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Japanese "mono" and "koto"
日本語の「もの」と「こと」Whereas English uses the word “thing” to refer to anything that exists, Japanese generally divides existence into the physical and non-physical. mono is usua...
Japanese Women Shopping
買い物中の日本人女性These two women are heading towards the Keihan Line in Yodoyabashi Station, in Osaka, on their way home after a day of shopping. The women on the left, three bags, is cle...
Japanese Expressions II
日本語のことわざIt's Thursday, so let's take a look at a few more useful expressions.ピんからキリまで（piri kara kin made）= from best to worstYou can shorten it to ピンキリ (pi...
Japanese Language: Rice
ライスA variegated vocabulary develops around food staples in any language. In meat-eating Western countries, for example, we have cows, bulls, beef, calves, veal; or pig, swine, pork, ham, bacon ...
Kyoto Dialect
京都弁As today is Gion Matsuri we thought we would focusthis week's quick Japanese lesson on the Kyoto dialect or "Kyo-kotoba."Admittedly not much use unless you are actually living in or passing t...
Japanese Compound Words
漢字の熟語Japanese compound words are the most important element of Japanese vocabulary.Common examples are hana+mi 花見 = "flower looking," i.e. cherry blossom viewing, gai+shoku 外食 = "o...
Romaji
ローマ字Previously we looked at the Japanese syllabaries hiragana and katakana. The Japanese language is also represented in Latin script and this is referred to as romaji (literally "Rome letters...
so desu ne
「そうですね」の使い方There’s a very useful phrase in Japanese that goes: “So desu ne” ("so dess nay"), as in the following conversation between a Boss (A) and a Worker (B). If not co...
Classifying When You Count in Japanese
日本語で数えるCounting in Japanese is tricky enough as it is.Making things even worse (or more fun?) is that you will need to alter the classifier depending upon what you count.In English, ther...
Japanese Lesson of the Week: KY
空気を読むThe first time I heard the expression "KY" was in a train full of junior college women playing with their cell phones, twiddling their bangs, and squealing at the top of their lungs--ob...