In Japan | Tofugu.com

World’s Smallest Bowl of Ramen

30. May 2008

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.

Clothing Trends for Spring & Summer ‘08

23. May 2008

Comments

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

18. May 2008

Comments

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:

Mixi.jp now hates foreigners. Requires a (Japanese) mobile email address to join.

22. April 2008

Comments

Wow Mixi, way to put a damper on things. About two months ago, I put up a tutorial on how to get started with Mixi so that you could use it to practice your Japanese. Now it seems like Mixi is pretty much off limits (for now) to foreigners without a Japanese cell phone email [...]

Obake Series: Tanuki

19. March 2008

Comments

Before we get started with this long overdue article, let’s take a small quiz. No cheating! Tanuki are: A) Badgers, B) Raccoons, C) Wolverines, D) Raccoon dogs Here’s a tanuki macro to help you out: The word tanuki is often mistranslated as “raccoon” or “badger”. By looking at them, though, you can tell that’s clearly not what they [...]

Nara’s Super-Creepy New Mascot wants you to Win a Japanese Textbook!

10. March 2008

Comments

This Contest has been extended to April 9, 2008! Nara-City, the capitol city of Nara prefecture, is known for it’s beautiful temples and overly aggressive biting deer monsters. This year, Nara Heijo-Kyo Capitol is celebrating its 1300th year anniversary, and will be holding a big a event. Usually when this kind of thing happens, whoever [...]

Japanese Online Translators: They Laugh at You

18. January 2008

Comments

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! Today I am going share with you the secret to producing perfect Japanese emails, comments, and even blog entries all without a drop of effort on your part! Sounds to good to be true, you say? Well of course, that’s because it is. Believe me when I say that I [...]

Use Mixi.jp to improve your Japanese (and make some friends, too!)

9. January 2008

Comments

Mixi.jp is Japan’s number one social networking site, much like America’s Myspace or Facebook. To get in, you have to be invited by someone who is already a member, which thankfully helps to make Mixi a lot less sketchy than Myspace (though I guess that doesn’t take much effort). I’ll be giving out invitations for [...]

Tofugu’s Japan Week in Review 1: Fukuda, Elevators, & Mochi Death

5. January 2008

Comments

December 27, 2007 - January 4, 2008 Every week (i.e. whenever time allows), I’ll be doing a “Japan week in review.” These segments will cover smaller news articles from throughout the week that we don’t want to cover individually. Although these articles of news won’t necessarily be very important, they’ll surely be interesting instead. Included after [...]

We Wish You a Merii Kurisumasu

25. December 2007

Comments

Unsurprisingly, we’ve recently gotten quite a few emails asking about Christmas (クリスマス or kurisumasu) in Japan. Though this might be a bit late, I thought I’d endeavor to answer those questions today, unwrapping my presents with one hand and typing this up with the other. A Brief History of Kurisumasu Christmas in Japan is an interesting creature. [...]