Kanji火 (fire): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
火 Meaning: firePronunciations: ka / hi This letter came from the hieroglyph which represents the shape of a fire burning...
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Japanese ReadingReading 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 courgette...
Kanji王 (king): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
王 Meaning: kingPronunciations: oo / ou There are several theories about the origin of this kanji. The first is that it i...
Everyday ConversationHow 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 going ...
Kanji雨 (rain): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
雨 Meaning: rainPronunciations: u / ame, ama "雨" is formed to describe the appearance of moisture pouring from clouds. Th...
Kanji貝 (shell): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
貝 Meaning: shell, shellfishPronunciations: kai The Kanji character "貝" was formed from the hieroglyphs of a certain type...
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 abbrevia...
Japanese ReadingReading 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 ho...
Japanese ReadingReading 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 diffic...
Everyday ConversationHow 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? Her...
Everyday ConversationHow 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 phrases...
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 long, slen...
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". "全" is f...
Kanji空 (sky): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
空 Meaning: sky, emptyPronunciations: kuu / sora, a(ku), su(ku), kara The Kanji character "空" is composed of two parts; "...
Japanese ReadingReading Japanese: Anti-ageing is now obsolete. The passion for stop-ageing or even reverse-ageing
How old do you want to live to be? Healthily living longer is a dream of human beings everywhere in the world. This essa...
Everyday ConversationWhat’s the difference between “びょういんbyooin” and “びよういんbiyooin”?
”びょういん (byooin)" and "びよういん (biyooin)" are very confusing words even for native speakers of Japanese. Not to mention for...
Everyday ConversationWhat does “少し(sukoshi)” mean in Japanese?
"少し(sukoshi)" means a little (bit), small quantity or few. It is an adverb indicating a slight quantity or degree. It oc...
Kanji国 (country): Kanji Meaning and Pronunciations
国 Meaning: countryPronunciations: kuni / koku The Kanji character "国 (country)" used to be written “國”, which was formed...