Japanese Words

Japanese Folk Song on the Sanshin (家庭和合)

Over the last few weeks I have been spending a lot of time preparing for an sanshin performance. For those who don’t know, the sanshin is an traditional three-stringed instrument popular in Okinawa. I started playing earlier this year and ended up joining a サークル (club) in my area.
Last week, the サークル (myself not included) [...]

Intial D’s AE86 (hachi roku)?

I’m a huge car enthusiast, so when my brother started telling about an anime he was really enjoying about cars it certainly caught my attention. Now to be honest, I don’t really watch a lot of anime. I have seen pretty much all of the Miyazaki films and most of dragon ball, but that’s about [...]

How to Use Trains in Tokyo

Riding a train or subway in a city like Tokyo can be a bit overwhelming a little confusing. But don’t worry, you’ll get used to it quickly. This article contains information and Japanese words and phrases that should help you get around Tokyo easier.
If you are planning to use a train in Japan, you should [...]

Life of the サラリーマン?!

I recently found this movie on YouTube, and thought I should share it with you. It’s only a 30 sec video, but I think you can see a lot of Japanese culture of  the so-called サラリーマン(salary man).

I found it very funny and true. This video shows how a lot of Japanese men live their life.
First, [...]

Firework Season in Japan!

Summer is the season of full of festivals and events in Japan. One of the most popular events is 花火大会 (fireworks display).  Each prefecture and city has their own local fireworks displays. Local people absolutely love the excitement of it!
I used to live in a city called Adachi-ku（足立区）, a prefecture in Tokyo with one of [...]

Wedding Etiquette in Japan

Have you ever attended a wedding in Japan?? I’ve just attended one in Tokyo last month for my friend. Everything was amazing, the location, the food, and the way they planned out the whole wedding! And most important, the bride and the groom looked very happy together But, did you know an average [...]

Orion Beer Festival 09

Hi, guys! My name is Eri and I’ll be writing about Japanese culture, events in Japan, and also answering questions about Japanese! I’ll also be creating Japanese Language videos with Nick! Hope you’ll enjoy them! ヨロシク〜
Summer is the busiest season for Miyakojima. (Miyakojima is a small sub-tropical island of Okinawa. It is located [...]

Miyakojima Matsuri (Japanese Festival)

Matsuri (祭り）is the Japanese word for festival, and here in Miyajima (a small island near Okinawa) there are a lot of them. Miyako matsuri is a matsuri held for the celebration of summer and to officially acknowledge the new “Miss Miyako”.  There is also a carrying of an omikoshi (a portable shrine carried on the [...]

Samurai-Why I Love Japan

I have loved martial arts since I was a small child. I even had karate gi pajamas. My love for the martial arts was what originally brought about my interest in Japan and the Japanese language.  So, when I came across this video on Twitter, I just had to share. The show is called “Best [...]

Getting Sick in Japan

Having spent the last few days in bed with a high temperature due to a cold, I figured now would be a good time to talk about getting sick in Japan. The one topic I want to talk about in particular is medicine.
I have found cold medicine in Japan to be almost useless. Even when [...]