Tag: Intermediate

  • Tight – パツパツ

    Tight – パツパツ

    日本人の会話の中で「ぱつぱつ/ぱっつんぱっつん」って聞いたことありませんか?? Have you ever heard of ぱつぱつ/ぱっつんぱっつん in conversation with Japanese people?

  • Japanese True Love Tester Bra

    Japanese True Love Tester Bra

    A little bit racy this post, but if you were able to handle the Condom Word Play frivolities, you’ll enjoy this one. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Japanese lingerie maker Ravijour is holding its ‘Mood Up’ campaign and has come up with a curious bra design that guarantees not to open unless the lady…

  • The Chubbiness Idol Group

    The Chubbiness Idol Group

    Do you have a フェッチ? If it’s for cute, chubby girls, then this is the lesson for you! In response to the rising popularity of AKB48 and other local idol groups in Japan, a niche collection of girls have popped up aiming to win the hearts and minds of guys who like their idols just…

  • Fuming Mad – 激おこぷんぷん丸

    Fuming Mad – 激おこぷんぷん丸

    One of the buzzwords of 2013 in Japan was the rather bizarre word 激おこぷんぷん丸. Originating from Japanese schoolgrils, the word made its way onto the internet and spawned an intriging new meme. Let’s break the word down!

  • Fist of the North Star – Condom Word Play!

    Fist of the North Star – Condom Word Play!

    One of Japan’s most famous anime – Hokuto no Ken (北斗の拳), or Fist of the North Star in English, has been united with that most basic of human desires – sex! There should be no mistaking that this post will be for our more mature readers. If you’re easily offended or embarrassed by talking about…

  • Welcome Party Thank You Email

    Welcome Party Thank You Email

    Work-related emails come in many fixed patterns. Quite often they will use special vocabulary and grammar depending on the degree of politeness and relationship to the recipient. This can be one of the trickiest aspects of learning Japanese, because it’s not simply enough to be able to express yourself – you must be able to…

  • Show What You’ve Got – 腕の見せ所

    Show What You’ve Got – 腕の見せ所

    There’s something to do with arms here in Japan that relates to your performance. Beginning students of Japanese will undoubtedly think of 上手 – literally ‘upper hand’, meaning ‘skilled-in’ or ‘clever’. In this lesson however, we’ll be focusing on the expression 腕の見せ所 (うでのみせどころ). Whenever I hear this expression, I always think of the vintage US…

  • Love Key!? 合鍵

    Love Key!? 合鍵

    Recently while watching a Japanese drama I came across the word 合鍵 (あいかぎ). Given the context in which it was used, I was quite surprised to find out later that my mental image of the Kanji had been quite different to the reality. The word as follows: 合鍵 あいかぎ Spare Key Equally, a ‘copy of…

  • Fairytale Size – 昔話盛り

    Fairytale Size – 昔話盛り

    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…

  • Facebook Phishing

    Facebook Phishing

    Although once virtually unheard of in conversations among my Japanese friends, Facebook is now well and truly integrated into the lives of Japanese young people. More and more people seem to be becoming happy with the idea of using their real name and picture (although there are still an awful lot of pet pictures out…