Kanji 火 (fire): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
火
Meaning: firePronunciations: ka / hi
This letter came from the hieroglyph which represents the shape of a ...
Kanji 
Japanese Reading Reading Japanese: Courgette and Corn Salad with Tuna
We grow courgettes in our vegetable garden and we are able to harvest plenty every day. This time I used fresh courgett...
Kanji 王 (king): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
王
Meaning: kingPronunciations: oo / ou
There are several theories about the origin of this kanji. The first i...
Everyday Conversation How do you say “How are you?” in Japanese?
"How are you?" is used in everyday conversation in English. You may wonder how we say it in Japanese.
Today, I am go...
Kanji 雨 (rain): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
雨
Meaning: rainPronunciations: u / ame, ama
"雨" is formed to describe the appearance of moisture pouring from...
Blog Do the Japanese like eating meat?
They say Chinese people eat everything with four legs but tables, and everything with two legs but aeroplanes. This is ...
Blog Does everyone have a sharp knife in Japan?
“I understand your frustration, it’s because we came from the country of Samurai !” said Saori, one of my Japanese frie...
Blog The Reason for Wanting to Marry a High-Grade Man
I was once offered a job to edit an ebook on something like “How to marry a man who earns 10 million yen a year”. I...
Kanji 貝 (shell): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
貝
Meaning: shell, shellfishPronunciations: kai
The Kanji character "貝" was formed from the hieroglyphs of a certa...
Kanji 思 (think): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
思
Meaning: thinkPronunciations: shi / omo(u)
The upper part of the kanji (田) is not a rice field (tanbo) but an a...
Japanese Reading Reading Japanese: We’ve just had our third vaccination
We were planning to go to the UK in October 2021, and we went to have the third vaccination for some reason. This was h...
Japanese Reading Reading Japanese: Phonetic characters and Ideographic characters in Japanese 日本語の表音文字と表意文字
Today’s text is an excerpt from one of my essays in Japanese which I have written recently. I think it’s a little diffi...
Everyday Conversation How do you say “You are welcome” in Japanese?
When someone says "Thank you" to you, you say "You're welcome" as a response, but how should you say it in Japanese?
...
Everyday Conversation How do you say “Good morning” in Japanese?
In Japanese, "Good morning" is "Ohayoo", which I believe is not very difficult to remember. There are some other phrase...
Kanji 鳥 (bird): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
鳥
Meaning: bird(s)Pronunciations: choo / tori
This kanji was created from hieroglyphs depicting a bird with a lon...
Kanji 金 (gold, money): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
金
Meaning: goldPronunciations: kin, kon / kana
The character for "金" is made up of two characters, "全" and "二". "...
Haiku A deer
A sudden soundTurn around and goneA golden wild deer
足音に振り返り見る野性鹿
I live in the woods. When I am working in t...
Blog Backstrap Weaving and Japanese Old Story
In the mountainous of South East Asia, there are ethnic minorities who only wear items dyed with specific dyes. Because...