You’ll often come across varying portion sizes in Japan, especially when you eat out. 小盛り (こもり), 並盛り (なみもり) and 大盛り (おおもり) are regular expressions used to refer to ‘small’, ‘regular’ and ‘large’ helpings of rice and other goodies that can be heaped up. Further to that, as we looked as in The 6 Types of [...]
Have you ever noticed the Kanji character used on the 10,000 yen Japanese banknote? If you’ve got your basic Japanese numerals down, you know that the character for 10,000 is 万 (まん) – a standard unit in the Japanese counting system. But what about the strange character in front of it? Why does the banknote [...]
Ever heard the phrase ‘She wears the trousers in the relationship’? (Or, for our American readers – who wears the pants!?) Most native English speakers will probably be familiar with the expression, or at least have a vague understanding of the meaning. Something about authority, right? Right. Well, there exists a couple of words that [...]
Google currently holds the title of Search Engine King for most people, and it’s the go-to tool for looking most anything up. So heavy has our reliance on the search giant become, that it’s now considered something of an insult to ask a question that could easily be answered by Google Sensei.
The word Shuhari is originally a Japanese martial arts concept from Bushido that describes the stages leading to mastery in a given discipline, but it can also be applied in other fields and situations, such as the entertainment sector or in business. Let’s break it down. 守破離 しゅはり The 3 stages of learning that lead [...]
Here’s the Japanese equivalent of a nice little idiom that we often find ourselves using in English. 自業自得 literally translates to the English idiom ‘you reap what you sow’. But we have several other expressions that are good matches for this Japanese phrase too. Let’s explore.
Something you’ll see a lot of in Japanese is the Kanji 会 (かい), which symbolises a grouping or meeting. Its uses are quite broad, from titles, such as ‘International Association’ (交際交流会 – こくさいこうりゅうかい) to birthday party (誕生日会 – たんじょうびかい) . The trick is simply to look for the Kanji on the end and think of [...]
Seeing as summer is drawing to a close and Autumn is fast approaching, I figured it would be a good time to cover this seasonal word. Don’t be too sure that the incredibly hot weather has ended yet! September can still pack quite a punch.
Here’s a little word that you may have not heard before, but you’ve more than likely *seen* it. I mean, you do spend all day looking at Japanese idols, right?
Interesting little word today that you’re only likely to hear once a year. 夏至 (げし) is the summer solstice – the longest day in the entire calendar year.
