JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Why Did Japan Alone Keep Two Layers of Kanji Readings?
Languages can be stubborn things. You can see this clearly in Japanese, where multiple layers of kanji pronunciation exist to this day.
Japanese Language
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Kanji Kentei: Inside the Japanese Test That Even Japanese People Find Difficult
Forget the JLPT. If you want to take a truly hard Japanese test, check out the Kanji Kentei, whose highest levels have…
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Japan Discovers Changing Your “Kira-Kira” Name is Cheap (But Not Easy)
A viral post brings to light that changing a name in Japan is much cheaper than you might think... but that doesn't…
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Why Do Japanese People Say That Chinese Sounds “Scary”?
A recent social media discussion that could have turned dicey instead became a referendum on a single Chinese particle.
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Why Does Japan Have So Many Last Names Compared to China and Korea?
Why does Japan have hundreds of thousands of surnames while China and Korea rely on a handful? The answer lies in a…
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
Ikezu-Ishi: Are Kyoto’s “Rude Rocks” an Insult, or a Kindness?
Some domestic tourists point to one local custom, the "rude rock," as proof of Kyoto spite. But it isn't even specific to…
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
How Higashino Keigo Improved My Japanese
In the wake of the beloved author's death, our author shares how Higashino Keigo's accessible writing made his own Japanese better.
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
You Say Tsuyu, I Say Baiu: How Japanese Jukujikun Make Kanji Even Harder
Why do the same two kanji for Japan's rainy season change pronunciation based on context? Blame the phenomenon known as jukujikun.