematic otaku dictionary and the Japanese approach to sitting
An “Otaku Dictionary” has Japan’s subcultures upset at an attempt to define them.
As technology and politics increasingly force society to determine truth from fiction, Merriam-Webster's dictionary has selected the word "authentic" as word of the year.
WORLD / Society
Nov 28, 2023
Merriam-Webster crowns 'authentic' as word of the year
The winner beat "deepfake," "rizz" and "coronation" for honors as the word that most often sent people to the dictionary.
Yoshiko Koide, a professor at Nagoya College, and 12 female students delved deep into otaku culture to create “Otaku Dictionary Daigenkai,” a dictionary of terms from all walks of fandom.
LIFE / Language
Nov 20, 2023
Test your otaku vocabulary, from 'oshi' to 'bacon lettuce'
“Otaku Dictionary Daigenkai” has gathered the language of fandom, from idols to games and anime.
A sculpture of Confucius at the Temple of Confucius in Beijing. A new report has found that almost all of the China-funded Confucius Institutes in the U.S. have closed, showing how far ties between Beijing and Washington have soured.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 3, 2023
China’s Confucius Institutes are disappearing from U.S. campuses
All but five of the institutes, which were created in 2004 to promote Chinese language, are now closed,
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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