Since a lot of Tofugu readers fancy the older, traditional stuff in Japan, (and for a lot of other reasons as well) I’m going to be writing a series of introductory lessons on 古文 (こぶん) or 文語 (ぶんご), the “literary language” … [Read more...]
Other parts of the world might be gloomily declaring that print news is circling the drain, but not in Japan, where newspapers have morning and evening editions and newspaper circulation rates are the highest in the world. … [Read more...]
Japan is famous for being basically the “Kingdom of Cute.” Of course there's cuteness all over the world, but in Japan it permeates the culture in a way you don't see anywhere else. In the US, a cute mascot for the police … [Read more...]
In 1992, Kyouryuu Sentai ZyuRanger (Dinosaur Squad Beast Ranger) aired on TV Asahi in Japan. One year later, an Israeli TV producer named Haim Saban took the footage from ZyuRanger, cut out the Japanese cast and stories, … [Read more...]
When I wrote “Did Nara’s Giant Buddha Statue Just Prevent A 7.8 Earthquake?”, I received a request to write about Japanese Buddhism. However, I thought it would be tough for me because I’m not a practicing Buddhist so I … [Read more...]
It seems that even after years of study, a number of people taking formal Japanese classes and doing self-study don’t get comprehensive coverage of the following particles: しか、さえ、and すら. By “comprehensive”, I mean that, … [Read more...]