Tag - nihongo

 
Menu
Search
 
April 04, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

NIHONGO

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 18, 2016
In-out distinction raises linguistic issues for Japan's long-term 'inside outsiders'
In this culture, some basic distinctions are made between those who are Japanese and those who are not — differences reflected in both law and language.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 18, 2016
Overdoing it and feeling the effects with 'amari'
A look at the use of u3042u307eu308a in affirmative sentences, in the patterns u3042u307eu308au306b(u3082) and u3042u307eu308au306eX.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Apr 18, 2016
Hokkaido shinkansen line opens
The shinkansen line directly linking Hokkaido with Tokyo officially opened March 26, promising shorter travel times and introducing slick new carriages.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2016
Ubiquitous and conveniently vague: Let's look at -ō and -shō
Let's-style hortatives serve a range of purposes in Japanese, running the gamut from polite prohibition to whole-hearted encouragement.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 11, 2016
Emphasizing not very much with 'amari' and 'taishite'
Introducing two adverbs — u3042u307eu308aand u5927(u305fu3044)u3057u3066 — that pair with u306au3044 to mean 'not very much.'
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Apr 11, 2016
Google's artificial intelligence program defeats go master
The Google artificial intelligence program AlphaGo has defeated South Korean go grandmaster Lee Se-dol in a historic tournament in Seoul.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 4, 2016
Luckily for English speakers, machine translation still can't match a native's touch
The consensus is that translation will one day inevitably be taken over by computers — but we're not there yet.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 4, 2016
Minding your manners and judging others' with 'shitsurei'
Introducing some ways of using u5931u793c (u3057u3064u308cu3044), meaning 'impoliteness.'
LIFE / Language
Apr 4, 2016
Pizza may get listed on UNESCO's menu
Sample newspaper article
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 3, 2016
Seeking Japanese courses for mature students; reconnecting with a lost mother
A British reader is keen to come to Japan and learn the language, and a woman in the U.S. hopes to get in contact with her Japanese birth mother.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 28, 2016
Condolences: What to say when there's nothing you can say
In the event of a death, even though there may be nothing you can say that will help the grieving, you have to try. This is a particular challenge in a second language.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Mar 28, 2016
Learning the ins and outs of even-ifs using 'ni shiro'
Introducing the meaning and uses of uff5eu306bu3057u308d (even if), which is a more formal version of uff5e u306bu3057u3066u3082.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Mar 28, 2016
Farmer fells famed Hokkaido 'Philosophy Tree'
A lone tree in central Hokkaido that served as one of the main photo spots in the area has been cut down due to its worsening condition and the bad manners of tourists to the site.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 21, 2016
Lessons in history and bureaucracy lurk within Japan's geographical layer cake
Although in English we say Japan has 47 prefectures, Japanese uses four terms to express the same concept. And that's just for starters.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Mar 21, 2016
A certain ratio: the relative strengths of wariai, wari to and wari ni
Introducing the meaning and adverbial uses of the noun u5272u5408 (u308fu308au3042u3044, ratio).
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Mar 21, 2016
'Konmari' decluttering book finally tops U.S. best-seller list
The English version of a Japanese book on how to declutter rooms has topped U.S. newspaper USA Today's weekly best-seller list.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 14, 2016
Japanese go out on a limb for health (but not for love)
You could say that health has become a national obsession — one of the most obvious side-effects of Japan's super-aged society.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Mar 14, 2016
Breathing a sigh of relief with tokoro datta
Introducing the patterns Xu3068u3053u308du3060u3063u305f and Xu306fu305au3060u3063u305f, which indicate what might have happened but in fact didn't.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Mar 14, 2016
Japanese like the look of life in Nagano
Nagano Prefecture is the place that Japanese would most like to move to if they were to relocate to the countryside, a survey shows.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 7, 2016
To furu or furareru: In Japanese or any language, breaking up is hard to do
The girl who dumped me wasn't Japanese, so I was surprised to get a Japanese language lesson out of the ordeal.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
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.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
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.
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.
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).
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.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

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