Tag - nihongo

 
 

NIHONGO

Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Sep 3, 2018
In Japanese, turn to 'omoi' when something weighs on your shoulders or mind
Introducing the i-adjective u91cd(u304au3082)u3044/u91cdu305fu3044 (heavy).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Sep 3, 2018
Five deaths go unreported at Gifu city hospital
Five patients in their 80s passed away while staying in rooms with broken air conditioning at Y&M Fujikake Daiichi Hospital in Gifu.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 2, 2018
Japan according to Don Maloney: Still amusing and relevant, mostly, 40 years on
Irreverent accounts of an American businessman in the 1970s in Tokyo hold up surprisingly well today.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 2, 2018
Don Maloney's 'Never the Twain...?' Japan Times column: some choice cuts from the 1970s
Some excerpts from Don Maloney's 'Japan: It's not all Raw Fish' (1975) and 'Son of Raw Fish' (1977) collections of Japan Times columns.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 27, 2018
Will society still need me, will it still feed me, when I'm 100?
Back in the 1960s when Paul McCartney wrote 'When I'm 64,' the average life expectancy worldwide was 52. Yet half a century on, Japan is already gearing up for the era of u4ebau751fu767eu5e74 (jinsei hyakunen, 100-year life).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 27, 2018
Using 'zenzen' in Japanese is no problem at all
Introducing some of the usages of the adverb u5168u7136(u305cu3093u305cu3093, never/not at all), which is often heard in conversation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Aug 27, 2018
Diary entry shows late Emperor's anguish over war responsibility
The diaries of the late Chamberlain Shinobu Kobayashi from 1987, when Emperor Showa was 85 years old, reveal how the Emperor was troubled by his war responsibilities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 20, 2018
Smile as you study:/ Sharp salaryman senryu/ satirize the slog
Highlights from the 31st Senryu for Salaried Workers Contest riff on the situations employees encounter at the office, home or both.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 20, 2018
A little Japanese primer on using 'chotto' in Japanese
introducing some uses of the adverb u3061u3087u3063u3068, which comes up in all kinds of situations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 13, 2018
Japanese surnames: Among the usual suspects, you're bound to find some curveballs
How many Japanese surnames are there anyway? It's a tricky question, because the total depends on how you decide to count them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 13, 2018
The good, the bad and the 'by all means' of 'zehi' in Japanese
A closer look at u662fu975e(u305cu3072), which means 'good and/or bad' or 'by all means.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 6, 2018
Spooky Japanese tales will scare the summer's heat out of you
Until recently, summer nights involved turning off the AC and doing things like kurumaza ni natte kaidanbanashi (sitting in a circle and telling ghost stories).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Aug 6, 2018
Raise a glass, count your squid, say you're full but watch your tone with 'hai'
Introduce the word u4e00u676f (u3044u3063u3071u3044, one cup) and its related expressions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Aug 6, 2018
Tokyo Metro QR codes give audio directions to the blind
In a bid to boost the user-friendliness of the subway for visually impaired people, the Tokyo Metro will place new QR-coded stickers on the bumpy tiles that mark the path for the blind in one of its stations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 30, 2018
Get a handle on kanji in Japanese with the hand classifier
Considering the versatility of the human hand, it should come as no surprise that it can be found within more than 1,000 kanji.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jul 30, 2018
In Japanese, 'sorosoro' shows what's coming slowly and carefully, or what's coming up
The adverb u305du308du305du308d can be used to indicate that an action is done not only slowly but also carefully, or that it is almost the time for something.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 23, 2018
Wherever you go in Japanese, you'll always find your 'tokoro'
The word 'tokoro' can be used to pin down a place in space, time or in a more abstract sense.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jul 23, 2018
Much ado about 'nothing but' in Japanese with 'shika nai'
Introducing some uses of the phrase Xu3057u304bu306au3044/u3057u304bu3042u308au307eu305bu3093 (There is nothing but X).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jul 23, 2018
Kids cheer on their bugs at the Kabutomushi Sumo Competition
The National Kabutomushi Sumo Tournament, where rhinoceros beetles are made to fight on tree branches instead of sumo rings, was held recently in Yamagata Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 16, 2018
'All Japan' World Cup team gave fans and the media much to mull over
Regardless of musical chairs with the manager job, the Japanese are basking in the afterglow of having made it to the round of 16 when few people had thought they could pull it off.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals