年別アーカイブ：2021年

Some people say that Japanese are really strict with time. If you end up going to Japan, you may notice that trains or buses are almost never late when running regularly.So, if you're late meeting with someone, you'll need to apologize, because some Japanese people are strict when it comes to time. We will share about how to say "I'll be late!" in Japanese in this article. You will be able to learn both the casual and the formal way to say it. How do you say I’ll be late in Japanese? Casual When you're late to meet a friend, ...

When something bothers you, or you just don't want to do something, you can say "it's such a hassle..." in English. In Japanese, you can say めんどうくさい (mendou-kusai) for these situations! Such a hassle / めんどうくさい めんどうくさい (mendou-kusai) is often used to say “such a hassle.” This is a useful word you can use for a thing, situation, or a person.For example, your homework is always a pain in the butt. You want to do something else, like hanging out with friends or watching a drama or an anime, but you have to do your homework.When you have homework you ...

Boy's Day / Tango no sekku May 5th is the national holiday Children's Day, and is also the day for a traditional Japanese festival for boys called 端午の節句 (Tango no sekku, Boy's Day in English). 端午の節句 (Tango no sekku/Boy's Day) is an important day to celebrate a boy's healthy growth. Japanese people display samurai dolls in their houses and carp streamers outside. They also have some special foods. The custom of Tango no sekku is derived from ancient China. In the ancient Chinese calendar, May is called 午 (go), which means the horse in the Chinese zodiac. Tango (端午) means ...

You probably feel Japanese people nod and say things in response a lot when you are having a conversation in Japanese. Japanese has many words and phrases to respond to what the speaker is saying, like うん (un) or あー(ah). These are called aizuchi (あいづち) in Japanese. Aizuchi (あいづち) show that you're following along with the conversation when you talk with Japanese people! In this article, we will share 10 common words and phrases so you can respond naturally in Japanese! How to respond in Japanese naturally うん (un) うん is the most common reaction to show you're listening to ...

It’s always fun to crack jokes with your friends. When you tell a joke, you probably say “just kidding” or “I’m kidding” after the joke. We’ll share how to say “just kidding” in Japanese in this article. Justina There are lots of phrases that mean “just kidding” in Japanese! Atsuya We’ll also share about how to apologize when your joke was too much for your friend! How to say “just kidding” in Japanese 冗談(じょうだん)だよ When you want to say “just kidding,” you can say 冗談(じょうだん)だよ(jodan dayo). 冗談(じょうだん) means joke. だ is an auxiliary verb for determining something. よ is a ...

When your important friend or lover is down, the best way to support them is to say “I feel you.” Everyone appreciates it when someone says “I feel you” when they are in a hard situation. We’ll share about how to say “I feel you” in Japanese for your Japanese friend or lover in this article! JustinaOne of my friends had a hard time. How can I say “I feel you” in Japanese? You can say like "(friend name )の気持きもちよくわかるよ (~no kimochi yoku wakaruyo)" to your friend！Atsuya How to say I feel you in Japanese. ～の気持(きも)ちよくわかるよ　(~no kimochi yoku wakaruyo) When ...

Asukayama Park (飛鳥山公園) There are many famous cherry blossoms viewing (ohanami) spots in Tokyo. Ueno park, Shinjuku-gyoen, and Chidorigafuchi are really famous ohanami spots, but there is another great place to see cherry blossoms in Tokyo! It is Asukayama kouen (or Asukayama Park) which is located in Oji area, 20 minutes by train from Tokyo Station! Asukayama Park is not as big as Shinjuku-gyoen or Yoyogi park, but it has 600 cherry blossom trees, so you can enjoy the view of cherry blossoms up close! JustinaWe will share about what Asukayama Park is like! Cherry blossoms are so beautiful!! Asukayama ...

Many people’s image of Japanese food is mild, miso- or dashi-based food, but Japan also has a large variety of spicy foods. For example, Japanese curry (カレー) or tantan men (担々(たんたん)麺(めん)) are very popular for spicy food lovers! Have you ever wondered how to tell people what type of spicy food you like? In this article we’ll tell you about how to say "spicy" and different levels of spiciness in Japanese! JustinaI love spicy food! How can I say that? We'll share how to say that you love spicy food, too!Atsuya How do you say spicy in Japanese ? 辛(から)い ...

Onomatopoeia is great way to express your feelings when you can't use ordinary words. Japanese has more than 4000 onomatopoeia! In our previous article, we shared about onomatopoeia for foods that are really common for Japanese people. Please check the link below if you haven't read it yet! Japanese onomatopoeia for food ! -Part1- - Nyapanese This article is our part 2 for food onomatopoeia. These onomatopoeia are for Japanese unique foods! JustinaWe will also share about onomatopoeia for the taste of food! You can understand how to say spiciness in Japanese onomatopoeia too!Atsuya Japanese onomatopoeia for food つるつる (tsuru-tsuru) ...

Crunch crunch, munch munch. There are many sounds you make when you eat or drink. Words that express sound are called onomatopoeia, and they don't just exist in English! It is said that Japanese actually has 4500 onomatopoeia! But here's the interesting part: they're not just for sounds! Japanese also has onomatopoeia to express motions, looks, condition, or how you feel. In regards to food, these can be jiggling or melty things. The second type of onomatopoeia are called mimetic words, or ideophones. They represent something that has no sound. For the rest of this article, we will refer to ...