Tag - language

 
Menu
Search
 
April 05, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

LANGUAGE

Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
May 7, 2018
Let's discuss relations between Japan and North Korea
Despite what appears to be good news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is eager to hold a bilateral summit with Japan, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe remains cautious, saying there are many hurdles to be overcome.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 30, 2018
Using the internet to dig up some basics in Japanese
Once, many, many years ago, I found a rail pass someone left behind next to a public pay phone in Hamamatsucho Station in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Apr 30, 2018
It's a relief knowing the difference between '安心' and '安全'
Introducing two words that distinguish between feelings of relief and safety.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Apr 30, 2018
They found what in the Great Buddha?!
Kamakura's famed Great Buddha statue undergoes a 'physical examination' that reveals a lot of chewing gum inside it.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Apr 30, 2018
Let's discuss that Seven-Eleven that was forced to stay open in a blizzard
The owner of a Seven-Eleven convenience store in Fukui Prefecture was allegedly forced to work for about 50 hours without sleep in February after the chain rejected his requests to suspend business amid the heaviest snowfall in decades, a labor union has said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 23, 2018
What would you pay to live in Minato Ward?
It was in 2001 when my friend, Chikako Sakamoto, paid ¥9.8 million for a six-tatami-mat apartment in Tokyo's central Minato Ward. The apartment was inside a 長期滞在者用 (chōki taizaisha-yō, long term resident's) wing of an old hotel in Roppongi, with a very low ceiling and no kitchen. Chikako...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 23, 2018
You should get the hang of 'そのうち' and '今に' soon enough
Introducing two adverbs that show the near future, u305du306eu3046u3061 and u4ecau306b.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 16, 2018
OK Google, auto-fill the gaps in my Japanese
If you are stuck for what to say in Japanese, Google search — and in particular, its auto-fill function — can be your friend.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 16, 2018
If it's an explanation of how to use 'nara' you're looking for, here it is
Introducing how to use Xu306au3089u3001Y, meaning 'if X, Y' or 'if it is the case that X, Y.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Apr 16, 2018
New manager for the Japan World Cup soccer team is the 'best choice'
Former Japan national team manager Takeshi Okada voices his approval of newly appointed Akira Nishino.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Apr 16, 2018
Let's discuss women and sumo
A controversy over gender discrimination in sumo flared earlier this month after a referee urged two women to stay out of the ring as they tried to assist an unconscious official.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 9, 2018
Musical vocab in Japanese can be a maddeningly multilingual minefield
A basic grounding in German, English, Italian and Heian Period poetry could be useful for those interested in reading and talking about the mechanics of music in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 9, 2018
Pretty vacant: Being barely there in Japanese with 'bonyari' and 'botto'
Introducing two expressions, u307cu3093u3084u308a and u307cu3046u3063u3068, that indicate someone or something is dim, distant or vacant.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Apr 9, 2018
New signs installed in Nara on how to feed deer
Signs recently rolled out in Nara feature instructions in English, Chinese and Japanese on how to feed the deer without getting bitten.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Apr 9, 2018
Let's discuss Easter in Japan
Compared to other imported festivals, Easter in Japan has never really taken off. But why?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 4, 2018
In Japan, who do you think you are? Fun and games with foreign names in katakana
Katakana renderings of non-Japanese names can cause a raft of problems if spelling issues are allowed to fester.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 2, 2018
A company freshman's sharp learning curve
The first Monday in April — April 2 this year — sees tens of thousands of 生き生きして元気な新入社員 (ikiiki shite genki na shinnyū shain, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed newly hired company employees) — also referred to as フレシュマン (fureshuman, freshmen) — decked out in...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 2, 2018
Taking an interest in describing hobbies
Shōhin-ni tsuite go-setsumei-shitara, kyōmi-o shimeshite-kudasaimashita. (When I explained our product, they showed interest in it.)
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Apr 2, 2018
Hakuto's lunar probe explores Tottori sand dunes
The Japanese team Hakuto participated in the first private international lunar exploration competition and on March 26 carried out a test run of the unmanned probe, Sorato, in the Tottori sand dunes. This was the final model's first outdoor test.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.

Podcast

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

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)
BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER