Guides to Japanese: the scripts, everyday phrases, numbers, the JLPT, and the culture behind the words.
81 articles
October 5, 20267 min read
A yukata is a casual, unlined summer kimono; a kimono is layered, often silk, and more formal. Fabric, obi, shoes, left over right, and who can wear them.
Read MoreOctober 4, 20268 min read
Your name in Japanese is your name in katakana, spelled by sound: Smith is スミス. How to write it, why spellings differ, and a free name converter.
Read MoreOctober 3, 202616 min read
A yōkai (妖怪) is a strange spirit or monster from Japanese folklore. A list of famous yōkai with their names in Japanese, and where they come from.
Read MoreOctober 2, 20268 min read
A torii gate (鳥居) marks the entrance to a Shinto shrine and the sacred ground beyond. Its meaning, why it's red, famous ones, and how to walk through.
Read MoreOctober 1, 20268 min read
A tanuki (狸) is Japan's raccoon dog: a real wild canid, not a raccoon, and a shape-shifting trickster of folklore. Facts, statues, symbols and legality.
Read MoreSeptember 30, 20264 min read
Sugoi (すごい) means amazing, great or incredible, and sometimes terrible. How sugoku and sugee work, and how to reply when someone says sugoi to you.
Read MoreSeptember 29, 20268 min read
The small tsu っ (sokuon) holds the next consonant for one beat, doubling it in romaji. How to read, say and type it, and how to tell ツ from シ.
Read MoreSeptember 28, 20264 min read
Sensei (先生) means teacher, and literally "born before". Who gets called sensei, how to use it, and how it differs from senpai.
Read MoreSeptember 27, 20267 min read
Senpai (先輩) is someone who joined your school, club or job before you; kōhai (後輩) joined after. How the titles work, and what they don't mean.
Read MoreSeptember 26, 202616 min read
A samurai was a Japanese warrior who served a lord, until the 1870s. What 侍 means, how samurai lived, bushido as a later idea, swords, armour and women.
Read MoreSeptember 25, 20268 min read
Romaji is Japanese written in the Latin alphabet (ローマ字). Hepburn vs Kunrei, the 2025 official change, long vowels, and when to move on to kana.
Read MoreSeptember 24, 20268 min read
Otaku (オタク) means a person with an obsessive hobby. Where the word comes from, why it was an insult in Japan, and how it differs from weeb.
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