Archive | May, 2008

6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary

I’ve been really surprised lately. I’ve gotten a few emails from people that ask me why kanji is necessary. “Kanji is sooo hard” they say. “Why do Japanese bother learning kanji when they could just use a phonetic alphabet? I mean, they have hiragana already, why would you need kanji when hiragana does the same [...]

World’s Smallest Bowl of Ramen

Having taken (and nearly failed) more chemistry courses than I would like to remember, I’m usually not particularly enthusiastic about molecular engineering. However, a recent news story caught my eye this morning. Apparently, Masayuki Nakao, a professor at Todai, has just debuted the smallest bowl of ramen known to man.

Happy Birthday, Erin!

Today (in some time zones) is one of our Tofugu authors’ birthdays. Can you guess who? She’s the only female, she’s one of the top three writers, and she’s somewhere in that photo up there. The other two Tofugu writers would like to wish Erin a happy and safe twenty-first birthday! Thank you for writing [...]

Clothing Trends for Spring & Summer ’08

Now that we’re safely out of winter, it’s time to lighten up! Put away your fuzzy scarves and down-filled jackets and opt instead for floaty fabrics and bright colors. Below are a list of some of the more popular styles being featured in Japanese fashion magazines this season. Unfortunately, I don’t usually read men’s fashion [...]

日本で一番面白いボスです

Last night, Steve Carell participated in one of the funniest SNL Digital Shorts I have seen in a long time. Now, it’s kind of a stretch, as far as Tofugu’s “Japanese Culture and Language” theme goes, but I feel that it’s interesting enough to warrant a post. Here’s the video, after the break: