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May 26, 2024
 

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The so-called グリーンカーテン ("gurīn kāten," green curtain) is a vertical garden you can create for your balcony to help provide shade from the summer sun.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Get started on your at-home garden before the summer hits
Even if you live in a small Tokyo apartment, a garden isn't out of the question. Learn the Japanese needed to visit your local garden center.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sometimes there's power in quitting
Modern society tends to see quitting as a sign of weakness, but Buddhist teaching has extolled the benefits of letting go of something at the right time.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Before you forget, order those hydrangeas for Mother's Day!
"Before it's too late," "while you remember" ? Mother's Day offers us a chance to learn ways to express a range of time in Japanese.
The carp-shaped streamers you see flying in the wind around the start of May are connected to Children's Day. The carp is a symbol of strength and success, which is why it is used in connection to the holiday.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 25, 2024
Getting extremely emotional with grammar ahead of Children's Day
By Yuko Tamura
Certain Japanese grammatical structures can help enhance emotions in conversation and writing, conveying the idea of "unbearably."
The titular city in Haruki Murakami's most recent novel, "The City and Its Uncertain Walls," appears to exist in the protagonist's dream world.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 19, 2024
Before Murakami’s English release, try him in Japanese one more time
By Eric Margolis
An English version of "The City and Its Uncertain Walls" won't come out till fall, so practice reading it in Japanese before checking the translation.
The Oxford English Dictionary contains 552 Japanese loanwords in English, a small number compared to the near 25,000 borrowings from French.
LIFE / Language
Apr 18, 2024
The unexpected ways in which Japanese words 'make it' into English
By Thu-Huong Ha
Thanks to new entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, pretty soon even your grandparents will know what "onigiri" and "omotenashi" mean.
Get the rubber gloves and cleaning supplies out. This is the time of year when we should clean our homes and prepare them for the upcoming rainy season.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 11, 2024
Dust off your tidying vocabulary with a refreshing spring clean
By Cassandra Lord
While most Japanese households take part in a big clean at the end of the year, it doesn't hurt to tidy a little as the weather changes.
As they enter the workforce, the young employees who grew up texting one another have their own rules for communicating.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 2, 2024
Fear of a full stop? Young Japanese say drop the period in your texts.
By Yuko Tamura
In addition to "maruhara," or "period harassment," younger employees want to cut down on the unnecessary emails that are a part of work culture.
A shogi board game with human pieces is played out in Tendo, Yamagata Prefecture, last year.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 29, 2024
The vocabulary of shogi can help you make moves in your conversations
By Yuko Tamura
The world of shogi, a game that is often described as a form of Japanese chess, has given us much more than just checkmates.
Sayaka Murata uses inventive language to bring the character of Keiko to life in "Convenience Store Woman."
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 22, 2024
'Convenience Store Woman' and the 'normal' in life and literature
By Eric Margolis
Author Sayaka Murata's use of marked and unmarked language provides new layers to a commentary on modern society.

Emergency probe of Japan Airlines carried out following incidents
A transport ministry probe into Japan Airlines on Friday targeted daily operations pertaining to flight operations and safety management at company facilities near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, including JAL's safety promotion headquarters.
Woman and three children found dead with stab wounds after Tokyo house fire
Reporters gather near a house in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward where a fire broke out on Thursday and four people were found dead with stab wounds.
Japan issues fresh warning on yen drops and signals readiness to intervene
Japan's top currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, poses for a photograph during an interview at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo in January 2022.
Gaming's latest culture war targets Yasuke, Japan's Black samurai
Yasuke, a historical Black samurai, will star in the newly announced Assassin's Creed Shadows — a choice that has riled some critics online.
Japan’s automakers vow to stop squeezing their suppliers
Masanori Katayama, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said the association will work with the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association to address the problem of subcontractor bullying.

Podcast

Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?

Longform

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time ? and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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