Wonderful FudePen 筆ペン (Brush Pens)
When I was thinking about another cultural item to introduce to the world, one thing came to my mind! It is fudepen 筆ペン, a Japanese brush pen! Of course, Japanese …
Knowledge
What does “よろしくおねがいします(Yoroshiku onegaishimasu)” mean?
If you’ve lived in Japan for even a short period, you’ve probably encountered the phrase “よろしくおねがいします (yoroshiku onegaishimasu).” Japanese people love this phrase, whether in work or private life. Grammatically, …
Sakura: The Eternal Cycle of Beauty – Blossoms, Greens, and Renewal
Cherry Blossom Rolled Cake made by minosuke* After a long, cold winter, under the blue sky, people walk while looking up at cherry trees. In the stores, there are various …
Unraveling the Unique Osaka-ben (Part 2)
Hello, everyone! In the previous article, I wrote about “-nen (ねん)” and “-yanen (やねん),” which correspond to the Osaka dialect’s well-known sentence endings in standard Japanese for the present tense, …
Auspicious Plants ー Pine, Bamboo, and Japanese Plum
Are you familiar with these three Japanese plants 松 (matsu), 竹 (take), and 梅 (ume)? These are pine, bamboo, and Japanese plum respectively. Japanese people often refer to them altogether …
Unique Way to Count Things in Japanese
How do you count in English? In English, you can add “One, two, three, four…” in front of the object for most things, except for some peculiar circumstances when wanting …
Why do Japanese people…?”Putting your palms together: 手を合わせる＝合掌”What does it mean in Japan?
In situations where we Japanese say “Itadakimasu: いただきます,” “arigatou: ありがとう,” and “gomennasai: ごめんなさい,” we put our hands together. That is a custom not only in Japan, but also over Asia. …
Japanese Experiences in Temples
Welcome to my new blog post about Japanese experiences. Many HTJ writers have posted pictures of various shrines and temples and explanations of them in wonderful articles. I had the …
Ryu 龍 (Dragons)
Hello. Do you know what the zodiac animal will be in 2024? 2024 is the year of Ryu 龍 (dragons). In Japan, the twelve Chinese zodiac signs are called Junishi, …
Unraveling the Unique Osaka-ben (Part 1)
Japan has many different dialects. One reason for this is that words originated in the capital or cultural centers and spread to the regions through transmission. This happened because the …