To my readers from the US and Canada, I hope you’ve had a great Thanksgiving! Here are some Thanksgiving related vocabulary to mark the occasion! 感謝祭 (かんしゃさい, kanshasai) – Thanksgiving This phrase is literally as you see it in English. 感謝かんしゃ means thanks (it’s used as a noun), whereas 祭 (pronounced as まつり own it’s own, and more often as さい in... Read more ..read more

I’ve been playing catch up with my Arashi TV shows, as well as watching NewsZero weekly… So here’s a mix of words from various places. あおり運転 (あおりうんてん, aoriunten) – tailgating This was the topic of this week’s PuraIchi – Sho’s NewsZero segment after the revamp. The problem of tailgating has been a hot topic in the recent months. Sometime back,... Read more ..read more

I’ve been into fountain pens and fountain pen inks for over a year now. And well, Japan is quite a huge maker of fountain pens and inks. Recently, a brand of inks from Kyoto, appropriately called Kyoto Ink have been making the rounds internationally. I got a few bottles of them, and thought I’d rather this one with you. With... Read more ..read more

As 2019 draws near… It’s that time of the year again! Time to get ready to send out 年賀状 (ねんがじょう, nengajyou) or New Year’s Cards. This year too, Japan Post has promotional events to encourage people to send out 年賀状, and they are encouraging people to write their own message, or create their own greeting cards. There’s a whole host of information on... Read more ..read more

Hi folks! So I’ve trying to get back on track with regular updates for the site. I’m aiming for at least two updates a month… (Ideally it’ll be a weekly thing, but well…) Maybe something short, just a simple vocabularly item, or well, anything at all. It’s been one heck of a year, and so much has changed. For one,... Read more ..read more

So I got a message from J today, asking me what the words on the yellow sticker mean. Well, good news! I hope you bought that pack of Okinawa pork because… It’s on offer! Let’s see what’s on the yellow sticker: “レジにで本体価格の３割引き” レジ – cashier 本体価格 (ほんたいかかく) – pre-tax price 割引き (わりびき) – tenths discounted So yup, that pack of... Read more ..read more

Hi all! It’s been a long time since I made a post! Today I would like to do a review of the Japanese Graded Readers mobile app. If you’ve been wanting to have listen to stories in Japanese, then this is the app for you. I tried out the app on my iPhone. It contains a couple of stories graded... Read more ..read more

The highly anticipated concert DVD/Blu-ray release date has been announced! Arashi’s 2017-2018 live tour “untitled” will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on the 13th of June 2018. As a promotion of their “untitled” album, the “untitled” live tour was staged in the five major domes in Japan from Nov 2017 to Jan 2018. The theme of the concert is... Read more ..read more

Miyama is back! And this time we have a new female lawyer for him to blanter with! Maiko used to work as a judge, and she has a completely opposite viewpoint of Miyama when it comes to criminal cases. Faced with seemingly insurmountable evidence, she advised the defendant to plead guilty in exchange for a more lenient sentence. On the... Read more ..read more

Japanese boyband Arashi has announced their first single of 2018! The highly anticipated single, titled ‘Find The Answer’, contains a lead song of the same name. The lead song will be used as the theme song for band member Matsumoto Jun’s drama 99.9-Keiji Senmon Bengoshi-Season II (99.9-刑事専門弁護士-Season II, 99.9 Criminal Lawyer Season II). Being the second season of 99.9 as well as... Read more ..read more